Polar RS100 Heart Rate Monitor and Stopwatch

It is simply the best product anyone can give themselves to workout, because you know exactly what you are doing. It gives you heart rate, calories, fat%, you can gradute so it lets you know on what basis you want to work out.

I wont work with out it

This is my fourth HR monitor. I've owned a Nike (garbage), two Timex models (one solid and one I returned). I bought this one because it had three lines of information so I would know my total time and my lap time.

Some points:
- For the first month the watch never gave me an inaccurate HR. Since then I've had two instance when it's been whacky (you know, shows you at 185 when you're at 145). My previous HR monitors were MUCH worse than the Polar on this account.
- The three lines is nice, however it does not allow you to swap the lap time with the total time. I would much prefer the lap time to be in the middle or at least bigger (it's hard to read when you're doing a hard run and you're bouncing around).
- There is a lap number. I like that a lot.
- If you press and hold the button a little too long it will pop up Limits and adjustments and whatnot. This is annoying and happens too easily.
- If you use the light/indiglo while using the stopwatch it will automatically light up whenever you hit lap/stop afterwards. This is a great feature. Often I'm running in the dark and this feature is a lifesaver.
- Getting the information from the watch is just OK. Not terrible, but not as streamlined as the simple Timex HR monitor I previously used.
- I don't use the totals. I have a database for that.

The bottom line is that HR monitors are pretty unreliable generally. After 2 months, this model has been solid. I would still like a tweak here or there because of my personal preferences.

Got it today, took it for a test run.
Awesome is the one word for it.

It took me about 5 minutes to configure it fully. Granted, I would probably say I'm above average when it comes to figuring gadgets out so don't feel bad if it takes a little longer. It seemed rather intuitive to me, but when I showed it to my roommate he was completely lost.

This is the perfect self-motivation tool for someone that wants to lose weight, burn fat, and ultimately get in better shape.
Speaking as a soon-to-be (250 hours through a 500 hour program) personal trainer, I consider this a solid investment for myself.

You don't need to be a total fitness nerd to love this toy. If you're just looking to burn fat and lose weight without paying for training (which is understandable given the current state of the economy), I would highly recommend this (type of) watch to help you achieve your fitness goals. Whatever they may be.

I had tried a timex hrm before this and it didnt even come close in accuracy. Even though the RS100 is a bit more than some of the timex models its well worth the money. It is accurate and simple enough to use. I would actually reccomend this one over the RS200 since that model seems to have more problems. The only gripe I had was the T31 chest strap which always felt like it was slipping down while I ran. Although my dog has recently destroyed the T31 transmitter and I am looking forward to getting the Wearlink chest strap which looks to be an improvement over the contemporary design. Apparently my dog didnt like the T31 either....

Purchased as a replacement HRM, The unit does what its intended to do and it does it well. The quirks of changing face information or retrieving data takes a while to learn and get used to. The push-button sequencing doesn't always seem intuitive, but - the good news is - its easy to learn. I don't use my HRM as a watch except as a convenience after working out, so that feature is fairly useless to me, anyway. One simple improvement would be a strap thats a notch or two bigger - I have to wear my unit at the end notch making it somewhat more difficult to fasten and unfasten.
Given the quirks and a design you have to grow into, its a decent product and a fair value.