Product Requirements:
Desktop:
Internet connection to view web page stats. 
Internet Explorer 4.0 or above, Netscape 4.0 or above, or AOL 5.0 or above. (The SportBrain Web site is not compatible with WebTV)

08/01/01 Update: Sportbrain, Inc. has gone out of business.

How active are you? If  you are an average person like myself, you might be surprised at just how non-active you are.  I know that I'm pretty sedentary. I basically get up, go to work, sit at a desk for 8hrs, come home and sit at my computer for 2hrs, eat dinner, sit in front of the TV for 2hrs, go back to my computer for 1hr, and then go to bed for 8hrs. I don't see any exercising listed in that daily routine do you? My excuse was always that I didn't have time to exercise. I work a full time job and then come home to work on The Gadgeteer as another basically full time job. Who has time to fit a workout into their day? 

A year ago I purchased a treadmill. My intentions were to start using it. I did use it a few times here and there, but didn't get into any type of a routine. Then last fall, I had an ankle injury that left me hobbling around for several weeks. That was another really good excuse not to workout. 

Then one of our readers sent me the link to the SportBrain and since then, I've been putting effort into getting more active. 

What is a SportBrain? It's a small plastic module that you can slip over the waistband of your pants. Every time you take a step, the SportBrain records it. At the end of the day, you pop the Brain into a docking station which is plugged into a phone line. The dock then uploads your data for the day to the web where you can immediately view it.

The basic idea is that if you can walk at least 10,000 steps a day, you will be a healthy person. The SportBrain helps you track those steps.

The module itself (which they call the Tracker) is small and light weight. It easily slips over the waistband of your jeans, sweats or any type of pants. The brain is powered by a CR2032 coin cell battery (included). The battery should power the Tracker for 3 months. I've been using mine for almost a month and haven't changed the battery yet.

With every step that you take, a small green LED on the Tracker blinks. At first I found myself constantly looking down at the Tracker on my waist to see if was blinking as I walked. 

The docking station which is called the SportPort is powered by 3 AAA batteries (included), which should last for approximately a year. The SportPort is actually a modem and as such has to have a phone line plugged into it in order to dial out to the SportBrain server. You can easily plug it in between your phone and the wall jack. Everything you need is included. 

The Tracker snaps into the port relatively easily. Sometimes I worry that I might break off the little Tracker clip but that has not happened yet. There are no buttons or switches on the Port. There is just an LED that blinks green as the data is being uploaded. It will also blink red, if there is any type of error up-loading your data.

If you want to keep track of your heart rate, you can also purchase a the Heart Rate Strap. This strap is a heart rate monitor which is great because it is wireless. You just use the elastic band to hold it around your chest and it transmits the signal to your Tracker. Every time your heart beats, the little LED on the Tracker on your waist blinks. 

The Heart Rate Strap is also powered by a CR 2032 battery.

If you already have a heart rate monitor, it is possible that it might be compatible with the SportBrain. You can check the SportBrain website for a list of compatible straps.

Overall the SportBrain hardware is very easy to use and set up. It is also pretty sturdy... as my Tracker has suffered several drops onto a hard floor and still works fine.

Below is a diary from Judie and I that maps out our experiences with the SportBrain...

12/17/00 - Julie: One of our readers Robert A. Foster saw the SportBrain site on the net let me know about it. I added it to the New Gizmos section and thought it would be a great review item. I also thought that getting one for me AND one for Judie would be a really fun way to do a dual review that involved some competition.

12/17/00 - Judie: Julie sent me an e-mail with a link to the SportBrain site, simply saying "this looks interesting." My exact reply was, "Ooooo, get us one!".  She told me about the competition idea, which I thought was great, because I love competing for anything. I looked at the site for a bit and was impressed with what I saw - especially with the fact that they offer "contests", in the form of rewards for steps walked each day. Wow - so even if you didn't have a buddy to "compete" with - you could still have a real motivation to actually stick with it!

