another q on heart rate monitors

[bostonwendy]

I am thinkng of purchasing a HRM, probably polar F4 or F6, and would love some feedback. What is your experience with the chest strap - is it comfortable? adjustable? From both amazon and polar, I aunclear on whether the chest strap and transmitter come with the HRM purchase or are sold separately. Also, I have seen a few models (not polar) that do not use a chest strap - can they really be accurate?

Thanks,
Wendy

 

[Netta]

I have an M32 (I wouldn't recommend as I have lots of interference from TV and then it doesn't work), it has a chest strap and I am comfortable with it on. Doesn't bother me at all. I don't even think about it even once. It's adjustable. It came with my M32. Sorry, I don't know anything about the strapless units.

Jeanette

 

[nancy324]

Most of them come with the T31 strap, unless they say otherwise. I wouldn't worry about comfort. I really think you'll hardly notice it's on. And yes, it is totally adjustable, and very easy to adjust. You'll get a perfect fit, and once you adjust it, it will stay that way and you'll never have to adjust it again.

As for interference, I have no idea.

My tendency is not to trust the strapless monitors, but I've never tried them.

HTH,
Nancy

 

[alsrnbsn]

I have a Polar F6 and it comes with the chest strap and wrist module. At first I was skeptical about the chest strap, but I don't even notice it! It's actually very comfortable and is easily adjustable.

My only problem is the wrist module. It's not a design flaw by any means, I just don't like wearing anything on my wrist when I exercise (it's a personal thing, that's all).

I don't have any problems with interference from the TV either. In fact, I haven't had any problems with it at all, so far.

 

[bostonwendy]

thanks for the feedback, everyone. I plan to ask for either F4 or F6, based on features and cost. It looks like no one here is using a model with no chest strap. My guess it that the TV interference issue has more to do with your TV than the HRM, so I will hav eto wait and see about that.

Wendy

 

[dianas]

I have the Polar F11 and I love it. The chest strap is not a problem it's comfortable and when I was researching it seemed the strapless ones don't work as well. That made sense to me as the grips on cardio machines don't always pick up as well as my monitor does. I don't have problems with it near my TV but I'm not right next to it maybe 6 feet away. This is pure speculation on my part but I'm wondering if those models that don't have the cross talk prevention feature tend to have more interference from tv's than those that do. Cross talk is where for example you're in a gym and there may be lots of heart rate monitors your watch can pick up heart rates from someone wearing a monitor close to you instead of just yours. Monitors with cross talk prevention minimize this so it makes sense to me that it would also minimize other sources of distortion but like I said I'm only speculating. This may be a good question for customer support at the company that makes the monitor you're thinking of buying. From what I remember of my research the F6 has cross talk prevention but the F4 does not. The F11 has more bells and whistles but I'm a gadget girl so I use them.

Diana