They've really come down in price over the past couple of years. You can now buy an excellent pedometer for about $20.
The one shown here is the most popular and highest ranked pedometer on Amazon : Omron HJ112 Pedometer
It's on sale now for $22 (from a regular price of $39).Over 100 people have written reviews about this pedometer at Amazon. And the verdict is quite unanimous that it's the best one on the market right now. Here's a couple of people's comments:
If you are wondering whether you want a pedometer, let me add my vigorous "yes". Wearing a pedometer has a way of making you parse every step you take as exercise....even walking down the hall to ask an officemate a question raises your step count just a bit, and soon enough you will be raising your ambitions to 10,000 steps a day or even more without needing to make a production over going to the gym. If you are wondering "which pedometer," I'll add my pitch for this nifty little Omron. My last pedometer: inaccurate, physically uncomfortable, impossible to wear with a dress, broke after 2 months. My Omron: accurate, comfortable clip, even works if I just stick it in a pocket or purse, have dropped it frequently to no ill effects. Best of all, it has quite sophisticated features: it tracks not only steps, miles, and calories, but "aerobic steps" - if you keep walking for 10 minutes or more it counts as aerobic - it is even smart enough to let you pause for up to a minute and still count subsequent steps as aerobic. Finally, it has a 7-day memory that allows you to track all these features back a whole week so you can see your improvements. I can't say enough about this product. I know they call it "premium" but for less than the cost of a couple of weeks at a gym, you'll have a permanent and genuinely practical exercise system. It is the best fitness value of any kind on the market.
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After using, being dissatisfied with, and discarding a half dozen or so other pedometers, I can honestly say that the Omron is the best of the bunch. The setup is simple, it's incredibly rugged (I've dropped it on the pavement more times than I can remember), and its sensitivity is unmatched by any pedometer I've used before. A major advantage is that it records steps taken, calories, etc., even when tucked inside a pocket of your clothing or inside your purse (assuming you carry a purse)...It has a lot of useful features (including the seven day memory for number of steps taken, calorie count, distance). I am totally pleased with this product and would recommend it to anyone.