Timex

Timex Triathlon Digital Heart Rate Monitor Watch

• POPULAR, BEST SELLING HRM; The Timex 5C351 Ironman Triathlon Digital Heart Rate Monitor and Strap helps you make the most of your workouts !!
• Heart Rate Monitor Sensor battery (CR-2032) can be replaced by user without having to return it to the factory
• Comfortable and lightweight Sensor with adjustable elastic chest strap gives continuous heart rate readings even during the most intense activities

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Whether training for a 10K race or exercising to lose some of that spare tire, the Timex T5C351 digital watch with integrated heart rate monitor will help you make the most of your training. Timekeeping features include a 100-hour stopwatch, 100-hour countdown timer, display of month/day/date and 24-hour clock, an alarm with 5-minute back-up, and a display with flipping system for easy reading. It also features a double-shot polyurethane strap, a battery life of 3 years, and water resistance to 50 meters.

Heart rate monitoring features include target zones with optional alarms, 5 target zones based on maximum heartbeat, average/peak heart rate data, recovery rate timer, and calories burned. The comfortable heart rate sensor offers FM transmission for a clear signal around exercise equipment, synchronized transmission to prevent crosstalk with other heart rate monitors, and continuous readings even during the most intense activities. Comfortable and lightweight, it has an adjustable elastic chest strap and an owner replaceable battery with a 2-year battery life.

The Indiglo night-light uniformly lights the surface of the watch dial using patented blue electroluminescent lighting technology. It uses less battery power than most other watch illumination systems, enabling your watch battery to last longer. The Night Mode feature allows you to illuminate the Indiglo night-light for 3 seconds with any button press, regardless of the mode or function.

Product Description

This Timex Watch (but not any battery, crystal, band, or strap) is warranted to the owner for a period of ONE YEAR from the date of purchase against defects in manufacture by Timex Corporation. Timex will not repair defects relating to servicing not performed by Timex Corporation. This limited warranty applies to US Customers.

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Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00020J1L2
• Item model number: T5C351
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,559 in Watches (See Top 100 in Watches)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

98 of 100 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great features, budget pricing., August 17, 2005

By 

Rockie "Mom, wife, and lover. Lives in Florid... (Cocoa, FL, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Timex Triathlon Digital Heart Rate Monitor Watch (Watch)

I've been using this watch/HRM for a little over two weeks now and I don't regret buying it. For the price, it has great basic yet useful features and is relatively easy to use. The sensor is low profile and is easily held in place by one's sports bra, so the chest strap isn't always needed. And, the battery can be replaced by the owner - a big plus in my book.

You can use the 5 heart rate zones that are automatically programmed based off of your input. You can also program in a zone of your own (however wide or narrow). There is an alarm you can activate to warn whenever you exceed your manual zone or any one of the auto heart rate zones you choose. It also tells you how many calories you've burned, you're average heart rate, and your peak heart rate. You can use the timer to either count up or to count down. I've so far only used the counting up feature (chronograph) to tell me how long my workout lasted. You can also pick how you want to view your info when working out: chronograph/timer only, heart rate only, HR dominate with timer on top, or timer dominate with HR on top. You can also do the same with the time and heart rate (when you're not using the chronograph/timer).

There's also a recovery mode and probably a few other features I haven't taken advantage of.

If you really want some revealing information - wear the monitor to bed to monitor your heart rate while you sleep. Turn on the chronograph before going to sleep and turn it off when you wake. You'll not only learn what your average resting heart rate is, you'll also learn how long you actually sleep - it's not always as long as you think! (The last time I did this I clocked in at 5 to 6 hours - clearly not enough sleep that night, though I thought I put in more.)

The watch also features a time alarm that I've found useful time management purposes. Also, the fact that it is durably built and highly water resistant makes it the time piece of choice for when I go offshore fishing with my husband. (Not the time to wear shiny, delicate jewelry.)

The watch is petite enough for a woman to wear on her wrist. I don't know how well it would wear on a man's wrist - the contours seem a little too small for a typical man's wrist, but a for a more slender man it may not be a big deal.

Overall, I'm very pleased to have this watch/HR monitor. It's proven to be reliable, useful, sturdy, easy to use, and fun to have for my cardio workouts. No regrets here!

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great HRM!, May 15, 2006

By 

J. L. Lankford "everything amazon" (Texas) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Timex Triathlon Digital Heart Rate Monitor Watch (Watch)

I am a beginning runner, and had heard the benfits of using a HRM. I shopped only on Amazon and found the Timex HRM # T5C351. At first I was skeptical since some of the other reviews were negative, but I bought it anyway.

