Customer Reviews
Difficult to use 
2008-07-17
You're probably wondering, how can a scale be difficult to use? Good question! I wanna know why it's difficult to use, too! I don't really trust the weight it's giving me because it changes. But it's not like it changes every time I hop on it. For example, the first time I used it, I was excited to try it out, so I weighed myself in my clothes. I then took off my clothes and weighed myself, and it gave me the exact same weight. I had to pee, so I did that and weighed myself again...same number! I kept trying to get the number to change (partially because it was telling me I was fatter than I wanted to be). The number did change after a minute or so, but I hadn't done anything else to make myself lighter. It just seemingly arbitrarily changed and then was stuck on the new number, even after I put my clothes back on.
I don't really like the fat measurements mode, either. Everything flies across the screen relatively quickly, so you have to have the placement and sequence of all the measurements on the screen memorized or you'll miss it...not very user friendly.
Yeah, I pretty much hate this thing and never use it. I should've returned it.
Didn't work properly 2008-07-11
This scale measured my weight just fine. That's great, but it's supposed to measure body fat too. I tried it about 20 different times and there was only one time that it was able to actually give me a reading. Every other time it gave me an error. My body weight is average and I did everything it said to do in the manual. The strange thing is, if I changed my profile from male to female but left everything else the same (such as height), it was able to give me a reading. I suspect the figures were wrong in that case, though, as it uses your sex to do its calculations.
Even if it would have worked properly there are better designed scales out there. The numbers on this display are tiny, cycle quickly, and only are shown 3 times before the unit shuts off. If you get off the scale to get a better look at the numbers the scale shuts off immediately. There is no memory for recalling the figures later.
NICE SCALE 
2008-07-04
SCALES SEEM TO BE ACCURATE ON THE WEIGHT PART, DON'T REALLY KNOW ABOUT THE OTHER STUFF YET. THEY SEEM TO BE A LITTLE FLIMSY SO I STEP ON THEM LIGHTLY. THEY LOOK NICE
inconsistently consistent 2008-07-02
We got this scale when my husband began weight watching. He thought our old scale (also a Taylor) was inconsistent and he's perfectly happy with this one. My experience is the exact opposite!
If I get on this scale 3 (or 5 or 13) times in a row, it will give me the exact same weight. Great, right? Wrong! This weight has been up to 4 pounds more or less than what it gave me just 2 hours before. For the past week, my amusement has been what will the new high-tech scale say about me. LOL! The body fat measure has also varied by up to 2% in the course of a day. It has gotten to where, if I feel like a game of scale roulette, I'll get on this new scale... but if I want to know how much I weigh, I dig out the old one.
And if that's not enough fun, you can use it to wake a soundly sleeping spouse! Checking your weight alone is silent, but when you check the other things (body fat, etc.) the device emits a shrill beep that is loud enough to wake someone in the next room.
So why rate it a 2 instead of a 1? First, my husband is very happy with it. (He has a theory that it works better for heavier people. Uh huh. Right.) Second, it is a very good looking scale.
don't be afraid to return but might be an OK product 
2008-07-02
When I opened the box, I thought, "is this used?" The front had wear and the inside of the battery cavity was scratched up. It had a nice look though and didn't seem nightmarish to clean or store (it's pretty light). You will need a 9v battery to get it operational.
Being willing to live with a few dings, I tried it anyway and while I enjoyed seeing I was 20lbs lighter than my other, accurate scale thought(which I wanted to replace so I could get body fat readings), the other controls didn't work. And, as other readers pointed out, even with good vision, it can be hard to read.
So, I'm returning it. The basic product might be great but I am pretty sure the vendor/Amazon shipped me a previously sold product that was returned for not working. And if not, I still couldn't characterize this as accurate, much as I'd like to be 20 lbs lighter. This whole transaction was annoying, tedious and not eco-friendly.
Awsome scale 2008-06-25
This is a very excellent scale. I love all of the additional features this scale provides. Everything seems consistently accurate. Definitely a great scale.
Accurate Scale - Lots of Features! 2008-06-17
I have owned this scale for about a year now - and all though I never thought I would post a review for a scale...this scale is so accurate I felt I had to give it a top review.
