I have been using an Oregon Scientific HR102 heart rate monitor, and it has been working pretty well. But I decided I wanted to get something even better. The Oregon Scientific doesn’t seem to have coded transmission, so may suffer from cross talk when I run a marathon. Polar seems to be the leader in heart rate monitors. So I started researching the different models. I could have gotten an Polar F6 at Dick’s Sporting Goods for $100, or a Polar F11 for $160. And I could have gotten these for less online. I started trying to figure out what would be best for what I wanted to do. On their website, Polar listed several models as designed for running. They are S625XT, S210T, S120T, RS200sd, and RS100.
I ended up going with the Polar RS200sd which I found at Amazon for $199. The RS200sd has a ton of features. I like the foot pod so that I will know how far I have run, and how fast I am running. This will be useful during a marathon. Even for when I am not on my treadmill, it would be nice to know my pace out on a REAL road, and see if the effort is comparible to the treadmill. Some of the other features I am looking forward to using are the Polar OwnCal. I don’t believe the calorie counter on my treadmill. I will also probably play with uploading data to the computer. I think the PC Coach software can use the data which could be kind of cool if I decide to buy the software. And I love information. The more relevant information, the better.
One thing that I was concerned about was when reading reviews on Amazon’s website, some people said they had problems with the watch screen going blank, and locking up. The watch can be reset by pressing all of the side buttons simultaneously. Still, a watch that locks up frequently would kind of suck. I called Polar, and was told that they don’t get many calls about it, but if it happens a couple times, they will take the watch back under warranty.
So I am looking forward to getting it and trying it out!

Posted by Rob in Running on September 1st, 2006 |