Microsoft Band

themacdaddy

MJohnston wrote: »

I have to say, after a day using it, they've made a lot of little tweaks to the UI that I wasn't expecting from reading reviews. For example you can now set alarms and reminders to recur on Weekdays, Weekends, or every day, which is a fantastic, yet tiny, addition.

feck it, I am going for it. I exercise a lot so I can justify it to myself.I have reserved mine in Argos, will collect it this evening. Is it connect to the phone via bluetooth all the time?

g0g

themacdaddy wrote: »

feck it, I am going for it. I exercise a lot so I can justify it to myself.I have reserved mine in Argos, will collect it this evening. Is it connect to the phone via bluetooth all the time?

Don't forget to get your voucher with it! Mine seems to show as connected via BT any time I check on the phone.

themacdaddy

g0g wrote: »

Don't forget to get your voucher with it! Mine seems to show as connected via BT any time I check on the phone.

Brilliant, thanks. Excited now. Yeah will def get the voucher. Will come in handy for Christmas

Crocked

Picked mine up this morning. I was showing as between sizes so went for the large. Might be a click to big. I've been trying it between the last two settings and at times it can seem tight whilst also seeming like it'd move around a lot during exercise. Will test it on a run this evening to see how much movement there is during exercise. Maybe I'll just have to eat more cake and fatten up a bit more!

Scruff

themacdaddy wrote: »

Microsoft Band 1 £54.99 on amazon today...link here

tempted by this myself..

Crocked

Took it for a test run. Size is actually perfect.

Took the GPS 4k before it found the location on top of the five mins or so it was on before I started. Hoping that it'll find a location quicker as its used more and knows where it's usually used. Interestingly while it only had GPS for 1km it was only 30mtrs out for the total distance compared to my Garmin. Presumably it uses steps to estimate the bit it hadn't GPS for. Impressively accurate.

CatInABox

Crocked wrote: »

Took it for a test run. Size is actually perfect.

Took the GPS 4k before it found the location on top of the five mins or so it was on before I started. Hoping that it'll find a location quicker as its used more and knows where it's usually used. Interestingly while it only had GPS for 1km it was only 30mtrs out for the total distance compared to my Garmin. Presumably it uses steps to estimate the bit it hadn't GPS for. Impressively accurate.

I've stuck with my method from the Band 1, walk to an open area and start your run from there. If I'm on the street, then it'll never find the GPS, but if I move into the park literally 10 meters away, it'll pick up the GPS in less than thirty seconds.

I just do my warm up in an open area now.

pastor

My band has been playing up recently not syncing with the desktop app and not charging. I brought it back to Argos in Jervis St today and after testing it they agreed to replace it. No band 1s in stock so after a bit of looking they offered me a band 2 in L which of course I snapped up. Loving the new version especially the fit on the wrist. It looks and feels like a more premium device.

MJohnston

pastor wrote: »

My band has been playing up recently not syncing with the desktop app and not charging. I brought it back to Argos in Jervis St today and after testing it they agreed to replace it. No band 1s in stock so after a bit of looking they offered me a band 2 in L which of course I snapped up. Loving the new version especially the fit on the wrist. It looks and feels like a more premium device.

Ha, you got a big bargain there!

themacdaddy

Wearing mine for the last 4 hours. Will take a bit of getting used to but really liking it so far. I like the way you can build your own workouts etc. Be great if you could download more than a handful from MS Health but that may improve. Thumps up from me so far

themacdaddy

LIGHTNING wrote: »

You must have got the last one in Argos ya fecker :pac:

I got the medium, in Naas, There was a large and a small there yday mate. Hopefully you will get one soon.

ronnie3585

Lads, can anyone tell me if the golf app is working, i.e. when you turn it on does it detect local courses?

Can't seem to get a firm answer from Microsoft as to whether it'll work here.

Thanks.

Crocked

Went for my second run with it and decided I'd test the GPS from the same spot as I had on the first run which is surrounded by houses and tall tree's, before heading onto an open area like CatInABox suggested.

