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My GPS watch died... now what?

hskriver
hskriver Posts: 33 Member
in Social Groups
After owning it for a little over a year, my Nike+ GPS Sportswatch appears to have died on me over the weekend :sad:. The screen isn't showing any information on it, but when I press buttons it still makes noise, so it may not be completely dead just useless without being able to display information. It sounds like this has been a common problem for people with this watch. So now I'm trying to figure out what I should replace it with.

I'm tempted to stick with the Nike+ watch because I have all my history on the site. I like the site and not really sure if there is anything similar (or better) out there. I also run on the treadmill periodically and I can use the Nike sportsband for that, so all my runs are recorded in the same location. I just received the matching heart rate monitor as a Christmas present last year and I'm not sure if it will work with other devices. However, I'm worried that the next one I buy may develop the same problem. Also, I did sometimes get annoyed with the pace displayed on the watch. During a run, I would check my pace periodically and it would consistently be in a certain 5-10 second range. Then after my run, it would show a higher average pace then what it was showing during the run. For example, during a run I would keep looking at it and it would show I was running between a 10:00 and 10:10 min/mile pace. Then after I finished the run, it would show a 10:30 min/mile average. Not sure if this is a problem with GPS watches in general, but I didn't feel like I could rely on the displayed pace during races.

Any thoughts/recommendations on other GPS watches? A replacement Nike+ watch would be $120 and I would like to stay within a reasonable range of that. I also just had to buy new shoes, so don't have as much extra spending money right now.

Replies

  • ZenInTexas
    ZenInTexas Posts: 781 Member
    You can't go wrong with a Garmin watch. They have every level of price point and can provide whatever you need in a watch. If your current HRM has Ant+ on it then it will work with a Garmin watch.
  • saskie78
    saskie78 Posts: 237 Member
    You can't go wrong with a Garmin watch. They have every level of price point and can provide whatever you need in a watch. If your current HRM has Ant+ on it then it will work with a Garmin watch.

    ^^yup. Garmin for the win.
  • SonicDeathMonkey80
    SonicDeathMonkey80 Posts: 4,489 Member
    Pretty sure I read that Nike is rejiggering it's line of wearables... I'd stay away, but that's just me and how I view shakeups in technological arenas. Garmin is really good, and they're also on a technological upswing with a release of two great watches and a new wearable, plus they are going to great lengths to integrate their wearables with smartphones and recently improved their website. Garmin does GPS... Nike does shoes, then clothing, then marketing, and way out there, GPS, if they "really" do GPS at all (I bet it's acquired tech).
  • wombat94
    wombat94 Posts: 352 Member
    Be sure to check out reviews of everything endurance sport technology related at www.dcrainmaker.com

    He is THE guru of sports tech reviews.

    It is true that Nike is discontinuing (has discontinued?) its GPS watch line.

    If you liked the hardware, you might want to check out the TomTom runner line of GPS watches. TomTom did the hardware for the Nike GPS watch, and their own branded line is kind of like the second (and now third) generation of the Nike watch, since Nike isn't selling it themselves anymore.
  • Carrieendar
    Carrieendar Posts: 493 Member
    I have a garmin 220 and I love it. If I could afford the 620, I would have gone with that, but this one is really nice. I can set workouts on it, set intervals, bluetooth, it never fails GPS, takes a very short time to catch signal, very customizable. It's also very accurate according to the last marathon and 10k that I ran.
  • TheBrolympus
    TheBrolympus Posts: 586 Member
    You can't go wrong with a Garmin watch. They have every level of price point and can provide whatever you need in a watch. If your current HRM has Ant+ on it then it will work with a Garmin watch.

    Garmin is the way to go.
    And you can still load your stuff into the Nike site with this site: http://www.awsmithson.com/tcx2nikeplus/
    You can use either the Garmin Connect activity or a TCX file.
  • DavidMartinez2
    DavidMartinez2 Posts: 840 Member
    We should have a sticky post titled "Questions about GPS watches" where the only post is a link to DC Rainmaker.


    Semi-related: I think the Nike website is terrible. They removed a bunch of functionality a few years ago for an "upgrade" that never really happened. The Nike App is great and has most of that missing stuff but the website not so much.
  • thepetiterunner
    thepetiterunner Posts: 1,238 Member
    You can't go wrong with a Garmin watch. They have every level of price point and can provide whatever you need in a watch. If your current HRM has Ant+ on it then it will work with a Garmin watch.

    ^^yup. Garmin for the win.

    +1 for the Garmin.

    I bought my Garmin Forerunner 220 recently and I love that thing to pieces. I had previously bought the Forerunner 210. That particular watch worked beautifully for about 2 years (with use 5-6 times a week) and then suddenly it went all wonky. I bought another replacement for it, but that one was a little weird. I had called Garmin, great customer service, and they suggested I send it in for some tinkering, but it would have taken like 3 weeks to get it back. Since I had bought it at REI, I just brought it in for a replacement.

    I HIGHLY suggest you buy from REI if at all possible. Yes, it's not technically discounted (aside from your REI member reimbursement), but in the event that it goes out on you, simply bring it back in for a new shiny watch. Seriously. I went through 3 watches in about 8 months. Not sure what happened, but each time I got a replacement and was back to running the same day. Their return policy just can't be beat.
  • davemunger
    davemunger Posts: 1,139 Member
    Before you buy a new watch, try the following:

    1. Restart: http://support-en-us.nikeplus.com/app/answers/detail/article/sportwatch-restart/a_id/20905

    If that doesn't work, then

    2. Reset: http://support-en-us.nikeplus.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/20906/p/
  • hskriver
    hskriver Posts: 33 Member
    Thanks for the recommendations everyone and the link to DC Rainmaker - I hadn't heard of that site before. I did try resetting my Nike, but the screen is just dead. I went with the Garmin Forerunner 220 and am actually pretty excited about some of the features. The custom workouts in particular look really awesome. The Garmin Connect site also looks good. I've just been using the Nike site since I bought the sportsband before I really became a serious runner. I never really looked into what other options are out there, so I may end up liking the Garmin site more.
  • DavidMartinez2
    DavidMartinez2 Posts: 840 Member
    The Garmin site is good if you want to just review time/distance/etc. If you want to stay with Nike the AWSmithson thing someone else posted usually works, unfortunately Nike will sometimes update their website and it will take him a couple of days to fix his converter. Garmin will directly upload to DailyMile (if you like socializing with runners) and Strava (if you are feeling competitive).

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