Since I just had to keep learning about our possible new review subject, I went to the Tour pages. I almost freaked when I saw my name spelled correctly at the top of the page! It was like a sign to get off my butt and do this! I wrote Julie back asking if it still said "Judie" when she went to the page, or if somehow it was personalizing to my name. She calmed me down, and assured me that I wasn't having a "Twilight Zone" moment, it said "Judie" when she accessed it, too. :0)

12/20/00 - Julie: Received 2 SportBrains and 1 heart monitor strap today! I am really anxious to try them, but Judie and I have decided that we should start using them at the same time. I'm going to mail hers to her tomorrow.

12/23/00 - Judie: I received my SportBrain – it was very easy to set up my personal account and web page. The page is great, there are little messages to get you motivated:

There's an area for your steps so far today, and all of your steps yesterday. Along with the little "Happy Heart" you are supposed to try to fill up. Tomorrow I should actually have some results to show. Also, there is a graph that shows how you are doing according to your goal, and how you are faring against all the other people in your age/sex group! I'll show those items tomorrow...

I invited Julie to join me as a SportGuest. I was very pleased to see that since there was no local service number – I was able to use a toll free line. One of the coolest things about this that I can see so far, is that there are no hidden costs. You get a free web page to check your stats on, and if you don't have a local number, they give you the free one to use - I mean how often does this happen?

12/23/00 - Julie: Judie received her SportBrain and set it up so that I could view her progress. I did the same with mine. It was really easy to setup. You do it all thru the web. Then you plug in the unit into a phone line (between your phone and the wall jack.... you can still use your phone) and pop the little module in and it automatically dials out and syncs your steps! There's no buttons, switches or anything. It must go out to the web and check your info to see if there is a local phone number to dial. If there isn't, it uses an 800 number. Great thing is, that once you buy the SportBrain, you don't pay for any services. Since it is almost Christmas, we originally decided to start using them the day after Christmas... then we changed our minds and decided to start right away. We can't resist trying out a new gadget!

12/24/00 - Judie: I received this letter from SportBrain: 

I thought that that was friendly and humorous! :0)

I am getting used to wearing my SportBrain all the time – I am a confirmed SLUG. Very easy to upload info – just press into modem, and wait a couple minutes, then go back to computer and look at progress! Fun & motivational! We agreed to start on treadmills Wednesday! It just really sunk into my thick skull that they give PRIZES at this site if you fulfill the requirements! Wanted to start one of the “events”, as they call them  - but there wasn’t one going right now that I could do. It looks like they run for 15 days at a time – so I will have to wait for the next Event! I got a letter from Julie inviting me to watch her SportBrain progress:

Here are some results from yesterday, as promised: You can see that I didn't get anywhere near my goal yesterday, and that all the other women in the 30-35 age group are creaming me!

This is really great! I am thinking about sending the same form letter to all of my alumnae sorority sisters, so they can watch my progress - or lack of, and also so they can leave me SportNotes! These are little e-mails people can send you when they log in to your SportBrain page. 

I did 4,220 steps today. My goal is 8000, so obviously I am way short! UGH!

12/24/00 - Julie: I don't even notice that I have the SportBrain on my waist band. It's totally light weight and not obtrusive. We have decided to do normal activity for the first couple days and then we'll start trying to accumulate as many steps a day as we can. Why do I think that Judie is going to totally walk all over me during this review?! :-)  3,075 steps today

12/25/00 - Judie: I am getting completely used to wearing the SportBrain – I check it constantly to make sure it’s there. Julie & I would like to be able to somehow load web page info onto our iPAQ’s! It would be soooo cool if there was a conduit available to do that. We also want to be able to see each other’s graphs and other more personal info, instead of just a daily amount of steps. Have to ask if that’s possible! 3,438 steps today. Can you say...SLUG? :0)

12/25/00 - Julie: Christmas day - I'm addicted to walking around and then uploading the data just to check how many steps I've accumulated since the last sync. Then I automatically go check Judie's page to see if she's got more steps than I do. So far we're pretty much even... I can see how this tool could be very motivational to a slug like myself! 2,240 steps today

12/26/00 - Judie: I took some time to explore the extra things you can keep track of – and added various body measurement frames to my page – wish it was possible to graph these things, too! Also added BMI – there needs to a BMI calculator imbedded in page – had to search the net for a good one, which I found at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. I did 6,377 steps today - a little better, but still not quite my goal!

