Heartrate monitors

[DownhillGoat]

Looking for a decent heartrate monitor for working out, hiking, skiing, etc.
Any particular brands/models I should look at?

I'd like to have the ability to download the information, and something that works on a mac would be preferred, but not mandatory.

[GrrlGoalie33]

I think Polar chest bands work with Nike+ on the iPod nano...

[worth]

I have on from Polar. Works well. The seem to be the most popular.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by worth

I have on from Polar. Works well. The seem to be the most popular.

Which model?

[macker]

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=11039&ra=true

The only GPS/HRM you will ever need to buy! I bought mine 2 years ago and it has changed the way I work out! I used to have at Timex GPS and a Polar HRM and don't really recommend either compared to the all in one Garmin. Tells you everything you ever want to know. If you are hiking tells elevation, distance, calories burned, how to get back to where you started from if you get lost etc. etc. If you are running you can use it for distance, pace, or set up a virtual trainer that you can race against. Biking same sort of thing as you just tap a couple buttons to get it onto bike mode. Can't say enough about it and I use it all the time (unlike my garmin gps in my car). I wanted one so bad I went into the Running Room and allowed myself to be ripped off but you can get them online for less. Battery charges quick also! You can get about 8 hours on a charge so if you are going for an epic hike you may have to turn the GPS off part way up but for most things that is enough. I wear it swimming also despite being told not to...so I guess it is waterproof....

[worth]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

Which model?

I will check when I get home for you.

You can't hook my model up to the computer though.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by macker

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=11039&ra=true

From the Garmin site:
Case: Water resistant to IPX7 standards; an IPX7 designation means the GPS case can withstand accidental immersion in 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes.

Sharp looking. Costco carries that model for a pretty good price. The Garmins appear to work with macs whereas a lot of the Polars don't. I'm trying to determine the differences between the 305 and the 405. There's about a $200 price difference.

[HalifaxDrunk]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

Sharp looking. Costco carries that model for a pretty good price. The Garmins appear to work with macs whereas a lot of the Polars don't. I'm trying to determine the differences between the 305 and the 405. There's about a $200 price difference.

I think the only difference is size and appearance.

I bought the 305 online from Costco this past spring. It is kind of large but I don't care, once strapped on my wrist it doesn't bother me at all. Who cares about the physical appearance when I only wear it working out. The satellite reception is awesome, I've never had it drop connection. The battery life is great. I don't even notice the chest strap once it's on.

Here is an example of what you can see when you upload a workout. This is from a 100 kilometer charity bike ride I did in July. The Elapsed time includes a hour long lunch pit-stop at Acadia University when I hit the stop button. You can also see it calculates "Time" and "Moving Time", this difference is when we my team would stop at the rest stops for water. I like this feature as it doesn't skew your actual exercise numbers if you stop to rest. Notice how my heart-rate jumped when I left my team and rode at a good pace for the final 20 KM. All kinds of information goodness.

[DownhillGoat]

Looks like the 305 is going to be the winner.
The 405 looks like it's geared more towards hardcore runners, whereas I'll be using it more for treadmill and hiking. Looks like a stop to Costco is in order.

Thanks all!

[HalifaxDrunk]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

Looks like the 305 is going to be the winner.
The 405 looks like it's geared more towards hardcore runners, whereas I'll be using it more for treadmill and hiking. Looks like a stop to Costco is in order.

Thanks all!

You may want to call your local Costco, it is not stocked in-store here in Nova Scotia. I had to order it online, good thing was it was delivered really fast. I ordered it on a Wednesday and had it on Friday.

[Machiavelli]

I see there are a bunch of cheaper heart rate/calorie counting monitors on eBay. Is there some great advantage to the more expensive brands/models (other than perhaps greater accuracy)?

[Table 5]

I'm working for Nike at the moment, and I highly recommend looking at their Nike+/Active offerings.....you can track/measure a ton of stuff which really helps makes things more interesting.

[ozzy]

I saw the 305 on the Visions flyer yesterday for $178, here is the link

http://www2.visions.ca/catalogue/cat...productId=6399

and costco.ca has it for $169.99

http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Product....=1&topnav=&s=1

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

Looks like the 305 is going to be the winner.
The 405 looks like it's geared more towards hardcore runners, whereas I'll be using it more for treadmill and hiking. Looks like a stop to Costco is in order.

Thanks all!

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by ozzy

and costco.ca has it for $169.99

Same price in store. I picked it up Thurs night. Turns out a co-worker has the same model and he was quite happy with it too.

I have to buy maps for it yet, but so far it seems to do everything I wanted it to. The only downside I can see is that it can't store enough data for full day activities...

[HalifaxDrunk]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

Same price in store. I picked it up Thurs night. Turns out a co-worker has the same model and he was quite happy with it too.

I have to buy maps for it yet, but so far it seems to do everything I wanted it to. The only downside I can see is that it can't store enough data for full day activities...

Buy what maps? Just sign up for a free Garmin Connect account and upload your run/ride.

https://connect.garmin.com/register

What full activities are you doing I did over a 7 hour bike ride day no problem.

[Jodester]

179 at the running room. Prices have come way down there.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by HalifaxDrunk

What full activities are you doing I did over a 7 hour bike ride day no problem.

Really? In the manual it says it can only store 3 hours of continuous data. I must have missed something.

[macker]

http://www.facebook.com/TimexSports

Looks like Timex has stepped it up. Maybe this will bring the pricing down a bit for some of these units as nobody else had anything like the 405. I like the look of this unit compared to anything Timex has put out before.