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I did have to do two things to get to that level of accuracy, however. The second is the obvious one: calibrate it. The first thing, though, needed to be first in order to get an accurate calibration. And it was less obvious.

I do not have Nike shoes. At first I heard all sorts of reports of Nike+ success with non-Nike shoes, so I was optimistic. My first few runs, though, were definitely not accurate. I suffered the same inaccuracy bemoaned by other reviewers here…a 3 mile run according to Yahoo maps clocked in at 0.25 miles. And half of that was an “intensity” of 0. Yeah…not so good.

But that’s when I started experimenting with how I attach the transmitter to my shoe. I found that placing it at the bottom of the laces, on top of my foot, in as level of a manner as I could manage, produced more reliable results.

What I believe happened was that my early attempts involved putting the transmitter in my shoe in such a way that it was angled in one direction or another. And the transmitter doesn’t like that. The Nike+ shoes allow the transmitter to be flat in relation to the sole…I think the transmitter works best if it’s level like that.

Also, it seems that if I ever don’t secure the transmitter down well enough and it has some wiggle room, I’m also liable to get inaccuracies.

So, figure that out first — I’m definitely thinking of just buying some Nike shoes. But once that’s taken care of, calibrate the thing, and do it carefully. Go to a track so you can be assured of the distance. Also, calibrate a few times, because when you actually start calibrating and when you actually stop calibrating involves several button presses. I found it helpful to put some music on that matches my stride speed, get it started, run half a lap to get “in the groove”, be ready to calibrate, which as I mentioned involved several button clicks so get right up to that last button click, then press that last button at a lap marker. Then be ready to stop calibrating in the same way; it takes a few clicks, but try to figure it out so that you’ll hit that last click RIGHT on the lap marker. It took me a few tries, but once I got it, it’s been really accurate.

The Nike+ website is the best part of all. It’s really fun and encouraging for me to look at my runs in that way…I can watch my progress. I can set goals, such as “I want to run faster, so I want to run 4 runs in the next month that are X:XX per mile or faster.” Plus you get little “awards” for various milestones. Oh, and Lance Armstrong or Paula Radcliffe might congratulate you at the end of your run if you hit some personal record.

All in all it’s the best $30 I’ve spent on my running (I already had the iPod).

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1. starting and stopping your workout is not a push one button job – you have to scroll through menu’s – so if you are on the starting line looking to do your best 10km and then the gun goes off, everyone will be long gone before you get through the menu’s to start your workout. Stopping too is not simple – if you are just out having fun then it is not a major issue.

2. Accuracy – though you can calibrate the sensor it is not 100% accurate – typically my wife and I have both found that if you can get around 90% to 95% you are doing well – however that is a 1km or at least 500m out every ten. So again not that useful if you want to measure your best 10km time

3. Downloading to Nike has its problems too – you just need to read the forums to see how many problems people have with their best times not being recognised, not been given their trophies, distances and times not matching up etc. etc. etc.

Bottom line – fun for keeping a more or less record of what you have done – useless as an accurate log of your times and distances

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The main reason that this is so motivating is the Nike website. When you sync your iPod your information is uploaded to the Nike website where you can view great charts and graphs of your runs. It tracks your records as well (fastest mile, furthest run, etc.) It allows you to set goals (run 40 miles in 4 weeks, burn 10,000 calories in 4 weeks, etc.) It also allows you to challenge other people with this device. Well, my best friend got one for Christmas as well. He lives 250 miles away and we are already on our second challenge. The first was who can run the most miles in 30 days. The current is who can run 60 miles first. The website keeps track of your progress and shows you how far each participant has gone so far. So you can see if you are ahead or need to pick up the pace. It is great and makes you want to run further and more often.

I always knew I was competitive but I never realized how competitive I was! The other day I ran 7 miles (further than I have ever gone at one time in my life) just so that I could get a good headstart on my friend!

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There are some minor things you should know about when owning one of these kits.

1. You have to have an iPod Nano, not a video, iphone, classic, shuffle, whatever… I plugged this into my ultra cool iPod touch and it did not work.

2. Put the disk inside your shoes tongue or get one of the lace kits. Dont buy the shoes built for this. (see next)

3. If you are not headed out the door DO NOT HAVE THIS IN YOUR SHOE! The battery will die and youll need to buy the sender unit (the red thing) again. If you run out to get groceries in your car make sure this is out of your shoe. Having one in your shoe and not having the iPod on will not save all your walking data.

Motion (of any kind even riding in your ash tray) will use up the battery! Take it out and place it on your dresser. Unless you live in a volcanic area it should last a long time.

4. Get a good belkin or other nano type running case. This will help.

All in all a great product. If you treat it well it is a great help for your fitness routine.

edit:

Just figured this out, if you use an ellipticle machine you can tape the sensor to the arm at the farthest point back. It is not 100% accurate but it does read fairly close. Basically you will lose 1/10th the run (or so on my em)

Hope this helps! You can check my progress: http://runnin2lose.blogspot.com

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I bought this for my wife (forget about having to have Nike+ shoes – it works fine slipped into laces or in a shoe wallet). She plugged it into her first-gen (1G) Nano, and instantly the Nike+ menu option appeared. There’s a little calibration that has to be done, but once you get going, it’s just neat. You can specify your workout type (distance, duration, just go), and then select a playlist (or shuffle, or something else) and you are off!

There’s even a built in voice that will give you a verbal run summary at the touch of a button (and at scheduled intervals).

I run with a fourth-gen (4G) big (disk) iPod, and no, it doesn’t work with my iPod. Too bad. I might have to get a Nano just for running – this is too cool, and saves the time off of keeping a running log – it keeps one for you, which you can upload.

Good:

-don’t need Nike shoes

-works amazingly well out of the box

-easy to use

-neat features (like voice alerts about pace, distance, etc)

-ultra-light

Bad:

-only works with the Nano

-supposedly can’t replace the battery in the shoe transponder – we’ll see about that

-some calibration required

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When we purchased our first two IMP-500′s one would not charge. We shipped it back to the vendor and received a new one. No problem.

Now the on/off switch on one of the IMP-500′s will not work without excessive force. My sense is the switch consists of two metal plates which touch together, and they are no longer closing the circuit.

I don’t think it has anything to do with the 2-3 second delay, which is a nice feature and keeps the battery from accidently turning on when bumped in the briefcase.

Without the ability to turn the battery on and off easily the battery is pretty much unusable.

So, while I like the capacity of the battery and it’s ease of use, as well as the good product support, the switch is most definately a design weakness in my mind and I would probably not purchase another IMP-500.