Polar s720i flaws

I've been using the s720i for some months now, and I'm only half-way satisfied with it. For a pricey
top-of-the line product, I guess I was expecting perfection. Here are some gripes:

* Trip distance needs to be manually reset, which of course, you never remember to do. For a "bike
computer" I'd rate this as a fundamental flaw. There is an "excercise distance" so you can at
least find out how far you went afterwards, but there is no way to view the exercise distance
while riding.

* Backlight doesn't come on when display buttons are pressed. Once you use the back light, it should
automatically come on when ANY buttons are pressed, not just the Lap button.

* There is only one odometer shared between both bikes. I use the odometer as a guage of when to do
maintenance, so I need a separate odometer for each bike. And why stop with 2 bikes?

* No support for Macintosh. (Although I'm working on this. Should be done in, oh say, 3 years.)

* There should be weekly counters for time, calories and mileage that are automatically reset each
week. Yeah, you can see this in the software, but it'd still be nice.

* No pace indicators

* No gradient display

* No audible heart rate limit when bike functions are on

* Timezones are NOT date aware. When you switch timezones, the date is not automatically adjusted.

* Single alarm clock. Can't have separate alarm for weekends vs weekdays. Setting alarm time
is clumsy; you have to skip past AM/PM before getting to the hour. Probably designed for
euro 24H time.

On the plus side, my particular s720i appears to be immune to interference. I've only encountered a
handful of bad samples.

Tuyen Tran

There is some open source Unix software which should convert relatively easily to the Mac.

Check out http://daveb.net/s710/

Any volunteers for the Mac?

On 2 Oct 2003 06:06:05 -0700, news@bigdog.sent.com (Hal Jordan) wrote:
>
>* No support for Macintosh. (Although I'm working on this. Should be done in, oh say, 3 years.)

>Tuyen Tran

"Hal Jordan" <news@bigdog.sent.com> wrote in message
news:76983830.0310020506.79735efc@posting.google.com...
> I've been using the s720i for some months now, and I'm only half-way satisfied with it. For a
> pricey top-of-the line product, I guess I was expecting perfection. Here are some gripes:
>
> * Trip distance needs to be manually reset, which of course, you never remember to do. For a "bike
> computer" I'd rate this as a fundamental flaw. There is an "excercise distance" so you can at
> least find out how far you went afterwards, but there is no way to view the exercise distance
> while riding.

I agree.

>
> * Backlight doesn't come on when display buttons are pressed. Once you use the back light, it
> should automatically come on when ANY buttons are pressed, not just the Lap button.

Not so important to me but you have a point here.

>
> * There is only one odometer shared between both bikes. I use the odometer as a guage of when to
> do maintenance, so I need a separate odometer for each bike. And why stop with 2 bikes?

You are right.

>
> * No support for Macintosh. (Although I'm working on this. Should be done in, oh say, 3 years.)

Well, go with the flow.

>
> * There should be weekly counters for time, calories and mileage that are automatically reset each
> week. Yeah, you can see this in the software, but it'd still be nice.

That is no problem

>
> * No pace indicators

?? what do you mean by that (I'm Dutch)

> * No gradient display

No problem.

>
> * No audible heart rate limit when bike functions are on

Thank God for that.

>
> * Timezones are NOT date aware. When you switch timezones, the date is not automatically adjusted.

Not important to me.

>
> * Single alarm clock. Can't have separate alarm for weekends vs weekdays. Setting alarm time is
> clumsy; you have to skip past AM/PM before getting to the hour. Probably designed for euro
> 24H time.

Come on. It's a HRM and cycling computer not a alarm clock.
>
> On the plus side, my particular s720i appears to be immune to interference. I've only encountered
> a handful of bad samples.

Isn't that nice ;-)

Lou

I actually got the Unix software to compile on OS X. Problem is that it doesn't get any data from
the IR port, just hangs. This is with the built-in IR port on an TiBook 667 (the last TiBook to
have a built-in IR port, BTW); I haven't tried it with the USB IR dongle. The S720i is aware of the
IR port on the TiBook though, so I think they are compatible at the hardware level. I can't find
much documentation on working the IR port for the Mac though. If anybody can point me at docs, I'll
give it a shot. Send email to polarx@bigdog.sent.com; I'll keep that email address up until the
spam gets too much.

