Are you experienced? Have you ever been experienced?

[kinzel]

So gang, tell me --

1) anyone have experience with a Chromebook? Thumbs up, down, sidewways?

2) anyone have experience with wrist-carried heart rate monitors? Am particularly interested in those using a chest-strap.

3) anyone have experience with Android tablets?

TIA!

Comments

WearLink & Cr-48

[wjb3-reads.livejournal.com]

2) I like the Polar Heart Rate Monitors(proprietary radio), but it turns out they do not play with other monitor equipment(ANT+ radio).

If you decide on Polar, I love the WearLink since it has soft electrodes. The old hard electrodes kept losing my heart rate. The downside of any chest strap is getting it moist and properly positioned at the start of the exercise, and cleaning it after. I got the WearLink originally, because its coded signal lets my wife and me exercise together without scrambling the signal. If you wear it a lot, the user replaceable battery is nice. Chest straps definitely work better than the hand grip Heart Rate Monitors built into most exercise equipment. I have owned a Polar WearLink Transmitter(M32 receiver) and a Polar T31 Transmitter (115? receiver).

I am looking at the $180 iPod Nano 6th Gen (adding a $30 Nike + iPod Sport Kit and $70 Polar Wearlink+ Heart Rate Transmitter for Nike+) so I can track my data on the computer. A new Nano may be out next month and drop the price of the 6th Gen.


1) From a professional author with a CR-48:

“Which of course may be perfectly suitable for many if not most people — if your computer use is primarily wrapped up in e-mail, Facebook and finding things online, then a cloud-based OS might be awesome for you, not to mention the “instant on” joy that the Chrome experience provides. But I do actually use my computer for things besides being online. So for me, the Cr-48 and the Chrome OS aren’t there yet. I still need dedicated programs on my computer, accessible whether I have an online connection or not. Which is why I strongly suspect my next laptop computer will still have an “old fashioned” OS, and enough storage for the programs I need (and the files those programs create) resident on the machine.”

He later bought a Macbook Air because the hardware was thrifty

“I bought it because I needed a fully-functional laptop, and the two that I have aren’t cutting it for me anymore. The netbook, while really handy, is ultimately just too small to do anything other than answer e-mail on; the CR-48, with the Chrome OS, is underpowered (video of any sort is choppy) and doesn’t work when there’s no Internet connection.
. . .
I’ll presently be putting Windows 7 on this baby in a dual boot sort of situation. I didn’t buy this because I want to wallow in the Apple ecosystem; I bought it because it gives me the hardware specs I want at a price I can live with. Call it the practical side of me.”


URLs
ANT+ Receiver
( http://new.digifit.com/what-is-digifit/ )
Only works with Apple iPod Nano 5th and 6th Gen
( http://store.apple.com/us/product/H1922ZM/A )
Changing a WearLink Battery
( http://www.livestrong.com/article/278168-how-to-change-the-battery-in-a-polar-m32-monitor/ )
Cr-48
( http://whatever.scalzi.com/2011/03/01/what-ive-learned-with-the-cr-48/ )
Upside of MacBook Air
( http://whatever.scalzi.com/2011/07/29/what-i-was-waiting-for-all-day-long/ )

-=FIN