Is the Polar S210 good for a beginner?

"NewsBirdie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Is this a good watch for a beginner?

It's OK, though I'd buy the base model that merely displayed HR until I knew
what I was doing. Then I'd donate it to a local youth running group and buy
a nice complex one that I could play with for hours.

And, by golly, that's what I did!

Quoted message said:

Then I'd donate it to a local youth running group

Anything you can do to get near young ones eh Roger?

NewsBirdie said:

I've studied the Polar watches and they only have a few models on
their website, I don't see all the models people talk about. For
running there are only 3, and the Polar S210 is the middle one. Seems
to be good for me. Not much more expensive than the S120. Is this a
good watch for a beginner?

Thanks

http://www.polarusa.com/consumer/productfinder/productfinder.asp

Hmm, it lists S120 as $120, S210 as $200, and S410 as $230, and a ton of
other models.

http://www.polar4less.com/heart_rate_monitors.htm
has cheaper prices with S120 $90, S210 $137, and S410 $165
(I've not dealt with this company and have NFI in either)

Short version:
If you just want something to start with, the more basic model like the
S120 (and they have some lower cost models but not familiar with that
series) would probably be fine. If you even think you want to download
stuff, I'd get the 410 rather than the 210 for the extra $30. The 210 is
a fair amt more than the 120 in these lists, and if you're going to
spend that much money, I'd get the download capabilities. Just my $.02.

Long version:
What you get depends on how you want to use it, in particular if you
want to download your data to a computer - or if you even need a hrm
(can take pulse manually or run by feel or breathing effort). If you're
not sure, then you might start out with a low-end model and after you
get a better feeling for what you want to do (type of running, duration
of runs, frequency of recording, multisport, etc), get something better.

If you know you definitely want to download stuff, I think the S410 is
the lowend, but has some limitations (single exercise set, frequency of
recording decreases with longer workouts). I'm a beginner and have used
an S410 for about 3 years, but have been planning on upgrading for at
least a year (waiting for batteries to die, which they did recently)
because of some of its limitations (some of which are artifact of early
version, but some of which are inherent in it). I got it thinking it was
the upper end of what I'd be interested in. Wrong. My interests expanded
substantially about 6 months after I started using it. But I don't look
at it much while running (go by feel now) and depend heavily on the
download capability - but that's me, what I like, and my personality.

In contrast, the runners in my cross-training class (mostly much more
experienced) couldn't understand why anyone would want to download data
or even if it was worthwhile to get a hrm. YMMV.

Dot
waiting for S625x to upgrade

Dot said:

If you know you definitely want to download stuff, I think the S410 is
the lowend, but has some limitations (single exercise set, frequency of
recording decreases with longer workouts).

Also uses sonic link rather than infrared port for transfer and probably
a couple other things I didn't care for but can't remember at the
moment. I think the 610 gets rid of those issues.

(NewsBirdie) said:

I've studied the Polar watches and they only have a few models on
their website, I don't see all the models people talk about. For
running there are only 3, and the Polar S210 is the middle one. Seems
to be good for me. Not much more expensive than the S120. Is this a
good watch for a beginner?

Here's a nice comparison tool to help you sort things out:
http://tinyurl.com/4nqxj

They list these models as being for running:

S120 $90
S210 $137
S410 $165
S610i $189
S810i $291
S625X $???

I have the S610i, which I purchased from Polar4Less.com at a substantial
savings. I've listed their prices above. The 610 has infrared data
communication. The 410 uses a sonic link. I've found infrared
communication to be flawless. Since I have an infrared port on my laptop,
it is very convinenient to transmit the data from the watch to the laptop
using the software application. You can also download data to the watch.
This makes it easy (using the Polar Precision Performance software) to
create your exercises, HR zones, etc., then download it to your watch.
The 610 and the 410 come with the Polar software. The 610i can store up
to 99 exercise files. Since I pull the data frequently, I never even get
close to using up the memory on the watch. The 410 and the 210 can store
1 exercise file. There are a few other differences, but they aren't that
important.

As Dot has already mentioned, it really depends on what you want to do
with it. Are you really in to analyzing your exercise data? If so, you
have to at least go with the 410 (or the 610 for $25 more) for uploading
and software included. Since you are just starting out and just want
something to measure your HR and motivate you, then maybe the 120 is good
enough. That way you won't be spending too much money, and can justify
getting a better one, once you realize what you actually want or need. Or
you may realize that you don't need an HRM at all. So at least you won't
have wasted too much money in the process.

Phil M.