I have been losing weight and the scale measurements have been as "Spot On" as compared to my weigh ins at my club. The extra feature of Body Fat % has been very motivating as I have personally seen it drop 14% over the past year. I actually had a Body Fat Test via Hydrostatic Weighing at a Sports Clinic and my 20% measurement there was only off by 1.4% from this scale ! The (not so) funny thing is....I only paid $40 for the scale, and the Hydrostatic Weigh cost $149 - so I must say this scale is a pretty solid way to get both an accurate weight measurement and a pretty accurate Body Fat % as well. This scale offers a lot of other features but I am really focused on lbs and Body Fat.
Really a great scale!
A Great Value - A Great Scale 2008-06-10
I bought this at GNC about six moths ago at $49.99 and this has proven to be a very accurate scale, and the body fat measurements seem to be correct.
I see Amazon has a much better retail price.....and I have not seen this product at any other retailers.
I must say this is a very good product and I would recommend purchase if you need a reliable & accurate scale !
Finally! A great, accurate scale at a great price! 2008-06-06
I had tried several scales before I got my hands on the Taylor 5596G. This scale tells your weight, body fat, body water, bone mineral, muscle mass - and is less than half as much as a competitor! I am just SO impressed with this scale.
First, the basics. This scale is very simple to set up and use. For the first two memory spots, it's even one-touch operation - just hit the toggle up for person 1, down for person 2. Then you stand on the scale, it sends a mild electrical signal through your feet (you can't feel it) and voila! All your stats are shown.
If you haven't used a scale like this before, you really should give it a try. These types of electrical scales are very popular now and work very well. If you're not sure how they work, drop me a line and I can explain it in detail. Suffice it to say in this review that yes they DO work, based on your body's conductiveness.
So OK, taking it as a given that the technology should work well, does it work well here? I am happy to answer that with a resounding YES. The reason I got this scale is that my previous purchase - a competitor's scale at a much higher price - did NOT work accurately. It gave fat percentage numbers which were wildly off. It made me worry that a scale didn't exist that provided fat numbers with water and muscle mass numbers. However my fears were assuaged with this purpose.
I compared the fat numbers of this machine with the five other fat testing devices we have here. This Taylor scale was right on. In test after test it came up with the exact same numbers as the other devices. I am very satisfied with it.
As far as weight goes, pretty much all scales are good at that at this point :) I can put my 3 scales side by side and they all come up with the same numbers within a pound. So that part is fine.
My tests with the other values - water, muscle mass etc - also show that this scale is accurate.
It really is so important to have a scale that shows you your fat and water percentages. Let's say you are 150 pounds and little of that is fat. You could be in super shape. Let's say you are 150 pounds and 99% of that is fat - you could be in awful shape! Your weight alone tells you very little. You need to know how much of that is excess fat, and how much is healthy muscle.
Water is critical because your body needs to be properly hydrated to work properly. Most people do not drink nearly enough water in a given day. If your body dries out, you get sick more frequently, it's harder to lose weight, and harder just to have energy to do things. You need to keep track of your body hydration levels.
I also am really happy that this scale has a muscle mass indicator. Whether you are walking steps, biking, hiking or anything else, building lean muscle is an important part of staying healthy. This isn't so you look like Conan!! It is so your body is limber enough to climb stairs safely, to maintain your balance without falling and breaking bones. Every human needs muscle to be healthy. This scale helps you keep track of yours.
Are there downsides to this scale? Well, the "indicators" of what you are being shown are rather small. It flashes the numbers one after another. So it's not that you look at the readout and see all at once the weight, water %, fat % etc. It cycles through them. But the indicator of what number means what is very tiny, so really you have to remember that fat comes first, water comes next and so on. Yes it's easy to learn after a few tries, but it's annoying that the indicators are so tiny.
Also, it cycles around three times and then vanishes. With most of my other scales you stand on it and the numbers show until you get off. That gives you time to write them down. here you have to write really quickly - because if you miss something after that third try, you're out of luck. That seems to be a bit frustrating and nonsensical to me.
But still, this is by far the best scale I've found - that gives me exactly what I want to know, with accurate numbers, and it's cheaper than others in the same category! What more could I want in life!
Very Nice scale at a great cost 2008-06-03
This scale is loaded with tons of features at a price a lot lower then other body fat scales on the market. I found this easy to use and very informative.Nice looking scale and the calorie reference guide is a big help in losing weight. Quite a scale.
