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Looking for a watch with two qualities (open for suggestions on more though): altimeter and heart rate monitor. I do most of my training in the mountains now, and I thought it's about time to get a little bit more professional about it. I spend my days tracking everything online, so it made sense to track the other important part of my life as well. I've got a decent budget for this, but I'm not going to spend 500 euros on a watch either.

Being able to connect it to a pc to keep better track of trainings and climbs would be an added bonues.

A lot of folks (me included) like the Suunto Vector: time+baro+alti+compass.

They just recently added the HR function to the Vector, so it might fit your needs.

sjarelkwint wrote:got a vector with hr monitor! barometre is really usefull i think!!!
also compass is nice feature to safe some weight in the rest of your pack ...

don't trust a watch as your sole source of orientation!
I've got a Core, love it!
It's got a compass, yes, but that compass also drains the batteries quite quickly. So always keep a real compass handy and they only weight a few grams.

Alpinisto wrote:A lot of folks (me included) like the Suunto Vector: time+baro+alti+compass.

Yupz, the Suunto Vector HR is currently #1 on my list, but would like to get a) some feedback on it, b) get to know it's competitors a bit.

sjarelkwint wrote:if you want a proper HR monitor don't go for suunto since they are altitude watches ... but in combination with an altitude meter you probably won't find anything better ...

Suunto makes some very nice HRMs. I'd have no problem changing over to them from my Garmin or Polar models. Different features and strengths...but they all make nice models. Heck...Garmin is a "GPS maker" and they're my current favorite HRM maker.

Unfortunately, the Polar AXN outdoor series (300/500/700) is discontinued. I recently did a search on Polar watches and they don't have a decent replacement for the AXNs. What a pity! I have AXN 500. Great watch! In my opinion, better than Suunto-whatever.

Thanks for the advice. I was also looking at the Polar AXN range as well, but found out what Jan just mentioned. Was in Milan for work the last couple of days and today I walked in to a store that appareantly gave me a sort of company discount on the Suunto watches, so seeing as it was a really good deal (180 euro), I just bit the bullet and got one of those Vector HR's.