Dot dot.h@#duh?att.net said:

NewsBirdie said:

I've studied the Polar watches and they only have a few models on
their website, I don't see all the models people talk about. For
running there are only 3, and the Polar S210 is the middle one. Seems
to be good for me. Not much more expensive than the S120. Is this a
good watch for a beginner?

Thanks

http://www.polarusa.com/consumer/productfinder/productfinder.asp

Hmm, it lists S120 as $120, S210 as $200, and S410 as $230, and a ton

of

Quoted message said:

other models.

http://www.polar4less.com/heart_rate_monitors.htm
has cheaper prices with S120 $90, S210 $137, and S410 $165
(I've not dealt with this company and have NFI in either)

I purchased the S610i from them. Great price, quick delivery, no
problems.

Quoted message said:

If you know you definitely want to download stuff, I think the S410 is
the lowend, but has some limitations (single exercise set, frequency of
recording decreases with longer workouts).

That's one reason why I got the S610. The 2-way infrared communication
works great. I like being able to setup my exercises on the laptop and
upload them to the watch. I've never really made use of the 99 file
limit, since I'm always pulling the data off the watch.

Quoted message said:

I'm a beginner and have used an S410 for about 3 years

You can stop calling yourself a beginner now.

Quoted message said:

Dot waiting for S625x to upgrade

I'm on a spouse-mandated spending freeze on running paraphernalia.
Hopefully the freeze will be lifted when the S625x comes out. ;-)

Phil M.

Phil M. said:

They list these models as being for running:

S120 $90
S210 $137
S410 $165
S610i $189

At that price difference, I wouldn't even consider the 410. Advantages
of 610 are worth waaay more than $24 IMHO.

Quoted message said:

S810i $291
S625X $???

$234 according to
http://www.polar4less.com/heart_rate_monitors.htm

Dot

Phil M. said:

Dot <dot.h@#duh?att.net> wrote:

I've never really made use of the 99 file
limit, since I'm always pulling the data off the watch.

I've wanted it for different phases of a workout. I sometimes bike and
run in one workout. Our xt class has a "warmup" (yea, right, I end up
well above LT, sometimes above 95% of my estimated max hr), stretch
(don't need data), then a circuit of some sort which I'd like to record
separately from the warmup.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'm a beginner and have used an S410 for about 3 years

You can stop calling yourself a beginner now.

Thanks 😉, *but* I've only done one normal running race (no multisport,
no snowshoes) - although I've had a bunch of fun / challenge training
for races that got cancelled or just plain creating my own goals and
working toward them. In my mind, I'm always beginning to learn -
hopefully, until the day I die.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Dot waiting for S625x to upgrade

I'm on a spouse-mandated spending freeze on running paraphernalia.
Hopefully the freeze will be lifted when the S625x comes out. ;-)

LOL. Didn't you just get your 610? She may be justified 😉

My 4.5 yr old computer started heading south about a month ago, and I
decided buying a new one was easier / cheaper than figuring out problems
with old one. So getting the new one configured plus some field trips
and other hassles have kept me from thinking about 625 too much.

BTW, I did see your pic of Hard Rock and was going to post a couple pics
for comparison, but haven't had time to sort pics or get FTP setup on
new machine. After I got the new machine, then I remembered why I'd been
avoiding getting a new machine for so long.

Dot

Quoted message said:

I've studied the Polar watches and they only have a few models on
their website, I don't see all the models people talk about. For
running there are only 3, and the Polar S210 is the middle one. Seems
to be good for me. Not much more expensive than the S120. Is this a
good watch for a beginner?

I ordered the S210. I ruled out the S410 because of the soniclink
problems. The S610i requires irda which I don't have, and is another
$40. So the S210 is $100 cheaper than the S610i, which I don't really
need anyway.

I can't wait to get it and try it out. Thanks everyone for your help.
I'm glad I followed the advice here. Especially by going with the
Polar instead of the Nike Triax C6. Only $30 difference in price and
the Polar is much better.

-Michael

Dot said:

NewsBirdie said:

I've studied the Polar watches and they only have a few models on
their website, I don't see all the models people talk about. For
running there are only 3, and the Polar S210 is the middle one. Seems
to be good for me. Not much more expensive than the S120. Is this a
good watch for a beginner?

Thanks

For truly "recreational" running, almost any HRM is good enough.
You might get a little more fun from playing with the features
on a higher-end model. But none of those features have much to
do with just running for recreation. They have a lot to do with
training for competition.

For myself, I chose the S210 over the S1xx models, mainly
because I prefer the black over the yellow colors. Any of them
will show the heart rate and elapsed time on one screen, and
will make noise when the heart rate is out of your preset range.

Steve