Sending my fully functional Surge back for refund.

[Mr.Noname]

Why?

1.  A white on black monochrome display.  Really!?  Very 1980's.

2.  Day of week not on display.

3.  Very uncomortable to wear when sleeping.  Very bulky and the rubber catches on pillows and sheets.

4.  Band has many reports of breaking and cannot be replaced by consumer.  I'm not willing to go through that hassle.

5.  Only a one year warranty.  (See #4.)  You are basically renting a Surge for a year.

6.  No "seconds" hand on watch face.

7.  Extremely difficult to read in sunlight/daylight.

8.  I live in a high heat climate, band does not breathe.

9.  Overpriced for something that wears out quickly and replaced so easily (under warranty).  Makes me feel that this is a "throw away" device.

10.  Community run boards/Condescending and rude Fitbit trolls in these boards.  If you don't know the answer or how to help, don't jump into the topic and then get defensive when called on your lack of knowledge.  Two posters in particular I found extremely unhelpful and annoying but they seem to have a need to jump in everywhere and start flame wars when called out.

11.  I don't want to be part of the elitist Fitbit clique mindset that is similar to other high tech gadgets/cellphones.

12.  I also don't like James Park or CNET.  I really don't like James Park.  He only wants my money.  Go finish your degree Mr. Park.  (See #5 and 11.)

13.  Fitbit PC program (Don't make me call it an "App".  See #10.) kept indicating I had two Fitbits in my house forcing me to log in everytime I started that program.

14.  Due to injuries, I usually hold the handrails on my treadmill.  Fitbit forced me to swing my arm just so it could keep track, or I had to manually enter the data which defeats the purpose of wearing a Fitbit.

15.  64 ounces of water!  Any water positive beverage will count, like juice or diet soda.  Why continue this faulty 8x8 water rule?

What I liked:

1.  Timer was handy for my job.  

2.  Android App (I will call it an "App" when it is on a cellular telephone) was very good, especially the barcode scanner for logging in food.

3.  Automatically sensed when I was doing a brisk walk instead of steps.

4.  Automatically sensed when I climbed stairs.

5.  Very nice to see calories in vs. calories out as I went through the day.

[PureEvil]

Hello @Mr.Noname,

Just as a matter of looking at your list, the vast majority of these issues may be addressed by which Fitbit device you choose.  While I do have a Surge to track my exercise, the model I use most often is the One.

By virtue of not wearing it on your wrist (and not having a band nor using it like a watch), I believe issues 1-9 would be addressed.

10.  If you see poor behavior, I'd encourage it to flag the post.  I hope that I'm not among those folks; I try to be helpful.

11.  While I can certainly see the point of this one.  Being part of that clique is a matter of how you conduct yourself.  Even if you should happen to elect to not use a Fitbit because of this clique, they are still influencing your behavior.  My approach to subjects like this is to do precisely what I want; independent of the herd mentality.  This may be same behavior or it may be different, but it's strictly mine.

12.  I don't have a response for this one; I don't follow what he does.

13.  The Fitbit Connect issue was a bug and I believe that this has been addressed.

14.  The Fitbit One will pick up steps independent of wrist movement.  I have a desk treadmill and my wrist don't move while I walk; I still get the steps.

15.  The water intake is just a suggestion.  Honestly for the first two years I didn't bother.  You can change the goal (to something more to your liking) or log other liquids as water intake.

Though in the interest of full disclosure, if you were to get a Fitbit One, you'd lose:

• The timer.  You may press and hold for the 'stopwatch' but that's really activity/sleep mode.
• Auto-activity sensing.

I hope this helps.