The Polar S625X is a great HRM that I have been using now for a month. Before that, I was using a S120. I upgraded because I wanted to track distance run and pace which it does fairly accurately.
The data link via IR does not work with my Macbook pro without some help. I run parallels for Mac on my machine with Windows XP. I also own a palm Tungsten T5; to get data transferred from the S625X, I have the following stuff:
- MySportTraining by VidaOne, Inc (for Palm and for PC)
- MySportTraining Polar by VidaOne, Inc (for Palm)
- After working out, set up connect on the HRM and on sync the data to the palm.
- Whenever I need to hotsync my pda to the mac (running windows xp), I just hot sync and the data goes to MySportTraining. From there, you can do anything with it.
Until Polar wakes up and starts supporting mac users, workarounds like the one I described above are the only ways to get data to your Mac.
Its not a big deal for me but if it sounds too cumbersome, recommend another product.

The S625X is nothing short of an amazing watch. I use data as a motivational tool for my solo trail runs, backpacks, etc. So being able to view a graphic of altitude, speed, distance, HR, temp all displayed in a way that reflects my journey is great.
That said, the Polar Software seems to have some tech writing difficulties. I have more difficulties getting up to speed with their software than any other I use. As with any new product there are some glitches. The wrist monitor and foot pod accurately measure distance, but uploading it to the PPP (Polar Precision Performance) software always results in about 10% less distance. The nice, but apparently overwhelmed tech support staff are not adequately answering this issue.

Overall nice product and Made in Finland!

Setup was pretty easy. The user interface for the watch is a little tricky at first. Use the manual until you get the hang of it. Not really well suited for just "playing with" and discovering new features.

The real toy here is the distance/speed recording. We did a lot of trials at a track and it seemed to have been accurate to +/- 5%. Even running my same daily route gives that variation. It displays your pace (min/mile) real time and that seems more helpful for training than distance. Heart rate monitor seems to work fine. No problem with wireless signals.

Download data to your computer and the software/runners diary is fun to look at.

So if you can live with the error, it’s a lot of fun information. As the sensors improve, the accuracy will improve as well. The next generation should be better.

The best heart rate monitor I have owned. I have owned polar Accurex Plus, S520, and S710, Suunto x6 HR, and cardiosport monitors and this is the best. The running distance speed was accurate to 50m over 5.9km before it had been calibrated! The only negative is that it doesn't have auto start/stop when cycling (like the 700 series does).

Great training tool. The only downside is the altimeter, not very accurate.

This watch is very good for training and maintaining fitness. Once the foot pod is calibrated it is extremely accurate. The software makes loading exercises and downloading data easy. However it does not come with an IR device for your computer so I had to purchase one elsewhere, a minor inconvenience.

My S625X is what I needed to track my daily workouts. Polar watches have continued to impress me with the quality over the years.