12/26/00 - Julie: Ordered a set of different colored snap on faces for the brain.... yeah, I'm a dork! :-) I'm wishing that I could see more of Judie's data. All I can really see is her steps for the current day and the day before. It would be nice if I could allow her to see all my data and visa versa. Used the heart monitor strap. It's pretty cool to see your heart rate on the graphs page. Wow, I have a fast heart rate! 2,980 steps today

12/27/00 - Judie: I did 30 minutes on the treadmill, and when I uploaded it, it didn’t show! Yikes! I reloaded, and the same thing happened!!!!! I e-mailed SportBrain customer service & Michele Hickford, the co-founder of the company (!) almost immediately responded. Excellent customer service!!!! Michelle made me her SportGuest, and so I was able to see what a "non-slug’s" steps look like! Michelle also told me that, "NEXT  YEAR WE'LL BE INTRODUCING A SCALE THAT ACTUALLY TRANSMITS YOUR WEIGHT TO YOUR  SPORTBRAIN  AND AUTOMATICALLY GRAPHS IT." Too cool! Julie & I agreed that we will have to get one of those! 

I also got a reply about wanting to know if they had plans in the future to make it compatible with Pocket PC  or Palm type devices: "THAT'S A VERY COOL IDEA. WHAT WE'RE WORKING ON FIRST OF ALL IS  EXPANDING OUR "PLATFORM" SO THAT MORE THINGS CAN TALK TO THE SPORTBRAIN (SCALE,  CYCLOMETER, ETC). BUT THEN THE NEXT THING IS TO SEE WHAT ELSE WE  CAN TALK TO."

Right here and now, I have got to say that there is nothing more excellent than having the co-founder of a company, any company, actually LISTEN to you. 

Julie thinks she's dorky for ordering the 4 face plates for the SportBrain - but I think we must be right up there on the geek ladder together, because I signed up for the "Face of the Month" club for $49! As the name implies, you are supposed to get a new face, once a month, for a year. They are going to have some "special edition" faces - how was I supposed to pass up on that?? Go ahead and say it! All of you together! GEEK! DORK! Yep - that's me! :0)

I ordered a SportBrain for my 11 year-old daughter, Sarah. She thinks it looks like fun to track how many steps she gets in a day! I did 8,072 steps today!!!!

12/27/00 - Julie: Ugh. I have developed a horrible head cold over night.... and this was supposed to be my first ACTIVE day on the treadmill. Went ahead and walked for 27 mins. Feel dead but am glad that I'll have more steps today! 5,262 steps today 150 avg. BPM heart rate while walking on TM.

12/28/00 - Judie: Missed my goal of 8000 by 900 steps! UGH! Didn’t feel good, and didn’t feel like moving! I did 34 minutes on the treadmill, and then threw in the towel! I did manage to record my stats. There can be no snickering out there when you read these - OH! The things I will do for a review! :0/

12/28/00 - Julie: Still feeling puny... Probably won't have many steps today. I'd rather sit in a chair than walk around due to the fact that I can't breath. 2,856 steps today.

12/29/00 - Judie: I did 50 minutes on the treadmill! I am so into this doo-dad! Now my husband wants one, too! I missed my goal of 8000 yesterday – I don’t want that to happen again, now that I am in the groove!!!

I signed up for an event that will start on Jan 01, 01. What a great motivator!

