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 | Speed and Distance monitor Review - page 4 |
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| Speed and Distance monitor Review - page 4 |
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Page 4 - Documentation, Batteries, Display, Training Systems
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Polar
At 135 pages in 5x5 inch format, Polar’s documentation is a fairly imposing book. And that is just the English manual – products shipped elsewhere get the same book in a different language. It is well organized though, and they do have a lot of features to describe. You can generally find out what you want, in enough detail to fully understand it. It has improved in recent years, with a quick start section and a Road Map for a quick review. I recall an ad campaign a few years ago when one of Polar’s competitors was bashing them for having (implication: needing) such a thick book. My evaluation is different. When you have a watch with just a few features, then you would end up with a very thin book. If you go to the trouble to read a manual, and still don’t understand what your watch does, that’s because the book is too thin. This very seldom happens with Polar; they’ve got most features well covered. For PC Coach users that have a S625X, visit our the 5-minute Getting Started guide to help you start using the S625X quickly.
Suunto’s approach to documentation is a little different. It comes with a printed User’s Guide in eight languages ( the English section is 35 pages measuring 3 inches by 4 inches ) ) The first statement in the Guide tells you that there is also a User’s manual on the CD-Rom, and that you should read it first. So the printed guide is something more than a quick start, but far less than you need. Maybe they intend it to remind you of some subset of what you already read in the online manual. I’m not sure. You can read the printed guide front to back and still have a lot of questions.
Don’t expect to get your answers from Suunto’s own software though. Click on Help and you get an hourglass, then nothing. I don’t mean to be overly critical. Everyone is allowed some slip-ups in version 1. The online User’s Manual that you need to read is a pdf file. The CD browser that starts with AutoRun will let you peruse it in slow-mo while the CD spins, but no method for installing it is provided. Once you find it on the CD and transfer it to your hard drive, you can open it and get most of the answers you need with reasonable speed, but it is still only about 65 pages in 3x4 inch format. I wanted more.
The printed documentation for Timex includes a fold-out quick start guide (one 8.5x11 page in English), a Fitness Sensor User Guide to cover the chest strap and the GPS (20 3x3 inch pages, 10 pages of which are legal stuff, so just enough information in the other 10 to show how to replace the batteries), and a Performance Watch User Guide, which is 70 3x3 inch pages and goes into each of the modes. Small print, but sufficient explanation and it was nice to just open and read. Don’t expect to read about interval training modes and other sports training specific details. It’s not here – that is not their charter. On the other hand, you don’t need to plow through sections on how to calibrate your monitor like you would with the other models…
Polar recommends that you send the watch in for a battery replacement. This happens rarely, perhaps every two years. The S625X and S725X both ship with the Polar ‘Wearlink’ chest strap, which has a conductive fabric rather than a plastic holder for the sensors. Along with that advancement, Polar also added, for the first time, a user-replaceable battery CR2025, which they rate for about two years, but they still suggest you send it in.
The Polar footpod uses a single AAA battery, from which they expect a life of 20 hours. You can change it in the field, but you must learn the trick of using the pod-holder as a tool to pop the cover off. This O-ring is designed to last longer, because you’ll be changing batteries frequently. The Polar bike speed sensor is rated at 2500 hours, which is a very long time. Again although they recommend that you send it in, they also give instructions for changing the CR2032 yourself. I think they must have tuned the bike speed sensor to transmit only a very short distance: they recommend as high a placement on the front fork as possible and in any case not more than 18 inches from the handlebars. This makes the battery last a long time and also eliminates cross-talk, if that placement works for you. If not, there is a jumper inside that extends the range.
Suunto invites the user to replace the standard CR2032 coin cell in the T6 watch. They do recommend buying a Suunto battery because it comes with a replacement waterproof gasket. Suunto takes care in the (otherwise minimal) printed User Guide to describe the battery life – somewhere between 4 months and 14 months depending on how much you exercise.
The Suunto chest strap also has a user-replaceable CR2032 battery and they expect 300 hours of life from that. Use a coin to open the compartment. Again, you can buy a battery from them and get a new O-ring.