It took less then 10 seconds to lock onto my location this time. I was a bit dubious it had locked so I turned it off and tried again and the same thing, less then 10 seconds to lock on. Kept a good lock for the entire run. When looking at the map of the run later it seems to smooth out the route better then the Garmin Edge I'd previously used. Not sure if it gets a better lock or it just smoothes things out itself.

MJohnston

I think GPS can be affected by a lot of variables, could have been an extra electronic signal nearby interfering a little bit or something. Generally as long as I'm away from tall buildings and stand still it'll lock pretty quickly.

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

Is anyone using a screen protector with it? It has a lovely screen and I'd be raging it I scratched it.

Edit: protector recommendations welcome!

g0g

Penelope Unimportant Arrow wrote: »

Is anyone using a screen protector with it? It has a lovely screen and I'd be raging it I scratched it.

Edit: protector recommendations welcome!

I read recommendations somewhere that the clasp scratches a lot easier so people are putting things on that too! My clasp has a few small scratches on it, but I don't mind as the screen is grand.

g0g

My further observations after a few days:
1) Heart Rate appears to be fairly inaccurate, or else I'm wearing it too loosely. Mine says my resting heart rate is 45 and the average for my age group (35-44) is 53!? Surely that's way lower than reality?
2) Battery life absolutely fine for more than 24 hours, although I haven't used GPS yet.
3) I'd love to be able to get Whatsapp notifications but can't figure out how! Is it possible?
4) I wish notifications synced more quickly with the phone. I can have read an email a good while ago but when I look on the band there's still a notification for it.
5) Very comfortable to wear.
6) Sleep monitoring seems to be accurate enough
7) The calendar never seems to tell me I have anything on even though I know right now I have three events in the next 24 hours

Is FanBand worth getting? Is it just really for skins or does it add good functions?

lawred2

work with android?

g0g

lawred2 wrote: »

work with android?

I use WP but yeah they work with Android as I understand it, but some of the functions are missing.

lawred2

g0g wrote: »

I use WP but yeah they work with Android as I understand it, but some of the functions are missing.

as long as it would be able to measure the amount of times I walk from couch to kitchen and back; it'll suit me fine

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

Yeah, I have it working on android no problem. Few bits missing, like Cortana etc.

A cover for the clasp as well? Grrr - I hope I don't need one. Should I just carry around the band in the box it came in?

g0g

Penelope Unimportant Arrow wrote: »

Yeah, I have it working on android no problem. Few bits missing, like Cortana etc.

A cover for the clasp as well? Grrr - I hope I don't need one. Should I just carry around the band in the box it came in?

This is the one I've seen mentioned a few times. I thought about it but just couldn't be ar5ed!

lawred2

Penelope Unimportant Arrow wrote: »

Yeah, I have it working on android no problem. Few bits missing, like Cortana etc.

A cover for the clasp as well? Grrr - I hope I don't need one. Should I just carry around the band in the box it came in?

cortana is sh!te as far as I could tell

turned it off almost instantly on windows 10

Crocked

MJohnston wrote: »

I think GPS can be affected by a lot of variables, could have been an extra electronic signal nearby interfering a little bit or something. Generally as long as I'm away from tall buildings and stand still it'll lock pretty quickly.

The first day I had the garmin with me as well as I wanted to compare the band to it and it locked straight away so don't think there was any interference on that occasion. My thinking was that the first time used it hadn't any reference as to where it was so took longer to lock on, second time it knew where it was last a so could use that as a reference.

I was worried it might not be totally accurate when exercising given how small it is and how many sensors it has on board compared to bigger more specialised GPS units but it worked a treat.

Crocked

g0g wrote: »

My further observations after a few days:
1) Heart Rate appears to be fairly inaccurate, or else I'm wearing it too loosely. Mine says my resting heart rate is 45 and the average for my age group (35-44) is 53!? Surely that's way lower than reality?

