gadget lust

my usual adoration of nifty gadgets and "all the features" is getting me again.

I've picked the body fat scale I want to buy and will drop into a few vendors to see if they have it cheaper than amazon today.

Now I'm looking at Heart Rate monitors, and I really want one of the spiffy ones.

They have watches which determine your heart rate zone for the day during your warm up, track your calories whenever you're wearing it, and beep if you're exiting your heart rate zone.

I want one with all of those features, but the cheapest online price for the spiffy ones will be $144. eep! But... but... its so cool!

Still no Treo. Tomorrow, my precious. Tomorrow.

more fitness gadget musings

I'm writing from the downtown apple store.

Calculating ideal heart rate zone
Some of the fancier watches will measure the zone in which your heart rate should remain to have an effective workout as you warm up. Others simply calculate it based on formulas that remain the same.

How worthwhile is this added feature? Is it worth, say, $50?

Caloric intake calculations

Body fat scales will estimate your caloric intake based on ... ??
Heart rate watches can calculate your caloric expenditure for any given day based solely on your heart rate.

Which do you figure will give a more accurate number, if you're trying to eat for weight maintenance?

Impatience much?

Copeland Sports has the scale I want for $10 more than Amazon. Amazon has free shipping but it'll probably take a week to get here. Do I shell out $10 so I can have it sooner, or do I bite the bullet and order it online and be patient?

Still haven't nailed down which heart rate monitor to go for. I'm getting there, though.

a busiful day

I walked for over an hour today, plus standing in stores and browing materials. First I walked from home to 9th and Market. Then, I walked along Market, stopping at two stores, until I got to Kearny, turned up Kearny, stopped at a store on Sutter, and then followed Sutter to Market. Went up Market some more to Fremont St., but that store was closed so I turned around and walked BACK to the first store for a corrected price check, then walked home.

First stop was to grab my new prescription. So far, no new side effects.

I stopped at a whole bunch of stores that carry the scales I want and the watches I'm looking at... including a stop at Apple to check some online resources again.

After much thought, I decided I really should just order online. None of the stores had better prices; some of them were close if I considered shipping and handling and instant gratification, but that's it. By waiting, I'm only saving about... $17 between the watch and the scale. But I can wait so I should.

I went for the Tanita BF 682 body fat scale, and the Polar A5 heart rate monitor watch.

On my way home, I stopped at the liquidation book sale that's between 3rd and 4th on Market. Big mistake (depending on how you look at it).

For $36 I got:
The Hand of Dinotopia, Alan Dean Foster
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune
Dragondrums by Anne McCaffrey
A Wizard in Absentia by Christopher Stasheff
A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin in oversized paperback
Rulers of the Darkness by Harry Turtledove, hardcover
Kushiel's Chosen, by Jacqueline Carey, hardcover

Many of these are parts of series I do not own (but would like to own, or don't mind owning in part). The latter two are parts of series I haven't read at all but would very much like to read. I love Harry Turtledove's work, and I've heard wonderful things about the Kushiel's series.

Now I'm being lazy for a short while before I strip my bed and go do laundry. Busy day.