Heart Rate Monitor Problems

I have been using the Cat Eye CC-HR200DW as my heart rate monitor and cycling computer for about a year now.  The device has never really worked properly but over the last month or so, it has become totally unreliable for heart rate data.  The problem is that the chest strap seems to intermittently lose contact and report a heart rate of 0.  This now seems to occur multiple times throughout every ride that I take.  Occasionally the sensor also reads a heart rate of 250 or greater, which clearly also isn’t accurate.  Very rarely, I also notice that the cyclometer is reading my mph at 0, which is definitely the most frustrating… thank goodness it happens the least.  Anyway, my experience with Cat Eye suggests that a Polar HRM might be a better choice.  I hear the Polar CS200 has a cloth chest strap that increases its ability to accurately read heart rates, but I’m also tempted by the S725X because it measure altitude