Top 11 Walking Speedometers and Odometers

The Forerunner uses a GPS to get true distance and speed, and a chest strap heart rate monitor. Garmin improved on the Forerunner 201 by adding a heart rate monitor and upgrading the software into a Training Center, and upgraded mapping abilities - you can now download and overlay your workout to a map. The GPS works only outdoors, and the 205 and 305 models promise better performance than the 201 in areas with lots of trees or tall buildings or in gullies.

This pedometer sensor transmits data wirelessly to an iPod nano where you can view it and have it spoken to you over your music mix. It is meant to fit into Nike+ ready shoes such as the Nike Air Zoom Plus and the Nike Air Zoom Moire. You will want to calibrate it to your walking and running strides on a course of known distance to get the best accuracy. It uses an accelerometer rather than GPS, so accuracy varies if your stride varies. It works indoors or outdoors. While the 5th generation iPod nano includes a pedometer, that function only counts steps. If you want speed and distance, you need the Sport Kit.

True speed and true distance provided by a GPS unit. This is spot-on speedometer and odometer is accurate no matter what you are doing - walking, running, skating, skiing, biking, etc. It continuously measures your speed and distance to three decimal places, and has sports watch functions of chronometer, lap timer, alarms, countdown timer, and more. Now available as the Bodylink system also with heart monitor.

If you have a Blackberry or Motorola smart phone, you can add this application and turn it into a fantastic GPS speedometer/mapper/fitness tracker. It is quick and easy to download and install. The cost is cheap -- what you'd pay for a good pedometer. What you get is a constant readout of speed and distance. Switch to the map view and you can see where you're going. No more excuses for getting lost! View your speed and elevation on graphs. It will automatically upload to the Trimble Outdoors web site, where you can review your workouts and choose which ones to share with friends. It also has programs for intervals, laps, and virtual races with yourself.

A single wrist unit has it all - GPS speed and distance, plus GPS navigation, all kinds of lap tracking, a Virtual Partner to pace you, pace and distance alerts, a compass and map of your walk or run and pointers back to your starting locations, plus downloading your workouts to your PC. All for a great price half of its competitors.

All the data you could want, and you can wear it as a sports watch. The footpod attaches to your shoe to measure speed and distance. The chest strap captures your heart rate. Both beam the data to the wristwatch. The speed and distance footpod works indoors as well as outdoors, as opposed to GPS units which only work outdoors. Lots of great sports watch function such as timers, laps, etc. Compared to the GPS Garmin units, the wrist unit is just a sports watch, not a Dick Tracy wristradio. But your speed and distance accuracy is dependent on proper calibration with the footpod.

The SportBrain iStep pedometer is exactly what I wanted - a pedometer that would track my steps and upload it all so I could enjoy graphs and charts of my steps, distance and speed, calories, diet, and more. While it is an investment, plus a membership charge for the website, it is worth every penny. The SportBrain requires an internet connection to enjoy all the features. The SportBrain also can track and graph your heart rate information from many common heart monitor straps.

Measures your steps, calculates speed and distance including steps per minute and miles per hour and calories. It has a seven day memory and a clock, all at a fraction of the price of the ones with footpod accelerometers that aren't all that more accurate.

Don't have hundreds of dollars to spend? The Pacer Pro is tiny, quiet, and about as accurate as the footpod accelerometer speedometers because it relies on stride. It counts steps and calculates calories, speed, steps-per-minute, and tells time of day.

This handheld GPS unit is a blast to use in combination with MapSource software to map out your walks. While walking, you can view your distance, speed and direction and where you are on a map, and altitude. Back home, download it and you have instant maps. For trailmasters planning routes, it is a great tool. It does a lot of other great GPS stuff, I just haven't read the whole manual. But our Guide to GPS explains more.