Heart rate monitors

Hey, all;
I'm thinking about investing in a heart rate monitor but wanted to get a little feedback from everyone first. If you have a heart rate monitor:
--Do you use it often?
--Do you find that the calories it says you burn are way off than, say, the machines at the gym?
--Any zumba lovers love their heart rate monitor and can share their stats and what they typically burn in a class?
--Do you think it was worth the money?
--Where can I find one that is affordable (inexpensive, preferrably), and for how much?
Thanks in advance for your advice!

I use my HRM every day.

I found that the calories burned on my HRM are less than the calories burned shown on my threadmill at home and I use the HRM numbers since I am wearing a chest strap and they seem to more accurate. Here's an example: acording to my threadmill (for one day), it said I burned 219 calories but was wearing my new FT40 HRM and it said I burned 169 calories :noway:

I can't answer for zumba as don't do it.

Yes, in my own opinion - my HRM was worth the money.

To find one that is affordable (inexpensive, preferrably), and cost, check out my post above as I gave some info about sales going on for Polar HRM and different styles.......also check for online codes !

This seems to be getting good reviews on your feed and also here: http://www.heartratemonitorsusa.com/polar-ft4.html

--Do you use it often?

Yes, wear it around 20 hours out of the day

--Do you find that the calories it says you burn are way off than, say, the machines at the gym?

haha yes, machines and/or online calculators are not even remotely close...at least not for me.

--Any zumba lovers love their heart rate monitor and can share their stats and what they typically burn in a class?

Dont do Zumba, I just run and use dumbbells

--Do you think it was worth the money?

Every freaking penny, and then some. I even pay a monthly fee for the one I use (bodymedia FIT), and it's still worth every penny and then some.

--Where can I find one that is affordable (inexpensive, preferrably), and for how much?

Amazon.com. Depends on what you want to buy as there are monitors of varying quality at varying price points. Mine was around 200.00 up front then something like 7 bucks a month, but it monitors alot more than just calories (sleep patterns, etc) and has pretty good tracking/reporting software. I also have a 30.00 HRM/pedometer that I wear when I run. It was like 25 bucks at Wally-world. Does a good job of giving me on the fly heartrate counts, distance, MPH, and time...and it's actually fairly accurate on the calories, particularly for a wrist hrm w/o a chest strap. Those are the only two I can comment on at all, but I see lots of other posters who LOVE their Polar devices.

Incidentally, if you have an Android phone....Cardiomonitor is an excellent app (distance, calories, etc) that offers a bluetooth connection to a Polar chest strap. I dont think they have ported the app to Apple, but I'm not sure as I've never looked for it (I HATE HATE HATE my Iphone, and would throw it in the lake if work didnt make me keep one).

A question on top of that....is the BodyBugg the same type of thing or is a HRM different?

yes this is a HRM but it is more complex and definitely high end but it monitors your heart as you go about your activities but it is in a catorgory by itself and not a standard HRM but still is a HRM......:-)

--Do you use it often?
Any time I do intentional exercise which is most days. If I forget to wear it I am lost and feel naked.:laugh:

--Do you find that the calories it says you burn are way off than, say, the machines at the gym?
They are closer to gym machines than not. But I find they are not close to MFP at all. MFP shows higher burns and in some cases like with the Elliptical it shows twice the amount of calories burned than the elliptical at the gym shows and my HRM. Some cases MFP is under.

--Any zumba lovers love their heart rate monitor and can share their stats and what they typically burn in a class? N/A

--Do you think it was worth the money?
Worth every dime and some. I have had my Polar A5 for over 7 years now. I just had to buy a chest strap from ebay last year. Ebay had best deal because Polar wanted to charge almost the same amount as a new watch which was totally ridiculous. I believe mines is over actual burn so I have my watch set at a much lower weight to make up for errors. Because no HRM is totally accurate and they all are the best estimates. Chest strap HRM's are the most accurate. This is one item where you get what you pay for.

--Where can I find one that is affordable (inexpensive, preferrably), and for how much?
You are going to pay a good $80 to $120 for a decent one. I would not buy the wal-mart brand even though many swear by them. I think it is sportsline or something. If that is all you can afford than it is better than nothing but I feel they are not as good as other brands and I love my Polar and since this is the one on most gym machines I trust them above the rest.

Wow, thanks, everyone. Does anyone else have any feedback about the ones sold at Target? Ones to get, ones to avoid..

I bought a new balance one at target for like $60. I wore it, loved it, no problems, lost weight. I had it for like 3 or 4 months and the chest strap broke! Now it's garbage and I bought a polar. Guess I should have went with the polar right off the bat!

Wow, thanks for all the info on this! I came across this thread while being angry about my current watch-only (i.e. no chest strap) monitor, and was convinced that I should buy the Polar FT4! I went to that heart rate monitor USA website and got it super cheap and then used coupon code VALUEDCUSTOMER for a 5% off discount. Thought other people might want to use it to get a cheaper price as well.

I'm wanting a HRM too. I've been looking on Amazon for some, but every one of course has mixed reviews. My workouts consist of workout videos, Wii games, walking and swimming....so I just need something basic that tells me the calories burned. I was thinking of getting the Polar FT4, but someone posted in their Amazon review that you can't see the time while using it. Does anyone know if this isn't true? Since it's a watch, I obviously want to be able to see the time while I'm walking.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

I don't know about the displays on the Polar, but I can tell you that most of the HRMs talked about here will NOT work while swimming. The signal sent from the chest strap to the watch does not travel through water. Yes, they all say waterproof (although, I think the Polars say to not press the buttons under water, as taht will screw it up). Waterproof does not mean it works in water.

Suunto, the brand i own, sells a chest strap that has a memory chip in it. It can be worn in the water. Instead of sending the signal to the watch, it saves your HR information in the chip. You can then upload the HR stuff to the Suunto tracking site. Not sure if it can calculate your calories burned then or not. I haven't done enough research yet, but will try to tonight and follow up....

ATT949: Have you sold it? How much do you want for it?