Timex T5G971 Unisex Sports Personal Heart Rate Monitor Watch

Comment: I bought four of these to use in a college biology course that I teach. Students strap on the heart monitor and then do exercise and other activities to study how various physical activities affect heart rate. Of course, I had to test one of them on myself to see how it worked. The chest strap is an elastic loop that you put on under your shirt. It must be in contact with skin, and the surface of the black plastic sensor must be wiped down with a wet finger or cloth to ensure conduction of the heart's electrical signal across the skin and into the heart monitor. Just a moistened finger or paper towel will do it, and some people might be sweaty enough already that they don't need to add any extra moisture. Skin contact is important, so ocassionally I had a student who didn't tighten the elastic enough to make the chest strap taught. It might seem uncomfortable at first, but this sensation goes away quickly, and you will forget you are wearing the thing. One note for people with well-developed abdominal muscles that literally stick out from under your ribcage--you'll need to tighten the strap a little more than most people because the plastic sensor does not mold well to the topography of lumpy muscles (surely there is a better way to say that). If you've got flab, then hey! no problem.

The chest strap transmits your heart rate to the watch. The watch is easy to use and program. According to the instructions, the watch and chest strap need to be within 3 feet of one another. However, I found that the maximal transmission distance is more like 2 feet instead of 3. This is actually a good thing, since it will be impossible for your watch to pick up the heart rate of another person running next to you.

Comment: I am totally in love with my heart rate monitor! If you are looking for a device that masters the basics: heart rate, percentage of max, calories expended, time in the zone, total workout time; this is the piece for you!

This is my first HRM, so I read a lot of reviews and looked up which product would be good for a first run. I am happy with my choice. I am able to set a good zone range and it lets me know where I stand. I also like that I can go back and check for other data once my workout is done.

So I know you're asking about the "well almost" part. The only thing that is a bit perplexing is that the HRM will not display the time while in workout mode. That can be a little annoying if you're out on a run, but most gyms have clocks! ;-)

Enjoy it!

Comment: This heart rate monitor is a pretty bare-bones model, but adequate for basic tasks. I echo what other reviewers have said about the difficulty of setting the watch and entering information. It's not even a little bit intuitive and the manual is, to be kind, worthless. It gets the job done, but only just.

Comment: Worked great for about 3 weeks then the chest strap stopped being reliable. It would work fine then just stop in the middle of a workout. Replaced the battery and it still did it. Would turn in for warrantee but would rather just try for something of quality.

Comment: Very reasonable price & most of the functions of my defunct expensive Polar. It has worked well in cycling, and the session recall is useful. The current time/ HR in session, is not available without a button push. So this means riding no hands, not so good in criteriums. Apart from this, it is a good buy.