I am looking for a watch capable of attaching to a chest belt which is also compatible with elliptical trainers used in Fitness First gyms.

I need one capable of monitoring heart rate and calculating calories burned. I prefer one with a good battery life. Any recommendations? Where can I get one in Bangkok?

They are really expensive in BKK seen them in the mall sports department. I had mine bought on ebay and was lucky it did not attract taxes. It would still be cheaper then.

I could bring you one from good old Germany when I come to Bangkok in about a week.

Give me a message on: //e-mail removed - use PM// if you should be interested.

I bought a basic Polar FT1 on Ebay. I probably only saved about 700 baht compared to buying the same model here. You'll save more if you buy one of the more expensive models as a large component is shipping. I had to buy FT1 model because it's the only one in the series that I can just read without putting my reading glasses on which I don't wear when I train. They certainly don't consider poor vision when they design these - maybe someone will wake up one day and discover there's a market for special displays for vision impaired people.

I since discovered that you cannot change the battery on the watch or the belt on this model.

Calculating calories burned from your heart rate is pretty useless. The elliptical machine at the gym will give you a total of calories burned. You have to make sure the cardio machine you're going to use is compatible with the monitor you buy. Most are compatible with Polar transmitters.