Tuyen

hbaker1@pipeline.com wrote in message news:<3f7c4ea4.8186385@news.west.earthlink.net>...
> There is some open source Unix software which should convert relatively easily to the Mac.
>
> Check out http://daveb.net/s710/
>
> Any volunteers for the Mac?
>
> On 2 Oct 2003 06:06:05 -0700, news@bigdog.sent.com (Hal Jordan) wrote:
> >
> >* No support for Macintosh. (Although I'm working on this. Should be done in, oh say, 3 years.)
>
> >Tuyen Tran

"Hal Jordan" <news@bigdog.sent.com> wrote in message
news:76983830.0310021452.14001b25@posting.google.com...
> I actually got the Unix software to compile on OS X. Problem is that it doesn't get any data from
> the IR port, just hangs. This is with the built-in IR port on an TiBook 667 (the last TiBook to
> have a built-in IR port, BTW); I haven't tried it with the USB IR dongle. The S720i is aware of
> the IR port on the TiBook though, so I think they are compatible at the hardware level. I can't
> find much documentation on working the IR port for the Mac though. If anybody can point me at
> docs, I'll give it a shot. Send email to polarx@bigdog.sent.com; I'll keep that email address up
> until the spam gets too much.
>
> Tuyen

Where did you find the file formats for the Polar? I thought they were proprietary.

"Hal Jordan" <news@bigdog.sent.com> wrote in message
news:76983830.0310020506.79735efc@posting.google.com...
> I've been using the s720i for some months now, and I'm only half-way satisfied with it. For a
> pricey top-of-the line product, I guess I was expecting perfection. Here are some gripes:
>
> * Trip distance needs to be manually reset, which of course, you never remember to do. For a "bike
> computer" I'd rate this as a fundamental flaw. There is an "excercise distance" so you can at
> least find out how far you went afterwards, but there is no way to view the exercise distance
> while riding.
>
> * Backlight doesn't come on when display buttons are pressed. Once you use the back light, it
> should automatically come on when ANY buttons are pressed, not just the Lap button.
>
> * There is only one odometer shared between both bikes. I use the odometer as a guage of when to
> do maintenance, so I need a separate odometer for each bike. And why stop with 2 bikes?
>
> * No support for Macintosh. (Although I'm working on this. Should be done in, oh say, 3 years.)
>
> * There should be weekly counters for time, calories and mileage that are automatically reset each
> week. Yeah, you can see this in the software, but it'd still be nice.
>
> * No pace indicators
>
> * No gradient display
>
> * No audible heart rate limit when bike functions are on
>
> * Timezones are NOT date aware. When you switch timezones, the date is not automatically adjusted.
>
> * Single alarm clock. Can't have separate alarm for weekends vs weekdays. Setting alarm time is
> clumsy; you have to skip past AM/PM before getting to the hour. Probably designed for euro
> 24H time.
>
> On the plus side, my particular s720i appears to be immune to interference. I've only encountered
> a handful of bad samples.
>
> Tuyen Tran

Well, this is by far the best in its class. I have been using these downloadable HRMs for a long
time and this one is by far the best ever. I would like to see some of the features from the 8
series but for the price these Polar units are amazing. The first one I bought was close to $1000 by
the time I got the serial connector (years ago) so maybe that is why my perspective is different.

> "Hal Jordan" <news@bigdog.sent.com> wrote in message
> news:76983830.0310020506.79735efc@posting.google.com...
>> I've been using the s720i for some months now, and I'm only half-way satisfied with it. For a
>> pricey top-of-the line product, I guess I was expecting perfection. Here are some gripes:
>>
>> * Trip distance needs to be manually reset, which of course, you never remember to do. For a
>> "bike computer" I'd rate this as a fundamental flaw. There is an "excercise distance" so you
>> can at least find out how far you went afterwards, but there is no way to view the exercise
>> distance while riding.

Agreed. That is the most annoying flaw for me. Hopefully they make a firmware fix for this that we
can get sometime in the future.

>> * Backlight doesn't come on when display buttons are pressed. Once you use the back light, it
>> should automatically come on when ANY buttons are pressed, not just the Lap button.

Yep.

>> * No gradient display

That would be a cool feature.

>> On the plus side, my particular s720i appears to be immune to interference. I've only encountered
>> a handful of bad samples.

I had some overhead powerlines send mine into oblivion. It appeared as two speed/cadence spikes on
the chart: one going up the hill and one going down.