The Suunto footpod uses a single AAA battery. They claim a life of 55 hours. I suspect that the improvement over Polar’s footpod battery life has to do with the extremely meager power requirements of the ANT communication network, which was described earlier. You can easily change the battery in the field with a coin. It is not apparent at first, but the Suunto pod rests in an enveloping rubber holder that can be left on the shoe. I found it just as easy to put the entire unit into the laces each time.
The Suunto bike pod also has a user-replaceable CR2032 , which they expect to live for 300 hours.
The only battery issue for Timex is the GPS unit. Timex claims a life of 12 hours. It takes a single AA battery, and the case is designed to replace the battery quickly in the field with no tools. The chest strap has a user-replaceable coin cell, and Timex claims a life of two years exercising an hour a day.
Timex wins this competition. It lights up the numbers instead of the background and it is very bright and readable. Suunto also lights up the numbers, but not very brightly. Choosing between Suunto and Polar for visibility is a toss-up. Suunto defaults to a Normal mode, in which you press and hold a button to turn on the light, where a simple press does the job for the other guys. It is difficult to press-and-hold if you are moving, and if you fail at it, the Suunto records it as a press, which changes your mode and you must somehow cycle through the modes again, with a completely dark display. However, if you find the general settings menu, you can change it to ‘Night Use’ which lights up on any button push. But if you just want the light without changing modes or executing some other action, you still need to press and hold. Night Use is an option you’ll want to leave off for daytime workouts because it drains the battery faster, and battery life in the watch is an issue, if a minor one.
I won’t bore you with the exact specs, since ‘water resistant to 100 feet’ when applied to a footpod, does not mean it’s Ok to swim with it. All of the components of all of these systems are waterproof such that you can use them in the pouring rain without worries. Neither of the footpods should be used for pool running, and it wouldn’t work anyway. You can swim with the chest straps and watches in all cases. Suunto and Timex both say however that while it is Ok to swim with them, the chest strap signal will not go through water. I think that is their way of saying “if it doesn’t work while swimming, don’t call us”. The Polar S625X can be used for swimming. When swimming, water flowing past the chest strap can pull it away from you chest, but in a body suit that is not a problem. All three companies warn you against pushing buttons on the watches while underwater. Pushing buttons while wet is Ok.
The Timex GPS unit is rated as splash resistant, which means you can use it when boating, or in the rain. Timex suggests that if it gets submerged, you should open the battery compartment and let it dry out. I did not see a specification for water resistance for the Data Recorder 2. It is clearly very well sealed so pouring rain is not a problem, but swimming with it is probably out.
Polar has a long head start with respect to training systems. The fitness tests that are built into the S625X have been arrived at by some pretty good research, and seem to fill a purpose as one of many important data points. They have developed a set of tests that use very small variations in the timing between individual beats of your heart. This is known as R-R variability – the R stands for the big spike in an ECG reading, which is what sports heart rate monitors detect. Research by Polar’s own exercise physiologists and others has created a body of knowledge that can interpret this R-R variability as seen when sitting, standing and lying still. The results, which they market as OwnOptimizer, can tell you whether you fall into one of several categories ranging from fully recovered, to some training effect (stress), to overreaching and all the way to severe overtraining.
But now there is a new kid; Suunto introduces EPOC (Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption). They claim that they can use this to measure the stress of the workouts, and make recommendation about future training intensity. A white paper about it can be found at: www.firstbeattechnologies.com/files/training_effect_white_paper.pdf.
My advice about these stress measurement methods is to be skeptical and consider them as only one of several factors. Especially, be careful when following these training programs if they give recommendations – it might be meant for a different class of athlete. Specifically, both Polar OwnOptimizer and Suunto EPOC measure effects on your cardiovascular, respiratory and/or nervous systems, not the amount of strain on specific muscle groups, tendons and ligaments. It doesn’t know whether you are running or cycling or anything else. It is very possible that it could guide you right into a major injury.
This stuff is interesting, and I applaud both Polar and Suunto for investing in this type of research. But if you are training hard compared to your average or history, don’t take advice from any of these equipment manufacturers’ websites or generic formulas. When in doubt (or in pain) talk to a real coach.
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