Miscelleneous by stefan @ 2013-06-26
The Oregon Scientific SE833 Heart Rate Monitor Watch is a very useful gadget for people which are constantly working out and it also comes with PC Sync capabilities via the included USB dongle.
At first we would like to thank Oregon Scientific for offering a sample of their SE833 Heart Rate Monitor Watch for testing and reviewing.
“In the flurry of modern life, the search for richer, fuller experiences may be stymied by the incredible amount of stimuli we receive every day. At Oregon Scientific, we believe life should be lived smarter, not harder.
Founded in 1989 in Portland, USA, Oregon Scientific embraces innovations that contribute to people’s betterment and well-being. Oregon Scientific products do more than simply beautify our homes and offices – they enable us to pursue our personal goals for better health, better work and living spaces and better fulfilment in all we do.
When you purchase a Oregon Scientific product, you’re empowering your lifestyle with smart ideas that help you maximize your potential each day.”
Wireless PC download via USB dongle
HRM with speed and distance calculations
Provides a smart training program for user to achieve the best benefit from exercise
Smart training software program for Triathlons includes: (allow user to tailor edit) training plans, records training and nutrition
Water resist chest belt
Exercise data record (9) in watch, (1 year data) in PC
Target countdown index – reminds users the % of task achievement
Display calorie consumption and percentage of fat burning during workout
Exercise timer
Cadence sensor for measure speed and resolution per minute (RPM) for biking (Optional)
Digital wireless transmissions
Stopwatch: lap function
Visual and audio heart rate alerts
Clock/date, Alarm
EL Backlight
In this review we will look a little upon a sport-related accessory and to be more exact the Oregon Scientific Heart Rate Monitor with Speed and Distance, which also features a PC dongle. The product is shipped inside a themed cardboard box, with lots of information outside:
On the back side of the box we will get to see a complete list of product features, in multiple languages:
By removing the outside packaging, we will be welcomed by an orange cardboard box:
The watch along with its bundle is carefully separated with a sponge-like material inside so they won’t scratch during transport:
Besides the watch, we will also get a chest belt with its extension, a bike mount and one USB dongle:
On the front of the chest belt we will find a colored Oregon Scientific logo:
By looking on one of the sides, we will find the product code name (SZ909) along with the FCC ID:
On its back there is the battery compartment with a CR2032 3V lithium battery, easy to find in stores for replacement, if needed:
The lateral sides of the chest belt feature some conductive pads which must get in contact with some drops of water or conductive gel before wearing it:
In order to mount it we will have to use the extension:
In order to install the bike mount, we will have to secure it with the two included nylon cords:
The USB dongle has the shape of a Flash Drive and right after we connect it, Windows 8 will start installing some generic drivers; however, with these drivers installed, the included sync application did not work. When we have tried to connect the USB dongle on a Windows 7 machine, default drivers were not installed, but we were prompted to install some unsigned ones after the sync app was fully installed. With these installed, the application worked flawlessly:
The watch comes with a circular LCD display and the Oregon Scientific logo on top:
On the left side we have two buttons, one for toggling options, decreasing the values or pause/stop during exercises. The other one is used for toggling between modes and for returning to a previous menu:
On the right side, we have three buttons, one for toggling options, increasing the current value or mute/unmute in Time mode; the second (central) one is for activating the backlight, or locking/unlocking the keypag; the last one is for confirming settings or setting alarm on/off in Time mode:
The watch band is easy to adjust to fit all:
On the back side of the watch we will learn that this too operates with a CR2032 battery:
With the watch we will also get lots of documents and on the same bag we have also found the two nylon cords for the bike mount we have mentioned before:
The watch comes with a Quick Guide but also a regular User Manual, which must be read carefully before operating the watch:
Let’s take a quick look through the menus. The Time mode displays the day of the week, the date, but also current time:
The Alarm can be also set from the same mode:
For conducting an exercise, we will have to use the EXE menu:
We can exercise without an exercise profile “Auto” or with one “Prog”:
The Fitness index can be also generated based on our aerobic exercise, by running 1 mile or 1.6KM:
The MEM menu will allow us to see the stored exercise records (for viewing Summary Record or Lap Record pages):
The SET menu is for customizing the watch profile and we will have to navigate through all the menus:
The DEV menu will be used for pairing various compatible devices to the watch:
The PC menu is used for connecting to the dongle and transferring data:
The TIME menu returns us to the time/date display:
The included software will prompt us to have Java JRE installed along with Adobe Air. If all is OK, we will be able to see the GUI after a profile name is defined (in this case “Madshrimps”). After the data has been uploaded to the PC, we can see lots of statistics:
Data is split through multiple exercises and each have the date and time recorded along them:
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Recorded BPM data can be seen in a graph:
Also, the speed chart can be also observed in the next tab:
The same thing we can say about running distance:
Lastly, we have the kcal representation:
The Oregon Scientific SE833 Heart Rate Monitor Watch is an useful product for people that are constantly working out and despite the fact that it does not feature a GPS, it can be pretty accurate if it is calibrated correctly.
We have enjoyed the fact that the device along with the belt use a battery model that can be easily found in stores and besides the written manual, we can also find it in PDF electronic format on the web; in order not to get confused, we should always begin with the full-sized manual and not with the Quick Start Guide.
Regarding the wireless USB dongle, we have seen that it does not work well on Windows 8, but we did not have any issues in Windows 7; this is to be expected since the software hasn’t been updated for quite a while now.
The product can be found in the Oregon Scientific UK store for about £89.99.
We would like to thank again to Oregon Scientific for making this review possible!