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Polar CS200 questions
Howdy,
I've got a couple questions I'm hoping someone would be kind enough to answer. 1) Will the new Polar CS200 HRM & stopwatch functions work off the bike, i.e. can it substitute for an HRM for running? 2) Can a lap be set manually? For example, to collect data for a particular nonrepeating portion of a ride (or run)? Thanks in advance, Andrew Remove hat to reply. |
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#2
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Polar CS200 questions
1) Yes - you'll need to come up with a novel way to attach it to your
wrist though. 2) I haven't used the lap functions, but I think they just relate to timing. To capture other readings I think you'd need to start a new session for the portion you want to capture. DC |
#3
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Polar CS200 questions
I purchased a cs200cad a month or so ago, so I thought I'd post my
review of the product here. (product info: http://www.polarusa.com/Products/cs/...p?cat=consumer). I'm a cat 3 racer in Tulsa, OK, and I've been using a HR monitor for several years. I consider a HR monitor an invaluable tool, and wouldn't feel comfortable riding without it. I very much like having my cyclocomputer and HR functions combined into one unit. The cs200cad looked like an ideal computer for me. Previously, I had the Polar s510 (product info on the similar s520: http://www.polarusa.com/Products/consumer/s520.asp), which I liked very much. I've been comparing the cs200cad to my old s510 and I've formed a few opinions. Overall, I prefer the s510 for the following reasons: 1. The cs200cad does not record HR/speed/cadence Sampling data. When I upload my workout to www.polarcyclingcoach.com, I can not view any graphs of my speed, HR, cadence, etc. VERY disappointing since I think this is the coolest thing about uploading your workouts to the web service. 2. The displays of the cs200cad can not be customized, so you have to pick one of the 4 preset displays. The four displays are 1. speed/distance/HR/cad 2. Avg Speed/Distance/HR/cad 3. kcal(calories burned)/stopwatch/HR/cad 4. speed/clock/HR/cad. During a crit, I very much want to see speed/stopwatch/HR/cad, but I can't see this without scrolling through the displays, and I don't want to wait for the auto scroll feature (if I'm watching my computer, I'm not watching the squirrel in front of me!). This was disappointing to me because I liked the fact that there were four different data displays on one screen. The s510 allowed me to choose what to display on the top and middle lines, so I could show Speed/stopwatch/HR, which I would prefer over #4 above. I use option #4 above which works OK, but I still have to calculate how much time has elapsed by remembering what time the race started (lame). 3. No OwnIndex on the cs200cad. I didn't realize how much I liked this feature until I didn't have it. I like to measure and see progress, and the OwnIndex was another cool way to quickly measure overall fitness. Can't do it with the cs200cad (but I knew that when I bought it). The features I like about the cs200cad a 1. The ability to store up to 7 workouts. Using the s510, I had to upload my workout each night, or lose the data by recording over it. Now, I can store up to 7 workouts before I have to sit down and upload them to the web service. Much more convenient for me. 2. The ability to show 4 different data displays at once - cool, I just wish I could customize what was shown (see #2 in the "things I don't like" section). 4. The stem mount - while there is no functional benefit to this, I like it because it looks cool. 5. The price - the cs200cad was about $100 less than the s510. 6. The flexible chest strap (Polar WearLink) - very comfortable, but I think you can get these now with all the new polar models. Here are the features that I don't use: 1. OwnZone - this feature wasn't on the s510, but I don't care for it very much. The zones it calculates for me are very big (e.g. 20+ beat range), and don't usually fit my workout for that day. I workout in zones of 5-10 beats (175-180 bpm on hard days). A zone of 143-167 isn't specific enough for me. I do like the fact that you can still manually set your target zones on the cs200cad. 2. Estimated Time of Arrival graph - I'm a crit racer, so I know exactly how much time is left to race (when my display is properly configured!). Distance is irrelevant to me. Even if I did use it, I would like to know when there are only, say, two miles left, and you can't see that level of detail on the graph. 3. % HR visual graph - this is the line that shows you visibly what your HR is as a % of your max. This would be cool if 0 bars on the display meant you were at 50% of your max instead of 0%. I mean, really. Who works out at 0%? Since the graph starts at 0, it's difficult to tell the difference between 80% and 90%. This graph lacks enough detail to be useful for me. Overall, the cs200cad is a great computer, but I was a little disappointed about some of the missing features that the s510 had. However, you can't beat it for the price. I may ebay mine and try the s720i. |
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