Polar RS800CX Multi (Read 1000 times)

I am interested in comments/ feedback from anyone who might have the newer Polar RS800CX Multi heart rate monitor? I looked at Garmin but have been sold on Polar for years. I have been thinking of modernizing my training for some time and integrating either GPS or foot pod options in order to track distance, automatic splits, elevation changes, etc. Training exclusively at a low heart rate (MAF), my number 1 interest is for a rock solid heartrate monitor and secondly to acquire automatic distance and elevation functions. The RS800CX Multi seems to have it all, and then some. My research to date suggests the PRO software system is very good for training and analysis. Currently I'm not training for any Tri's, but this seems like an excellent unit for long distance training. Any and all thoughts and comments are appreciated. Has anyone heard of any details or discounts for the unit?

I LOVE mine. Absolutely love it. I have the GPS armband (vs the footpod) and it works very well... as well as the Garmin Forerunners (it's the same chipset). Battery life is outstanding and was the main reason (along with reliability) that I switched from Garmin. 10-11 hours on the Garmin wasn't acceptable for ultrarunning, so I needed a watch w/ much longer battery life. The Polar GPS uses a field replaceable single AA battery. Swapping batteries doesn't affect your workout as the watch doesn't have to be stopped... you just pop in a new battery and go. Durability has, so far, been excellent. I had ruined my first Forerunner 205 by this point (6 months... and 2 more in the following 6 months) and the Polar has no issues so far. I use it about 15-20 hours a week in all conditions, desert runs in the heat and sand, scrambling through slot canyons, mountaineering, backcountry skiing, high altitudes, rain, snow, etc. The barometric altimeter is a huge bonus for me as cumulative gain from a GPS sucks unless you correct it... problem is you can't correct it until you get home and download the workout. I need more accurate elevation data in the field. As far as HR monitors...well, it's a Polar. Rock solid. I've heard it doesn't work so well underwater (something to do w/ the frequency of the wireless transmissions), so it may not work for the swimming portion of a tri... so if you're a triathlete it may be a cause for concern. The only downside I've found so far is the cost.

anyone else using this new unit (or RUN package)? Feedback or comments? From what I have read the software package seems fantastic.

I have been using RS800sd (with S3 footpod) since August 2007. RS800cx is a newer product but I guess the same observations apply. First, I find pace/distance measurements very reliable. I use the same calibration factor for all my running shoes and styles of running. I run mostly on unpaved roads and paths, sometimes on asphalt, mostly on flat or moderately hilly terrains. My running paces are within 4:30-7:00 minutes/km most of the time. The shoes, speed of running, and the running surface do affect accuracy but in my case not enough to be bothered. The error in my case is never above 1% and in 95% of all my runs it is below 0.3%. I think this is excellent performance. The accuracy can be way off (up to 3-4%) only on snow, ice, very slippery mud or on tartan surface - this is easy to compensate for by using different calibration settings. The pace displayed while running (the current pace, not the average one) is way more accurate than anything you may expect from any GPS-based pace measurements. But I heard on a few occasions some people reporting problems with S3 footpod performance (the footpod battery by the way lasts always more than advertised 30 hours of active use -in my case usually around 60 hours of running) - check Polar forums for those. I am slightly less happy with the heart rate monitor that comes with RS800 (the same type is supplied with RS800cx as far as I know). The problem is that the monitor appears to be sensitive to slapping/rubbing of the shirt against it. The problem appears when the shirt is totally soaked in sweat. I started noticing this two years ago. It shows as sudden changes of heart rate from impossibly high to impossibly low values. In my case it happened only in the last stages of some of my runs (in 1 out of 3 or 4 runs maybe) and only during the hot months (July, August, September). Never during the rest of the year. The effect is transient, it may last anything between a couple of seconds to several minutes. Sometimes I only notice it once I download the data to PPT5 software - it shows as noisy earthquake-like episodes in the R-R interval signal. My impression is that most people using RS800 don't have this problem at all but I know for a fact I am not the only one. It took quite some time before the Polar folks finally admitted that there is a problem. The only solution they came up with: wear a tighter shirt! In my opinion such an expensive device should not have this kind of a problem in the first place so Polar obviously dropped the ball on this one. PPT5 software: I cannot compare it to other similar programs but I think there is a general consensus that it is de facto by far the best running software supplied by any of HRM monitor manufacturers. As far as I am concerned, it is o.k., I never use most of its features, but the interface and the way some options are accessed could be better organized. Bottom line: all in all I am satisfied with my RS800. If I had to buy a new HRM right now I would buy it again. By the way, my RS800 is running on the same battery since February 2008 and the heart rate monitor since August 2007 (still the original one!). I run 4-5 times a week, about 5 hours/week in total. I hope this helps.