Polar F11 or Polar FT60?

[e.e.cummings]

I am trying to settle on a heart monitor and it has come down to these two. The F11 has some nice features, and from what I can see, the newer FT60 will allow you to transmit your data to a computer and look at your progress (need a Polarlink, which is separate). Any thoughts - I tend to get caught up in the bells and whistles, however I wonder how useful the computer linkage would be in reality. Any experience with this?

[Kiwi Stoker]

I have had the basic F4 and recently upgraded to the F11. DH has the full on Polar bike/HR watch.

Unless you are training with a coach/ being really strict about things, we find the upload thing probably overkill. DH downloads infrequently and only looks at the interesting rides (a time trial or an event) and not a training ride.

I find the F11 is just right. It has more info than the F4 did and makes a weekly total, bar graphs, training goal setting (which you can transfer to the watch from a computer but not vis versa) etc. If you really wanted to you could of course manually record this into a s/s.

The only problems I have found is the new soft strap, the metal hooks seem to rub a bit (I never had any problems with the solid plastic and elastic strap one) and that to see the clock time you have to hold the watch up to the chest reciever, which is a pain while riding and probably looks strange (but running would be fine). However I love that its backlit and that the buttons are more durable (the F4 plastic buttons would crack and fall out- happened twice to me).

DH just got a Polarlink off eBay- works fine and a great price.

[OakLeaf]

My only experience is with Garmin, but the other thing the computer sync is great for, is uploading custom workouts.

I'm not sure what workouts come installed on the Polar. There used to be a series of workouts pre-installed on the Garmins, but the new ones don't have any at all; you have to choose which ones to upload from the desktop software. In any case, they weren't always the workouts I wanted to do. I had to write my own ladder intervals workout, and a program to pace myself for the first 3.5K of a 5K race, for instance.

On the Garmins it is possible to create and edit workouts right on the watch, but it's a WHOLE lot easier when you can see the whole thing on the computer screen, rather than just seeing one step at a time on the watch's little screen.

So again - I can't speak to what the Polar models do or don't do, but being able to customize workouts is another reason to be able to sync the watch to your computer.

[e.e.cummings]

Oakleaf - which Garmin do you have? My friend has a 305 Forerunner, and he likes it, however, the only beef he has is that it does not have the auto on/off when he is in cycling mode. Apparently the 405 has this.

[e.e.cummings]

Kiwi Stoker - which Polar does your DH have?

[ny biker]

I have an old Polar -- I think a 710si or 720si? -- and I haven't uploaded anything to a pc since the first year I got it, which was probably 2003. I also haven't used the HRM aspect of it in several years, since the battery died in the chest strap and I decided it wasn't worth sending it to Polar to have the battery replaced.

[OakLeaf]

Oakleaf - which Garmin do you have? My friend has a 305 Forerunner, and he likes it, however, the only beef he has is that it does not have the auto on/off when he is in cycling mode. Apparently the 405 has this.

I have a 705 for the bike (mapping, because I'm the kind of person who could get lost in a football field), and I just got a 310XT for running, to replace my trusty 301 that got to the point that it wouldn't charge or sync unless I held the USB cable on exactly right.


ETA: I'd be surprised if your friend's Forerunner doesn't let him autopause, although I'm not really familiar with that model. My four-year-old 301 did, and so does the 310. Does he know he needs to edit that option separately for each sport?

[Kiwi Stoker]

DH is an old model- the S720i, the one which is a watch (not the bike monted ones). The best thing about a watch HR is that if you want to use it for other activities (say swimming, running etc) you can were as a bike only one can only be used on the bike.

From my manual it says the F11 can send data via Polar web link to the polar personal trainer.com web service and recieve data with the Polar uplink tool. This is all by speakers and microphones.

[e.e.cummings]

ETA: I'd be surprised if your friend's Forerunner doesn't let him autopause, although I'm not really familiar with that model. My four-year-old 301 did, and so does the 310. Does he know he needs to edit that option separately for each sport?[/QUOTE]

Oakleaf, I called Garmin and they said that the 305 and the 405 Forerunner have the same auto-pause features. They are default off, you have to go into each option you use (running, cycling) and switch it on. Guess my friend had not figured that out yet. The real difference between the 305 and 405 is the size: the 405 is made more the size of 'normal' watch, and it displays 3 fields of data on the screen at a time instead of 4. It does have a shorter battery life (8 hours as opposed to 10 hours with the 305).