I have the Garmin 405 and heart rate monitor and I love it!

another garmin lover here.

I too have the garmin 405(cx comes with hrm), best investment ever.

I also have the nike+ (on my nano), it's great for the music but tracking distance is crap, I have to recalibrate it ever run, which is a pain in the *kitten*, let me tell you that.

I wouldn't bother with polar, they are good just as hrm, but gps stuff, stick with garmin, you wont be disappointed.

Nike+ is good for beginners, I personally loved the motivational messages you would get when you beat an old record. I started with Nike+, but found it unreliable at times. Some days it would freeze the the iPod or iPhone & I'd lose my entire run, other days it would cut km's off of runs, and THAT is discouraging as well as frustrating. Although, I must say, it was fairly accurate the majority of the time.

However, I also like to run without my iPhone some days & having to carry it along all the time (during all 4 seasons) was a bit of a nuisance. Plus, I really wanted to start keeping track of my heart rate & an accurate calorie count (Nike+ was WAY off on calories, almost as bad as MFP is, lol). So, when I became more serious about running (about 2 years after starting), I upgraded to a Garmin FR 610 and I've never looked back. I it, and if I could marry it, I would. LOL! :laugh:

I would probably start with a lower version of Garmin's Forerunner. I've used it almost daily for a year or so now & I've never encountered any of the problems that I've heard can occur (HR spikes, etc.) Plus, their Garmin Connect site...OMG, it's a training dream come true.

If you're looking to get serious, Garmin gets my vote. Good luck, there are a lot of overwhelming options out there.

I received a Garmin 305 for Christmas last year and now I can't run without it! I love it!

I really like my Garmin 210...super easy to use (too many bells and whistles overwhelm me.) turns on/finds satellites fairly quickly. I

I, too, have a Garmin Forerunner 305, and I have no complaints with regards to its functionality, but I find the size to be a bit intrusive. It's big and bulky, and I have to wear it on the very smallest setting, which I'm not even sure is really a notch--it's the big triangular opening after the pinpoint sized notches. It's a bit too snug on that setting, but way too loose on the last real setting, and it annoys me when it moves around. That said, I do love the information I get from it and am pretty addicted to it.

I got in on this GPS watch designed specifically for women while it was being funded, but it won't be in my hands until next spring: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/956860865/bia-the-first-gps-sports-watch-for-womenby-women?ref=card.

It looks pretty neat. I hope it lives up to its promises.

I just got a Garmin FR 110. It's really basic, very few bells and whistles, but it's exactly what I was looking for. I wanted to know exactly how far I've been running and take some of the guesswork out of things. It's humbled me a little bit, because it seems a lot of the trails around here are not accurately measured, but I think this is going to wind up being a pretty significant step in my development as a runner.

I bought the Garmin 610 last year and I love it! Besides having a walk/run option, it has a vibrating alert which really comes in handy in a noisy environment or wearing it under a jacket during the winter. Yesterday, for the first time ever, I got lost on the trail I was running. Using the "Where am I?" feature, I followed my route back to where I started. Garmin has just introduced a budget GPS running watch, the Forerunner FR10. I don't think you can go wrong :happy: with a Garmin.

Just got my Garmin 310 XT in the mail yesterday. I LOVE IT. I was debating whether to buy an iPad or a Garmin with my birthday money. SO glad I bought the Garmin.

Side note: the calories calculated on the Garmin are a lot more accurate than what MFP assigns to exercises. I went for a 35 mile ride today. MFP estimated 1400 calories burned, my Garmin argued 915. No wonder I haven't lost much weight...

Just announced - http://sites.garmin.com/forerunner10/

It's a Garmin and it's the cheapest on the market (pretty sure that's true). I've been using Nike+ GPS, but I would have went with this if I knew. You can also buy the Nike+ for $145 (without the foot pod and add one later, also add a HRM). I love mine though, it looks great, wear it all the time and get compliments on it all the time.

Garmin. Hands down. Find the one with the feature set that you are looking for. Most models are available with or without a HRM. Garmin is the industry leader.

Garmin for sure. My $.02 on the best deal out there: Garmin 410 w/ HRM for $199 (shipped) from Costco.com

i just bought this. love it so far. and it's still only $199 for canadians as well. you can buy a polar HRM for $120 here or get the GPS watch for only $79 more. it's a no brainer.

Hi!!!!

I have both (NIKE + wristband and Garmin Forerunner 110) but prefer Garmin by far because it is GPS enabled. The interface on the Garmin Connect webpage is cool and you can see your heart rate, distance, mapping of the terrain where you have run and the exact location by streets plus your average per mile/km, calories burned. Nike + does work well as well but this is merely my personal opinion from 3 months of daily usage. It is very accurate but, yes, you need to spend a bit more money on top of the shoes.

This model is basic and you need not spend more on a more expensive model. They have many more models but the prices can go up to 400, 500, 600, 700 euros.

Read up on websites and reviews.
http://top10watches.net/top-10-best-running-watches/
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-240-321--13594-0,00.html

All the best.

Chuck