Healthy Heart Rate: Polar RS400 Heart Rate Monitor Review

My RS400 itself works pretty well.It reliably tracks and records pulse information during my cardio workouts, even interval training which is more challenging due to the frequent changes in heart rate.However, the design of the watch leads to the buttoms activating frequently unintentionally, especially when I wear the watch outside of my workouts.

My experience with the Polar IrDA link and the ProTrainer 5 software is more negative.The watch often does not link up with the software.The distance between the watch and the Polar USB/IrDA interface needs to be within an apparently range (not too close and not too far away... around a foot away seems to work best). The Polar USB/IrDA device is mostly good for randomly flashing red light.It does not link the the watch consistently.The ProTrainer states that it is "Connecting to Polar Product" indefinitely.If you "Cancel", then upon trying to transfer data again, it says "Communication port couldn't be opened.", meaning that the port was not properly closed when the Transfer was canceled.This is a frustrating experience.

Also, customization of the watch graphic is very frustrating since Polar uses a proprietary format for the graphic.The ProTrainer's editor for the graphic is very primitive and difficult to work with.

My friends who use Garmin monitors seem much happier, especially with the analysis software.

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Product Description:
Don't just go out for a run. Analyze it with the Polar RS400 Heart Rate Monitor. This heart rate monitor keeps track of your average, maximum, and target heart rates so you know how you're performing. The Polar OwnCode feature keeps other people's heart rate monitors from interfering with your RS400. The RS400 heart rate monitor tells you when you've recovered from your last workout with the Polar OwnOptimizer feature, which analyzes your heart rate at rest. After you've logged your 10-miler, hook this heart rate monitor up to your PC and check out your progress.

Product Features