tourist

I really strongly believe that heart rate info (aside from wattage) is crucial to training for a Tri. I have dabbled with it in the past for the bike, but for this I'm convinced it is a must. That said which device has proven best for you all. I want something that work for all 3 sports and I want to be able to upload to PC to manage. Other than Suunto t6, Garmin Forerunner 305, Polar S625X, Timex Ironman is there something ot look at? - Thanks

dogpound

I have a suunto t3 and I really wish I could figure out how to work the whole thing. I'm not crazy about the interface.
I'm actually thinking about getting the new forerunner 50 because I'm a smaller person and the 305 would feel like I'm carrying a computer from 1972 on my wrist.

tourist

Well, I let the $$ talk. The Garmin is $218 shipped on Amazon and with the $50 Power Bar rebate that puts it at $168, or about half the best web price for the t6. Worth a whirl at that level.

dogpound

even cheaper here:
https://www.ehqonline.com/Products/Ga..._100-0004.aspx

I wonder why the big price drop.

tourist

Usually followed by the next geeration.

chrisesposito

I tried a few Suunto models over the years and I could never figure out the damm user interfaces for these things. User interface design and implementation are my primary professional research areas and I'm not very impressed by the approach they have taken. Functionality at the expense of usability is not a great strategy.

lilscotboy

chris, if you don't mind me asking who do you work for?

chrisesposito

Hi,
I work for Boeing, in their central computing and Math R&D center east of Seattle. A majority of my research has been funded by a variety of government agencies and labs.

Modern `Human Factors' work as it applies to man-machine interaction has it's roots in aviation accidents, since pilots were spending so much time trying to figure out what their displays were telling them that they wouldn't notice they were about to fly into the side of a mountain.