I decided to bite the bullet and try the Polar RS800SD. In the past I’ve used a Garmin Forerunner 301 and was currently using a Nike+ iPod. I thought about the Garmin 305 but decided against it because I really wanted more accurate pacing information. I also didn’t like the acquiring time and dropouts that I would get on the Garmin. I like my Nike+ but I wanted more data such as heartrate and the ability to create workouts.
Out of the box
Shiny new toy, YAY! Need to put the battery into the footpod, no problem. Attaches very easily to laces, much better than the Nike+ in that regards. Adjust the wearlink strap to fit, very comfortable. No cold clamminess that you get with the old strap. Input some basic settings into the watch like time, weight and age. Start a workout, walk around, cool everything seems to be working.
The Manual
Tiny paper manual, not much info there, just enough to get the unit working. The rest is on CD unfortunately. For $460, you think they could just print the whole thing out. The CD manual isn’t very good either, kind of skimpy IMO. Some of the directions, such as calibration, are confusing. They should have done a better job on this.
First run
Argh, can’t figure out how to calibrate it. I should have printed the instructions. Oh well, I guess I’ll just go to my marked course and start without calibrating. I have a half mile course that I measured with GPS. First lap, WOW dead on exactly half mile. This can’t be right must be a coincedece, I’ll try again. Exactly half a mile again. Repeat once more, PERFECT ACCURACY. So after 1.5 miles of running, I measured exactly 1.5 miles, not bad.
My Nike+ usually was off up to 10% each time, so I was expecting the polar to be off. To my shock, the Polar was far more accurate. So accurate in fact I couldn’t measure any error on my flat half mile course.
I was a little worried I might notice the weight of the footpod since it’s much larger than the Nike+. No problem, didn’t notice it was there at all. The watch itself is comfortable as well, my wrists are very scrawny so don’t judge it by the picture.
The pacing and heart rate information was first rate, exactly what I was looking for. No dropouts and near instantaneous updates.
Software
A little confusing at first. Took me a while to figure out how to transfer the files using the IR receiver on my laptop. I think the transmitter is on the top of the watch, so it took a little adjusting. Maybe I missed it, but the manual didn’t seem to mention this fact. So many features, it will take me a while to wade through this. It’s nice that you can create workouts then upload them to the watch. Seems pretty decent but I haven’t had time to really use it.
I might have to try trainingpeaks or something, since I don’t think this software will take powertap files. That will be my next project.
Overall
I’m very pleased. The only black mark is the poor manual. The accuracy blew me away and I look forward to using the many features. I’ll try to have a more thorough review in the future.
