Any opinions out there? I have about had it with those that I have been using for the past four years (have gone through 2)--It is not that I don't expect technical issues to arise, it is just that the cost to value ratio does not seem to be there.

Anyone have a brand they swear by?

Just my opinion but...
I don't use any of the alarm, stopwatch, avg heart rate, recovery timer, etc features. For me, I use the HRM as something to glance at from time to time to see where my pulse is (on climbs, on flats, after sprints, on a wheel, on the pull) With that in mind, a cheap monitor would do fine. I use an older Polar 720 that was given to me but I wouldn't have spent the money to get one since it has all the stuff I'll never use. I would say that your should be able to find a good replacement for $40 or $50 if your pulse is the only thing you're interested in.

But, if you're into those features and will really need/use them, ignore me and get what you want. The Polar has been a great product for me and I would recommend the brand.

I use a Polar F1 which does heart rate and average heart rate. I have used more complicated monitors in the past and found that I only wanted to know my instantaneous HR and my average HR (to determine LT). The F1 has one button that starts the HR mesurement and ends the measurement.