Polar G3 GPS Accessory Set

After reading many reviews I was actually in some doubt as to whether to purchase this item. Many people I read reports from said it didn't work or it worked intermittently. If that was the case what a waste of time and money it was going to be. But I took the plunge and I'm glad I did.

I've really just started to train again and wanted to follow a routine to track my progress. My aim was for distance and time. Watch was great on it's own for part of that (I also owned an RS200 before which was great) but I couldn't figure out if my distance targets were being met. Hence the need/want for the GPS.

It's great. Worked every time so far with no issues and not only do I get the exact distances I can see the route played over Google maps. Easy to upload data to my PC, doesn't seem to be MAC compatible, and I also upload to the Polar website to keep track of progress there.

It's a little bulky but I soon got used to it and it could be cheaper. Couldn't everything!

I'm very happy.

I really wanted this product and I really want it to work. I bought the G3 to track my route history as I was training and to compliment the data captured at the same time with my Polar RS800cx watch (altitude, heart rate, temp) whilst on my bike or if I was running. (Note. you can also upload your route history onto online maps to graphically represent where you have been).

Design:-
The device takes one AA battery and like the Polar watches has the most annoying plain screwdriver slotted cap to access the battery. Why? It is slotted with a curve like a coin but the gap is very broad so you cannot use a screwdriver or coin (UK) without burring the edges of the cap when you change batteries. The instruction manual depicts a coin to access the battery which would have to be the size of a gold Doubloon from Blackbeard's treasure chest. The watch cap is another story and out of scope.

Display status:-
There are two LEDs, one to indicate you have a satellite locked or not and the other to ID that the battery is low. The left hand LED flashes green when locked and red when not. If you are on high power both LED's flash more when you first switch on. This is not easy to identify especially when its strapped to your arm and it is fiddly.

Device activation:-
There is a push button on the front. This is annoying because you have to hold it down a number of seconds to set the activation to low power (longer battery life) or high power (shorter battery life). What is missing is what happens to the operation of your device when it is on low or high? Less recording or more recording or less signal. answer- don't know but would guess lower recording.

What would have been better is a slider instead of a button; in middle - off, left = full power, right = low power.

"Working" to me is it tracks my history so I can gauge at way points, how long it took me to complete the same route I had traveled before in relation to weather and how I fit I was on that day. If the tracking was 50 metres out.. don't care, I just need the G3 to represent roughly where I was.

"Not working" waiting 15-20 minutes/never for the device to lock on to a satellite or on a trip and the G3 looses signal.

Operation:-
I went the same route, there and back, for three weeks same outward way points and same inward way points. This is the real annoying bit. It works! It doesn't! Outward trip, first thing pick up satellites and works the complete route, coming back same route (inward) it works complete route. Next day outward it cannot pick up a satellite, how long do you wait 15 minutes/30 minutes or you just do not get a lock. On route back it picks up satellite but looses it half way through the inward trip.

The manual states that you need to be in open areas -I am, it's the same route everyday at the same time- not built up areas. I have tried putting a new battery everyday in case it was that. In the end I believe that the time of day where the satellites are and the tracking of the device in relation to the satellites gives you the working, not working hence the one star. When it works it is great but out of a five period the norm is 1.5/2 trips of success. I don't want to use a satellite tracking chart when I want to go on a bike ride.

A potential way around this is to use something like a satmap/Garmin and record the way points that tells you where you have been. The Garmin I believe will track your heart rate and your route, but I have never used it.

You will find it difficult to integrate the data stored on a Polar with a third party vendor device but it is possible.