Can you recommend a decent Heart Rate Monitor (women's)...
Hi there,
I'm looking to buy a heart rate monitor (well to ask for one from santa anyways). I see lots of great things about polar models (specifically f6 and f11). I'm currently doing NROL4W but have enjoyed many different forms of exercises over the years (running, elliptical, 1/2 marathon training, etc.). I'm looking for one to monitor my heart rate, give me a calorie count (think this would be encouraging to know), have a stop watch/timer, tell time, hopefully not be too chunky as I have fairly slim wrists. Here in Canada the F6 is $120-150 and the F11 is around $180. I was hoping to stay closer to the $100-120 ball park. Am I going to be happy with the F6? Also I've heard that when the batteries die you have to pay a fortune and ship the item back to be replaced, sounds crazy. Does anyone have another recommendation for another brand that you can change your own batteries. Hmmm...not sure what to do. Any thoughts would be appreciated. (I'll never use it for swimming).
The F6 has been replaced by the F7. I believe one of the benefits of the F7 is that you can replace the batteries yourself. I don't think either have a stopwatch/timer though. Polar does have a series of running monitors you might want to look into.
Hi agymrat,
Thanks for your posting. I had no idea Polar had come out with the new chest straps with changeable batteries, finally! Now I've been reading up on all the other models like the FT40/FT60, hmmm, I better go to bed my head is spinning from all the choices.
We have found it rather obnoxious to try an find a hrm that has *everything* and really the one thing you're gonna have a hard time finding is a timer. It'd just be easier to get something separate. If you're looking for an interval timer, the gymboss is a good one. If you're just looking for a "normal" stopwatch that does resume and laps, there's plenty out there.
Looks like you are definitely looking in the right direction
I would recommend our new line of FT products. The FT40 and FT60 sound like they would fit your needs best. And have user changeable batteries.
If you do go with the F-series product, such as the F6 or F11 - they are VERY solid.I'm a huge fan of the F11. We do recommend the service to be done by a service center, but the turn around time is a matter of days(1-3 days depending on service center) and the cost is always under $15.00. Which is not bad, considering this is a complete service, cleaning, testing with a service and battery warranty. The process is painless, we keep your training in mind
Please let me know if you have any specific questions regarding our product, or heart rate training in general. I'll be more than happy to respond the best I can so you can make an educated decision on your purchase.
Thanks for your response chris@polar. I've been going back and forth alot on these things. I looked up the service centres near me and it looks like Time & Gold in Vancouver is the closest to me, is that correct costs for Canada too (we always seem to have to pay more for things no matter what the dollar is at). If I did decide to go with the FT series where in BC are they being sold? Thanks again
I can attest that the Polar service center does turn things around quickly. I've used Polar HRMs for about 5 years now and have gotten batteries changed 3x - always in less than a week. I also appreciate Polar's pro-active emails that keep you up to date on when they receive it, start working on it, and finally mail it back to you.
My only issue is that battery life is somewhat short compared to a standard watch like a Timex Ironman. I guess it's because the HRM is doing more calculations, etc. My Polar HRM batteries usually last 12-18 months.
Hey thanks Pug for that info, nice to know. It does appear that Polar has a really good reputation and great customer service. Also for any lurkers, I did call the local replair centre here in BC, it's in Vancouver (Time & Gold), they said the watch battery replacement is $15 but the waist belt replacement is $35-75 depending on which model you have.
Hey Pug....how do I know when the battery starts running out? Do batteries need to be replaced in both the strap and the watch? How would I know the difference or just get both done at the same time?
TIA!
Agrymrat - the watch is easy: you'll notice a battery indicator starts appearing when there's like 10% battery left. It will still track HR, but you'll know it's getting really low when you try to turn the backlight on and the display goes blank. If the display is constantly fading out, the battery is about kaput.
Figuring it out with the stap is a little more ambiguous. My experience is when the strap has a weak battery it will send funky readings to the watch. For instance, one second it will show a HR of 150, then 75, then 225 and back to 150. I actually have two straps now, so I can compare performance between them as well.
One more note on the straps. I've found the rigid strap has longer battery life than the comfort strap. I think this is because the straps transmit so long as the contact points are wet. The rigid strap dries pretty quickly, whereas the soft strap can remain damp all day. Just my 2 cents.
Pug - which model of Polar do you own? I'm torn between the F7 and F11 I think. I'd like to be able to track my calories all day (from time to time) not just over a workout but I can't tell if the F7 is able to do that.
Would anyone know what a "cat's eye" symbol on the watch means? It appears next to the calories during a weight w/o, when I have the HR limits turned off.
Rockafeller - I have an F6 and an older M32. The F6 keeps counting calories below 100 BPM but the M32 does not. I believe the F models are pretty similar (maybe chris@polar can weigh in) and should do the same.
Pug - thanks alot for your comments, I did some more reading in the forum on polarca.com and found there are alot of unhappy with the new belt mostly because of battery life (4, 6, 9 months and their done for some). There is also alot of disappointments with the newer models (I guess until they work out the kinks), now I'm really confused and I'm not a good decision maker at the best of times
I've got an F11 and get the battery changed at a regular jewelry store just like a regular watch. The battery in the strap is easy to change and I get the replacements at walmart. The F11 will do everything you mentioned except for having a timer.
I am quite happy with mine and find it useful to be able to track the weekly time I have spent in the light cardio, moderate cardio, and hard cardio ranges. The F11 has a facility for you to enter your age, weight and etc so that it can give you a more accurate count on your calorie expenditure.
FYI...found out about the "cat's eye" symbol...it means the watch is in night mode. I must've pushed the backlight button by mistake when exercising...then the night mode stays on and any time you push any button the light comes on.
Thanks everyone for your feedback, I just placed my order for an Polar F7f (same as F6 but has the replaceable batteries) as well as the Gymboss (Aoife thanks for that tip these look really great and reviews are nothing but spectacular) for tracking my intervals and rest periods. I think since is my first HRM if I really love it and need something fancier than I'll get one down the road when this one breaks down. Yeah...I made a decision
well, I'm a little late to the party since you've already ordered. BUT, I have a Nike HR monitor that is a watch/interval timer/stop watch/alarm as well. When you record your workout, at the end it shows you total cals and avg HR. I wish it showed a min/max HR too, but it doesn't. The strap is fine, although it's probably time that I get a new battery too, as the reception seems a bit intermittent these days.
the funny thing I noticed was that if I'm on the exercise bike with the sensor grips for HR, if I'm wearing the monitor, it displays the info on the bike. At first I thought it was magic that the bike was displaying the same HR as my watch w/o holding the sensors
it cost about $100 US
your combo probably gives you more flexibility, however. I'd like a wee bit more functionality on both the HR monitor and the interval timer, you probably get the best of both worlds with your choice.
Can you recommend a decent Heart Rate Monitor (women's)...
The process is painless, we keep your training in mind
Thanks....
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