Research Article

Scientific Comparison of Different Online Heart Rate Monitoring Systems

Table 4

Notes on software comparison.

SystemAcentasActivioPolarSuunto

Installation(i) On USB stick (+)
(ii) All drivers included (+)
(i) Easy installation (+)
(ii) Driver problems (Win XP) (−)
(i) Installation by Polar personnel (+)
(ii) Complicated installation process (−)
(iii) Connectivity of LAN not existing (−)
(iv) Permanent update function (−)
(i) No software included, download only on homepage (−)
(ii) Same problem with drivers (−)
(iii) Nevertheless, easily installed (+)

Menu navigation
(intuitional, unproblematic)
(i) Automatic recognition of chest belts (+)
(ii) Well-arranged & simple screen (+)
(i) Very good arrangement of functions & team function (+)
(ii) Long-loading software (−)
(iii) Manual recognition of chest belts (−)
(i) Long-loading software (−)
(ii) Long recognition of each receiver unit (−)
(iii) Complex software (−)
(iv) Overloaded screen (−)
(v) No automatically recording of data (−)
(i) Well-arranged & simple screen (+)

Features
(user friendliness, help function, additional function, graphical representation of data, use and treatment of data)
(i) Simple personalisation of a subject (+)
(ii) Complete pdf instruction manual (+)
(iii) Good and easy graphical representation of data (+)
(iv) Simple data recording & saving (+)
(v) Good data export (+)
(vi) No import of different systems’ data possible (−)
(i) Simple and fast recognition of active chest belts (+)
(ii) Good team function (+)
(iii) Clear separation of single and team players (+)
(iv) Help function did not work (−)
(v) Good and easy graphical representation of data (+)
(vi) Good data comparison & treatment (+)
(vii) Simple data print, pdf creation and export (+)
(viii) No import of different systems’ data possible (−)
(i) Multifaced and user-friendly data creation (+)
(ii) Comprehensive features (+)
(iii) Extensive help function (+)
(iv) Initial problems (−)
(v) Good and easy graphical representation of data and saved sessions (+)
(vi) Overloaded graphical presentation for several individuals (−)
(vii) Email export (+)
(viii) No import of different systems’ data possible (−)
(i) Unlabelled belts, boxes (−)
(ii) Time-consuming data input (−)
(iii) Missing “team” function of monitor software (−)
(iv) Poor search function (−)
(v) Good help function (+)
(vi) Good and easy graphical representation of data (+)
(vii) Separate connection of every single player (−)
(viii) Simple data recording & saving (+)
(ix) No additional features (−)
(x) No import of different systems’ data possible (−)