Polar RS800CX Multi Sport Heart Rate Monitor Watch with G3 GPS Sensor W.I.N.D.

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Retail Price: $499.95

Amazon Price: $366.42

Sometimes a single kind of training is not enough for your body to reach its ultimate fitness level. That’s why there are many people who undertake cross training exercise to be able to give their body the burn it needs. For this kind of training, the Polar RS800CX Multi Sport Heart Rate Monitor Watch with G3 GPS Sensor W I N D is a perfect companion.

The Polar RS800 CX heart rate monitor watch with G3 GPS Sensor allows people to accurately gather data about their speed and distance as well as monitor and analyze their body’s response to various kinds of training.

It even has preset data for people who would want to participate in cross-terrain sports such as running, cycling, skiing, or skating. This makes it easier to shift disciplines on the fly. No more fiddling around with your gadget when you decided to stop biking and start running!

Aside from just showing these data, the Polar RS800 CX can even show the training route on a map after the run.

User Ratings and Reviews

1 Star Hard to use, expensive, frustrating
This is my 5th Polar product in 10 years and it is the worst. I’m replacing a S720i which got into flakey modes that started and stopped lap times constantly, overflowing the memory. For some reason, I decided to stay with Polar over the other brands and figured I’d go high-end with the speed and GPS sensors. First, deciphering the complexities of the RS800 licensing caused me to have to order and reorder units making it about 3-4 weeks turnaround to get what I thought I ordered the first time. The Polar Software, the watch interface and loading sensors is a cryptic mess. I’m not bad with technology, but getting the watch to recognize a bike speed sensor so far is impossible. You will go back and forth syncing your watch to your desktop and clicking hard to press buttons and listening to incessant beeping instead of training. I seriously have spend more time trying to make this thing work than setting up a new computer. This thing is really NOT worth the very high price. You are not getting a higher quality product, you’re just getting more of the same complicated 90′s technology for a lot more money.

3 Stars A top product with serious flaws
As the top model of Polar’s product range, I am somewhat disheartened by what I consider serious downsides:

- the external GPS sensor is very bulky and comparably heavy – bigger and heavier than the whole unit of the Garmin Forerunner 405. It’s also slower to get a fix on satellites than the Garmin.

- the low battery warning gets on far too late, often when you are in the middle of the run – too late to change batteries then.

- even though I follow religiously Polar’s cleaning instructions, the chest belts lose their conductivity after a few months’ time, which is frustrating

- while the Polar software allows you to export the GPS data into Google Earth or as a GPX file into a GPX viewer, there should be an option to save directly into a GPX file. The Google Earth export does not work well on my system and the GPX export mixes up the time of the day

- the Polar ProTrainer 5 training software is still not available for Mac, which I think is unacceptable. It is also incompatible with Windows 7 (64bit) (the syncing doesn’t work), and if history is anything to go by, it will be months if not longer before Polar manages to make a fix available.

For the occasional runner, I think the Forerunner 405 is by far the better option, with much cleverer software (also available for Mac), easier syncing (Win 7 compatible of course), coming in a smaller package at a much better price.

Polar need to get their act together if they want to continue charging these sort of prices for their “top” products.

1 Star Lousy Product
Purchased this new and it functioned well for about 60 days. Used the PPT software as well as the Weblink. Watch stopped transfering data on a Friday, the following day it stopped communicating with the heart sensor. I took it to the jeweler to have the battery replaced and they were unable to open the watch. Polar told me to send it back, so I did. 3 weeks later the watch was returned supposedly repaired under warranty and STILL HAS THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM. No fix.. no communication with either the sensor or the computer. Make sure you read the Polar forums before buying ANY Polar product. You’ll have an eye opening experience as to what to expect from your $500 purchase.

3 Stars some things good, some bad
Well, I wanted to upgrade from my old Polar unit that I used for swimming as well as trail running. On the Polar website under “Product Search” I ticked the box that said I wanted a training unit for swimming and the RS800CX, among others, was suggested. I shut my eyes about the cost and ordered a unit. However, when I unpacked it and read the manual I was shocked to discover you can’t read heart rate in the water. Not that it isn’t waterproof, you can wear it to swim, but the signal can’t be transmitted, no heart rate values. So no training in the swimming pool then. Why is it recommended for triathletes? I don’t know. It would have been nice to know up front about the lack of swimming training capability. Anyhow I’ve been using it for hikes and runs and am well pleased with the GPS function. I can see how far my routes go, how many vertical feet, how much effort I’m putting into those hills, and see my routes on Google Earth. Pretty cool. But, the AA battery needed for the GPS runs out fast. Today, the stop button stopped working on the main wrist unit. So now I shall find out how good Polar customer service is. Many good points to this watch but too many not so good points for the price tag.