Shayne Wissler

"GaryG" <garyg@shasta_SPAMBEGONE_software.com> wrote in message
news:vnpkt3p56b6s6c@corp.supernews.com...
> "Hal Jordan" <news@bigdog.sent.com> wrote in message
> news:76983830.0310021452.14001b25@posting.google.com...
> > I actually got the Unix software to compile on OS X. Problem is that it doesn't get any data
> > from the IR port, just hangs. This is with the built-in IR port on an TiBook 667 (the last
> > TiBook to have a built-in IR port, BTW); I haven't tried it with the USB IR dongle. The S720i is
> > aware of the IR port on the TiBook though, so I think they are compatible at the hardware level.
> > I can't find much documentation on working the IR port for the Mac though. If anybody can point
> > me at docs, I'll give it a shot. Send email to polarx@bigdog.sent.com; I'll keep that email
> > address up until the spam gets too much.
> >
> > Tuyen
>
>
> Where did you find the file formats for the Polar? I thought they were proprietary.

The "Soniclink" is proprietary, the IR base units are ASCII CSV files. I also remember there was a
utility to convert the Soniclink files to ASCII, but I do not remember the details. You don't want
any of the Soniclink models anyway because they are the small memory\one exercise file only models.

Hal Jordan wrote:

I'll add one of my own observations here at the top and intersperse my comments below. A few times
I've noticed the distance and recording functions have stopped. HR is still being monitored but not
recorded. This usually seem to happen around 115 km or so. I have it set on Auto and if I push the
big button for a new lap the recording starts again and the distance gets accumulated. This has
happened to me three times. The memory has not been full.

> I've been using the s720i for some months now, and I'm only half-way satisfied with it. For a
> pricey top-of-the line product, I guess I was expecting perfection. Here are some gripes:
>
> * Trip distance needs to be manually reset, which of course, you never remember to do. For a "bike
> computer" I'd rate this as a fundamental flaw. There is an "excercise distance" so you can at
> least find out how far you went afterwards, but there is no way to view the exercise distance
> while riding.
>

I used to be annoyed by this until one race this summer. After about thirty km the HR monitoring
just hung. No matter how much I tried to get it going nothing happened until I turned the monitoring
off and then turned it back on again. This got it working and much to my delight my trip distance
and speed average was still intact. When I got back home I had two files for download with a five km
glitch. I could live with that, since I knew my distance and average speed anyway. Besides I have to
reset my distance manually on every other bike computer I have. Flitedeck Cateye.

> * Backlight doesn't come on when display buttons are pressed. Once you use the back light, it
> should automatically come on when ANY buttons are pressed, not just the Lap button.
>

I agree

> * There is only one odometer shared between both bikes. I use the odometer as a guage of when to
> do maintenance, so I need a separate odometer for each bike. And why stop with 2 bikes?
>

Absolutely

> * No support for Macintosh. (Although I'm working on this. Should be done in, oh say, 3 years.)
>
> * There should be weekly counters for time, calories and mileage that are automatically reset each
> week. Yeah, you can see this in the software, but it'd still be nice.

Come on now. This is getting out of hand ;-) Besides I wouldn't have the time to go through all
those features on the bike. However I do have the time when I get back home.

>
> * No pace indicators
>

Would be cool

> * No gradient display
>

Would be cool

> * No audible heart rate limit when bike functions are on
>

As somebody else said. Thank God for that.

> * Timezones are NOT date aware. When you switch timezones, the date is not automatically adjusted.
>

If I ever started using timezones I bet I'd be going to the ones that weren't preset anyway. This is
a HRM not a Jetset Rolex.

> * Single alarm clock. Can't have separate alarm for weekends vs weekdays. Setting alarm time is
> clumsy; you have to skip past AM/PM before getting to the hour. Probably designed for euro
> 24H time.
>

Why would I wan't to set alarms on a HRM?

> On the plus side, my particular s720i appears to be immune to interference. I've only encountered
> a handful of bad samples.
>

I have a powerline I pass under on most every ride. Apart from that no problems. Oh yes. Wear it
while driving your car and you will be quite impressed of your new HRmax.

--
Perre

You have to be smarter than a robot to reply.

> >
> > * No pace indicators
>
> ?? what do you mean by that (I'm Dutch)

Visual cues that shows if your going faster/slower than current average speed.