My target points will be 700 – sounds really easy when you think they mean 700 steps – but what that really means is 70,000 steps! For every 100 steps, you get 1 point. This means that I will have to do 70,000 steps between Jan 01 – Jan 14. Can I do it? Sure! This breaks down to fewer than 5,000 steps a day! Piece of CAKE!

One thing though – you have to make sure you really want to do what you enroll in – because once the event starts, you can’t switch to another one! You can however switch as many times as you want up until the day the event actually starts!

So what will I get for the event I signed up for? I’ll get 50% off up to four SportBrain trackers! At the rate I am going I will need every one of them, because every one that has seen mine wants one! I’ll wait to order B’s until I win!! :0) I did 13.440 steps today!!

12/29/00 Julie: Ugh... I'm feeling like my head was run over by a train and Judie is walking on the TM for 60mins! She's a maniac! But, seeing her steps motivated me to take my Kleenex carrying butt to the TM and do 30mins. 5,335 steps today.

12/30/00 - Judie: This was my second day of doing over 10,000 steps – I wonder how long I can keep this up?? I really am motivated, though! I did 12,643 steps today!

12/30/00 - Julie: Had a problem today where I tried to sync my steps and the dock started blinking red instead of green. Tried it again and had the same problem. Waited for a few mins and tried again... this time it worked. Weird. 5,481 steps today.

12/31/00 - Judie: I am getting a little worried about what will happen when I go to Market in January. I signed on for an activity and I know I won’t be getting any Sportivities done while I am gone. I might still get in my 5000 steps a day – I HOPE!!! 14,016 steps today! :0)

12/31/00 - Julie: Walked on the treadmill twice today for a total of 42mins. I'm never going to beat Judie at daily total steps!!! 6,245 steps today.

01/01/01 - Judie: What a great day! I have decided that the only thing needed to make this the most awesome program available would be either their own form of diet tracking, or if there were some way it could integrate with existing programs, such as Vivonic. That would be the TOTAL Package!!!! I wrote to Michele, once again, and this was her reply, "It's something we want to do, but there's no release schedule yet. We definitely want to find an easy way for people to track calories (and make it hard to cheat!)." Good Idea! :0)

I started my activity today, and I am well on my way!!! I’ll get on the tready a little later, and put in my hour! :0) 11,251 steps today.

1/2/01 - Julie: Back to work after vacation. Just going to do a normal "sit on my butt" day to see how much of a slug that I am while I'm at work. 3,512 steps today.

01/03/00 - Judie: Julie brought up a really good point today: there needs to be an easier way to get to your buddy’s pages. Right now it’s pretty round-a-bout, unless we are missing a shortcut, somehow. Also, we would like to be able to see more detail on our Buddy pages! 

I crapped out on the tready tonight – I didn’t eat enough dinner, or something, and about 40 minutes into my workout – I thought I was going to pass out! I gave up, and went to get something to eat.

Sarah used her brain for the first full day today, and logged in over 10,000 steps! No wonder that little girl is SOLID muscle!!! :0) I only did 8,161. 

I would like to bring up something right here...this is a great way to motivate your child to move! Not only is Sarah signed up for the $5 off certificate from CD Now, she is also having FUN beating her mother at steps! This is such a great thing to do together!

01/04/01 - Judie: I am still feeling yucky. I am not sure what's going on with me, but the thought of getting on the tready makes me want to throw up! Only 3,202 steps today.

1/4/01 - Julie: I'm wondering if there is a calibration problem with the SportBrain. I find that my TM shows that I'm walking at a faster speed and doing more distance than what is showing up on my SportBrain stats page. I wonder which is more accurate...? 4,352 steps today. The first day that I beat Judie at steps! Woo woo!

01/05/01 - Judie: I will do my hour tonight if it kills me! I got a new (to me) WinCE gadget today, and haven't been able to tear myself away...yet! :0) 8,653 steps today...I am trying to get back on track. Sarah is continuing to kick Julie's and my butts! She does over 8,000 points a day - some days hitting 14,000! 

