I had the S150, and it was crap. Have the timex Bodylink S+D, it rocks. Haven't tried the other Polars, though.

I have the Polar S710i and think it's great. The having altitude and cycling functions is great. You can graph your HR vs. speed and altitute. I haven't had any problems with interference. The IR interface is a lot easier than Soniclink.

I, too, have the S710i. I have no complaints about it so far, and no regrets about dropping all the money for it. It's easily my most used training device so far.

I have a 720. Have speed and cadance sensors on two bikes. Love the altitude feature on the run.

Haven't used my Timex HR monitor and SDM monitor since I got the Polar. Much prefer the Polar

I will qualify my comments by saying that I never used a HRM during my best years of training/racing. I see their use and apllication and how they can be helpful, particularly for newcomers who have no idea of what is heard, what is easy etc. .

I have heard it reccomended that you should get the least expensive HRM with the bascic functions. Unless you are doing physiological research, their is little or no need for many of the advanced functions.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

What Fleck said.

Unless you are a physiologist, and you need stored info on HR progression and what-have-you, none of those extra functions will make you faster, or recover better, or give you a better idea of how your body reacts to exercise/workload than a plain-jane simple HR monitor, which after all, displays your HR.

I have had a polar PACER model for...when, since they came out. It is per-fect. And you can get them, or the lower-end polars for $40-60.

I know a bit about exercise physiology, and it is, and has been one of my main interests since undergrad and medschool, and I personally do not see the use for the extra functions that Polar etc market. They are just that-- marketing devices. Perhaps with the exception of bike watt displays...but I think that you would get a cheaper and more precise bike comp. for that...bike comp, engineered with the purpose of watt display etc are most likely better suited/more precise/durable at the task they were designed for...than a HR monitor, which was designed to display HR.

Ziva

I have a couple of Polar HR monitors. I use a S210 for running, when all I want is to get my average HR for a specific run. I could have actually gone with a cheaper version for this use, but this one was given to me. As long as you have a watch that gives stopwatch and split features, and the ability to give an average HR, I think that is all you really need.

Now I also have a Polar S720 that I have set up for speed and cadence on my road bike. Do I need it to train and be faster, No, but I have a preference for climbing a lot and the ability to download the data to get an elevation profile of what I have ridden and all of the other features that go along with it are a lot of fun to have. If you like to have a lot of neat stuff to look at from your rides (speed vs cadence vs HR vs elevation gain) the 710 or 720 is a great toy.

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Mike Plumb, TriPower MultiSports
Professional Running, Cycling and Multisport Coaching, F.I.S.T. Certified
http://www.tripower.org

I used to use the Polar S510 - it has a major design flaw. Far too easy to erace your data. I now use the Timex BodyLink system (HRM and S+D). IMHO, it is superior than the Polar wireless. And, The S+D has the potetial for being better.

FWIW Joe Moya

s710i

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"Anyone can work hard when they want to; Champions do it when they don't."

I think that is indicative of the Polar's SonicLink HRMs. I'm on my 4th Polar - S710, after 3 upgrades over the years. Prior to the 710 I had a Polar Coach which had same problem.

Polar's IR transfer models are 100% better that Soniclink models. especially in the areas of data storage and download

Having used both Soniclink and IR-transfer HRMs, I would agree that Soniclink-transfer HRMs are inferior. However, weather you can then make a blanket statement that Timex's wireless is superior to Polar wireless might be a stretch given the type of Polar you switched from.

Thats like switching from a Gateway 486 computer to a Dell Pentium IV and saying gateways suck... Just a bad comparision.

I've had the S710 since it came out and haven't seen anything else out there that has made me even think of upgrading again.

Jim

... I no way intended to say Polars are bad products... I said, "the s510 has a major design flaw" - nothing more.

I also have used a Polar S710. It is a good product, but I still prefer the Timex over the Polar S710 (and, that I would say is a much more fair comparison - or, Pentium IV vs. Pentium IV as you might say). When comparing Polar products, the S710 is a much better choice. But, when either Polar products (510 or 710) are compared to the Timex BodyLink system, I find the Timex a better product (but does have room to improve in certain areas as you would expect from most 1st generation products). And (IMHO), that is not a stretch.

As a final note: The good news is you won't have to buy a whole Timex BodyLink product for improvements (such as you did to get better Polar products). Instead, you will simply have to buy that part of the wireless product you would like to upgrade. This (in my mind) makes more sense. I would make it less expensive, more universal usage and provides for a broader use/application in the future.

Joe Moya

The design flaw we were talking about is how Polar SonicLink HRMs handle stored workout data. It may not be a design flaw as much as just a prodcut limitation.

With the 710 and 810 series all workout data is stored up to watch limit of 99 hours and data is transfered via IR interface.

The Polar Coach and 510 series stores data points. The sampling rate is based on workout length. The coach had 60 points I think the 510 has 120. but once you stop the workout and store data. the problem shows itself. With the Coach, if you inadvertently hit the start button again workout data is gone. I think with 510 series has a similar setup in that is only saves the last workout in full (all the HR, SPD, CAD data points) if you start watch agina beofre downloading the file gets stripped of all the data except for duration and maybe AVG HR.

That was the main reason why I went with 710, I was tired of losing data before downloading to PC, and I just couldn't stand downloading via SonicLink. Polar's IR transfer is 1000% better than its Soniclink transfer. Especially if you have kids in the house who make a lot of noise when you're trying to download watch....

...the design flaw I am refering to has been referred to as the the "red button" problem (been reference since the s510 came out).

Simply put (and noted by the other post), the problem is how you end and begin new data sets. If you stop recording and then inadvertantly press the big red button (readily done since it is located on top) you will loose your detailed data. How easy is this to do... well, let me think of only a few common ways... Take off a tight long sleeve sweat shirt... while throwing your bag over your should, you get your watch stuck between the strap and your shoulder.... Digging in your bag to find something...loading your bike into your car and hit the red button located on the face.... geees, the list in endless. (oh yea, and by the way... you can cause a unwanted split-lap set simply by removing a wetsuit while in T1).

Polar should have done what other HRM designs have done to prevent this from happening. They typically require you to hold the button for 3-4 seconds or rotate through a series of menu's before a new data workout set will begin. Instead, (it seems that in order to make interval training easier to record) they made it easy to remove ALL detailed recorded data. I can't think of the number of times I erased my data... a real pain in the neck.

FWIW Joe Moya

hear what you are saying. In that respect I don't have any trouble with the 810. I guess I pressed the red button on accident before, but that didn't matter much since I have to press it twice until the collection of data begins. And even then I have the option of easily deleting the unwanted file.

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�The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.� -Michelangelo

MoodBoost Drink : Mood Support + Energy.

I have the basic Polar, has the beeping option if I go out of zone. As a 2nd year tri gal, I have never found I needed more.

my 2 cents.

-Trisha

That's because the 710s and 810 manage data completely different than 510s. With the 510s if button is hit a second time data gets erased. with 710s and 810s if button gets hit again, more memory gets used but previously stored workouts are still there.

99hrs worth of workouts (710/810) versus 4 workouts (510) was what caparision chart used to say.



Jim