Have used the Woot Reebok for ~ a year. Works well, sometimes you have to beg/yell at it. Gets moisture inside bezel (can’t see numbers) during/after hard workout, no problem with shower however. Dry it out by removing back cover and sitting it on something warm backside up for a while.
Sensor/transmitter(chest strap) works on older gym machines of varied makes, not the newest ones, however.
Over time, it also seems the strap and the watch or readout on the machine have to be closer together (like 12 inches) until I’m really sweating like a pig, even with new battery. No big deal with the watch, as I have to lift my arm in front of my chest to see the HR number anyway.
Generally accurate, watch case durable, night light sucks.
My husband bought one of these for me about 7 months ago. It worked really well for the first 3 months of heavy use but then the watch got all screwed up and I was never able to get it fixed. The chest strap takes some getting used to and I found that sometimes it was just too much of a pain to get it set up.
For me, the sensor was VERY slow to pick up the heart rate monitor signal. Had to figure out what was wrong, and by the way the manual [Sacrifices Undecided Coerced Kindly Sin](figure it out). it doesn’t tell you what to do when the watch doesn’t pick up the signal from the monitor except to rescan (and I followed every instruction offered by the manual, repositioning, making sure the watch was less than 4 inches from the sensor, blah blah blah, also used transmission gel.) What I did find was that if I heated the sensor with dry heat; a hair drier, space heater, etc. THEN applied, the watch picked up the signal like it was new. (DO NOT overheat, It burns.) don’t know if a minimum temp is required for sensor to transmit or register and stay on, but once I get it going it works great. (I cross checked it with the HR function on the treadmill for consistency; BTW checks out at higher HR >100 beats per minute but not so much for HR<100 beats per minute. anyway, for the money its worth what it. maybe mine is quirky, but polar systems go for about $100 new! But if you get it at a store you have someone to yell at, get a return, refund, whatever. Get it here… no dice. I’m still gonna woot.
I am just wondering if this thing has a “standard watch battery” and how tough it is to swap out a battery. Maybe someone can tell us how long a battery might last!!!
I bought one last time from Woot. Initially, it was a pain to use. I tried moistening the sensors with water but it just would pick up. Then I tried just a dab of lotion on each sensor and it works fine.
The distance function is a learned thing. You tell it that you are going to run xx distance and then you run xx distance. I have not tried it, thats just what the manual says.
Both devices use a 2032 battery. Easy to change on the sensor, not tried on the watch.
Now, if I could only get it to stop sliding down off my massive pecs… kidding.
I got one of these the last time they were on woot and it stopped working 3 days after I started using it. I tried to contact the manufacturer and they never call you back. Ended up breaking down and buying a Polar, which I love.
Will the strap work with a coded Polar receiver? The Polar transmitter belt replacement is more expensive than this entire Woot!, so this might be a relatively inexpensive way to get a new transmitter belt for my Polar…
When I’ve worn a similar product on distances longer than a mile I always end up with “stitches” (cramps around diaphragm and ribs). It is very uncomfortable to wear.
I got one of these for Christmas, and had a very similar problem “out of the box.” I wondered if the battery in the chest strap was bad, so swapped the batteries between watch and strap. Getting the watch back together was a ■■■■■, but it works fine now. Pretty well, actually.
It works great. It is a must if you want to stay alive. It keeps you from over reving your heart. It can also let you know when your heart stops. If you want to see your max heart rate ware it during sex. Unless you bust your maxium rate you have the wrong partner.
I bought one and it works as advertised but not without problems:
The pin that holds the strap on the watch is not well made and the strap comes off the watch very easily. (I used a knife to make the hole the pin fits in deeper and it stays in if you don’t pull on it too hard).
The reading is erratic until you sweat enough or put liquid under the monitor to make good contact with your skin.
The extra features are not obvious to program so you need the instruction manual that comes with it.
You have to ‘calibrate’ it by walking a set distance and same for running. That’s how it figures out your average stride length when calculating distances.
Despite the above, for the price it is okay (and the only real problem was the strap–which may not be typical).
picked one up from a previous woot. it works, but it’s a little confusing. my wife found it too uncomfortable to use, which is just as well as it doesn’t store settings for multiple users.
save your money and get a regular chest strap-less monitor.
Bought one of these last time around. My 20 year old and then very expensive monitor had finally died.
I use it for bike riding so the distance etc features are useless and get in the way of using it as simple heart monitor. Big nuisance getting it set up and the directions are poor(at 68 techno directions written by someone for whom English is a second language are not my favorite)
It seems to do the pulse function fine and it is nice not having to worry about rain.
The sensors are the flat grooved pads on either side of the sender. Yes, wetting it helps and I am guessing that warming it gets your body to sweat under it.