Apple Nike + iPod Sport Kit for iPod nano 1G, 2G, 3G
by Apple Computer
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List Price: Our Price: $14.99 You Save: $15.00 (50%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Network Media Player See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Apple Nike + iPod Sport Kit for iPod nano 1G, 2G, 3G
Customer Review: Tips for ownership.
Summary: 5 Stars
First off this is a great addition to all the weekend warriors out there. It can help keep you motivated via the headphones or the internet (when you get home)
There are some minor things you should know about when owning one of these kits.
1. You have to have an iPod Nano, not a video, iphone, classic, shuffle, whatever... I plugged this into my ultra cool iPod touch and it did not work.
2. Put the disk inside your shoes tongue or get one of the lace kits. Dont buy the shoes built for this. (see next)
3. If you are not headed out the door DO NOT HAVE THIS IN YOUR SHOE! The battery will die and youll need to buy the sender unit (the red thing) again. If you run out to get groceries in your car make sure this is out of your shoe. Having one in your shoe and not having the iPod on will not save all your walking data.
Motion (of any kind even riding in your ash tray) will use up the battery! Take it out and place it on your dresser. Unless you live in a volcanic area it should last a long time.
4. Get a good belkin or other nano type running case. This will help.
All in all a great product. If you treat it well it is a great help for your fitness routine.
edit:
Just figured this out, if you use an ellipticle machine you can tape the sensor to the arm at the farthest point back. It is not 100% accurate but it does read fairly close. Basically you will lose 1/10th the run (or so on my em)
Hope this helps! You can check my progress: http://runnin2lose.blogspot.com
Customer Review: What a great tool!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had mine for about 3 weeks now. It's worked perfect from the start and is extremely accurate. I calibrated mine on a treadmill and it was spot on. I don't wear Nike shoes so I bought the pouch that straps on to the shoe laces and it works perfect.
I'm training for a 25K and this has probably been the most motivational and helpful tool I've ever used for running. If you're new to running and only slightly enjoy it, this is a great motivator. If you're an experienced runner, this device can help bring you to another level. You'll be able to see your times/distance/pace on the fly and from every past run and you'll be able to challenge yourself to prepare you for the next race.
It has so many great features. before you run you choose from a variety of distances such as 3K, 5K, 10K, half Marathon, or Marathon. You can also choose a 'custom' distance in "Miles" from 0.05 - 99.95 (it even shows the kilometer conversion below).
After your run you can upload the run data to [...] and it will display it as a line graph so you can see where you sped up or slowed down. You can see all of your past runs and see how you've improved. You can also set 'goals' like "Run 100 miles in 4 weeks" and it tracks your progress on a chart and lets you know if you're behind or ahead of your goal. There are many other features that you can use to track and/or motivate you to hit the pavement.
For me, this has been a great investment. $[...] is nothing when compared to what it's done for my running, health and even my confidence.
Customer Review: Great motivator, nice user interface, makes you want to run more!
Summary: 4 Stars
PROS:
This little piece of technology is awesome. It really helps me, (who never has liked running) want to run. Being able to see progress, and compete against other people online is awesome. I love the power-song feature. The Nikeplus website is awesome, and allows you to: Make teams to compete, make challenges to compete with individual people, make personal goals, and even use "virtual coach" to help you organize how to train for a 5K, 10k or other distances. The nikeplus website is really the icing on the cake. If you dont have access to the internet, this definetly will not be as appealing. This system doesnt seem to affect the nano's battery too much. It probably goes down about 5% fast, but nothing to much. The system seems to work with both my 3rd generation 4gb nano, and my sisters 2nd generation 4gb nano.
Neutral: i have not really tested the battery life of the sensor itself, since i have only had this for about a week. But the apple website says it should last 1,000 hours, altho I have my doubts. Im using a pair of Nikeplus shoes, (which i bought for 50$ at the Nike clearance store)and it seems to measure distances very well.
CONS: Since it only works with nano's, lots of people may not buy this. I dont understand why they didnt make it work with all ipods. The nikeplus shoes are not required, but make the sensor much more accurate. Replacing the sensor (about every year from what ive calculated) will cost 19$. You dont need to replace the whole kit, just the sensor, which like i said is 19$.
Customer Review: Usefull and Fun but not without flaws.
Summary: 4 Stars
So I have been using this item for about 6 months running about 2-4 times per week.
Pros:
-does work without NIKE shoes. I had to buy a Velcro strap for 1.99 of EBAY. The strap is to work intensive to take off on and on so be prepared to leave it on. Someone at the track I run at has a pouch and they said it is not accurate enough.
-very fun: talks to you, has lots of options including miles/kilometers, distance modes, calorie modes, time modes and an easy to use Nike/Ipod website to track your progress and compete against others.
-it does pretty much exactly what it says it will do and so far I've not had any technical problems. Once my ipod ran at of battery while running and it still kept that current run.
Cons - these are all minor:
- calibration is a must. I need to calibrate every other week to keep it accurate so if you don't have access to a track or an exact distance (at least 400 meters) this product is not for you.
-the website data does not incorporate temperature of run. I feel this would be easy to do (correlate zip code with time of run) with current internet abilities and is important since running in a 90 degree heat is not the same at running on a 60 degree night.
-only works with nano IPODs.
Bottom Line: Overall I love this product and I've noticed others at the track I run out using it and positively commenting on it. Yes it's from the dreaded NIKE but if it gets people motivated to exercise then I'm all for it.
Customer Review: Nice toy, Bad tool
Summary: 2 Stars
I'm training for a marathon and thought the Nike+ iPod Sport Kit would help me in my runs. I've been using www.gmap-pedometer.com to lay out the mileage before my runs but thought a real-time pedometer like this would be nice. On my first run (without calibration) I ran my regular 6 mile route and the unit registered 6.6 miles.
I went to use a treadmill at the gym to calibrate it using the 400-m distance and tested the unit's accuracy again using the same treadmill and it was still off. The only good thing about this is that it's consistent with it's error of about 10% so I factor this into my runs. I've found that the calculations can be affected by my stride and pace.
On my long runs I find it useful in acting as a distraction as I try to calculate errors from the actual distance versus Nike ipod unit. Some sites they mention the unit uses either a pressure or an accelerometer piezoelectric sensor. I tried a simple test of either continuously slamming the sensor against a hard surface to mimic acceleration forces, or pressing my fingers against the sensor to mimic pressure exerted by the foot. Only the slamming action seemed to register with the receiver so I'm assuming that the sensor is indeed an accelerometer-based piezoelectric sensor.
Remember to factor in the errors and this might be useful in tracking your pace and distance (using the nikeplus website). It's a nice toy but not worthy of consideration for those serious about their running equipment. It's marginally recommended.