1 Star RS800CX run
I bought this product and realised that it does not work with a mac and there is currently no other software available to use its training functions. Only good if you are a windows athelete.

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Related posts:

1. Polar RS300X G1 Heart Rate Monitor Watch with G1 GPS Sensor Black
2. Polar S625X Heart Rate Monitor Watch
3. Polar RS800sd Heart Rate Monitor

Polar RS300X G1 Heart Rate Monitor Watch with G1 GPS Sensor (Black)

Overall Rating:

Retail Price: $249.95

Amazon Price: $145.82

Now you can ensure that you have the proper training to give your body the burn it needs with the Polar RS300X Heart Rate Monitor Watch.

With its heart rate monitors and built in training zones, you would be able to create and customize your workout! Through these features of the RS 300X you would be able to easily adjust your pace and training intensity according to your body’s capabilities.

This version of the RS300X comes with the Polar G1 GPS sensor.

The addition of the Polar G1 GPS Sensor \means that along with the training zones, pace and intensity, you would also be able to learn your speed and pace as well as distance when doing outdoor sports such as cycling, skating, biking or even hiking.

All of the data that you gather from your training can easily be transferred to a computer.

The RS300X has built in compatibility with the Polar FlowLink device and software to allow you to easily transfer data from your training to your computer.

Features include:

• Polar OwnIndex Fitness Test calculates aerobic fitness (comparable to maximal oxygen uptake, VO2max) providing a reference to base training intensity and measure improvement.
• Polar OwnCal: Shows your energy expenditure during one exercise session as well as your accumulated kilocalories during several exercise sessions. Because the OwnCal tracks both the energy expenditure during one exercise session and the accumulated kilocalories during a longer time e.g. one week, it helps in achieving both short term and long term goals.
• Time in Target Zone feature calculates the amount of total training time spent in your personal target zone. You can use this feature together with the Total Exercise Time to determine the effectiveness of your training program.
• Number of laps – 99
• Watch features: alarm with snooze, dual time zone, stopwatch
• Compatible with Polar FlowLink (available separately)
• Water resistant to 50 meters
• Backlighting, display zoom
• Event Countdown Timer: Keeps your motivation high by showing how many days are left before your next running event (e.g., Berlin 23 days).

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User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Good Stuff
I’ve been using the RS300X since I got it two weeks ago.

The heartrate is very easy to see and use. The GPS works fine, just be aware that if you end up running on trails/trees, it’s going to have some difficulty staying in close contact with so be ready for your time to get a little wacky. I treat the GPS as a tool to use and figure the average is going to be just fine.

3 Stars Bitter-sweet experience
I consider myself a beginner when it comes to running. After looking around for several options, I decided to get the Polar RS300X G1 because of its multisport capabilities. I could easily run or ride my bike with it, and I would be able to measure distance and pace with the same device, without having to install/uninstall things to my bike every time I wanted to change excersices. After considering the Garmin 305 I decided to go for the Polar because of the extremely big and uncomfortable size of the Garmin. Everything looked nice in the website, but the story changed after only a few weeks I’ve owned the training computer.

1) The watch itself is incapable of transmitting data to the Polar site (or any other running website) which makes it a little boring for you as a user to log in and “manually” enter your data every time you complete an excersise. I was very sad to know that in order to do this automatically I have to separately purchase an extra device (Polar Flowlink @ $55.00).

2) I have been experiencing some problems with the accuracy of the distance. Since I just got my watch a few weeks ago, I entered in several forums to see if any other user was experiencing what I was going through, and to my unpleaseant surprise, yes… they were. Basically, the battery life of the G1 GPS Sensor is so short that you can only use it for up to 8 hours. More than that and you will start getting incorrect data from your runs. What is the purpose of a GPS sensor if you can get accurate data from it? Now I will have to constantly purchase batteries just to keep my distances correct.

Very sad that Polar hasn’t come with better solutions for this issues. I saw several users unhappy about this same thing in their own web site.

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Related posts:

1. Polar RS300X Heart Rate Monitor Watch Orange
2. Polar RS300X SD Heart Rate Monitor Watch with S1 Foot Pod Black
3. Polar S625X Heart Rate Monitor Watch