I have the Polar RS800CX. I like a lot of things about it, and given the choice, I'd probably buy it again. Notes:
  • sometimes the flexible strap stops reading my heart rate, I need to figure out best where to place it and how tight to make it
  • the separate GPS unit is sometimes a pain, but I didn't have one to begin with so it's kind of a nice to have. It's frustrating when it can't measure, the spot measurements aren't always accurate (of course), and it is a separate unit but I strap it to my bike/camelbak if I'm running/riding distances.
  • occasionally my GPS measures pace but doesn't track distance, sometimes it will show distance at the end in the software that it wasn't showing on my wrist (frustrating when running specific-distance repeats)
  • I wish the GPS had a recharge mechanism rather than using batteries (though I'll just use quality rechargeable batteries), runs out in probably 15-20 hours of activity
  • the software is nice, but I wish it did better analysis of distance with incline/elevation, a la map my ride or sport tracks or something like that.
  • It would be super awesome if the software let me push to Training Peaks (or other sites/software) without having to upload manually.
  • I wish there were more/different out of the box display modes, though the ones that are there are really nice. I find myself toggling between the HR view and the distance view when I've got GPS, so it'd be nice to have HR, pace, and distance, on one page.
  • would be nice to have an auto-clear mode where it would delete the oldest workout, or confirm to do so, rather than just running out of memory and not reading anything anymore.
  • the IR transfer can be frustrating, but I don't know that there's a better way without exposing contacts or being expensive/less common.
  • love seeing my entire workout review in the software - I have used this to compare intervals to each other, compare how I performed through intervals (start out strong, finish strong - OR NOT ), track my long distance running/cycling, see how I performed over terrain I know exists, etc


The display is nice, it's easy to read/use, it's waterproof, still watch-sized (though it's big for my small wrist, it's not uncomfortably so), I like cycling through the different types of displays, I use it for much more detail than my old super-basic Polar, the software has been useful, and the GPS is nice to have though I'm thinking the footpod and something cycling-specific are the most accurate ways to go.

Whew, that was a lot for just a heart monitor. I toiled over the decision to upgrade and whether to go Garmin or Polar, and I really like my Polar unit (I mostly chose it because heart rate is most important to me over the GPS features and I could leave the GPS behind and use it as a basic heart monitor), but I don't know that I would have been unhappy going the other way.