Omron HR-100C Heart Rate Monitor

I'll break this down quickly - pros and cons:

Pros:

* The heart rate monitor works with the cardio equipment and the gym and my heart rate pops up on the screen. The watch reads about the same, so it IS accurate.
* The battery in the monitor is easy to change.
* As a woman I don't need the attaching strap. I just slip the monitor under my bra.
* The monitor is comfortable to wear.
* The monitor battery lasts a long time.
* The watch does everything a stopwatch would do - time, date, stopwatch, split time, etc.

Cons:
* The watch arrived with a dead battery so I had to change it before I could even wear it.
* The watch battery can only be changed by a jeweler or someone else who really knows what they are doing. If it is not changed by a jeweler, the warranty is void.
* The watch EATS batteries like crazy. I don't have the time to get it changed properly every time it dies. After the second time I gave up on the watch and just use the monitor now.
* Watch and monitor take the flat lithium batteries that are costly.
* The watch mounter does not work on most cardio equipment; it's simply too small. I quickly found it totally useless in the gym.

I went with this brand because I own an Omron scale and pedometer and am very happy with both, but this product disappointed me. Can't they make the watch battery easier to change? In short, there has got to be a better product than this. If I could do it over, I'd buy something else.

I am fairly tech savy, but this one threw me for a loop. I consider this monitor user UNfriendly. I never was able to get to the point where I could monitor my heart rate for more than just a few minutes. I think my monitor was probably defective...it was hard to tell because it seemed much more complicated than it needed to be.
I have great praise for Amazon because of the ease of returning this item...a truly great company with excellent customer service.

I bought this product to get a general idea of where my heart rate sits while I am working out. Straight out of the box I was able to strap on the chest strap and get working. The only problem that I have had is when I am at the gym and someone else around me is wearing one the signals will get crossed and the heart rate will fluctuate. This is not a big deal for me as I am trying to get an overall feel for how my heart performs. If you are serious about tracking your heart rate it may be worth the money to buy one that has a protected signal to avoid those fluctuations. But for the money this is an awesome product

I like it. It is easy to use with one exception...the backlight causes the numbers to fade away. So you can not look at your watch in the dark that is probably the biggest flaw in the watch.

A great product at a good price. It is easy to use and very accurate compared to a built-in monitor on my treadmill. Instructions are straight forward and easy.