In our life together so far, Paul and I have owned six scales. We haven’t liked a single one of them, and also they start wonking out after a year or two.
Our current scale has been working for me but not for Paul. I admit it’s given me a few strange readouts, but then it always gave a better answer the second try, and I don’t think stepping off and stepping on again is such a huge inconvenience. Also, I admit I’ve seen it doing its “calculating….calculating….calculating…” thing when no one was standing on it, but big deal. It’s only a LITTLE like a machine is coming to life and watching us while we’re vulnerable and unsuspecting.
So I wasn’t ready to pull the plug. Scales are hard to choose, and boring to spend money on. I sometimes think scales are a Bad Idea anyway. But just now Paul made an exasperated sound from the bathroom and then announced: “That’s it. We need a new scale.” His claim: the scale is not working. I wanted to ask if “not working” meant “telling him he weighs more than he thinks he weighs,” but before I could weigh (heh) the advisability of this possible line of inquiry he added that the scale is now literally non-functioning. My suggestion that the scale needed a new battery was met with a snort, and with the declaration that he didn’t care if it DID need a new battery, it wasn’t getting one, because it was a dumb scale to begin with. (I hope it didn’t hear him say that.)
So scale-questing it is. Here is the thing: I don’t want to have to do this again anytime soon, so what I’m most looking for is DURABILITY and NON WONKING OUT. Perfect accuracy is not important to me, as long as it gives me the general idea for those kid medications where I have to weigh the child to determine the dosage.
But PAUL wants perfect accuracy, and in fact he would like it to measure to the TENTH OF A POUND, which I think is stupid since drinking an 8-ounce cup of water changes a person’s weight by FIVE tenths of a pound.
And so we need The Perfect Scale. It must be:
- reliable
- non-wonking
- inexpensive
- fun to buy
- accurate to a tenth of a pound
- non-sentient/plotting
Other helpful info: a scale you have that you hate, so we won’t buy it.
Wow, it’s been an hour and I’m really the first comment on this post?
I’m just so shocked I had to say something. No one has much to say about scales, huh?
I also, don’t have anything to say about scales, LOL. But you raise such good points! It’s such a boring thing to buy, but we all have them! We all gripe about them! We all curse the stupid scale and it’s stupid ability to never be accurate and to drive us nuts every time we step on it!
So, for my own future reference when I’ll one day purchase a scale for my own house, I’ll be very interested to read what scale recommendations people have for you!
We have the Thinner brand scale (which is just an awful name for a scale since you have to see it EVERY time you get on the scale and its kind of a mean message to send, no?) which I bought at Bed, Bath and Beyond and it has lasted 5years and counting. I don’t think it was expensive (because if it was I wouldn’t have bought it) and it seems like the lazy sort so no fears of it taking over your house/corraling the other appliances in the night.
I have the same thing as Eleanor with no problems.
A few months ago I got The Healthometer Dr.’s Scale at Target in the $30 range.
It’s reliable thus far for us, goes to one-tenth of a pound and also has functions to track User 1 and User 2. You operate the users just by a push of your foot in the bottom right hand corner – not technical at all. It’s really sleek looking, too – these twisty metal stand things and a floating glass platform.
I’m pretty sure this is it: http://www.target.com/Health-O-Meter-Glass-Digital-Scale/dp/B001UCCPLY/sr=1-3/qid=1245375173/ref=sr_1_3/178-1393945-9024929?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=0&index=target&rh=k%3Ahealth%20o%20meter%20scale&page=1
My parents have a doctor’s office scale and I love going to their house and weighing. Fairly expensive, but you recalibrate yourself, so if they get wonky you just tighten a screw or…something. I don’t know how it works, I just know it does. :)
i haven’t owned a scale since leaving my parents’ house at 17 years old. mostly i’m fine with this, since i’m more of a “do my pants fit?” person than a “but how much do i WEIGH” person, but it’s been annoying recently because i’d sort of like to see how much my cats weigh. which is possibly the lamest thing i have ever written on the internet ever in the history of the world.
I’ve never had good luck with scales which is why I don’t use them anymore…(which may also be why I’ve gained 20 pounds this past winter!) hmmm
Anyway, I agree with Alice that I now am a “do my pants fit?” type of girl…:o) And the answer is…”tight, at best”. ugh.
OK, I’ve had the same scale for a year and a half, and I heart it. It was cheap and it is perfectly accurate. It matches up exactly with my doctor’s scale and it is always consistent. Unfortunately it only measures to a fifth of a pound, but maybe you can make an exception on that point because it’s so very accurate?
Anyway, here it is: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I33TR0/ref=ox_ya_oh_product
I am so with Alice! I hate owning a scale for my own purposes, because I don’t believe weight tells you anything meaningful, but I do want to know how much my cats weigh so I can give them the proper amount of food. It’s silly that I’ve been considering buying a Wii fit so I can create cat Miis so I can weigh my cats (and ok, play with the wii fit)
Cara has it! Buy a Wii and Wii fit and then you have something that you use for other purposes rather than just a boring scale. A scale that also keeps you fit? Ingenious. :)
Third on the Wii Fit!
No scale-related helpful comments, sorry.
Heh. You’re probably not looking for an old school non-battery operated one like ours. But it’s…classic?
