I ordered my first SI PRO7 HRM in Dec '06 from Amazon. When it arrived, the battery was almost dead, but not dead enough to keep from from wasting several hours trying to interpret the instructions (which are not particularly user friendly) and program the beast. I returned the HRM to Amazon who quickly sent me a replacement HRM & refunded my shipping costs. The second unit was also blessed with a dead battery. I e-mailed SI and (two days later) they told me they would replace the battery for free - but they would not refund my postage (Caveat emptor). More than two weeks later, I received the HRM back from SI (although they promised to "turn it around within 72 hours of receipt"). In all, it took about one month from when I placed my first order until the repaired HRM arrived. SI might pay some attention to their customer services and quality control - such as printing expiration dates for batteries on the outside of the boxes. There is an upside to this saga: simply dealing with SI and their defective products pushed me past my anaerobic threshold without having to climb into my filty running gear or leaving the house. 1 star

Like another reviewer, I ordered this back in Dec. '06 and when it arrived it had a dead battery. I didn't it know it at the time, so I sent it back to Amazon, and they sent another one-with an open box and another dead battery. I changed the battery myself, and also changed the battery in the sensor (not sure if it was dead, too, but just in case). As I just got it yesterday, I haven't had a real chance to play with all the bells and whistles, but it does seem like the instruction book was a bit hard to comprehend. 3 stars

Sports Instruments (SI) was a Utah based company with 3-4 employees that was sold to Bell Sports in 2004 (and Bell Sports was later sold to Easton Sports in 2006). SI's activities had slowed, and it is reasonable to believe that Sports Instruments Pro, Fit and ECG Heart Rate Wristwatches were last produced in 2003 or earlier. Products were made in Asia by a reputable factory.

Designer and competitive masters athlete Bill Corliss created products with an intelligently designed user interface that was easy to use. The Pro 7 and Pro 9 Hear Rate Wristwatches provided detailed and valuable data for the serious athlete. The Fit and the earlier ECG Fitness Heart Rate Wristwatches had fewer advanced features. The chest transmitter should work with most fitness equipment designed to work with the Polar standard.

If you buy SI branded Pro, Fit or ECG products, you should know that the original watch batteries are at the end of their shelf life. Unless the seller has recently replaced batteries, you will quickly or immediately face the burden and cost of dealing with battery issues.

Replacing the watch batteries is too difficult for most consumers. Even a professional repair person must use care to maker certain that the parts are precisely returned to the original positions to maintain water resistance. Expect to pay $9-20 to have the watch battery replaced, and tell your repair person you want the product to keep its water resistance. The battery on the wireless chest transmitter may be less drained than the watch's and is user replaceable, a nice feature. The chest transmitter's CR2032 3-volt lithium battery should be available for under $4. Total outlay for 2 batteries: $13-24.

The Sports Instruments Pro, Fit and ECG products are closeouts with manufacturing dates of 2003 or earlier. If you are willing to deal with battery replacement issues, make certain that you get a good enough price to justify the added repair burdens ... and that you get good information about how to obtain warranty service from a brand that is no longer produced. 2 stars

Watch arrived dead. Returned. What looks like the same watch came back working now. Could well be just the battery as the earlier reviewer suggests.

I've used this watch with snowshoes, exercise bike and snowblowing teh driveway. It splits the exercise time into 5 zones based on heartrate and tells you the time (and percent) spent in each zone. Very nice. Lets me compare the workout of the exercise bike (known load) to other activities (like shovelling teh driveway)). 3 stars

I own the ECG5, 7, and 9 and love them all! I did receive my last one with a dead battery, but that really wasn't a big deal to me--a quick trip to my local jewelers and I was set to go. I also own a Polar F6 and have to say that the SI monitors are far superior. The chest strap is much more comfortable and the monitors themselves have a lot more functionality and are easier to program than the F6, in my opinion. My favorite SI monitor is the 5 as I like the lap data capture better on this one than the 7 and 9. I wish the other reviewers would have commented more on the features instead of mainly their feelings about the batteries. 5 stars