1/5/01 - Julie: Let's face it, I'm a slug! How the heck does Judie walk 60mins a day on that TM? I can't get myself to even walk 30mins every other day. Ugh! 3,539 steps today.

10/06/01 - Judie: 10,502 steps today. This has got to be my best week yet!

1/6/01 - Julie: Walked 35mins today! Yay me! 6,874 steps today.

01/07/01 - Judie: I am kicking butt! Doing 10,000 points a day - I am also almost done with my activity! I think I may have it finished, and my prize won before I have to leave for market!!! I did 10,467 steps today. :0)

1/7/01 - Julie: 3,571 steps today

01/08/01 - Judie: Okay - so I decided to slack off a bit, today! Jeez, why is it I feel soooo guilty? Maybe it's because all I have to do is look at my calendar, and I can see the drastic difference between today and yesterday! I did 3,982 steps today.

1/8/01 - Julie: I heard somewhere that the average number of steps that people walk a day is around 3,000. Looks like that I'm right in that average when I don't walk on the TM... .3,279 steps today

01/09/01 - Judie: I have hit 102% on my activity thing. I won my reward, before I left for Market!! 

:0) I am disappointed that I couldn't enroll for another reward right away - but at least it's only 5 more days till the next one starts!! :0) I did 4,283 steps today. I need to get back in gear! :0/

1/9/01 - Julie: 3,020 steps today

01/10/01 - Judie: 4,095 steps today. It's official - I am a slug. :0( I leave for Dallas tomorrow - I really think my numbers will improve, but unfortunately - I will have no way to check them! I am going to leave the SportPort in San Angelo so Sarah can load her SportBrain every day. At least I will be able to look up her steps for her from Dallas. I am taking my IBM z50, an HPC WinCE device, and I'll be able to connect to the web with it. :0) Hopefully I will have a pleasant surprise waiting when I get back to San Angelo - I'll get to see what it looks like when you are on your feet all day! I will also get to test out the memory on this little device. It is supposed to able to store around a week's worth of steps without being "dumped" - so I am going to put it to the test! 

I am a little bummed out - the "Face of the Month" evidently isn't going to happen just yet. I guess it was accidentally offered, and I signed up for it, before they could remove the option. I couldn't believe it though, since it wasn't being offered, and I had ordered the package -  the folks at SportBrain "FedExed" me a January edition SportFace with an interesting pattern in blue to it, with a very nice apology. Of course, blue is Sarah's favorite color - so I had to give it up almost as soon as I had received it! 

1/10/01 - Julie: 2,932 steps today

01/11/01 - Judie: I spent most of the day in a truck riding from San Angelo to Dallas - which took about 5 hours. Ugh, once I got home, I found that I only had 2,324 steps today! I think I have hit an all-time low. :0P

1/11/01 - Julie: Today I didn't feel like doing diddly and you can tell! 2,260 steps today

01/12/01 - Judie: I was on my feet all day, promoting the products that my husband makes. I had several people ask me what kind of pager I was wearing - which gave me an excellent opportunity to tell them all about Julie's and my contest, and the product that has become my "constant companion"! I did 6,440 today. Well under my goal - but at least an improvement over my sorry numbers from the past couple days!

1/12/01 - Julie: 3,390 steps today

01/13/01 - Judie: I found out the hard way that the internet way of checking your points does not work with a CE based device. Sarah was dying to know what her steps were up to - and so I agreed to check for her. I was greeted with the message that "Oops! We'd love to welcome you to SportBrain.com, but for this Beta version we are only supporting Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape 4.0 and above." What a bummer!!! I had 5,482 steps today.

