Training & Nutrition - Need a good HRM...Any opionions?

Since my health is "questionable" these days, I don't want to overstress myself. I think an HRM might be helpful and keep me in a certain range. I know nothing about the things. So does anyone have any opinions about who makes the best and/or what a good model for me might be. From what I've seen in a couple of catalogs, the Polar brand HRM's go from about $80 all the way up to almost $400. Why the big price difference? Are the higher priced models more accurate, or just have more bells anf whistles? I just need the HRM function, not one that will do the laundry and make dinner.

When my good Polar unit quit a couple of years ago i bought a Performance Axiom HRM on the cheap, less than 100 bucks. It works quite well and i didnt have to send it back to get the battery replaced. My needs are changing so im afraid im going to have to get another Polar. But if you want cheap and good, i'd recommend the Performance one.

Since my health is "questionable" these days, I don't want to overstress myself. I think an HRM might be helpful and keep me in a certain range. I know nothing about the things. So does anyone have any opinions about who makes the best and/or what a good model for me might be. From what I've seen in a couple of catalogs, the Polar brand HRM's go from about $80 all the way up to almost $400. Why the big price difference? Are the higher priced models more accurate, or just have more bells anf whistles? I just need the HRM function, not one that will do the laundry and make dinner.

The low end Polar HRMs are just as accurate. The higher priced models have more features, which may or may not be useful to your training program. I don't think any have a laudry feature. I recommend buying a HRM with at least one user-programmable HR zone.

I was in the same dilemna as yourself; however, I didn't know which model to get. I train hard but felt it was time for me to train smarter. I looked through all the Polar Devices and purchased a Polar S725 yesterday....

I chose this model because of the Altimeter, and computer software function. I also liked the watch look of the unit. The polar CS100 looks like it has a lot of features... The CS200 seems like a popular unit...

For me, I didn't want to purchase one unit and then down the road want features there were available in another unit.

Thanks for the replies. I didn't realize there were so many other discussions on HRM's. I should have read all those before I posted another one. D'OH! :o