HRM With Interval Timer?

April 27, 2008 10:42 AM

Shopping for a heart rate monitor which includes an interval timer - this is the cheapest Timex ($78), this is cheapest Suunto ($115) and this is the cheapest Polar ($140). Does anyone have experience of any of these, or have other recommendations to offer?

The Timex has only 4 reviews on Amazon and 2 of them are bad (how much can you trust an Amazon review?) - average = 3*s. The Suunto has mixed reviews and averages 3.5*s. And the Polar has better reviews - averages 4*s. Also in it's favor, the Polar has the soft Wearlink strap. But there again, it's nearly twice the price of the Timex.

Any advice/ suggestions/ recommendations? This is for cycle training at home (unfortunately hrm cycle computers with interval timers are crazy expensive).

posted by forallmankind to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (3 answers total)

Response by poster: note: my last hrm was a Polar. It was fine and I liked the Wearlink strap, but the watch itself was crappy and the buttons fiddley and difficult to operate. A lot of the bad Suunto reviews focus on the build quality of the watch, but I think Polars are, for the most part, pretty poor in this price range, which is influencing my reluctance to drop a bunch of cash on one.
posted by forallmankind at 10:51 AM on April 27, 2008

I've had my Suunto for over a year and have had no quality problems. There's a slight learning curve to figure out which buttons to press, but I love it overall and use the watch with interval timer in the water four times a week without any damage.
posted by mynameisluka at 11:40 AM on April 27, 2008

I've used the Garmin Forerunner 305 for about a year now and have nothing but positive experiences. It has an interval timer feature. It's going for about $200, but it includes GPS tracking, which is awesome if you ever ride/run/swim/hike/geocache outdoors.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 1:36 PM on April 27, 2008