 |
| ||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||
 Polar F55 Heart Rate Monitor (Lava Aluminum) By: Polar Average Rating: 4.5 Total Reviews: 4 More Information Easy to use, great features  On: 2008-04-15Several years ago I had purchased a fairly simple (cheap) HRM because I wasnt sure how much I would actually use it. I just replaced the old one with the Polar F55. There are so many more features and they arent difficult to use. The three things Ive found most useful so far are 1) fitness evaluation, 2) workout schedule generated based on my goals, and 3) the ability to track progress on the Polar web site. Lots of other features too, calories burned, graphical display of target zone, etc. The strap is pretty comfortable too. Not bad  On: 2007-08-27The watch is great for monitoring your heart rate and planning a basic cardio work out for you to follow. I was a little disappointed at its weight training capabilities. It only allows you to complete a full weight training workout once a week then your on your own for the rest of the week. Its also a little limited in the exercises you can do and you cant add any of your own into the mix. I also dont know if Im missing something but I havent completely figured out how to read the data analysis it does with the software. I think if I could figure out the software or if the software was more friendly I would have given it 5 stars. Overall not a bad choice especially for the cost. Great monitor, website could be better On: 2007-08-23I bought this a couple of weeks back. I had been an irregular gym goer (4-5 times a month), and had always come out tired and not feeling good. This monitor changed that - I have been going every other day, and my gym has polar equipment that picks up the HR to display on the large LED. This is the top of the line F-series monitor. I compared it with Suunto monitors, and the compatibility with Polar equipment was a clincher for me. The cost of the monitor itself is mostly the software in the watch - I cant imagine F55 to be so much more to manufacture compared to the basic F1 for example. I would have gone in for F11, but I think this aluminum lava model looks much better, and I might use the strength training program sometime in the future (these are the only 2 differences from F11). The website was subpar. As others have mentioned in reviews for other Polar F watches, all the data needs to be uploaded to the polar website to make any good sense out of it. The website is poorly designed, is slow, and has some quirks regarding HR limits (it uses its own limits to display data rather than the watch limits computed using "ownZone"). Hence the rating of 4. Another note - you will find this monitor $$ cheaper on *bay, but none of those sellers admitted to be authorized dealers (Polar has a list online). If you need the 2 yr warranty, youll probably have to pay up the extra cash (Polar appears to have tight price controls for auth dealers, all of which have the monitor for exactly the same price). Excellent Training Device and Stylish too On: 2007-06-24Worth the investment. I use it to monitor various activities from cardio, weight training, tennis, etc. Online tool is very useful in reviewing your settings/results as you can easily download via Infrared. |