Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review
(65 customer reviews) 339 of 342 people found the following review helpful
Great workout device,
January 24, 2009 Heavy Amazon User "KD" (Boston) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Polar FT60 Men's Heart Rate Monitor Watch (Black with White Display) (Sports)
It took me a week of reading to decide which HRM watch to try. After a few days I narrowed the brand down to Polar, but then there're about 30 models from them to choose from.
My intended use: I don't run outdoors much so I don't need a GPS. I do cardio and weights in a home gym and have been writing everything down to keep track of progress, weight loss, etc.
I wasn't sure if I would use the extra bells and whistles beyond a Polar F6 but I was intrigued with the higher end models' ability to test your resting fitness, plan a workout régime, monitor your progress, record weight loss, revise the plan and repeat while recording this all to the web.
So, I narrowed it down to the F55, the FT60 and the FT80. Well, the FT80 is getting horrible reviews due to dark screen, unreliable software, and other basic `version 1' problems. The F55 seemed perfect for someone who lifts weights in their workout routine as I do so I researched further in that...Read more
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Works flawlessly with Macintosh Computer,
April 15, 2009 Richard K. Barry (Chevy Chase, MD) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Polar FT60 Men's Heart Rate Monitor Watch (Black with White Display) (Sports)
There is a lot of discussion at [...] about wanting polar software that works natively under Mac OSX. However, I have worked with this fantastic HRM and was able to upload all the data acquired by it to the website blindingly fast on the first try using the Flowlink interface. I am running Windows XP under bootcamp. The polarpersonaltrainer website gives you lots of ways to analyze your workouts and to understand what you need to do to improve. This should not be undervalued when looking at HRMs from the various manufacturers.
I do note that the FT60 does not record your actual heart rate as a function of time for upload but it does record a whole bunch of metrics derived from your heart rate and performance over the course of a workout that are useful for understanding and improving your performance. (Frankly, I don't know why one would want to stare at a graph showing how your heart rate varied as a function of time.) The FT80 does make an actual record of your heart...Read more
29 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Erratic HR readings,
July 22, 2009 J. Roth (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Polar FT60 Men's Heart Rate Monitor Watch (Black with White Display) (Sports)
I recently purchased the FT60 for cycling training. The first few times I use it, the max hr value recorded during my training sessions was over 214 bpm. However, I never saw a value higher then 184 on the wrist unit and 214 is much higher them my max hr. I contacted support about the erratic HR readings and gave me an faq link with some tips. Unfortunately, after trying several tip, none seemed to help. I also found it odd that they publish a long list of things that cause disturbances between the wrist unit and the hr transmitter (below).
Disturbances may occur near high-voltage power lines, traffic lights, mp3 player, overhead lines of electric railways, electric bus lines or trams, televisions, car motors, bike computers, some motor-driven exercise equipment, cellular phones, or when you walk through electric security gates. Microwave ovens, computers and WLAN base stations may also cause interference. To avoid erratic readings, move away from possible sources of...Read more