I feel decently qualified to provide an amateur review of Nike+'s Sportband as I have been using it fairly consistently for about 2 weeks now.
First of all, this thing is almost useless in the dark if you want to tell how fast you're running, how far you've gone. There's no backlight and the numbers don't illuminate so unless you can find a streetlight to run under, you're screwed. (Even then, it's REALLY hard to read)
Second, there's no clock when you're in the middle of a workout which is pretty unforgivable. I need to know what time it is when I'm walking to the train - why isn't that an option? Dumb mistake on their part.
My third drawback is that the calculation of pace seems erratic at best. Maybe it's me but I certainly don't feel like I'm changing speeds as much as it says.
Now, aside from cutting some corners, Nike has done a very nice job of designing a very inexpensive product ($60 for the sportband, $30 if you own an ipod nano). The sportband is basically a tiny usb computer that plugs into a plastic wristband and communicates with your sensor that you wear on your shoe. Don't worry about buying Nike+ shoes. A little velcro and tying the laces over the top of the sensor works just fine.
Getting started was a little bit weird. You have to download software from a website, install it, then put the mini-computer into your USB port and it does the rest automatically. There are some very helpful videos at Nike+ to get you started.
To start your first run, I think you need to press the little button under the sensor, then attach it to your shoe. I had my wife sew a velcro patch on the tongue of my shoe, then put the other side of the velcro on the sensor, attach the velcro and tie the laces over the top of the sensor. Then you hold the circular button on top of the sportband computer for about 5 seconds, it flashes the message "walk" and then you walk in a circle until the sensor pairs with the sportband. Then the display will switch to "MILE" and then you press the button one more time to start your workout (just a single tap-click)
While working out, you can press the button on the side to get your distance, your pace, the time of your workout (called "CHAN" for whatever reason) and your calories burned (make sure to enter your weight during the initial setup or this will just be zero). There is no option to bring the clock back during your workout which is really dumb and annoying.
To stop your workout, I recommend hitting the button once to pause the workout, then press and hold to end the workout (it will say "END"). The reason being is that if you stop running and then press and hold the button to end your workout, you end up getting dinged for five seconds of not running on your workout. Plus pressing and holding the button while you're running is very awkward.
Last but not least on the sportband, the numbers are oriented perpendicular to those on a watch. For example, when you read your watch, you swing your elbow out to the side and look at your arm on a 90 degree angle. The sportband shows all of it's information across your wrist so that you actually hold your arm straight to read it. Very awkward and hard to get used to.
Their website is really pretty darn good. There is plenty of work to do on their part as far as separating out the challenges. There are more than enough participants but finding people that you can reasonably compete with is somewhat difficult. I don't have time in my day to run 10+ mi even if I wanted to but some of these people - that's all they seem to do. That being said, it keeps very good records of all your workouts and the interface is very clean and easy to use. If they just fix the challenges, they'll really have something special.
One other mild complaint is that walkers and runners are thrown together. I do both and yet I can't separate my workouts - walking vs running. Runners and Walkers are very different creatures - there is even some fun-spirited competition between the two but for the most part I get the sense the two groups mostly want nothing to do with one another.
Overall, it's a definite recommend if you can't afford the $200 GPS watch but if you can, my dad has one and swears by it. Not sure if those will track your workouts and catalog them as well as Nike+ does.
