Best HRM?

Me too! I tend to eat very few of the MFP exercise cals as I don't trust them. I know the fitbit is supposed to be good, but its more of a step counter than an HRM. I fancy an HRM!
Will be keeping an eye on this topic :-)

I agree with the previous post. I have a polar HRM and I love it. I have the FT7!! I bought it off of amazon and it is seriously the best thing I have ever bought. I find the machines at the gym over estimate and MFP underestimates (well for me as least)
It will make your workouts that much more fun, Lets me know how hard i'm working and gives me an accurate calorie burn. GL

I LOOOOVE my Polar F4. I would suggest buying on Amazon to save a few $!

That's probably a good solid choice as an entry level HRM. If you're just wanting to track calories burned and get the HR to display on fitness equipment I would go with this one.

I just bought the Polar FT7 and can't wait to try it out.

I bought an FT7 today because I managed to get it really cheap. Halfords have them on sale at the moment and lots of shops price match.

* duplicate post *

Zillionth vote for Polar FT4. I got mine on bodytronics.com for under $60 after searching for a coupon code last summer!

Are HRMs only to work out calories burned during workouts?
I am confused as to whether an HRM or a fitbit type device is what I need,
Are there alternatives to the fitbit?
I would like to know whether the calories I use are the same as MFP allows! Whether cleaning and walking cals are accurate as I don't want to eat cals I haven't earned!
Any help will be gratefully received!

HRMs are only good for steady state cardio. Not classes, not lifting, not intervals, not walking, not house work, etc.

I would disagree that they are not for classes (aerobics, I assume), lifting (you can really get your heart rate pumping lifting weights), intervals (aren't intervals cardio?) and walking (as long as you can walk as fast as you need to get your HRM to count your calories, usually around 120 BPM - estimated).

As long as what you are doing has your heart rate significantly up, your HRM will count it. Try it out on different exercises. And I recommend using Polar as well!

Are HRMs only to work out calories burned during workouts?
I am confused as to whether an HRM or a fitbit type device is what I need,
Are there alternatives to the fitbit?
I would like to know whether the calories I use are the same as MFP allows! Whether cleaning and walking cals are accurate as I don't want to eat cals I haven't earned!
Any help will be gratefully received!

HRMs are only good for steady state cardio. Not classes, not lifting, not intervals, not walking, not house work, etc.

I would disagree that they are not for classes (aerobics, I assume), lifting (you can really get your heart rate pumping lifting weights), intervals (aren't intervals cardio?) and walking (as long as you can walk as fast as you need to get your HRM to count your calories, usually around 120 BPM - estimated).

As long as what you are doing has your heart rate significantly up, your HRM will count it. Try it out on different exercises. And I recommend using Polar as well!

You can disagree all you want, doesn't make me wrong.

HRMs are designed for and thus most accurate during steady state cardio. The less steady state the exercise is (classes, intervals, etc), the less accurate it's going to be. Also, the less cardio the exercise is (lifting), the less accurate it's going to be be.

I like my polar ft7; it seems to be recommended a lot on here.

I wish it would display heart rate and calories (and time if possible) on one screen instead of having to cycle through the three screens. Minor issue.

make sure the strap is tight enough, and clean it regularly or it loses connection sometimes.

I am sure some of the polar HRM's can be set to show the features you want.

You would best speak to a authorised polar retailer for the right model that fulfils your needs.

I know my cs600 bike model can be setup over infrared connection from the pc.

Hope this helps