I bought a Fitbit because everyone I know was getting them and it seemed kind of fun. When I first got it, the set up experience was really a pain, sort of like setting up a printer. I kept trying to get it to associate with my account and it kept failing.

Once I got it up and running, I have to say, it really does track your steps pretty well. If I walk a ton one day, the number is usually in alignment with that. It does have other features where it tracks your sleep. It's not that accurate since it's just tracking your movement which may or may not be a great way to tell if someone had a great night of sleep. I stopped using the sleep tracking after a few weeks because I just kept forgetting to put it on or put it into sleep mode.

One thing that irks me the most about the Fitbit is the somewhat shoddy build quality. The Fitbit is pretty much a clip that you attach on your clothing, so I would always put it on the useless little pocket within a pocket (yo dawg) on my pants. I noticed after a while, the Fitbit was forming little cracks on the hinge. So the device that's designed to be clipped onto things cannot withstand being clipped onto things. That's just bizarre to me. Luckily, they include a holster for your Fitbit, think cellphone belt clips, but less obnoxious.

After having it for a week, I realized that I never actually look at my data on the website and I occasionally see my step progress, maybe a few times a day. So, in terms of usefulness, it's pretty low for me. I still continue to wear it because I paid for it. Might as well use it. If I could go back in time, I would probably never buy it because I just don't get that much out of it. If you like pedometers though, this might be a nice device for you, but I'd doing some research on the Jawbone Up (gdgt.com­/aliph­/jawbone­/up/). It looks like it does more and you can wear it on your wrist (and not have to take it off). I haven't used it myself, but it might address some of the durability issues that I've had with the Fitbit.