Whether you're a hardcore adventure hiker, an avid runner, or simply looking to count your doctor's recommended 10k steps a day, an Accelerator Series watch fits the bill. Advanced accelerometer technology provides highly accurate readings of a user's speed, distance, and caloric expenditure via a simple wrist watch sensor, eliminating the need for funny looking foot pods or belt clips. Accelerometer technology is 95+% accurate, and much more dependable than traditional pendulum based pedometers. GPS-based running products are very expensive, complicated, and aren't reliable for indoor training or under heavy tree cover. The Accelerator Series is the perfect combination of accurate readings, simplicity of use, and stylish design. Speed & Distance Pedometer - Highly accurate step counter with adjustable sensitivity allows users to tune the sensors to their individual walking style. Doctors everywhere are now recommending 10k steps a day to maintain a healthier lifestyle.
- All sensors are contained in a simple wrist watch. That means no funny looking mechanical belt clips our funky shoe pods.
- Get off the beaten path! Free yourself from mileage markers at the track or trail! Pick a new route every day! The Accelerator can automatically distinguish between running and walking, and can calculate your average speed, distance, caloric expenditure, and total exercise time.
- The Accelerator has a delayed step counter feature that differentiates between ancillary movements and actual steps. This feature provides users with the most accurate results by delaying calculation until it has registered 10 steps in a row to eliminate false step counting.
- The smart scheduling features allows users to set the pedometer to automatically start/stop counting steps at a predetermined time every day, so you'll never forget to turn it on.
Personal Profile - This feature allows users to customize their watch to their specific body type and walking/running style. No matter how fast or slow, tall or short, each user can personally enter their weight, average walking stride, and average running stride in order to ensure accurate results.
- Hikers can easily account for loaded pack weights.
- Runners can dial in the stride length to account for varying terrain and/or speed workouts.
- Quickly adjust weight and stride lengths as conditioning improves.
Chronograph - The accelerator series’ powerful stopwatch features allow users to record exact results to within 1/100th of a second for up to 50 laps and a total time of 24 hours.
- Although the watch has several advanced ways of calculating speed and distance, the old-school chronograph still has a place and purpose.
Countdown Timer - A simple countdown timer can come in real handy at times. Set it for 10 minutes as a quick reminder. Use it to monitor your running/walking pace and set speed goals. Alternative Time Zone
- Great for those that travel! Allows users to set and display an alternative time zone along with the current home time display. Never lose track of time no matter where you are.
Daily Alarm Mode - We are all creatures of habit in our daily routines. The daily alarm is a great way to set a daily reminder or morning wake up alarm.
How the Technology Works
The underlying technology in the Accelerator Series Watches is an accelerometer sensor. Accelerometers are used to measure acceleration. Originally developed during the Space Race to replace outdated gyroscopes, accelerometers can be found in a diverse range of today’s products such as automobile air bags and tilt meters. In the Accelerator watch, a user's movement (acceleration) produces varying degrees of electric current within the sensor, allowing the watch to detect different levels of acceleration, and therefore measure speed and distance. Another way to explain how an accelerometer sensor works is to envision a marble in a bowl. When the bowl is moved, or accelerated, the marble inside will roll (accelerate) along the bottom and sides of the bowl. When the bowl is accelerated faster, the marble will move a greater distance up the sides. The accelerometer sensor in the Accelerator Series watch acts like an electronic marble in a bowl. With every step forward, the wearer of the watch (bowl) is accelerating forward. By measuring the acceleration of the "marble", the software inside the watch can then calculate the wearer’s speed and distance. The Competition
There are really only a few different ways to calculate the speed and distance of human-powered, on-foot travel. The first was basic math, next came the mechanical pedometer, followed by satellite tracking GPS years later. Mechanical pedometers are cheap and abundant, but also highly unreliable. They operate on a simply pendulum clicker that relies on the walker’s hip movement to count steps. Unfortunately, mechanical pedometers end up counting a lot of non-walking movements and assume that walkers are making consistent and repetitive steps. GPS technology is impressive, but also expensive, complex, and not always ideal for outdoor activities or indoor training. Satellite signals can be lost in heavily forested areas, indoors, or behind large buildings and receiving signals eats up batteries. When a good signal can be found, often the device does not receive info often enough to account for twisty backcountry trails. The Future
The Tech 4 O Accelerator Series fills the void between old mechanical pedometers and the overkill of GPS. A simple, yet versatile, wrist-watch design can provide extremely accurate speed and distance data in all conditions.
