Just looking for the simple stuff like HR, time, alarm, etc. I’m thinking the polar way as I haven’t had much luck with Timex. Any plugs for Polar or suggestions?
Polar RS100 - Had it for about a month or so and it seems to be very reliable. Has all the basic feature and a 100 lap counter. I also had some bad luck with Timex so I decided to switch over…so far its been a good move.
timex I have had every high end Polar for the past several years—too complicated. I have an s625x that I hae never been able to use–and it gets worse with race brain. Timex, on the other hand I have never had any problem.
Any basic model HRM will be pretty much the same - Timex, Polar, Suunto, etc. I’d be inclined to go with whatever’s cheapest and doesn’t look like it sucks. 
My Suunto T3 works pretty good and is relatively basic. It doesn’t look like a big tech freak watch either.
Go with the polar f1 or f2 its cheap and works with all the polar equipped treadmills at gyms which most dreadmills are. Reliable water resistant and easy to use. I have the more exspensive and optioned out Polar watches. I still like the basic the best. Very very easy to use if a moron like myself can use it anyone can.
Though not necessarily a basic watch, I love my Forerunner 305…HRM, datalogging, etc. for about $150. Been very reliable too…knock on wood!
I moved away from Polar because (at least when I was using them), Polar wants users to send the watch back to it for battery replacement, and the HRM chest strap batteries aren’t replaceable at all. Polar’s menus are also, in my experience, remarkably non-intuitive. I’ve switched to the HAC-4, using it both on and off the bike.
garmin 305 just cuz
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I moved away from Polar because (at least when I was using them), Polar wants users to send the watch back to it for battery replacement, and the HRM chest strap batteries aren’t replaceable at all. Polar’s menus are also, in my experience, remarkably non-intuitive. I’ve switched to the HAC-4, using it both on and off the bike.
Depends on the model and what you use the watch for. A watch like the RS400 can be replaced, if you use it primarily as a running watch. Certain straps you can change the batteries yourself. But other models do have to be polar serviced, it gets confusing. I am sure the polar rep will be around to clarify. Once you get hooked on the HR stuff anyway, you tend to have a backup watch anyway, becomes something of a Walkman, just don’t want to run with out it. I wouldn’t change the battery on a $500 watch myself and start using it in the pool anyway. I just send the watch out to be changed after my big races when I don’t need them for a while.
I agree, I’ve had one of their watches for a couple months and think its great.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000P8VWRC?ie=UTF8&redirect=true&tag=themussou0841183-20
I have the Suunto T3c and like it. I wear it as my everyday watch. It’ll track heart rate. I also have the foot pod, so I can pace myself when running. I do wish it had a larger display of the chrono function when I only want to track time, but that’s a minor issue for me.
Just looking for the simple stuff like HR, time, alarm, etc. I’m thinking the polar way as I haven’t had much luck with Timex. Any plugs for Polar or suggestions?
Garmin Forerunner 50.
It’s awesome. Has the same ANT+ compatibility as the 405, and it works great. Just walk into the room with the USB dongle and everything downloads automatically.
Comes with a heartrate strap.
Optional footpod for running pace/cadence. It’s about the same size as the Polar S3 footpod.
Optional ANT+ compatible speed/cadence sensor for the bike.
Fantastic battery life.
It’s basically the 405 minus the GPS.
Got mine for $50.
Timex Body Link
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Just looking for the simple stuff like HR, time, alarm, etc. I’m thinking the polar way as I haven’t had much luck with Timex. Any plugs for Polar or suggestions?
Garmin Forerunner 50.
It’s awesome. Has the same ANT+ compatibility as the 405, and it works great. Just walk into the room with the USB dongle and everything downloads automatically.
Comes with a heartrate strap.
Optional footpod for running pace/cadence. It’s about the same size as the Polar S3 footpod.
Optional ANT+ compatible speed/cadence sensor for the bike.
Fantastic battery life.
It’s basically the 405 minus the GPS.
Got mine for $50.
I thought the same thing initially with my Forerunner 50. I bought in on Woot for 50.
However, it is a little more confusing to use than most watches. My battery died quickly, now it shuts off and resets randomly and despite being paired with the cadence sensor for my 305 it still picks up cadence.
I’m not sure if my Forerunner 50 is typical but I didn’t have such good luck.
To the OP, the best basic watch I have ever owned is the Nike Triax. They are by far the most comfortable watch I’ve ever worn. Sometimes I would forget about it and not take it off for a week or two. I routinely showered/swam with mine and never had a problem. I’ve used Garmin, Timex, Nike, and Polar and the Nike stood out the most.
x2 on the Garmin 50. I’ve used mine for about a year now. The best feature is the ability of download your workouts to your computer. Don’t really use the foot pod anymore. Mostly because I’m lazy, too much trouble to move it between pairs of shoes. I always use the HR monitor. The bike pod did not give accurate data with the calibration numbers given in the manual. After alot of trial and error finally got it calibrated where it matched my bike computer. Seems to work fine now.
I keep the watch on my wrist throughout the race and wear the HR strap under my trisuit and wetsuit through the swim. No problems in the water. I don’t really reference it on the bike, because it’s just too hard to see. I usually wear my watch on the inside of my wrist (my everyday watch), however I can’t wear the Garmin like that because the design. The stop/start button gets pushed inadvertently.
I’ve wondered if there is a better system out there, maybe the Suunto T6? When I wear out this Garmin I’ll look into the Suunto.
Here’s the scoop
F series do not have a lap/split feature. F7 has the Wear Link t-belt where you can change that battery, but not in the watch. The FS1-2-3 are very simple
The RS100 is a smart choice for your original post, this is a simple Running Series unit that has la/split features
The new RS300x is a litlte more but you can ad a fotpod of GPS.