As far as durability I can’t WEIGH in with an option yet since I just bought it last Sunday, but for value I can say Health-o-meters have a wide variety of prices, depending on how fancy you want to get. I went low-end and paid $17.88at Walmart because I agree that spending money on this is annoying. And it CERTAINLY didn’t read what I wanted it to, so I’ve spent every night this week doing the 30 Day Shred.
My parents have a doctor’s scale and it’s lasted for 25 years.
I have never had a good scale, so I looked up doctor’s scales and found this one, on sale, even! Bonus, you can also measure how tall you are. Well, maybe not YOU, but maybe people who live in your house whose height will change more than yours and your husband’s. :)
http://www.quicksupply.net/p-2850-detecto-439-doctors-scale-with-height-rod.aspx
We aren’t scale people, so I don’t have any words of swisdom. (Get it? Oh, I’m funny today.) But I did want to say that I’m impressed you can write a post about scales and make it funny. I also just last night went back and re-read your Postpartum Cookies entry, just to laugh. : )
i like my weight watchers scale that i got from costco. the only thing is – i don’t think that it will give you the accuracy you want. i step on and off 3 times and take the average of them 3. so, definitely don’t buy it
:)
I have the MOST ANNOYING non-digital scale EVER. I don’t know why I even bought a NON-digital scale to begin with except that it was probably cheaper. This morning I spent several minutes putting a 5 pound weight on the scale, adjusting it accordingly, taking the weight off, putting it back on and getting a different reading! So frustrating! I am loving these comments. I am so going to buy a new scale now. Tell us what kind you pick! Then maybe I will copy you. :o)
Our house has never had a scale and I think everyone is better off for it.
I have an old-skool dial-faced scale that I got from Drugstore.com maybe seven years ago. I like it because the digital ones sort of stress me out with the thinking and the flashing of the weight in big LCD numbers. So that’s not helpful, sorry.
The “non-sentient/plotting” bullet item about killed me, though. On that issue, I feel very safe with my analog scale.
We don’t own a scale–don’t think we ever have so I’m no use. I know the kid’s weight close enough for government work (but I don’t have 5 kids’ weights’ to keep track of–then I would need a scale). So I guess my advice is to not replace the scale at all. But, recognizing that probably won’t work for you I have no idea why I’m wasting space in your comments :) Good luck, anyway.
We have the $20 one from Target. It seems to be ok, although it has to be a little off as we weighed Carter a while ago and it said he was 24.5 then a doc appt revealed he was only 23 lbs 4 oz. So clearly, it doesn’t work but It seems to be within a pound or so.
Also, sorry if someone already said this or if you knew this and it is common knowledge (it was not to me), but if a floor is not level, it can impact the read out.
Gah, I just realized my comment is pretty much useless.
I use a scale that works fast, is accurate to the tenth of a pound, and probably cost a bazillion dollars. My very favorite thing about it is that it lives at the doctor’s office and I only get on it once every 3 months.
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I have a Tanita or Tatina or something like that brand. It weighs to a half pound. I weigh 2 out of 3 and the numbers are always right by a .5 It also does fat %. I think we bought it at Costco at least 3 or 4 years ago, maybe more. I’ve been very pleased. I know they have lots of different scales, so they probably can weigh to the tenth with a different model.
The best scale I’ve ever had was a $6 scale from Ikea. It always read consistant, matched the docs scale and was compact. I’ve invensted in some expensive pieces of garbage.
My folks also love their Weight Watchers scale. It’s accurate, with large digital numbers (which means no reading glasses. I know I shouldn’t chuckle….but I do) and it too is very similar to the docs scale.
My scale is a Tanita. It is digital and goes to a tenth of a pound. I can’t remember how much it was but I’ve had it forever and there has been no wonking or plotting (unless it’s very good and I’ve missed it.)
I don’t remember if it was fun to buy or not but you can program it for different members of the family and it also does a BMI thing, which to tell you the truth, I do not understand whatsoever.
I’m not sure how I feel about a culture in which we all need to know how much we weigh to the tenth of a pound. There doesn’t seem to be any room for eating and living if we’re that obsessed. I believe that most of Europe (and indeed the rest of the world) would express that general sentiment about North America’s weight obsession.
That being said, we’ve owned the same non-digital scale since we got married. It’s accurate within a pound or so, and basically lines up with the doctor’s scale. And I don’t have to replace batteries. I feel like it provides me with enough basic information that I can proceed with my life, knowing whether I’m ridiculously obese or not. :-)
i feel like scales are so inaccurate.
We have a Sunbeam digital scale. The model number on the bottom is SDR743DQ-01, but I’m unable to find it online, making me think it’s been replaced with something else.
Overall I like the scale, but when it’s doing it’s thing you have to hold absolutely still, which is nearly impossible for a three-year-old to do without trying about a million times. It measures weight to the nearest tenth of a pound and in the year we’ve had it I haven’t had to replace the battery.
Good luck in your search!
firstly, I vote for no scale.
Kev keeps ours in the shop for the racecar….boys, whaddyagonnado?….
And it’s a $10 scale from the 1700’s that’s country blue.
(:-D
Once again, no help whatsoever, other than the witty color commentary. (:-D
this has got to be one of the top ten weirdest posts that we’ve ever come across. :-)
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