Publisher: Tech 4 O
Customer Reviews
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All the Features for a Great Watch!
I decided to try this watch, even though there were some mixed reviews on it, the price was excellent at $30. I have had and used this watch for over a month now, and I have been very pleased with its looks and operation, and highly recommend it. Some people thought it was difficult to set up. But I did not have any difficulty, and found it to be very easy to set up. I also have a Timex Iron-Man watch, and found that the "logic" in changing modes, setting time, alarms, etc for the Tech 4 O to be a little different, but not difficult. It took only a short time of reading the instructions and playing around with the buttons, and it all made sense and has become easy to use.
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<br />These are my observations after a month of use:
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<br />Pros: I find that this watch does just what it says, and it does it Very Accurately. The watch can calculate the number of your steps and distance traveled, speed @ mph, estimated calories burned and the time exercised, based on your personal imput settings. I find this watch to be an attractive sports watch which can be worn anytime anywhere. You can easily check your step or mileage goal while walking. I set up my personal steps at a high school track field which equals a quarter mile per lap. I found this to be quite accurate for me. I bought this watch, mainly, for the Pedometer Feature that I use almost daily to track my walking goal. I find the pedometer feature to be accurate and much easier to use than a belted pedometer. I also use the Count Down Timer and Alarm daily. The Backlight feature is similar to the Timex Indiglow and the Tech 4 O display is crisp, clear and easy to read.
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<br />Cons: Others have mentioned that the packaging is very cheap, but I didn't buy a package, I bought a quality watch. I usually throw away the watch package any way. I agree if you are giving this watch as a gift, you may want to take it out of the plastic box and wrap it in something more pleasing. The Instruction Manual could have been a lot more User Friendly. But with a little persistance and exploration you should be able to learn how to use this watch and enjoy its features.
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<br />This is a Great "Full Feature" Watch that looks good, while it does what it promises, and I highly recommend it.
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Great Watch
Even though there were mixed reviews on this watch, I decided to try it out. I have been very pleased with this watch, and highly recommend it. Some reviewers stated how difficult it was to set up. I did not find this to be true. In fact, it is VERY EASY to set up. If you are used to having a casio or timex watch, you will have to get used to a different "logic" in changing modes, setting time, etc. (Kind of like the difference between the PC and MAC). But after about 5 minutes of playing around, it all made sense. Overall, here are some observations after a few weeks of use:
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<br />Pros: This watch does just what it says, and it does it VERY accurately. IF you are looking for a watch that can calculate the number of steps and distance traveled, this watch is for you. This, in my opinion, is also an attractive sports watch. You will find yourself walking and staring at your watch seeing if it counts all of your steps(and it does). I like the backlight light (similar to indiglow) Also the display is crisp, clear and simple.
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<br />Cons: As previously mentioned, the packaging is very cheap. If you are giving this as a gift, take it out of the plastic box and wrap it in anything else. The directions look like they were printed by a 5th grader in his basement. The online directions are worse than the printed directions (though you can get a pdf copy of the printed directions for whatever that is worth) There are multiple grammatical errors and typos online. Obviously this online site was developed in China or India, with no native english advisor so it is basically worthless. But in the end, if you are able to order a watch off the internet, you should be able to learn how to use this watch. For me, the only minor issue I had with this watch was that in the Pedo mode, if you show distance, speed or calories, the top display flickers ever so slightly. It would appear to be a refresh rate issue while the Pedo is turned on. While it is off, there is no flicker.
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<br />I know my "cons" section seems larger than the "pros" section, but how long does it take to say, this watch is cool, it does what it promises, and it is attractive and unique. I highly recommend it.
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