I got a Garmin 305 w/HRM a few years ago and it was the best piece of exercise equipment I have ever bought. Find a model that has all the features you want and a minimum that you don't and jump on it.

I use the Garmin 310XT, which is made for triathlons. I love it. It definitely has too many bells and whistles for someone just running, but the Garmin website should help you. If you have a local running store, go there and talk to them about what you want. Garmin is AWESOME and I'll never use anything other than Garmin.

Hello!

I have been using apps to track my mileage since I started running. I have never used a heart rate monitor. Now that I'm getting ready to start marathon training, I think it is time to upgrade my gear!

Any suggestions? I want GPS and a HRM. Other than that, I don't really care too much about bells and whistles.

The Garmin models that end in -10 base their calorie estimates on heart rate while the rest estimate calorie burns based on height, weight, and perhaps gender. The HR based estimates are less inaccurate.

You might get some insights here:

http://www.dcrainmaker.com

That author tends toward the high end equipment but I'm pretty certain that he did a review on an entry level HRM in the past few months.

Other than that, the "compare" function on the Garmin web site will help you nail down the features.

Happy shopping!

The 310XT is packed with features and overall I've been very happy with it. I have noticed that the time to connect with the satellite is taking longer as time goes by. At new it was 20 seconds, it can now be 5 full minutes. A quick google search suggests this isn't uncommon.

The 310XT is packed with features and overall I've been very happy with it. I have noticed that the time to connect with the satellite is taking longer as time goes by. At new it was 20 seconds, it can now be 5 full minutes. A quick google search suggests this isn't uncommon.

Same here. I usually warm up while it is acquiring sats. And sometimes it takes a few minutes to find the HR monitor. Their technical support advised me to do a hard reset and that worked well for a short time. But it's a pain to go back and redo my settings and configure the screens again so I have only reset it once. Some days it picks up the sats in seconds so I really don't understand what's going on.

I originally got the Garmin 405 and was not impressed with the bezel. It was really hard to use. So many people I knew got the 305 and loved it, that when I looked at the 405 I went with the Garmin recommendation. As for features, I really liked them despite the bad "user interface".

When I had to replace it I went with the 610 mostly on the touch screen - a *much* better experience. I love the features - especially now that Garmin Connect has the feature to create your own workout and send it to the watch. The HRM was the same one I got with the 405 and I was able to pair it to the 610 with no problems.

A few people have posted that there's a bug with the battery life readout. I saw the same thing (if you let it go for a while without charging, then put it on the charger - the battery readout will look like it is going backwards as the software adjusts to the actual battery life. While that annoyed quite a few people, I found it not such a big deal. I just let it sit and charge (it eventually catches up and moves forward again).

I think Garmin is definitely the way to go. I've used my 405 for over 3 years with no problems other than hating the touch bezel but I got used to it. Being a cheapskate I've been waiting for a good deal to update and recently found a refurbished 210 with hr strap for 149 on buydig. 210 seems like a pretty good basic Garmin anyone know any reason not to buy the 210?

I have been using the 210 for awhile, with no problems. For me, it is the right combination of simplicity and function (hrm and footpod). As was mentioned above, check out dcrainmaker for an in-depth review.

Good luck!