Lookung to get a heart rate monitor- general fitness stuff for me, whereas the wife is looking to get one to measure the distance she walks- either gps or one of the foot pod variety. Any recommendations, thinking Suunto M5, but I must admit I am mystified with the choice out there…

It depends what features you need. Cheapo ones from Decathlon or even Lidl will usually do heart rate, time, stopwatch, and allow you to set training zones so you get a beep or a visual indication that you are falling outside your preset limits.
Fancier ones will be coded; so that if there is anyone else using one, yours doesn’t pick up the signals as well.
Even fancier ones will allow you download the data so you can see how your HR matches the ride you have done.
Even fancier still will combine HR and GPS so you have even more data to view.

Don’t fall for the ‘Oh, you’ve got to send it to Finland for a battery change thing’..

For monitoring walk distance MapMyRun is on both iphone and android and is free.

i like polar, but then its the only brand i’ve used. i had/have a regular one i’ve had since the 90s, still works fine, and on the bike have a cs200 that i really like.

my old one measures in bpm, my cs gives the option of bpm or %. % is way easier to deal with as you always know exactly how hard you are going, with bpm you need to remember the numbers to get a guide.

http://www.handtec.co.uk/product.php/1384/garmin-forerunner-305-hr—noh

Bargan for a HR with gps.

or if you want to go second hand I could sell you my old 305 for 50 quid. Looks a little scratched but still works perfectly well.

The forerunner 305 has the advantage of being able to be bar mountable and interface with the garmin cadence/speed unit.

For a watch you can wear daily – the forerunner FR60 (non-GPS) with a foot pod is very accurate for walking/running.

agree with mudsux the garmin fr60 is very accurate for running, compared to my garmin 210 its also waterproof which is handy. i think the fr70 might be out now? or soon?
for gps i use garmin 210 but you may find a garmin 110 bargin, shop around.

all the watches i mention look normal on a wrist and not too bulky but the gps watch will need constant charging in between every few runs, luckily they charge just fine over usb on laptop.

you cant go far wrong, i wouldnt get a 305 or xt unless you are a little more serious about your training, great watches and bargins but also look a little special on the wrist.

Does your wife want to measure an “activity” or a cumulative amount each day? The dedicated GPS / HR watches might not be ideal for a cumulative as they tend to be a bit bulky / run out of charge quite quickly.

i had a polar cad 200. usual features plus heart rate and cadence.

BEWARE

when the batteries run out in the cadence and speed censors you have to buy new censors. the units are sealed and the batteries cant be changed. i cut mine open and changed the batteries (not reccomended) but the units never sealed properley when glued back together and were eventually ruined by water

just bought a garmin…..brilliant