Garmin with or without HRM?? Model??

I have a 610 and love the touch screen. After my beloved 305 died I tried a 405CX (virtually identical to the 410) and the bezel drove me nuts (I took it back and bought a 610 from another vendor for pretty much the same price on sale)

If you're a bit patient you can find deals on the 610 (and the HRM does give you useful feedback other than calories burned.....I love looking at my average HR now vs a year or two ago.....very tangible evidence of progress)

Like one of the posters above, I have and love my Garmin 305. I find the instantaneous pace readout to be pretty decent actually. It will be off if I am speeding up or slowing down, but if I am keeping steady for a while it will be pretty close. I didn't use the HRM until last week when I just started using it for the first time. I really like using my heart rate to estimate calories (otherwise you're just using an online calculator basically, stats and your speed/distance). I also like seeing the heart rate to know how hard I'm pushing myself. I think most seasoned runners can tell pretty easily when effort is easy or hard, but I also think there's a risk if you have your pace right there on your risk that you might push yourself too hard on a hot day. Obviously people's max heart rates can vary quite a bit, and the instrument itself can be a little out of tolerance, but I like it for a guideline as I hope to lower my heart rate at the same pace over time. So I guess I'm saying, maybe spring for the HRM. I didn't think I'd need it / like it, but I do.

I own the 210 and love it. It does everything I currently want/need.

Does it need to have the heart rate monitor for calorie count??? How important is this feature as it is usually another 50ish plus dollars.

You don't need the monitor to get calorie count. It will calculate your burn based on speed, distance, and your weight you entered when setting up the device. Not as accurate as with the heart rate monitor, but it will give the calorie burn. I haven't had much luck with monitor. I've only had my watch 7 months and I've on my 3rd monitor. The first one never worked out of the box, the 2nd one would drop connection often, so far the 3rd is working OK.

The 210 is iffy because it doesnt do current pace. i like that for my interval runs. I dont always know what 10mm "feels" like so that piece of feedback is important to me.

The 210 does indeed give current pace. The 110 does not.

I dont need all the customization stuff though. I want the GPS to tell me distance, time, pace, overall pace, and would like to get a calorie burn (but this one isnt required)

Based on these requirements, I'd say the 210 is exactly what you are looking for.

Here is a great review if you are interested: http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2010/12/garmin-forerunner-210-in-depth-review.html

My $.02 (as an owner of the 201, 205, 405 & now a 610).

The best deal out there is the 410 w/HRM strap for $199 shipped from Costco.com