Articles Comments

Marco Luthe Online! » Personal Stuff » Which Heart Rate Monitor To Buy?

Which Heart Rate Monitor To Buy?

February 4th, 2008 | View Comments

Since I started jogging, I’ve been wondering if I should purchase one of those nice heart rate monitors.

I already own one (TCM = Tchibo) which my father gave to me, because he did not use it. The display did not show anything when I took it out of the packaging a while ago, so I went to the city on Saturday to have the battery replaced. The display seemed to work fine again after replacing the battery, but when I returned home, I noticed that I could press whatever button I liked – none would work, the display would always show the same. So, I think I will put it to rest and buy a new one. I don’t know if TCM is good enough in such electronic devices, anyway.

Having thoroughly searched Amazon.de, I came to the conclusion to either buy a Polar [de] or a Suunto heart rate monitor, but I am not quite sure which brand and model to take.

Here is one product of each company that I think could be nice:

Polar F11 (image by amazon.de) The Polar F11 seems to be a very nice device. Features: WearLink®, OwnZone®, OwnCal®, OwnIndex®, OwnCode®, Keeps U Fit Program, Complete HR, Clock, WebLink- and UpLink-tool. [Update: It seems like the watch can't be found on the Polar website any longer.]

Suunto t1 (image by amazon.de)Quoting from the Suunto website, “the new coded Suunto t1 combines precision technology with contemporary style for an easy-to-use yet sophisticated device. Perfect for walking, cardio training at a gym, cycling, running, or any number of fitness activities, the new coded Suunto t1 is a great aid to making your training.”

Images of the Polar F11 and the Suunto t1 borrowed from Amazon.de.

Personally, I think that the Suunto t1 is a little more stylish (I guess you could also wear it as a normal watch), whereas the Polar F11 seems to have a lot of features.

On the other hand, a big advantage of the Suunto t1 is that you can replace the battery yourself!

If you have experienced one of these products, I would be happy about a short advice / comment. Thanks!

[Update from 2008-02-09]

I decided to purchase the Suunto t1 at SportScheck in Hannover for 79,95 € today.

Filed under: Personal Stuff · Tags: , , , ,

  • http://engelhardt.be Tim

    Ganz ehrlich Marco: Du brauchst doch wirklich nur die Puls/Minute Angabe. Alles andere ist Schnickschnack, den ein richtiger Läufer nicht braucht.

  • http://www.saphod.net Marco

    @Tim:

    Zumindest sollte der Kalorienverbrauch angezeigt werden (abhängig von den persönlichen Körpermaßen), und man sollte unterschiedliche Zonen einstellen können (Fatburning, Cardio, Maximalbelastung).

    Ansonsten gebe ich Dir Recht: Schnickschnack.

    Die Suunto t1 ist wirklich sehr cool.

  • http://www.saphod.net/ Marco

    I am looking for a heart rate belt that’ll work with

    * Nike+ on my iPod nano 5th generation,
    * my Suunto t1 HRM and
    * gym equipment such as treadmills and cross steppers (mosty “powered” by Polar).

    IMO, there are only two choices:

    * The Nike+ Polar Wearlink+ (but will it work with my Suunto t1?)
    * The Suunto Dual Comfort Belt (but will it work with Nike+ on the iPod?)

    The best deal would be if it worked with all of the eqipment: iPod + Suunto + gym equipment.

    I understand that the difference between the older Polar Wearlink+ and the Nike+ Wearlink+ is the fact that the HR is transmitted in two different ways, for the Nike+ using ANT (radio frequency), the other using the older Polar (inductive?) technology. I think the Suunto Dual Comfort Belt works in the same way. Are they producing the same results, i.e. are the frequencies and the coding algorithm the same with both belts?

    (see the Nike+ Forum)

  • http://www.saphod.net/ Marco

    The Suunto T1 is NOT compatible with the Polar Wearlink 31 (coded). I had to find this out the hard way by buying the Polar FT7, because the store I wanted to purchase the Wearlink+ for Nike+ couldn’t order it in any longer.

blog comments powered by Disqus