Heart Rate Monitor

I got a Polar FT60 in Sept and love it! I would highly recommend it.

I have only had the Polar F4 & F6. I have loved them both. The F4 will run you around $80 & the F6, $100.

Depends on whether you workout at home or at the gym. If the gym then get the F6, the F4 will get interference from the equipment in the gym. This is why I upgraded from the F4 to the F6. Otherwise, that ting is still going strong, I gave it to a friend.

Both display calories burned & I always found both to be pretty darn accurate. They both use a chest strap which I tuck under my sports bra & honestly forget I am wearing most times. I only wear my HRM when I am working out, not all day as I have heard others do.

Great info! Thanks! I've been wondering too!

I had received a MIO for my birthday and it SUCKED! Do not get a MIO or even consider it! I exchanged it for the Polar F6 and I LOVE the F6...I've been only using it about a week now but would recommend it to everyone! :-)

Whatever you get, make sure it takes ALL your vitals, not just weight and age. Mine is now the Polar FT40 - I had the F6 but it died just a couple of weeks ago. Watch programming kept blanking out. I'm sure it was due to the change in battery. Ah well.

Anyway, the Polars ask for height, weight, sex, age, activity level (the FT40 did - the F6 didn't). Then the FT40 does a resting heart rate thingy to set the VO2 info.

So far, it's comparable in ability to the F6 I had. :-)

FYI, don't buy a Timex....they're as bad as using basic gym equipment.

Thanks for the ideas! I asked for one for Christmas...I have been looking at the Garmin Forerunners...seems good but a little on the expensive side.

metsgirl31, One of the most touted I've come across is the Polar F6 as you can plainly see from all the posts expressing their love for it. Some people are now turning to newer models where you can manually change the batteries. Polar is always a great choice.
SootyMay, stay away from Suunto I've read nothing but bad user reviews. Garmins have great reviews but it depends what your goals are. Garmins are used mostly by endurance athletes because they're multi-functional. If you are just going to the gym or just running around the park or track, get the F6.

That's a sales pitch, then. The instructions actually say to run the strap under water to wet the electrodes to make a better conduction. That's what I do. You also do that for cleaning <grin>

Don't fall for the extra stuff. You don't need it. I've been using a HRM for over 2 years. Love it. Almost obsessed. My dance teachers love hearing how hard they've made me work, tool LOL!

I've got the polar f6 and I love it! Highly recommended!!!!

i started to stationary bike and on the bike it said 400 cal burned in 15.7 miles with the POLAR F7 it said I burned 599...I hope its right! on the other hand I thought I was burning 250 w/ turbo Jam workout and it said I only burned 190... so im assuming the heart rate monitor is more correct.. I just wish I knew how to use all that it comes with! im not that great with computers and there is a lot on it hopefully someday

I am hoping to see the same results you are seeing when you did the bike. When the elliptical says I only burn 300 calories and I feel like I worked my butt off!!! I am hoping my new HRM will tell me I am actually burning more! So excited to get it!!

I tried to find the F7 but it wasn't available. The FT40 was supposedly its replacement. You can change the batteries on both.

Be prepared to be shown you are burning FEWER calories with a proper HRM, though. The elliptical at the gym tells me I burn 300+ in 30 minutes. My HRM tells me 200+ - and that's for pretty heavy interval training!

aww darn it!! I was hoping opposite...so why does the bike say more on the HRM then the actual bike? Are all cardio machines going to be different from the HRM??

I hve the Polar F6, got it off ebay for $60 and it's amazing!! No more guess work! Love, love, LOVE IT!

I actually have two watches. I have the Garmin FR60 and the Polar FT4. I love them both.

The Garmin watch was not as user friendly and took me awhile to setup and use. Its a multisport watch and can be used for running, aerobic classes, biking, etc. But the thing I liked most about the watch was that you can upload your workout to Garmin's website and track your progress on their site. Its interesting to me to be able to look back at my workouts over periods of time to see my calories, burned, heart rate, duration, activity, etc.. I ended up messing up my chest strap on the Garmin so I got the Polar FT4 in the meanwhile until I order the Garmin chest strap.

The Polar FT4 was easy to use right out of the box. It has less features than the Garmin but I still love it a lot due to the ease of use. I've been manually tracking my progress in an Excel spreadsheet.

I actually have two watches. I have the Garmin FR60 and the Polar FT4. I love them both.

The Garmin watch was not as user friendly and took me awhile to setup and use. Its a multisport watch and can be used for running, aerobic classes, biking, etc. But the thing I liked most about the watch was that you can upload your workout to Garmin's website and track your progress on their site. Its interesting to me to be able to look back at my workouts over periods of time to see my calories, burned, heart rate, duration, activity, etc.. I ended up messing up my chest strap on the Garmin so I got the Polar FT4 in the meanwhile until I order the Garmin chest strap.

The Polar FT4 was easy to use right out of the box. It has less features than the Garmin but I still love it a lot due to the ease of use. I've been manually tracking my progress in an Excel spreadsheet.

I am a runner and looking for an HRM that tracks calories burned, distance and pace...do either the Garmin or the Polar you mentioned do ALL of that???