What kind of HRM do you have?

I had a Suunto T3c for several years and loved it. I just replaced it with a Suunto T6c a couple of weeks ago and am loving the T6c even more.

I looked at Polar brand to replace my old Suunto, but didn't like the fact that you can't replace the battery yourself in Polar HRMs (who's got time to send it off and wait?) and I seem to recall being told that you can't swim in it, though that may have been the Garmin. I can accept it not measuring my HR while swimming (my Suunto doesn't do that, either), but I really need to be able to wear it while swimming.

I bought both Suunto HRMs from Amazon and strongly recommend them. I've been very happy with their durability and performance.

YMMV. Good luck.

polar ft7- heard its very similar to the f6, but with a more comfortable chest strap. I absolutely love mine! It is more accurate than putting it into an online calculator or from the machine. I found I was overestimating calories burned before having one.

I would like to know as well since their are so many differences between exercises and the calories burned. For the most part some of the websites are the same, but machines vary. It would be nice to know exactly what is going on with my body. I looked on ebay and amazon, but I am just not sure what to look for.

I had a Suunto T3c for several years and loved it. I just replaced it with a Suunto T6c a couple of weeks ago and am loving the T6c even more.

I looked at Polar brand to replace my old Suunto, but didn't like the fact that you can't replace the battery yourself in Polar HRMs (who's got time to send it off and wait?) and I seem to recall being told that you can't swim in it, though that may have been the Garmin. I can accept it not measuring my HR while swimming (my Suunto doesn't do that, either), but I really need to be able to wear it while swimming.

I bought both Suunto HRMs from Amazon and strongly recommend them. I've been very happy with their durability and performance.

YMMV. Good luck.

Actually you can swim in the Polor F6 (which I do). The battery thing doesn't really bother me...

I use a MIO Classic wrist watch. I love it. Some say it is not as accurate but I take regular readings and it is working awesome for me. I love it

I think I like mine so much because it does not have a chest strap. I were mine as a watch and have it with me at all times. So if I don't plan on doing any exercise and I pick the kids up from school then we decide to go for a hike in the forest by their school I have it with me. Nothing to do but turn on the HRM part.

I use a MIO Classic wrist watch. I love it. Some say it is not as accurate but I take regular readings and it is working awesome for me. I love it

I've been curious about these! In order to get a reading do you always have to put two fingers on the watch (band?) for a few seconds... or does it automatically read your pulse somehow?

Also a question for those with chest strap styles - I've tried to use DH's (not sure what brand) and also borrowed a friend's older Polar and on both of them I had issues getting a continuous/correct reading. I tried multiple times, pulling the strap tighter (to the point it was uncomfortable and cutting into my skin) and same result. Not sure what I'm doing wrong (I am just slightly over 5ft tall, so not sure if the petiteness has a play in how the band fits)??

I have a garmin and a Timex (piece of you know what!). I love the garmin, but I need to upgrade to the newest version since I have become more picky about my time (it's blue tooth and has automatic pause when I stop at lights and such while running (and now biking!).

I use a MIO Classic wrist watch. I love it. Some say it is not as accurate but I take regular readings and it is working awesome for me. I love it

I've been curious about these! In order to get a reading do you always have to put two fingers on the watch (band?) for a few seconds... or does it automatically read your pulse somehow?

Also a question for those with chest strap styles - I've tried to use DH's (not sure what brand) and also borrowed a friend's older Polar and on both of them I had issues getting a continuous/correct reading. I tried multiple times, pulling the strap tighter (to the point it was uncomfortable and cutting into my skin) and same result. Not sure what I'm doing wrong (I am just slightly over 5ft tall, so not sure if the petiteness has a play in how the band fits)??

For the polar strap you have to wet the two transmitter strips in order to get an accurate and continuous reading.

I use a MIO Classic wrist watch. I love it. Some say it is not as accurate but I take regular readings and it is working awesome for me. I love it

I've been curious about these! In order to get a reading do you always have to put two fingers on the watch (band?) for a few seconds... or does it automatically read your pulse somehow?

Also a question for those with chest strap styles - I've tried to use DH's (not sure what brand) and also borrowed a friend's older Polar and on both of them I had issues getting a continuous/correct reading. I tried multiple times, pulling the strap tighter (to the point it was uncomfortable and cutting into my skin) and same result. Not sure what I'm doing wrong (I am just slightly over 5ft tall, so not sure if the petiteness has a play in how the band fits)??

For the polar strap you have to wet the two transmitter strips in order to get an accurate and continuous reading.

Ahhh.. ok... didn't think of trying that. I'll try DH's tonight and see if I can get it to work - although it's probably a hunk of junk since he informed me he got it free with some DVD years ago (I asked what brand it was). I may have to look at getting a GOOD one for it to work right.

DH's HRM is officially a hunk of junk... it just kept beeping the whole time I was trying to use it. No "brand" on it, hey it was free. LOL

So it looks like the Polar FT7 is the popular model??

It's probably set up for him and he probably has the alarm set on it to let him know that he is not at his target HR.

I use a Garmin Forerunner 405 - I love it - the GPS is awesome and I love the fact that I have only to look at my watch for all sorts of on-the-go readings.

I use the chest strap that came with it, but it is elasticised and it fits beautifully - I simply tuck it under the bottom band of my bra and I don't feel any different.

The bluetooth type function is great as it registers with Garmin Connect on the web and Garmin Training Centre on my computer automatically and gives me some great feedback to use.

I also use it for my bike even though I don't have the other accessories for that.

There's still so much that I need to explore on it, but for the moment it does more than I want it to - I'm not sure if it goes underwater though and so I am in the process of finding out if I can use it when I swim (I really hope it can).