Garmin v. Suunto v. Nike v. Other?

I've been looking for something to help me train. Everytime I go out running, I always feel like I'm just thrashing about. I had a heart rate monitor which I used on the treadmill but, alas, that has failed me because 1) it's out of batteries and 2) it only measures heart rate, not how fast you should be running.

I'm currently debating between one of the following:

Garmin 301 (GPS, no footpod needed) - $325

Suunto t6 (footpod extra) - $449

Polar M61 (footpod extra, but very cool fabric heart electrodes) - $169

Nike Triax Elite (footpod included) - $360

I'm not particularly partial to anyone based on brand name, but I am leaning towards the REALLY expensive Suunto, only because it has the nice feature to really focus my workouts... to be as hard as is useful but no harder. Anyone tried any of these for coaching?
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I own a Pacemaster ProSelect treadmill, which is a kick ass home brand. Comes with a heart rate sensor which doesn't require batteries. The treadmill has a couple settings which let you enter your age and then it adjusts the running speed to your target heartrate. For example, you program in that you want to run at 85% of max heartrate for your age (based on those famous charts in every gym).

OK, now that that's out of the way, I hardly ever use the feature. I always found I could run harder and longer than the machine recommended, and it was simply a lot more fulfilling to go for a certain time/distance target. Sure, i used to keep a chart of my heartrate recovery rate at rest, but in the end, I think these things are best left to olympic athletes. For the rest of us, I'm not sure all this extra data gets you any further than simply satisfying the need for MORE DATA in all us computer/business nerds. My advice Dave is to save your money on these watches and buy high quality running shoes.
— Rob S
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