Suunto T4C Heart Rate Monitor & Fitness Trainer

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	• Suunto t4c Heart Rate Monitor and Fitness Trainer Watch (Black Frost) Suunto Suunto, 2008 average customer review:based on 15 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Suunto T4C Heart Rate Monitor & Fitness Trainer

This is a great Heart Rate Monitor (HRM). I initially got this to help with my running but ended up using this for whenever I'm doing any active exercise such as playing football/soccer, etc. I've found it to be really informative and the logs can be kept for future reference. What surprised me from reading various reviews of different HRM was the fact that a number of them require some "warming up" before accurate readings occurred. I found that when putting my HRM belt over my chest and switching the watch to read the belt, it picked up my heartbeat within seconds and accurately so.

In addition to the accurate readings and logging capability it has a coach/trainer that determines a workout schedule for you in a given week. I've not yet tried it out but it seems really easy to use and rather useful.

I'm not sure how the batteries last but I switch it off in between sessions to pro-long battery life. The only downside to this part is that you're not able to save logs in between sessions.

A couple of things I'd like to note though are that the text next to the buttons are tiny to the point where you'd have to refer to the manual to know what you're doing initially, or if you prefer to play around with it by trial and error, can just press away. If you really want to make full use of the watch and its many features, you have to read the manual. If you're going to use the basics, stick with a lower model like t1c. This is just a small gripe as once you've used this a number of times, navigating the menus is second nature.

Secondly, I find the buttons tiny and difficult to press if you're running and there's not much in terms of audio feedback (or rather not very loud) to know that you've pressed it if you're running around. I also tend to do more of my running at night so visibility of the watch and stats tends to be difficult to read, but then that's going to be the case with any HRM. The light works well enough for it's purpose.

Overall I would recommend this HRM and my concerns for it are minor issues that can be overcome with regular use or using it during the day.

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I Lovit I Lovit I Lovit I Lovit

This is a sweet piece of gear. I've been using it for about a month now. It works great and gathers a lot of data.

The watch itself is comfortable the band works especially well, (mine is the black volcano). A friend has a Suunto T4C as well, (his is the black frost), but his band is a little different. I will agree with other reviews that the face is prone to scratching. With this in mind I use mine only for workouts. The interface isn't too difficult to figure out. Had it totally figured out after about 4 workouts. I saw a lot of reviews complaining about the complexity however with all the things this thing does the 5 buttons are easy enough to work with. My Timex was about as difficult to figure out.

The chest strap is OK. About as comfortable as a chest strap is going to be. It took a week or so to figure out exactly where to place the strap on my chest and how tight was tight enough. Once the chest strap placement is determined this thing rarely loses heart rate once it has captured it.

I could take or leave the coach function. It usually tells me to do long low intensity workouts or to rest. I haven't really done much with the coach function as a result.

The data that the T4C can store is pretty extensive. There is detailed workout data available for the 14 most recent workouts. This data includes duration, training effect, average heart rate, peak heart rate, calories burned, and lap times (if using the lap timer). I don't have the PC interface but transfer the infomation manually to a spreadsheet every few days. Long term data is available (totals) for the current week, the previous week, current month, and the previous 11 months. This data includes the number of workouts, total workout time, total running distance (Foot Pod), total bike distance (Bike Pod), total GPS distance (GPS Pod), and total calories burned.

I don't have the Foot, Bike, or GPS POD paired devices.

I've found it most helpful when lifting. I've set heartrate targets for starting my next set so my weight workouts remain in a cardio zone. Prior to having the watch I'd just wait until if felt like my heartrate had dropped enough. Now I have hard data to start the next set.

Spent a lot of time researching before buying. I recommend buying something really cheap that you won't mind throwing away when it fails/battery dies or buy something decent. This is something decent. Things that drew me to the Suunto T4C is a coded system. You won't get crosstalk in a spin class with others using a monitor. With the Suunto you can change your own batteries. Most of the Polar monitors have to be sent back to the manufacturer for battery replacement, (read the reviews). The only other monitor that I considered was the Garmin Forerunner 305. Picked the Suunto T4C based on word of mouth of a friend, and I have no regrets.

That's about all I have to say about that.

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Very solid

I agree with most of the comments. This is a solid product and I have only good things to say except.... how on earth do you adjust the chest strap?

Love this Watch!

Does what I want and sooo much more. I can't wait to add the foot pod and pc connect. GPS pod is pretty cool, wasn't sure at first but it tracked my distance perfectly on three long runs that I've done now (verifed with [...])

reviews: page 1, 2, 3

The advanced Suunto t4 Heart Rate Monitor Watch helps you develop a training program for your next upcoming challenge and keeps you on track as the date approaches. Suunto's built-in Coach software lets you know how long and how intense to train each day. If you opt for a rest day or different workout, it adjusts the rest of your ten-day cycle to ensure you get enough exercise during each phase of training. Plug the t4 Heart Rate Monitor into your PC to track your improving fitness. Of course, the t4 has all the features you'd expect from Suunto: real-time heart rate, calories burned data, heart rate alarmsall the goodies. Suunto even added their Comfort Belt chest strap to make your workout more comfortable.

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