Heart Rate Monitors, How Accurate are they??

Does it come with a chest strap? If it does it's about as accurate as you're going to get.

Understand there will be some error in any machine we use to measure the human body, just as there is some error in our food labels. It's all a best estimate.

However, counting calories both in and out creates a form of accountability...which is what you're really looking for when trying to be healthy

It must have a chest strap to give any sort of accurate calorie count. Comparing it to the machine is ok, but realize the machine is not very accurate either. It guesses your calorie burn based on averages, but due to your fitness level and various other factors you will burn more or less calories than the treadmill or elliptical would calculate. Always remember, just because a number is there does not mean it is in any way an accurate representation of reality. People want calorie burn information, so the manufacturers provide it, but there is no one out there enforcing it accuracy. They could quite easily bump up the numbers a bit putting them at the top of the average rather than the middle so they can sell more machines marketing their elliptical burning more calories than the competitors when in reality their is no functional difference.

The same could be said for HRM, and it is possible that they do the same thing to make people feel like they are doing more than they really are. I do know that if you don't have a chest strap so you can have constant heart rate information, the calorie burn number is completely useless. It is there because people want it, but without the chest strap there is little way to accurately calculate it as calories burned is connected to how your heart rate changes through the workout. It is always changing but without the chest strap the only things your HRM have to work with are those occasional heart rates you take as you work out and time. It you keep hitting high heart rates, the calories burned will be high, if you hit lower ones it will be low.

If you don't have a chest strap, bring it back and get one with a chest strap.

BTW, I have a Sportline from Wal-mart. It seems fairly accurate, and Sportline sent me a chest strap to replace the strap I had that was wearing out. I am very impressed by their customer service.

Mine does have a chest strap so I guess it is probably pretty accurate but when I was on the elliptical last night it was getting some pretty high readings for Heart rate. I really bought it mostly to find out how many calories I am burning when using the Wii games or DVD's.