seca803 - Digital Flat Scale for Individual Patient use

Worth the money for a Seca.

I just received this scale and pulled it out of the box. The scale seems well built, however as I just received it I can't vouch for how it will hold up. (although I have no reason to suspect any problems.)What I can tell you is how this scale works out of the box. Simple to use. Just put in 4 AAA batteries and select using a mechanical switch whether you want lbs or kgs. Then quickly step on it with one foot to wake it up. Step off and then step the on it and let it weigh you.The scale is very reproducible. I stepped on it a series of five times immediately in a row and got the following results. 178.6, 178.6, 178.6, 178.8, 178.6. (all in lbs). That was far better than I expected on purchase given how many scales differ by several lbs between measurements.As far as accuracy goes, I can say it seems reasonable. My wife tried the scale and got a reasonable number. She held our cat and stepped on and the weight difference was the exact same as the weight given by its vet appointment yesterday. I then tried it and got a reasonable number. I also stepped on it holding each of my big dogs (one 60 lbs) and got good weight differences for them as well.The short end of this is that it is a scale that works easily out of the box and that I trust it to be accurate and reproducible within at least the range of 100 to 250 lbs. The scale has no frills like remembering your weight or calculating bmi, however if you want something that does what a scale is fundamentally supposed to do and aren't worring about gimics that a pen and paper can substitute for then this may be the scale for you.

edit: stopped working properly about 1 year ago. see original review below.first off, batteries came included with mine. i was happy about that--dont recall mention of this anywhere.wakes up right away if you just lightly slide the entire scale on the floor with your foot; about a half inch should do it. no need to tap or stomp it in any special areas.i put a 5 pound weight on it after turning it on, and it showed up as 5lbs exactly. once it determines what something weighs, it will hold that weight on the screen (and it will say HOLD on the screen), so if you want to do a weight test by picking something up, you need to step off and put some pressure on it to reset to 0 again, and then weigh yourself with whatever youre holding.when using it on the lbs setting, it will display two digits after the decimal point, but only the first will ever actually change, in my experience--the last one will always be 0.ive only had it a few days, but it looks like a good scale. seca seems to be a pretty reliable brand when it comes to scales. has a 2 year warranty too, according to the manual.

Purchased this scale because Seca professional scales in medical offices are so good. But this one is terrible. The size is fine. But the scale is a nuisance to use and inaccurate. First, the scale must be reset every time you use it. This is true with most digital scales. But with this one, it's not enough to step off and then step back on. You have to move the scale with your foot or jar it enough to get it to reset. If you weigh yourself three times (properly resetting between each time), you will probably get 3 different weights. Sometimes there will be a difference of a couple ounces. Other times there will be a difference of several pounds! It's basically useless for anything except keeping track of weight trends over a long period of time.

This is an awesome scale. Very accurate, and reads in 2 10ths of a pound increments. The scale is slightly awkward to turn on the first few tries -you just have to "skid" it ever-so-slightly to make it "wake-up" but once you learn to wake it up, it is very easy.Also, attractive design and very easy to clean/dust.

Good

I purchased the Seca Clara 803 Personal Scale about a month ago because I was unhappy with a relative new Healthometer HAP 350, large dial mechanical scale. With the Healthometer it was difficult to get the same weight twice in a row and seemed very sensitive to being moved. I must admit, my wife who weights about 105 had much less trouble with the Healthometer than I did at 215 lbs. The Seca solved my problem. It is very consistent and typically weighs plus or minus 0.2 lbs. It might actually be better, but the display only shows 0.2 lb increments. Like all scales, it is sensitive to the surface it is on. So, moving it to a different location can produce somewhat different weights, as much as 0.6 lbs. However, the Seca 803 seems much less sensitive to moving than other scales I have used. Also, like all scales it is sensitive to the placement of the object being weighed. But, if you get on in the same position, it likely will produce the same weight. For a $60 scale it is remarkably consistent.However, there are a few frustrations. First, it is necessary to "tap" the scale to turn it on. It took some experimentation to find just the right spot to tap the scale. On mine it is about two inches from the display and it needs to be a hard tap. Second, the instructions are awful and apparently, in part, illustrate a different scale. While pictures are useful, sometimes spelling something out is required. There is switch on the back labeled kg, lb, and st. Kg and lb are obvious, but how many people will know that st = stones? Third, whereas it is consistent, I'm not convinced it is accurate. I put on 30 lbs in barbell weights and consistently come up with a weight of 31.4 lbs. I'm not sure if the barbells weigh more than they claim or the scale is off. Since there is no zero adjustment there is no way to correct. Regardless, this scale is very repeatable and easy to use. Despite these minor problems I would get it again.