Great looking but functionally only good

sporting goods:

	• Polar FT80 Heart Rate Monitor Watch (Black) Polar Polar, 2008 average customer review:based on 32 reviews view larger image
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Great looking but functionally only good

I purchased this watch with the following criteria:
- single watch to wear in the gym and office
- help me track intensity, calories, distance and pace while running
- used during strength training / cross training
- Mac compatible

It does 3 of 4 above. It is very stylish watch for a heart rate / fitness watch. It _does_ have a some nice features for fitness. And it _does_ all the main things I need - intensity, calories, distance, and page (using G1 GPS). Where it falls short a bit is the display. I read the reviews prior to purchasing. The display is not totally as bad as reviewed but it should be brighter. I don't have a problem reading it at work and most days in the gym or outside. It's tough to see in the shadows but if I tilt my wrist a bit it's fine. The GPS unit works fine. I did have a problem b/c I put in power save mode by accident on a run one day. But other than that, it works fine.

Gripes:
- polar's and it's competitors (I had a Garmin 310 as well) make their instructions really difficult. Don't know why but they don't make the instructions really simple to put features together.
- Polar for some reason ignores Mac users and therefore this unit is NOT mac compatible. I conceded here b/c of the watch style and comfort of the HR strap. It's the comfiest I've ever tried
- The last gripe I have is that it's 3 zones for HRM vs a full 5. I didn't realize this until it was past the return date. I probably would have exchanged for the less svelte, but more functional Polar 300x

Overall, I would recommend this watch. However, I would also recommend that if you are a runner, that you check out the Polar 300X or a Garmin 405.

Polar if you are reading this - fix the display by making it brighter or user controlled brightness, add the full 5 zones for HR intensity, and make it Mac compatible!!!!!

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Great Concept. Poor implementation

I purchased the FT80 back in December of 2008. The first few months were horrendous.

I like most who were early purchasers ran into the issue with the bad firmware version which caused issues with the Star program. And like most I ended up having to send it back to them for service on my own dime. Initially I'd called customer support and they had given me the wrong info about what was wrong with it, even though there were litterally 100's of people on the forums having the exact same issue. It was incredibly frustrating having spent 350 dollars on a HRM.

This bring to my biggest current gripe about this HRM. There is no way to update the firmware remotely. The only way to update the firmware is to send the unit in. In this age where I can update my stereo receiver firmware from 5 years ago remotely. It is unfathomable that a product that is marketed as a heart rate computer, does not have a method to have its firmware updated remotely.

My next biggest gripe is that there is no way to export the data to a computer readable format so that 3rd party applications can read the data. This is another thing that should be basic to an HRM at this level.

My next gripe, is that they label this a computer, but there is no way to load 3rd party applications to it which would be a godsend. The ability to create an interval app for it would be wonderful. If you are going to label something as a "Computer" it needs to have basic computer functionality.

My next gripe is that the face scratches super easily. This I remedied by buying a Zagg plastic cover ($20). Definitely worth it if you wish to protect your investment. But I don't understand way a $350 model would scratch so easily.

Now that I've had the firmware updated and bought the cover for the face. It's been running as designed for about 5 months now. I could not imagine working out without a HRM. But I still get so frustrated since it was such a good start to a concept but so terribly implemented, and worse so poorly supported after initial release. They make Toyota's Customer Service issues look mild by comparison.

Hopefully some HRM maker will shortly realize the value in creating a true Computer HRM that will allow custom apps to be created for it, and will allow full export of workout data for use in other applications. Polar would be served well to go to fewer models and simply limit the memory for apps and let people upload whatever they want to them. They would sell so many more than this business model of trying to maintain 30+ products that only do things slightly differently.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As of 2/18/2010 many resellers are still shipping watches with a firmware that is over a year old that was fixed with a new firmware update over a year ago. MAKE SURE you call and get a watch with the latest firmware update or you will end up having to send it in for repairs on your own dime to get it fixed. Not to mention if you buy from the seller that Amazon points you to on this product, its not even covered under the Polar Warranty. Amazing that Polar has still not dealt with this issue. My info is based on a couple of posts on the Polar FT80 forum in the last couple of days. BUYER BEWARE!

Hopefully they will learn at some point.

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Works Great

The Polar FT80 has worked great for me. No issues with the display. I wear it playing basketball, aerobic excercises, and weight training and I haven't had any problems.

I have worn it outside in the sun and can see the display without issue both inside and outside.

How to fix contrast problem

Most of the other reviews have touched on the potential issues with this product - notably the uploading information to the Polar website and poor contrast. Simple solution is to make sure you get a recent firmware version that uploads fine. I especially like that you don't have to press a single button for the watch to upload information to the site!

With regards to the contrast issue, it is fixable as well!

I completely thought there was something wrong with the watch when I first received it and was about to send it right back. The screen was impossible to read with or without the backlight because the letters were bleeding into the pixels next to them and you could hardly see where a character began and ended. This is probably the opposite of what most people are complaining about, where the "white" pixels are too dark to see on a black background.

There is a secret service menu that allows you to adjust this setting which you can find by searching Polar's discussion forums. Polar does not support doing this, but I would have deemed this product unusable had I not found and used this. The adjustments are on a system of 1-10. I adjusted my setting from 8 to 7 (others have adjusted theirs up from 7 to 10). It will not be a night and day difference in readability, but it might render the watch from unusable to usable as in my instance.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Optimizes strength training by providing guidance on how to long to rest between sets, delivering the information in an easy-to-read graphical display (see image above)