inexpensive, quality hrm?

annika27

i know, oxymoron right?
anyway, i am looking to get a hrm. i would like one that tells calories burned and works well. but i am trying not to spend a ton of money. i would like to be able to go to a store and get it, and not order online. and recommendations?

Rae6503

I have the Polar FT4 but I got it off Amazon for $60. I think it's $100 in stores.

mimi2kk

I am thinking of getting an HRM also so I'm very interested in the responses.

maritza327

I too just got the Polar FT4 off of Amazon for $60. Its great, really does what its meant to do and quite cheap.

jrich1

just get one with a chest strap, with HRMs, you usually get what you pay for.

jellybaby84

Yup, think you're right with oxymoron.

I bought an HRM watch for £7.99 on ebay. Totally useless (told me I burned 120 calories in an hour of intensive aeorbic, I was SAD!).

I hear you need to spend at least £60 but I'm not sure.

kgschel

I have the Polar FT7 which I'm very happy with, though it was not cheap (by my standards anyway) at around $105. Polar has less expensive models (see recommendation from other poster above); I would trust their quality, they pretty much invented wireless heart-rate monitoring.

Brandysmith1985

I got the Mio that has choice of using the heart strap or just wrist watch and works great. Tells you fat burned, calories burned, how long you are in target heart zone and was 79.99 at Sport Chalet. I also got a usb drive that I guess tracks the info into your computer, haven't played with that yet, but bonus that came with it. Totally worth the price, helps motivate me and I watcheverything throughtout the day to try and bring that heart rate up.

YukonJoy

I got the Mio that has choice of using the heart strap or just wrist watch and works great. Tells you fat burned, calories burned, how long you are in target heart zone and was 79.99 at Sport Chalet. I also got a usb drive that I guess tracks the info into your computer, haven't played with that yet, but bonus that came with it. Totally worth the price, helps motivate me and I watcheverything throughtout the day to try and bring that heart rate up.

I have a Mio watch and it is a POS. I seriously want to throw it on the ground and stamp on it. I'm pretty sure it's not reading my burned calories properly and you have to hold two fingers on it to read your BPM, which wouldn't be so bad except sometimes it won't read it or takes for frickin ever!

Plus there are 956 calories burned stuck in my totals on the watch and I cant get it to go away.

It's useless.

rmsrws

I bought an inexpensive one from Wal*Mart for $27.00. It is more accurate than using the guidelines set up for MFP. I have also checked it when at Dr.s appointments to see if it is readng what they have. And it seems to be with in a digit or two.

♚SuperHeather♚

I have one by bowflex it has the chest strap and works pretty well. occasionally you have to bring the watch up to the strap to get your heart rate but other than that it is a Gem! I got it for 25 bucks on ebay!

melliemel818

I'm going to buy the Polor FT4 when I get paid next. I know you can by it at target but it's around $80, so if you can buy it online for around $60 I'd do that. Target also has some New Balance HRM with straps too. I've heard from othe MFPer's that those work well too and I think you get those for around $50 in the store. but they the others said, you get what you pay for. Wish you luck on your decision making.

wsclink

i just recently purchased a Polar FT7 from Amazon for $80 and i love it.

twinlikeme

LOVE the Polar FT4. I got it for just around $90 at Best Buy. I could have gotten it cheaper online. But I HATE waiting. I'd rather spend $20 extra and have immediate satisfaction. I didn't want to spend as much as I did, but I realized that a pair of jean I would buy would cost just as much. I'd rather spend $90 on a HRM than thousands to replace my too small wardrobe. Good luck!

Sepheara

For now, because I'm on a budget I got a Mio wristwatch. It doesn't come with the chest strap, you have to touch 2 buttons on it. A lot of people dissed on the idea, but I use it when I do my zumba and I just touch between dance sets since theres that 10 second animation in the game anyway and it's acurate. tested it at my doctors, also I only paid 40 USD for it.

If you want a good one, you're going to want one with a chest strap and they will be expensive. If you want a budget one that you're going to replace (I'll probably buy a polar with my tax return) then you have a lot of wrist style options.

twinlikeme

Another thought: BUY NICE OR BUY TWICE!

It's not worth spending $30 on one that won't perform the way you'd like just to spend $90 to upgrade.

kcgslp

Consumer Reports Recommends the

Timex Personal Trainer 5G971 ($50)
and the Omron HR 100C ($40)