Hi Sarah - Where do you work out? If it's mostly indoors (like on a treadmill) you might want to check out the Polar monitors. Many of them will actually sync with indoor gym equipment so you can see what your heart rate is without constantly looking at the watch. My first heart rate monitor was a Polar. Suunto also has a good reputation.
Since I do a lot of running outdoors I now have a Garmin FR60 (with heart rate monitor and footpod) so I can monitor both my heartrate and distance. I'm waiting on a good sale for the Garmin 410 which has all the bells and whistles - Heart Rate, GPS, calorie count, distance, and a computer download and analysis of everything. It's very pricey, but some of the running stores have good sales.
There are others - Timex has several, Omiron, Mio. I tried a Mio (about 6 years ago) with a "finger touch" pulse and it was not accurate at all. I would get a belt rather than a finger touch monitor - much more accurate. Also many have downloadable-to-computer programs that help you see how you are doing. Good luck!
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