I get a resting nightly HR of between 48 & 52. It mentions on the health site that your sleeping resting HR will be lower then your actual resting HR. I'm not sure though if they are comparing the sleeping per the band to a daytime resting HR when they tell you what the average for the age group is. I must do a daytime resting test at the weekend to compare.

I noticed at the weekend when on the bike turbo that the HR was a bit slower to ramp up and down on the Band if increasing or decreasing the intensity levels then the chest strap HR, but that the readings once I levelled off quickly came into line with each other.

MJohnston

g0g wrote: »

My further observations after a few days:
1) Heart Rate appears to be fairly inaccurate, or else I'm wearing it too loosely. Mine says my resting heart rate is 45 and the average for my age group (35-44) is 53!? Surely that's way lower than reality?
2) Battery life absolutely fine for more than 24 hours, although I haven't used GPS yet.
3) I'd love to be able to get Whatsapp notifications but can't figure out how! Is it possible?
4) I wish notifications synced more quickly with the phone. I can have read an email a good while ago but when I look on the band there's still a notification for it.
5) Very comfortable to wear.
6) Sleep monitoring seems to be accurate enough
7) The calendar never seems to tell me I have anything on even though I know right now I have three events in the next 24 hours

Is FanBand worth getting? Is it just really for skins or does it add good functions?

1) Resting heart rate isn't just based on age, it's based on gender, BMI, age, and activity level. Have a look at the web dashboard where you can modify your cohort
3) Once you add the general "Notifications" tile to the Band, you should get any notifications that come in on your phone that don't have a dedicated tile (like Mail, Calendar, Facebook, Twitter).
4) They never clear from the Band actually, until you've viewed them there. There's a free app called 'Clear My Band' which will reset all the tile counters for you.
7) I actually have no idea where it gets the Calendar items from - on the Calendar app on my phone I have Facebook birthdays turned off, but they still show up on the Band I wonder if this has to do with Outlook Calendar on W10 preview being well, a preview.

Regarding FanBand I've never used it, but Pimp My Band will allow you to set custom backgrounds and colours, and it's free, so if that's all you're after just use it.

themacdaddy

I love mine. Got it on Saturday. Took me a day to get used to wearing it but really love it.

Great for workouts, runs etc. Really enjoy it.

g0g

MJohnston wrote: »

1) Resting heart rate isn't just based on age, it's based on gender, BMI, age, and activity level. Have a look at the web dashboard where you can modify your cohort
3) Once you add the general "Notifications" tile to the Band, you should get any notifications that come in on your phone that don't have a dedicated tile (like Mail, Calendar, Facebook, Twitter).
4) They never clear from the Band actually, until you've viewed them there. There's a free app called 'Clear My Band' which will reset all the tile counters for you.
7) I actually have no idea where it gets the Calendar items from - on the Calendar app on my phone I have Facebook birthdays turned off, but they still show up on the Band I wonder if this has to do with Outlook Calendar on W10 preview being well, a preview.

Regarding FanBand I've never used it, but Pimp My Band will allow you to set custom backgrounds and colours, and it's free, so if that's all you're after just use it.

Thanks for that am trying out the notifications tile.
Re resting HR, sorry yeah I realise it's based on a number of factors, but I still didn't think it was normal to be in the 40's while you sleep. I'm relatively fit but no super athlete.

McGaz23

I missed out on the Amazon deal mention above, seems to have gone back up in price during the sales! Currys UK are the best I can find at the minute but looks like they're out of stock. Has anyone come across any good deals on these recently? Also anyone have any idea why Amazon are charging more for the Medium and small sizes compared to the large? Presuming its stock level or something?

BraveDonut

ronnie3585 wrote: »

Lads, can anyone tell me if the golf app is working, i.e. when you turn it on does it detect local courses?

Can't seem to get a firm answer from Microsoft as to whether it'll work here.

Thanks.

You can see what courses have been mapped on the Microsoft Health app. The service is provided by myroundpro.com
My course is not mapped :mad:
I logged a request for it to be mapped a few weeks back but I haven't heard anything.