For me the #1 point in buying this Timex watch was the fact that you can replace the batteries without sending it back to the manufactuer (unlike polar), you can replace the battery in the HRM strap at all without having to replace the whole thing (unlike polar) and you can replace the watch straps, period (unlike polar). When I got it I was very pleased at how it looked on my wrist, pretty much looks like a polar too. So I feel like I got a great deal. It looks almost white in the picture, in person its a definite lighter grey which I’m quite happy with.

It is easy to setup, the books are step by step, after about 30 minutes of playing with it and everything customized and to my liking. The watch & HRM straps are generously long for an average sized woman and I do not feel the HRM strap when I am working out.

I purchased this HRM over a month ago and have been using it a solid four days a week. I was willing to take a chance on the Timex instead of some of the other higher priced HRMs out there, and I’m so glad I did. It is a great product!

My only additional comment is; though its advertised as a unisex watch, my husband would never choose to ware it. Its small and too feminine looking, but works wonderfully as a ladies watch and perfect for me!

After a heart attack and triple bypass, I wanted a dependable pulse meter for training purposes. I was very athletic, competition runner and swimmer in high school prior to my M.I. which is probably what saved my life. As a result of my earlier athletic endeavors, I knew something about timing technology and training methods. I was looking for a useful and durable pulse meter under $100.

My cardiac rehab nurses recommended Timex as a good choice in pulse meters among an extensive list. They recommended a less sophisticated and less expensive model. I did some research and chose the T5J983. I am glad that I did.

The watch has all the features of much higher priced models: multiple zone settings and warnings, lap timers, superb stop watch technology and excellent digital communication between chest band and watch. In addition, the Indiglo feature allows the watch to be read in any light or no light.

Overall, I am extremely satisfied. The watch performed as I expected. The band is as comfortable as I imagine a chest strap can be. For the price, it is an great buy.

I am extremely pleased with my investment. I am new to running, totally out of shape (sedentary most of my 35 years), and overweight (I am 300 lbs). I wanted to be able to monitor my heart rate without spending too much, but also get something that will serve me well for a while as I get more active. I did a lot of reading and a lot of comparing before settling on this model. I’ve had it a couple months now and it is very user friendly. The booklets that came with it are very informative and would be appreciated by anyone new to using a HRM.

With a 44″ chest, the transmitter is tight, but not uncomfortably so. It blends in with the feeling of my sports bra and I forget I even have it on. There is still some play in the elastic so it could probably fit someone a little larger.

The watch/receiver is not so big as to be masculine, but I wouldn’t consider it feminine either. Unisex is a good term for it, but if you have a large wrist, I can see where it would look smaller and more dainty. I (5’8″) have the same size wrist as my dad (5’7″) and even my boyfriend (6’1″) can wear it without it looking too small. So to say “men wouldn’t want to wear it” isn’t really fair. If you have a medium to small wrist/hand, it will look proportional. If you have a large wrist (man or woman), it is going to look petite.

With my experience so far, Timex will be at the top of the list when I decide to buy another HRM.

I bought this watch in order to tune my workouts and it has been such a breeze to use. a little time to set up but nothing major. it is so much better then trying to rely on the HRM at the gym since this one is tuned to my heart rate and my MAX heart rate. I now have an accurate gauge of what zone i am training in at all times. i’ve already recommended this to my mom and sisters.
the chest strap is comfortable, and after about a minute i forget its there. the watch strap is pretty long though, i have a small wrist and i have it set 1 notch below the smallest setting. if you have smaller then 6″ wrist you may need to pop another hole in the band.
the design is cute, not something i’d wear all day long but perfect for the gym and other physical activities. great amount of technology for such a small price.

update:
about 2 years later i needed to replace the batteries in both the chest strap and the watch. no big deal. The chest strap was really easy to change out but the watch itself not so much. by the time i got the thing back in and all the screws in one of the buttons no longer worked. would be worth paying the few bucks to take it to a pro to have the battery replaced because now i need to buy another one.

I just bought this hrm, I tried it out and it works fine, does everything it advertises to do. It is small compared to most POLAR models, I used to own a polar ice,not sure about the model number but at the time I paid $125 for the polar, which the wrist strap started getting darker and it looked weird though I tried scrubbing it, I hope this one doesn’t do the same.I love the indigo light option, easy to use. I’ve seen a lot of complaints of how difficult this watch is, yes it does a lot of things and most likely I will not use all of them, but THERE IS A MANUAL, read it!!!! it tells you step by step how to set up, I also do not understand people saying it’s not intuitive because anything you press it has a title to what it does, it tells you hold to set,so you know if you hold the button you are going into a set up of that mode, each mode has a name, chrono, timer, alarm, recovery, review etc, AND the set up buttons have + and – so you know which one moves the time up or down when setting it…SO WHAT EXACTLY IS SO DIFFICULT ABOUT IT????I have no idea. The chest strap is comfy, I am not slim or even fit, I would go with chubby but not morbidly obese and it still fits me. The one I got is a grey color, I think a man can use it, it does not look feminine.

I am not giving it 5 stars because I have seen reviews of it failing within 6 months and I might just change my mind in 6 months. Just to keep in mind, POLAR hrm will transmit in average for a year if you use it daily, so I don’t expect my battery to last over a year but I do expect the hrm to keep working as I change batteries.