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 great features, poor quality, hopeless warranty May 08, 2009
I bought a USD300++ T6 on 31 March 08 on Amazon. I sent it for repair to local service center in Malaysia on 19 March 08, after less than one year usage (no transmission between HR belt <-> watch, even with new batteries). We're 8th of May and I have no news - and no heart rate monitor. For a triathlete that's a hopeless situation.
The device is plastic with no moving parts. I find it hard to believe that the electronics can break inside, despite being all sealed , and no harsh treatment (running and cycling only). This implies poor design and/or poor workmanship. In comparison, my TV which is also electronics, is still working after 15 years! My 4 year old Polar also works fine with new batteries.
I can accept random failure, but apparently, I am not the only person complaining on the internet about this type of transmission failure for T6 HRM models.
Therefore, for such known manufacturing problem, I would expect warranty service to provide a standard replacement on the spot: this is not a hand-made swiss watch that can only be repaired by hand. It is also an expensive, rugged device which should not break, and thus the warranty should be a real warranty, e.g. 7 days or on the spot replacement. Not a 6 week joke.
I will post the above feedback on all the websites I find where user are invited to post feedback, starting with Amazon where I bought the watch. And I'll go buy a new Polar to continue my training.
Very disappointed ex-customer
Augustin - Malaysia
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Very happy with this HR monitor Dec 09, 2008
I bought a Suunto T6 a couple years ago after a bad experience with the quality of an expensive Polar HR monitor. I've been very happy with the T6. First, I like the unique look of it, although I could see where some might not find it aesthetically pleasing. I wear it everywhere with casual clothes, and I love the big display for the time. Also, just wearing it around I've managed to really bang it against some hard objects, but there's still not even a scratch on the lens! Very durable.
For training, I've used it solely for running. The interface with the optional foot pod has been flawless. One minor complaint I have is that when you review your workout results on the computer, the software rounds your average speed up to the nearest MPH, whereas on the watch you can see it in a one-place decimal. So if you ran 4.6 MPH, the software will display 5 MPH which is obviously off quite a bit. Not a big deal, just a minor annoyance. Overall I have found the software to be a very useful training tool, especially in terms of letting me know when I'm not training hard enough or overtraining (it shows graphically when you have entered various zones, such as "maintaining training zone, improving training zone, highly improving training zone," or "overtraining zone").
The menus on the watch are also fairly intuitive and easy to navigate. And I haven't had one malfunction or glitch like I had with the Polar. In summary, I would definitely recommend the T6.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Awesome product - long learning curve Jun 29, 2008
I bought the T6 along with the foot pod. I have been running off and on for a couple of years, have competed in a few 5K races and wanted to take my training up a few notches. This product definitely seems like it has the ability to do that but I am still struggling to learn how to use all of the features - especially the interface with the PC software.
Product is all that is billed - documentation/users guide could use a lot of help.
12 of 13 found the following review helpful:
Great recording device but then what??? Jun 17, 2008
I have had the T-6 for over a year now and have finally decided that I am done being frustrated and am going to switch to something else. The Suunto T-6 is a great product mechanically. My major disappointments are with regard to the operation and software.
Pro1: (5 stars) The Suunto is a solid device. I give it a full 5+ stars. When I got it paired and running correctly it never dropped heart rate or speed. The data was always solid and complete unless one of the pods batteries died. Had the device not been so great in this area I would have given it up a long time ago.
Con1: (3 stars) I have found the pairing and connecting of devices (foot pod, bike pod, heart rate belt) to be somewhat awkward. Pairing took some work, but now I think I have it down to where I have little problems getting everything to synch up in one or two tries. It isn't a big enough problem to be a deciding factor to me on its use.
Con2: (3 stars) The operation of the device takes some getting used to. If you want to record data you have to make sure you are in the right menu (Training) when you start the stop watch otherwise NO DATA!!! If you are in the "Speed and Distance" menu when you start the stopwatch then you see the stopwatch, heart rate data, and speed but you get home to download and there is NO FILE!!! I did this on not one but two Ironman races, and you can imagine the frustration when I download an empty file. Maybe I am just stupid, which is a real possibility, but I doubt I am the only one that has done it. There are a couple of picky functions like this but I think I have most figured out now after multiple object lessons.
Con3: (0.5 stars) Software. This is the 800 pound anchor for the Suunto. The Suunto is solid enough that I could overlook the other smallish issues listed above if the software was better, but it is terrible. Downloading data from the unit to the computer is slick, but once the data is in the software it gives you a couple of numbers and a tiny little crappy graph. That's it... $400 on the watch and you get a $10 program to look at your data. Imagine looking at your 5 hour half Ironman or trail run on an etch o sketch!!! It's that bad. The watch menu options may be a bit clumsy but the software is 10x worse. I had a Polar 710i before the Suunto T-6. While the Polar had its problems (Heart rate drop-out problems, no footpod, etc.) the software was good enough for what I wanted it for. When I switched to the Suunto I feel like I traded my 36" color TV/VCR combo (polar) in for a B&W I-pod with no headphones (Suunto). The I-pod is a far superior product but if you can't see anything what good is it? If the Suunto had software as good as the Polar 710 I would have been happy with the Suunto.
I am still trying to figure out what to get. I have had good experience with Polar, but it sounds like the RS800 GC has some problems, and the Garmin 305 only has a 10 hour battery life. From everything I can see they both have far better software options than the Suunto. If you want a Suunto, I have two to sell you... and cheap!!!
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 Excellent HRM Option, but soon will be replaced by T6C May 24, 2008
First, anyone about to purchase this unit, should consider waiting for the T6C as it will have an improved Belt(soft like the polar wearlink), support for the new cadence pod, and real-time training measurements.
Now, I own the T4, T6, and a polar 625SX and will tell you this is my favorite for the following reasons.
Versus the Polar 625SX
Suunto T6 Advantages
1) The USB Cable is far more reliable than Polar infrared transmitter for downloading.
2) The PODs (using dynastream ANT technology that Garmin now owns) results in far less data loss between the watch and PODs.
3) You can replace the battery on the watch and transmitter. This is a big deal as once you run with a HRM, you really don't want to ship it away for a week like Polar requires.
4) It looks like a real watch.
5) More robust construction. I have had my watch for 3 years with no problems beyond replacing the band.
Now the Polar 625SX has 3 advantages over the Suunto
1) Wearlink Transmitter (Fixed by T6C)
2) Cadence POD (fixed by T6C)
3) Power POD (Polar Advantage)
Now compared to the T4
T6 advantages
1) Much better construction
2) T6 Logs all information for download latter
3) USB cable to enable download include
T4 advantages
1) Price
2) PC Pod support for downloads (but much less data available for download)
3) Real time Training information (fixed in T6C)
4) Coach support
Now many people are now buying T4 for the coach support, but you actually can buy coach software to run on your pc from First Beat technology (the supplier of the coach technology on the T4) and it works better on a PC than on the T4 with some excellent reports and the ability to edit the data.
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