Running Watch

At the moment I use a Forerunner 310XT, which has a good long battery life and I can use on my bike as well. I've recently bought an Edge 520 for the bike though.

I'm contemplating a Forerunner 630 although tempted by the 735XT for the swim capabilities.

Top end range is go Garmin, although Suunto can be good. Mid range Garmin, with low budget being Garmin or TomTom.

Look at DCRainmaker for reviews, and price range comparisons.

NorthCascades wrote: »

I'm using a Fenix 3. It's been fantastic.

Interesting what the pricing is on those in the US? Over here they're at least £350 so significantlybeyond the target price point.

Very good devices though.

Garmin 2xx watches fit what you are indicating. Company has great products and unparalleled customer support. I have a 220. Highly recommend them.

I have a Garmin Forerunner 450 that's got to be 10 years old - it's been in heavy use by either me or my husband during that entire period of time. We broke the charger (but managed to rig it so that it still works), and it's still going strong. I'm really impressed with Garmin products, generally, and their service is great. I know a lot of people think the calorie estimate is way off - I can't speak to that, but the calorie count I get from my Garmin is almost identical to the calorie count I get from manually inputting a run into MFP, so I'm okay with it.

(I also bought a Forerunner 10 earlier this year - it's super cheap, absolute bottom of the line, no bells and whistles whatsoever, but man, I love that thing.)

Trying to become a runner!

SUpport, advice, love and positivity:)

I like my Garmin Forerunner 110 with chest strap HRM. Does everything I need, times my run, monitors my pace, keeps track of my distance, monitors my Heart Rate (when the strap is worn), and, through Garmin Connect, maps my run, graphs my pace, heart rate and elevation change, records Heart Rate Zones, records course segment times, keeps track of Personal Bests and keeps a log of all my recorded activity.

Really don't see the need for all the Bells and Whistles of the more expensive models. I'm not all that concerned about my heart rate during the day, I know when I'm asleep, my I-Phone keeps track of my steps. I use the Garmin on my runs, otherwise it says near its charger.

Refurbished, on Amazon <$60. With Heart Rate Chest Strap, about $100.00.

The newer 210 seems to be alright too.

I just bought a tomtom multi sport cardio for £85 (about the $95 mark) and it has the huge advantage of being an integrated HR monitor so no need for a separate chest strap (or the cost of one). The downside currently is the lack of integration from the MFP side.

I don't run but it's proving very good for HR monitoring on my long dog walks and the accuracy of the GPS is at least as good as my iphone.

Another vote for the Garmin Fenix 3. Yep it's expensive but oh so amazing!

peterpreston wrote: »

I just bought a tomtom multi sport cardio for £85 (about the $95 mark) and it has the huge advantage of being an integrated HR monitor so no need for a separate chest strap (or the cost of one). The downside currently is the lack of integration from the MFP side.

I don't run but it's proving very good for HR monitoring on my long dog walks and the accuracy of the GPS is at least as good as my iphone.

I have a Tomtom and I thought they synced with MFP? I have mine syncing with Strava and then sync Strava to MFP anyway (I was getting double accounting via Tomtom).

Mine has a separate chest strap (the multisport without cardio) and I like the fact that I can use it for swimming etc and hiking. I think the GPS recalibration is better through Strava however

Yet another vote for Garmin. I have the Forerunner 235 with the wrist-based HR monitor. It's a little more than your price point, but totally worth it in my opinion (full disclosure - I received a 35% Garmin discount in a race bag). I'm a data nerd I love the Garmin app and site. So much more information than the free sites (Map My Run, Runkeeper) that I tried before purchasing Garmin. I find that it's motivating (it's also an activity tracker).

Only downside to me is the size. I wear it most of the time, even to work, for activity tracking.

lsutton484 wrote: »

I have the polar m400 and I chose it because I already had a bluetooth heart rate monitor that it would pair with and that it used a micro usb cable so I didn't need yet another usb cable cluttering up my home. If not for those 2 reasons I would have bought a Garmin.

I love my M400. I'm actually looking at getting the upgraded M600. It has the built in HRM, but also does everything the M400 does with tracking speed, cadence, etc.

I have a Garmin Forerunner 310XT, absoultely love it. Great battery life and features