heart rate monitors

Okay I have been using a Timex HRM for quite a while.  It's a somewhat expensive one with a chest strap, etc.

I was thinking that the calories it was reporting burned seemed kind of high, and I've been really curious.

I mentioned my (silly, geeky) worry to my DH, and he said to go ahead and get a different one, and that he would use the old one since he doesn't care that much about calories.

So, today I got a new Polar F6 HRM.  The Timex was telling me that a 1 hour weight session was burning 600 or more calories. 

Drumroll please... used the new one for my workout today and it says 50 minutes, with avg HR of  124 and max at 164.  Calories burned.... 305. So, yeah the timex was overestimating my calorie burn by quite a bit. 

im asking hubby for an HRM for my bday in July

budget preferrably around $60...

any suggestions in that price range?

I think the polar F6 is about that price range. If you want one with calorie burn capabilities get one with a chest strap.  I have a polar F11 - I've had it for over 3 yrs now and love it.  Its is a bit more expensive than the f6 model but it has a fitness test that gives you a better estimate of calories burned.  

Whatever kind you get be sure its programmable with your age, sex weight height so you can get the best guestimate of calories burned.

The F6 was ~$100 at Sports Academy.  I probably could have bought it cheaper on-line, but I'm impatient.... 

I think all I need to know is A) my heartrate & B) how many cals burned

I looked on the Polar site and all the costs there were $100+

Are there other brands that are good and would be in the $60 price range? If its more than our budget then I will just continue to survive without one.

I just thought it would be fun to know how many cals I am actually burning during baseball, my lifting, HIIT and things like gardening etc.

Well, I don't have much experience with them except for the Timex that didn't give me a good estimate. 

From what I understand, if you really want to get a good estimate you have to have one that goes around your chest so that it records constantly.  And as dbackerfan said, you should be able to program it with your information (height, weight, age, sex, etc.) 

Anything less and you probably wouldn't see much benefit.  I'm such a geek, for me it's all about the numbers.

Chels, unfortunately, as with any complex electronics, cheap HRM = crappy HRM. It will give you A number of calories burned, but it will be very far from THE number you're interested in. You might as well just plug your stats in an online calculator. If I were you I'd wait until I could afford a Polar.

Ya I think I might have to wait. This reno is digging into my pockets and I dont want hubby spending too much on the HRM for me.

Its not a necessity. Maybe I could find one on ebay?

What Polar would you recommend as the best for me? F6?

When you say chest strap, do you wear the HRM watch and have a strap that goes around your chest?

I've had F11 for 1.5 years and love it. I know F6 is slightly less accurate, but it'll work.

F11 is marketed for general fitness, nothing fancy.

I was actually going to get a fancy-shmancy RS600 running model with a stride monitor and GPS for like $600 for my next Birthday... until I hurt my knee. Now that I'm not allowed to run, it makes little sense. :(

Yes, the strap goes around your chest. You only wear it during exercise (areas with the sensors need to be moist for accurate reading). The signal is transmitted by the transmitter unit in the center of the chest strap and is received by the actual watch (wrist unit)/treadmill/any other Polar ready cardio equipment.