> > * Single alarm clock. Can't have separate alarm for weekends vs weekdays. Setting alarm time is
> > clumsy; you have to skip past AM/PM before getting to the hour. Probably designed for euro 24H
> > time.
>
> Come on. It's a HRM and cycling computer not a alarm clock.

Truly. Just want my cake and eat it too.

> >
> > On the plus side, my particular s720i appears to be immune to interference. I've only
> > encountered a handful of bad samples.
>
> Isn't that nice ;-)
>

Actually, it's only because I like my s720i so much that the small little things bother me. A really
well designed product is a thing of beauty. That was only a mini-itty-bitty rant; as an HRM, the
s720i is top-notch. As a bike computer, it's more than adequate.

> Lou

Tuyen

"Per Elmsäter" <perDOTelmsater@telia.com> wrote in message
news:<Zvafb.31300$dP1.95075@newsc.telia.net>...

> on again. This got it working and much to my delight my trip distance and speed average was still
> intact. When I got back home I had two files for download with a five km glitch. I could live with
> that, since I knew my distance and average speed anyway. Besides I have to reset my distance
> manually on every other bike computer I have. Flitedeck Cateye.
>

A good way to add this feature: just allow the "exercise distance" to be displayed during the
exercise, and keep the trip distance functionality the same. I'm sure some programmer (hi!) at Polar
has this on his todo list.

> Come on now. This is getting out of hand ;-) Besides I wouldn't have the time to go through all
> those features on the bike. However I do have the time when I get back home.
>

A little bit. I wear my HRM as a watch and often find myself at the doctor, or whatever, with
nothing to play with but the watch. Pitiful, I know.

>
> > * No audible heart rate limit when bike functions are on
> >
>
> As somebody else said. Thank God for that.
>
Well, I live in northern climates and ride in the dark for six months of the year. It should at
least be an option. Having audible limits on all the time would definitely be a problem.

>
> Why would I wan't to set alarms on a HRM?

I'm actually looking forward to the day when my HRM has a built in phone, Palm OS 20.5 with
holographic display and voice recognition, able to store 100 gig of MP3, and includes WI-FI and
Bluetooth. I don't like to carry lots of gadets because I tend to lose them. Oh, and half the
thickness too.

> I have a powerline I pass under on most every ride. Apart from that no problems. Oh yes. Wear it
> while driving your car and you will be quite impressed of your new HRmax.

Or during business meetings when the discussion starts getting heated...

Tuyen

The link referenced above, http://daveb.net/s710/, has lots of info on the protocol and raw file
formats. The ASCII format the Polar software saves the exercise files in are not described though.

Tuyen

>
>
> Where did you find the file formats for the Polar? I thought they were proprietary.

"Hal Jordan" <news@bigdog.sent.com> wrote in message
news:76983830.0310031126.29e8e84b@posting.google.com...
> > >
> > > * No pace indicators
> >
> > ?? what do you mean by that (I'm Dutch)
>
> Visual cues that shows if your going faster/slower than current average speed.

Why don't you just display the average speed and the current speed so you can see if you going
slower/faster than the average speed. Problem solved. I hate those blinking squares.

>
> Actually, it's only because I like my s720i so much that the small little things bother me. A
> really well designed product is a thing of beauty. That was only a mini-itty-bitty rant; as an
> HRM, the s720i is top-notch. As a bike computer, it's more than adequate.

I agree with that. I often say that Polar doesn't listen well to us cyclists.

Lou

Captain's log. On StarDate 2 Oct 2003 06:06:05 -0700 received comm from "news@bigdog.sent.com (Hal
Jordan) on channel rec.bicycles.tech ":

: * No support for Macintosh. (Although I'm working on this. Should be done in, oh say, 3 years.)

Have you tried VPC?

Best regards,

martin törnsten

--
http://194.236.153.211/

Captain's log. On StarDate Thu, 02 Oct 2003 16:19:16 GMT received comm from "hbaker1@pipeline.com on
channel rec.bicycles.tech ":

: There is some open source Unix software which should convert relatively easily to the Mac.
:
: Check out http://daveb.net/s710/
:
: Any volunteers for the Mac?

Also check out this free (for Linux/Unix) viewer of Polar files:

http://www.saring.de/polarviewer/index.html

Does OS X have any support in the MONO project?

Best regards,

martin törnsten

--
http://194.236.153.211/