Suunto t3c Running Pack - 2008 BCS

I bought this HRM after seeing it on a triathlete friend. I was so excited, but quickly found out alot of things. 1/it comes with the WORST instruction manual. I had to read it back and forth 10 times and still can't figure it out completely. 2/ This watch is impossible to use.. Ithas so many settings that I can't seem to find what I need to push. 3/ It doesn't do a great job of picking up with the chest monitor.

That said, the SUUNTO people have good customer service and have helped me a few times.

I would go back to POLAR in a "heartbeat"

I have been serching for THE heart rate monitor of my dreams. This is not it.

1) I am in the processing of returning the watch because it stopped - time stopped, no response to buttons. I purchased it in Dec 2009.

2) HRM - if I am cycling, it works pretty well, but the HR can be very inaccurate while running. I followed the directions on positioning and wetting the receptors, but sometimes I would run for 30min with a heart rate of ~100.

3) Display - not good options for display, particularly when running at night. My previous HRM, a Polar, allowed you to change the display to have your HR or Lap be the largest number on the watch display. T3C does not. Also...when running at night...which is an unfortunate consequence of my latitude and work schedule....is difficult, at best, with the t3c. Can't read the watch at all. Even in low light (if you go to a Spinning class that takes the lights down periodically), it is difficult to read.

(sigh)

If anyone has a reco on THE HRM, I'd love to know! (I have tried Timex, Polar...and now Suunto)