Polar rs800 vs Garmin 705

[trevorhough40]

To all the experts out there, i have been using garmin 305 for a while, happy except for battery life and constantly having to recharge. Riding epic next year so training time increasing exponentially. Any thoughts on which would be more beneficial i believe they are in same price range. I need h/r, speed, time, elevation, distance, and gps is a nice to have.

 

 

 

Thanks in anticipation.

[MCDreyer]

Polar RS800CX Multi. You can't go wrong. Very happy with it. Comes out with the G3 GPS unit you attach to your arm. The G3 is the only thing that works with AA batteries and you can use rechargables. They last for about 15 hours.

Watch is the best you'll get with all the stats.

[paulvs]

 

Polar RS800CX Multi. You can't go wrong. Very happy with it. Comes out with the G3 GPS unit you attach to your arm. The G3 is the only thing that works with AA batteries and you can use rechargables. They last for about 15 hours.

Watch is the best you'll get with all the stats.

 

 

RS800Cx - never look back! multi or PTE for cycling

 

[Slowbee]

on the garmin a bloke here (bos) posted an image of his heart rate against (i think the elevation).

 

Is this possible with the RS800 ?

 

 

Slowbee2009-09-26 03:30:53

[leet22]

Not sure about the Polar but with the garmin u can have 4 fields Slowbee. Say speed , max HR , pace and elevation  or grade etc

[Slowbee]

Hey Leet, I saw that on the image Bos pasted - I just wanted to know if the polar could do it.

 

 

[Minion]

 

I just wanted to know if the polar could do it.

You can do it with the Polar.

 

To all the experts out there' date=' i have been using

garmin 305 for a while, happy except for battery life and constantly

having to recharge.[/quote']

If you're unhappy with the battery, you may be disappointed with the 705 which is around 15hrs. The Edge also has some annoying firmware quirks which, while not fatal, are a pain to work around.

 

I don't know the cost of the Polar, so that may be a factor in making the decision. If you buy the G3 GPS pod for the Polar, then both it and the Edge have similar basic features.

 

I would consider going for the Polar, unless you want one of the following features that appear to be unique to the Edge:

 

- GPS navigation. Polar + G3 says where you've gone, Edge tells you how to get there (with only minor firmware hiccups along the way).

- Advanced workouts. The ability to plan interval workouts etc. on the Edge is very good. You make make pretty much any combination of intervals based on distance, time etc. and set different targets (speed, HR, cad, power etc.) for each one.

- Display size. You can display a whole lot of easily-readable info at the same time on the Edge.

- ANT+. The Edge works with 3rd-party powermeters like Powertaps, Quarq and SRM.

 

[Slowbee]

thanks Edman.

 

Do you know which polar unit the elevation, heart rate, distance, plots start on ? the cs 400, cs 600 ?

 

 

 

[Li Mu Bai]

you will get better aftersales service from Polar, no question.

[Capricorn]

what's the data capture frequency with that G3 unit? On the garmin 405, it's like every 5 sec, which on a DH run is just too long between data points. Looks weird when mapped onto a Google earth map of a course. So in effect, I'm asking what would be ?the best solution for near instantaneous, say data points every 0.5 - 1.0s apart for a more accurate assessment of speed vs location? is that even possible with either garmin or Polar?

[trevorhough40]

Hey all

 

 

 

thanks so much for all the responses, very helpful indeed. Pros and cons with both. Just found out that polar not great with macs though. Mmmm

[Minion]

 

thanks Edman.

 

Do you know which polar unit the elevation' date=' heart rate, distance, plots start on ? the cs 400, cs 600 ?[/quote']

I think it starts at the CS400. You need to look out for three things in the Polar spec sheets:

1.) It needs to measure altitude. The top models do this and I think it extends down into a few lower models.

2.) It needs to record and store the data. Look for the 'Recording Rate' field - it's 1s,5s,15s and 60s on the CS400.

3.) You need to be able to download the data to your PC. Look for units that say they are compatible with the ProTrainer software and usually have IrDA connectivity.

 

you will get better aftersales service from Polar' date=' no question.[/quote']

I have experienced consistently exceptional service from both the Polar and Garmin agents, so from my point of view, this one is a tie.

 

what's the data capture frequency with that G3 unit? ... say data points every 0.5 - 1.0s apart

for a more accurate assessment of speed vs location? is that even

possible with either garmin or Polar?

Both the Polar and Edge have options to use 1s recording intervals. I can confirm that on the Edge this definitely means a new data point / position every second.

The RS800 has enough memory for around 4hrs of data if you record everything (speed, HR, cad, alt, GPS etc.) at 1s intervals. The Edge has enough memory for around 200hrs of recording if you put the maps on an SD card.

 

A final thing to look out for is the various versions of the RS800. The latest one is the RS800CX. This is the only one capable of recording full GPS data.

 

Have a look at http://www.heartratemonitor.co.uk/. They have a lot of detailed info on various HR monitors.

 

[Slowbee]

Edman, appreciate the advice. 

[NinjaManiak]

Edman is spot on.

Here is another way to look at it:

1. Polar = Full HR + Some GPS
    Garmin = Full GPS + Some HR
    
    I'd suggest that HR is easier to measure, and essentially one dimensional in nature. Thus the difference between some/full GPS functions is bigger than the gap between some/full HR.

2. During Activity / Post Activity

 If it can measure it, it can plot it and save it in a file etc. So lets assume that both are equally capable in the POST race analysis department ( but with Garmin able to capture ANT+ ) on your PC.

During your activity, I think the polar *may* be better with regards to HR levels, targets, enegry used and what's generally going on with you, and the Garmin *MAY* be better at showing you where you are, where you want to go, how to get there and the time/pace/speed taken etc.
( *MAY* > *may*, see point 1),

Ninja Maniac2009-09-28 03:56:42

[Capricorn]

awesome info there Edman. thanks

[knersis]

Garmin Forerunner 310XT, battery life is great.

' up to 20 hours of battery life. "

 

I've done 16 hours with mine and there was still some life left, didn't even get low battery warning.