I have had it a week now and its great. It has all the features that I was looking for in a HRM, and it's simple to use. As soon as I took it out of the box and put on the strap, the HRM detected my heart beat. I have worn it jogging/running, it records my HR, time, heart zone level, and calories burned. I really like that it has alarms that tell me if my HR is to low or to high within a given zone - this way I can easily stay within my training zone. You just enter your body weight and MHR and the watch calculates your cardiac training zones - you can manually set your own zone as well. The instruction manuals are easy to read also.

I don't understand how some of the reviewers before me indicated that they had trouble detecting getting it to detect their HR. I followed the instructions adding a little water to the sensors and put it on - it worked. Maybe their batteries needed changing. I am 6'1" and 168 pounds - thin. Maybe body size has something to do with detection also. Anyway I got the HRM that I was looking for.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great level of function at moderate cost, January 28, 2007

By 

Robert W. Williams "aturing" (Memphis, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Timex Triathlon Digital Heart Rate Monitor Watch (Watch)

This HRM comes in two flavors: A 30-lap model and a Fitness Model. They share most features, although the fitness model is perhaps more appropriate for users interested primarily in the HR functions. The 30-lap model is more for runners and also allows two time-zone monitoring. Both versions have backlighting; very convenient for night runs and other activities. I have a T5C351 F5 model (Fitness) manufactured in China, probably during the second half of 2006 and purchased in January 2007.

The unit comes with excellent documentation--two small booklets in idiomatic English with few if any typographical errors (also French and Spanish). The user interface is relatively straightforward for these kinds of sports watches. It is customizable for one user (you need to enter your weight and your approximate maximum HR).

Features I like: 1. Ability to display time and HR in varying formats, including Heart Rate Only in a large font (great for no-glasses runs). 2. Ability to accumulate basic HR data over a long period and provide a simple summary (mean, peak, percentage within user-defined HR zone). 3. Ability to display a 1 min HR difference (a rough measure of fitness). 4. Looks good on your wrist; just the right mix of high tech and function without looking too large or goofy, and the wrist strap is comfortable. 5. User replaceable batteries. 6. Reasonably large buttons that work well with gloves. 7. Great set of example uses in the manual that walk you through typical applications.

Regarding the chest strap (aka "fitness sensor"): It has given me accurate and consistent readings from the moment I put it on. The readout updates about as fast as it can; every 2 seconds when conditions demand.

The electrodes should be positioned under the pectoralis muscles. The center of the whole sensor should sit over the bottom of the sternum. I have mine set at the loosest possible setting, but even when moderately tight it is not uncomfortable. The sensor works well in the gym, either lifting weights or running on a threadmill. I have had no trouble in a shower with the unit. I am 6 ft and about 180 pounds, 37 inches around the chest at sensor level. For those of you with readout problems: moisture (water or saliva) on the ribbed sensor surface will help, and you can reposition the electrodes slightly on your chest. If it breaks, replacement sensors can be purchased at 1-800-448-4639, but I do not know the price.

Comparisons: I had planned to buy a high end Polar model, but could not find a local vendor. From what I can tell about virtually all HRMs (Nike, Timex, and the standard-bearer, Polar), they are not notably reliable. I wanted to be able to take it back to a local vendor if anything went wrong. The Polar sensor is reported to be the most comfortable, but this Timex sensor seems fine to me. The set of features that this HRM incorporates is probably just about right for a first-time or even a second-time HRM user. What the C351 lacks in comparison to high end units is a companion speed sensor (foot pod or GPS unit) and a computer interface. These are features the more serious HRM jocks will want to estimate power output. But they are also features associated with higher cost and that burden an HRM with larger size and greater complexity. Unless you are seriously competitive, have a very large wrist or a bit too much disposable income, or love the latest techno-toys, you should be plenty happy with the T5C351.

What about a "strapless" HRM? I had one of these toys years ago (I think it was a Casio). You put a finger on the watch/sensor and get a reading. There may be techology on the horizon that will re-revolutionize HRMs, but for the time being if you are serious about monitoring your HR continuously, you will want to get a system that comes with a sensor strap.

Companion Book: I have Total Heart Rate Training by Joe Friel. His comfortable style of writing and well-reasoned advice are easy to follow. This book is certainly good for newcomers to the use of HRMs, but it is intended primarily for atheletes in training. Friel would certainly recommend a higher-end unit that could handle power output and tempo (i.e., a top end Polar or Nike product with an accelerometer), but the T5C351 has the five exercise zones that he mentions built right in and also incorporates the Recovery Heart Rate measurement that he reviews. My plan is to use this Timex for phase I of my own fitness improvement regimen, and upgrade to a fancier HRM (whatever Polar comes out with to replace the aging 625SX) if and when I graduate to phase 2.

Good luck with your own HRM purchase(s).