1/13/01 - Julie: Got back to walking on the TM today! Walked for 35mins. 6,081 steps today

01/13/01 - Judie: I had 3,994 steps today - sounds cruddy - but you can tell I was on my feet all day! Look at this graph:

1/14/01 - Julie: Walked for 33 mins on the TM. 5,649 steps today

01/15/01 - Judie: 4,613 Steps today - more of the same. On my feet all day - but not really being able to move much more than a 10' x 30' booth will allow. :0(

1/15/01 - Julie: 5,554 steps today

01/16/01 - Judie: 11,318 steps - Not because I wanted to, either! It was 38 degrees in Dallas, and raining! We had to dismantle the booth, which was no easy affair, I promise you. Then we had to make about 600 trips to the truck which was parked what seemed like a million miles away - in the cold nasty rain! I was looking for a RedCap to help us out, but I guess all the other exhibitors had the same idea. So that is why I had an explosion of activity. Now for the bad part...I am sicker than a dog, and I have a sore throat that you would not believe. I already had laryngitis - now I sound like a frog with laryngitis! Bummer!

1/16/01 - Julie: 3,401 steps today

01/17/01 - Judie: I am so glad to be home! Because I am so sick, I am not going to be going near the treadmill for a couple of days at least. Knowing that Julie and I are nearing the end of our contest - I feel like I am going out with a whimper, instead of a bang! The good news, though, is that I intend to continue using my SportBrain forever! I have never had an item like this that could keep me on track in such a manner - without the ability to "fudge" my results! The thing of it is - you can't cheat! You can't make yourself feel better about what a bad day you had step-wise by fudging your numbers with what you think you should have accomplished! You either did your steps - or you didn't - and the SportBrain lets you know with almost brutal honesty! Oh - and I had 3,203 steps today. 

1/17/01 - Julie: Went to the mall on my lunch hour. Was surprised to see that part of that walking around was counted as a Sportivity on my web stats page! 5,760 steps today.

01/18/01 - Judie: Still feeling poorly, still sound like a frog...and I only did 3,672 steps today. That's okay, because I know that when I feel better - I will get back in gear! :0)

1/18/01 - Julie: I found that the SportBrain kept coming off my waistband today when I was cleaning house. Stooping and bending tend to make it push up and off my pants. Even though I'm using the little 'leash' for it, I think they should think about having more of a clip that grabs your pants. It's hard telling how long the SportBrain was dangling from my belt loop while I was running around sweeping floors. I hate thinking I missed recording a bunch of steps due to that problem. Also had the blinking red light problem again tonight with the Port. 4,112 steps today.

01/19/01 - Judie: Well, this is the last day I am going to record for posterity...4,714 steps...and I am okay with it. I still feel like I was hit by a truck, but I also know that as soon as I am better - I will get my numbers right back where they belong. The good news is that my stats are actually excellent...take a look:

Although I managed to gain 2 pounds over time - probably from all the steak dinners while at Market in Dallas -  I still managed to lose inches! I lost an inch from my chest, 1/2" from my hips, a full inch from my waist, and 1/2" from my thigh! Yay! There is something to be proud of! :0)

In any case, I can completely see using this product for the long run. It is easy to use, unobtrusive, and fun - perfect for families, teams, or buddies!

1/19/01 - Julie: Last review entry for me. Although I didn't reach my goal of 8000 steps once during the review period, I do feel Like I have increased my overall activity from slug to turtle level. I was surprised to notice that even just a slight increase in daily activity has allowed me to lose 3 lbs in this last month! I know I still have a long way to go to really getting into the groove, and I think this little gadget is going to help keep me motivated to do just that. I'd recommend the SportBrain to anyone that wants to improve their activity level. As long as you have access to the Internet, it's a tool that anyone can use.

Price: $99 for one SportBrain, SportPort, & SportFace (30 day money back guarantee / 1yr warranty), $49.95 for Heart Rate Strap, $9.99 for additional SportFace packs. 

To see the full catalog of available SportBrain accessory products, click here. 

Pros:
So easy to do, even a child can manage it
Personal web-page from which you can track progress - or lack of
No cheating allowed
EXCELLENT customer service and support

Cons:
Have to have an internet connection to view data
Would like to be able to view homepage from a CE device
Need a direct link to Buddy pages
Need a way to graph weight