fake "body fat" scales from Jaycar

Can you actually put a scope on the conductive feet strips and see anything?

The Jaycar wording is: [quote] "Do you know how much excess body fat you are carrying, or are you one of the lucky few who are within healthy limits. Find out with our 'Body Fat Scales'. Ordinary scales can only measure body weight, they can't give you any indication of the amount of body fat you are actually carrying, and it's body fat that counts. These scales can be calibrated for use by 8 different people and requires just their height & sex to be entered & stored. The scales can also calculate your body fat percentage if all the relevant data is entered." [/quote]

This clearly says that body fat can be *calculated* if you enter the relative data. Nothing about measurement at all. Although if it's on the box then that's a different story.

If there ain't no signal coming out the feet strips, take it back. Or just take it back anyway! :->

The professional models are quite good and are based on lots of research, but all these cheap ones that have flooded that market in the last couple of years are little more than toys.

Dave :)

But not by what... ;-)

Like the electronic scales I bought from ebay.

I thought they were really accurate for a while because if one got off and on a few times the scales still came up with the same mass i.e. 76.8kg

76.8kg 76.8kg etc etc until I discovered it just stored the previous reading in memory and if the next reading was within 0.5 kg the scales would simply display the previous reading.

Ross

Same with the jaycars scales, the reading would float around but then at the very last moment always land on the exact same reading. To get an accurate reading you have to pick something up that weighs over 500grams to reset it.

Is it possible this is a limitation of the methid being used? Maybe the water needs to be distributed throughout the body?

Fuck man, if you are fat, its going to be pretty visible. You dont need a toy to tell you. I suggest only a fat f*ck will complain. I am getting kinda fat these days, but i dont need any toy to tell me. Get a life you d*****ad, if you are stupid enough to beleive it then you deserve to be ripped off.

If you want a decent set of personal scales, the buy the AND uc321

Cause they can be calibrated and do show real weight. BE prepared to spen $300 AU dollars plus though. IF you dont want to spend that money, then dont complain.

Mike wrote in news:43eaa188$1 @quokka.wn.com.au:

No they're not. Google for phrases like "mere puff" and "Carbolic Smokeball Company". You've got Buckley's of demonstrating that you bought in to anything other than entertainment. Take Jaycar's reputation, the wording of the advertisement (what was written on the box is irrelevant, you purchased on the strength of the puf^H^H^Hadvertisement, not the box). You know that line about snowballs and hell? That's where you stand. This is first year undergraduate law, and not a smidgin more!

GB

If you are taking steps to lose weight then a set of scales is necessary to monitor your progress. It not so important that the scales are perfectly accurate but they can help monitor *changes* in you body fat. This shows you how successful your weight loss program is. Gives you an idea if you are heading in the right direction. I weigh myself at the same time each day, wearing the same clothing because my weight varies so much through the course of a day. Here is a bit of a guide that might help you to use those scales.

Actually these scales must be doing something because they don't work if you've got shoes on.

Michael

"The Real Andy" wrote

AHAHAHA what a hypocrite.

P.S. Don't believe your missus when she says she doesn't mind the gut.

I've not used the Jaycar one, but a similar model Target sells ..

It actually *CALCULATES* your BMI (Body Mass Index) which is your body fat percetage, and only needs weight, height, sex and age to do so. The electrical part measures Hydration levels, which if its anything like the Target scales, it should also show.

Mine flash up weight, BMI, Hydration %

The Hydration % is what it measures electronically, the BMI is calculated. The wording on the website even implies this also.

Nitpick - the BMI is no such thing.

It is the old height weight charts under another name, with no possibility of range based on body type.

Zebee

Hydration % isn't the same as Body Fat %, and BMI is essentially worthless.

All of these cheap devices are nothing but toys, only good for weight measurement. If you want true body fat % you have to spend some $$$ for a more professional unit, and prefereably one with handgrips too so it can take measurements from different points..

Dave :)

Quite right, they do have electrical sensors. But the reading is faked.

My guess is that the hardware was designed to do it properly, but didn't work, so they did a software "fix" to fake it. But thats just speculation.

Sure the accurate ones need calibration, and are expensive. Most people just want bathroom scales that are reasonably

*consistent*, and thats much easier.

So I should have been suspicious of the $50 price tag? The same day I ordered a DVD-player with MPEG-4 for the same price, and it works fine. It is much more complex than a set of scales, and includes components of considerably higher precision. All from China, of course.

I thought of that, but we did plenty of other tests. All show perfect correlation between mass and %fat reading. But it takes several seconds to "measure" _after_ the weight is given. It has plausible deniabilty though. No doubt the execs in Taipei would blame the engineers in China.

It will give an error if you wear shoes, so it does something.

yes, and yes. The website is careful, so I assume jaycar knows, but they havn't changed the packaging.

Oh I am. I might try the $90 model, and exchange if its any good. I'll watch out for the fake consistency that Ross mentioned too. e.g. weigh myself, pick up a known weight, and try again.

The thing with this one is that is actively deceptive. And they appear to know it. Its cheaper to give a few refunds, than to change the labels and manuals, I guess.

At least i am still sub 100kg, not overly fat for a 6' lad. It still does not make me stupid enough to buy tele-trader fat scales.

Sounds like you are worried cause your missus cant see you tiny penis underneath your fat rolls