Should I take it back?

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UT_Nut7
UT_Nut7 Posts: 20
in Fitness and Exercise
Santa brought me a Timex Road Trainer Womens - T5K448 heart rate monitor ($99) because I could take it back if I opened it (I originally wanted the BodyBugg but that was too $$ and I couldnt take the Polar but if I opened it). However, after reading about the Polar brand even more, I'm thinking I should swap it out for the $109 Polar. At this price point, I'm in the mid-range for the Timex and the low end for the Polar. My main want out of a HRM is an accurate calorie counter. I'm still having a hard time finding the instructions for entering weight, height and gender in the Timex manual. I know the calorie count cannot be close to accurate without that. I know there are so many threads about HRMs but I cant seem to find any strong opinions about either one. Most just use the Polar.

Anyone else have any thoughts? Does anyone else have the Timex above that can tell me how to enter in weight/height/gender?

Thanks!

Replies

  • whittrusty
    whittrusty Posts: 533 Member
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    I have a Polar F6 and I love it. I don't know about any others, but I would definitely recommend the Polar!
  • ArchyJill
    ArchyJill Posts: 548 Member
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    I would say if it's that hard to set up it won't be much of a pleasure to use.

    Edit: I just bought a Polar this week too.
  • Mollydolly10
    Mollydolly10 Posts: 431 Member
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    Wow, that makes it sound like the Timex is hard to set up. Polar HRMs ROCK (I have the FT40, got it on sale on ebay, brand new!) and are super easy to set up. I strongly recommend going with the more reputable brand, Polar!
  • lindalee0315
    lindalee0315 Posts: 527 Member
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    I have a Polar, and although it needs a new battery so I can actually use it, it's great. With my model you actually conduct your own fitness test. It measures your heart rate while resting, ideally first thing in the morning. Then, you do a minute of activity, like jumping jacks, it measures your heart rate again, and then after a minute, your recovery heart rate. You plug in age, gender, height and weight, and it calculates with all of that information. I got my Polar on eBay and paid about $50 for it. And, you can actually have more than one user use it. (Not the strap, but the monitor). It will program for more than one person.
  • merryxmas15
    merryxmas15 Posts: 45 Member
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    I also got the timex for christmas. I'm not sure if its the exact same as yours but it may be. There isn't a setting for gender (maybe cause it's the "womens" they decided they didn't need that) or height but to set weight you press mode button until it says HRM setup then press the stop/set button then you can set like your heart rate maximum by hitting the start/split button then hit mode and you can enter your weight. I like mine so far even though I also did as Santa for the polar. Hope this helps.
  • UT_Nut7
    UT_Nut7 Posts: 20
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    See, I played around with the mode last night to set up weight but didnt see it. Maybe I'll take a closer look tonight. Have you used yours yet? How does your calorie reading compare to what MFP or other sites say?
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
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    I bought a Timex T5G971 and found out it wasn't accurate at all - burning 4 calories a minute doing nothing - no way. I just got a Polar FT7 and I like it better. It is definitely more accurate. I did a 30 Day Shred with both (not at the same time) and there was about a 100 calorie difference - the Polar being the lower number.
  • servingthealiens
    servingthealiens Posts: 144 Member
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    I also got the timex for christmas. I'm not sure if its the exact same as yours but it may be. There isn't a setting for gender (maybe cause it's the "womens" they decided they didn't need that) or height but to set weight you press mode button until it says HRM setup then press the stop/set button then you can set like your heart rate maximum by hitting the start/split button then hit mode and you can enter your weight. I like mine so far even though I also did as Santa for the polar. Hope this helps.

    You can't set your height? Then it's... to be blunt... fairly useless.

    Think of it this way: You have 2 women. "Jenny" is 5'3", 200 lbs. She's extremely obese. "Ann" is 5'11", 210 lbs. Depending on her build, she's anywhere from a normal BMI to slightly overweight.

    Jenny is going to burn more calories doing everything than Ann is. Breathing, walking, everything. Her effort will be higher. And while yes, her heart rate will reflect that, it won't be AS accurate as if you take height and age into account.
  • UT_Nut7
    UT_Nut7 Posts: 20
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    Totally agree about the height issue. Can you set your height in the Polar models?

    I've pretty much decided I'm taking the Timex back. Just needed some moral support. :smile:
  • fasttrack27
    fasttrack27 Posts: 324
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    Wow, that makes it sound like the Timex is hard to set up. Polar HRMs ROCK (I have the FT40, got it on sale on ebay, brand new!) and are super easy to set up. I strongly recommend going with the more reputable brand, Polar!

    Ditto. Got the same model from ebay too (plus the module that lets you upload workouts to the Polar website to track progress, etc) for $110. Been happy with it!
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    I just looked over the whole instruction manual (I'm a dork like that sometimes with all this tech stuff). It's in there. But the instructions are a bit obscure as they only go over how to do it for one of the groups, but there are other groups, one of them is Weight, another is maximum heart rate, and another is heart rate display. I didn't see a group for height or age though. I'd still go with the polar, it looks easier to set up and if the Timex truely doesn't have height, or age you're results won't be as accurate.

    I'd go with an FT7 from polar, they are easy to use, and they are going for about 85 bucks on amazon, and amazon is an authorized reseller from polar so the manufacturers warranty stays intact. the only thing I'd say about that is, buy some electrical conduction gel to go with it. It's cheap, only about 6 or 8 bucks, and it'll keep your watch from losing sensor signal to the strap. Overall you'll get it for about the same price and it's a decent HRM (not AWESOME but pretty good).

    here is a link for an FT7 on amazon
    http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Womens-Heart-Monitor-Watch/dp/B001U0OFDM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293738914&sr=8-1
  • UT_Nut7
    UT_Nut7 Posts: 20
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    Thanks! Mom got the Timex from Academy so I'm just going to take it back and swap it out.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    I also got the timex for christmas. I'm not sure if its the exact same as yours but it may be. There isn't a setting for gender (maybe cause it's the "womens" they decided they didn't need that) or height but to set weight you press mode button until it says HRM setup then press the stop/set button then you can set like your heart rate maximum by hitting the start/split button then hit mode and you can enter your weight. I like mine so far even though I also did as Santa for the polar. Hope this helps.

    You can't set your height? Then it's... to be blunt... fairly useless.

    Think of it this way: You have 2 women. "Jenny" is 5'3", 200 lbs. She's extremely obese. "Ann" is 5'11", 210 lbs. Depending on her build, she's anywhere from a normal BMI to slightly overweight.

    Jenny is going to burn more calories doing everything than Ann is. Breathing, walking, everything. Her effort will be higher. And while yes, her heart rate will reflect that, it won't be AS accurate as if you take height and age into account.

    Height may be used in the Polar algorithms to enhance the accuracy of their equation a little, but, overall, it is not considered a major factor in calculating the energy cost of an activity. None of the prediction equations from the American College of Sports Medicine, for example, use height in any way.

    There has been some recent research reported that suggests that taller people use less oxygen when running than shorter people, but that is counter to decades of other research and, while it might provide new insight, needs further investigation.
  • merryxmas15
    merryxmas15 Posts: 45 Member
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    I have used it and it was pretty easy once I sat down and played with it for awhile with the instruction manual in hand. I'm worried that the calories burned number is a little high cause it seems to be a lot higher than mfp.

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