Heart Rate Monitor

crnorwood

Does it matter which brand that you buy? Need some input please. Thanks so much in advance!

ChelDM

bump

ChRiStA_1983

It's not so much the brand that matters, it's whether or not it comes with a chest strap and transmitter....Ones with the strap are MUCH more accurate and reliable!

Polar is a HUGELY popular brand....Most people on the site will likely recommend it. My sister and I both have the Polar FT4, which is AWESOME, and relatively inexpensive!

crnorwood

Thanks much, Christa!

nalont1

I recently purchases a Polar USA heart rate monitor model FT40...it was a bit of an investment at $140 but I use it daily. It has showed me what I burn during my exercise dvd's and the biggest eye opener was that my treadmill was really over estimating my calorie burn during my run. By like 100 plus calories! I love my Polar! But it is the first and only one I have used. I researched alot because I didn't want a cheapy...so I can't really give you a comparison on other brands.

Aylilth

I would say brand is up to you but I highly recommend one with a chest strap.

nalont1

I agree with Aylilth that a chest strap is recommended.

jrich1

From reading lots of threads on MFP about these, it seems you get what you pay for, and Polar is aproven brand, I love my FT7

CarterGrt

I love my Polar FT80. I had a Garmin for while that was very good too. It was very clunky and ugly (in my opinion), but it worked great. I think the big price-driver feature is GPS. I got this feature and am glad that I did, but you can drive the cost down a lot if you skip this feature. And, if you are using indoors, in the gym, or in water, then this is an un-needed feature.

Good Luck!!!

--Carter

p.s. I just wore mine skiing for three days. The chest strap is so light and comfortable that I never noticed it and it had no trouble transmitting through all those layers of clothes. Very cool.

KickassYas

I was gifted an extremely kick *kitten* Bowflex HRM with a chest strap for optimum accuracy. SOOO I would tell you what she told me:

make sure you get the chest strap type so you know its on the money. be willing to invest in it and check out craigslist

tdonlin

Polar FT7 here.

yyzdnl

You will get a lot of recommendations for the Polar brand on this site but I really like my Suunto M5. You have to send the Polars in to get a battery changed the Suunto's battery can be replaced by the user. I think they fit and look great and wear my wrist piece all day so I can log my morning workouts after I get to work.

karljp

Just bought a Timex Unisex HRM T5G971 on Amazon for $38 bucks. Has chest strap and simple to use. I love it. Others are very expensive.

deema79

Hey,
I picked up the New Balance N4. It comes with a strap which is great. Ive been using it for about two weeks and have nothing bad to say.
The Polar ones need to be sent in when the batteries need to be replaced.

AnaNotBanana

I use a Polar FT4. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles like the more expensive models but it does what I need it to do. I paid $65 for mine on eBay. I believe they retail somewhere between $80-$90. Check eBay or CraigsList for reasonably priced HRMs. Mine came with a Wearlink strap which is more flexible and comfortable. I wish I would have gotten one of those earlier in my journey. It's definitely a valuable tool and worth the money.

tpycha126

I originally bought just the wrist watch HRM, but when I'm in the middle of during cardio it's hard to get my reading since you have to stop and push a button and wait for it to take my heart rate and then sometimes it doesn't want to take it all. So today I went and bought a new one with a chest strap. Wish I would have right away instead of trying to save a few bucks because now I've spent more than if I just would have bought one with a chest strap originally.

nalont1

Many new Polar products have user changeable batteries in both the watch and transmitter. I just checked this out after reading the comments about having to send it in...which is not ideal and I was not aware of this when I purchased a couple of weeks ago. Just checked my model and the watch and transmitter are both user changeable according to Polar's website.

Serenifly

My first HRM was 9 $ on Ebay (Mio Shape) It was fine for my first one cuz I just wanted to see if I'd use it ... turns out I did and wanted one with more functions

I now have the Polar FT60 - this thing does everything but the dishes

Won it on Ebay for 160$ which is still 100$ below retail ...

I'd suggest just buying a cheaper one and see if you'd personally benefit from it than just go out and buy the ferarri's of HRM

Serenifly

My first HRM was 9 $ on Ebay (Mio Shape) It was fine for my first one cuz I just wanted to see if I'd use it ... turns out I did and wanted one with more functions

I now have the Polar FT60 - this thing does everything but the dishes

Won it on Ebay for 160$ which is still 100$ below retail ...

I'd suggest just buying a cheaper one and see if you'd personally benefit from it than just go out and buy the ferarri's of HRM

NAMsMommy

Just a note about the battery changing, they do have you send them in, but its only to ensure that the waterproofing is maintained. You can use the polar swimming even. My friend's battery lasted YEARS at 3x a week use. So, it isn't like you are sending it in every week...

wrenbird

I'd like to know if anyone has a heart rate monitor that you can hook up to your computer and upload data.

Serenifly

wrenbird - yes my FT60 by Polar has a link to my computer - if you go to their website you can see there is a PERSONAL TRAINER section, you can uplink your data to the program and it will store it and give you week by week progress reports etc ... like I say this thing does everything but the dishes

OBXGal

I have a question about the Polar HRMs...in checking out their site I couldn't tell if they come with a chest strap or just the HRM. Is the strap something that needs to be purchased seperately?

thanks!

formytwins

OBX Gal----I think all Polars come with chest straps...so I was told by the sales person. I have a Polar FT7 and love it. I can also change out my own battery. The chest strap is very comfortable and you can not tell you have one on. I only paid about $90.00 for mine at D**** Sporting goods and it came with a $10.00 rebate. I also purchased the D**** warranty so I can return it to them for service instead of Polar. Good luck!!!!

tauruseth

We have FT4s and they are awesome. In the FT4s and newer models you can replace the batteries yourself (that was one of the major selling points for us). We did a ton of research before buying them and, for the money ($75 at REI), they are about the best on the market.

And yes, all the FTs come with chest straps. The FT4s are super easy to use and seem to be extremely accurate.
Good luck!

amccrazgrl

Just make sure you have a chest strap for it.
A lot of us have Polar as I have the FT40. (2 of them I bought)
I got both FT40's off Ebay for $140 a piece and free shipping.

jforddesign

I use a Garmin Forerunner 305. You can still get them on amazon for 115 or so. They come with a chest strap, customizable interface, and the best thing ever, the gps. You can just get out and run! no need to map a course. My wife and I use them when we play just dance as well, just slap the watch unit down on the tv stand, put on the chest straps and then calculate your calories burned based on average heart rate . They are a bit clunky but if I generally dont care what the thing looks like, as long as it is the best functioning unit.

Serenifly

I've said it before and I'll say it again - HRM thread should be STICKY -

If you do a search for HRM or Heart Rate Monitor about 6 threads are started a day about them ... tons and tons of advice on them

atomiclauren

I *should* be receiving today the same Timex T5G971 mentioned earlier in the thread (retails for $70 but just under $40 with free shipping on Amazon) - seemed like the best for what I needed - decent Amazon reviews, simple interface, chest strap, warranty, user replaceable batteries, calorimeter, heart rate targets...

I previously purchased a Suunto T1 and returned it - it was obnoxious to operate (too many bells and whistles for me) and I hated the way it looked. I almost bought a Polar but it looked too "advanced" for what I need :blushing:

I like the idea of the Garmin gps enabled ones (Timex has them too) but I already carry my phone with me that I can use as an mp3 player and run Cardio Trainer to track everything..

MrsMartin2

Polar FT7 here too!