view of the Suunto n6HR MSN Direct Watch

Log time graph.Three daily alarms. I would rather have one programmable alarm(an alarm that allows you to set the date in addition to just the time) thanthree daily alarms, but Suunto chose to go the route of the daily alarms instead.Fair enough. Curiously, this is one area where many of the MSN Direct watchesseem to differ. The Paparazzi, for instance, has two programmable alarms whilethe Abacus and Fossil Wrist NET watches have two daily alarms. Go figure. Themost important aspect of an alarm is the volume of the tone, however, which isnice and loud with the n6HR -- something Suunto has improved since their SPOTwatch debut. Navigation menu. This is a nice touch specific to the Suunto.When navigating through the time channel, the n6HR gives you a nice little menusystem to help you keep your place. The other MSN Direct watches I've reviewedmake it much more difficult to distinguish between channels and a channel'ssubmenu for first-time users. I think Suunto's inte***ce is more intuitive thanyour average MSN Direct watch. Water resistant. It's good to 100 meters, or 330 feet.In other words, swim and splash all you want, but don't dive. Price. About $399. Putting the Suunto n6HR Through Its Paces The first thing I noticed about the Suunto n6HR was probably its weight. MSN Directwatches are not small, but the n6HR manages to be fairly light weight and sturdyat the same time.The Suunto n6HR hasan interesting way of combining timers with the chronograph in a way I havenever seen before. While in chronograph mode, you can select from one of threedifferent timers -- timer-stop, timer-chrono, and timer-repeat -- that work inconjunction with the chronograph. Timer-stop allows you to set an interval thatsimply elapses, sounds an alarm, and stops. Timer-chrono counts down, soundsan alarm, then automatically starts the timer (useful for counting down tothe beginning of a race). Timer-repeat allows you to configure a number of differentintervals that elapse one after another (sounding an alarm in between), thenstops the chronograph once they have all elapsed (useful for settingup intervals to help you keep pace during a race). Combining three differenttypes of timers with a chronograph, and *** them all easy to operate and configure,is clearly a user inte***ce challenge, but I found the features very easy touse and understand after only a cursory glance through the instructions.Logbook. Every time you use the chronograph, the data getsrecorded in a logbook on the watch. The Suunto n6HR stores 20 logs, then startsdeleting the oldest logs first. The following information is recorded:Total time and numberof laps.Average, highest, and lowest heart rate values. Heart rate within the set limits. Heart rate below the low limit. Heart rate above the high limit.