gps watches

mmk137
mmk137 Posts: 833 Member
Who here has one, and if so what one do you have.

What do you like about it, and what do you hate about it.

Doing some research, want to find out what is best suited for me. At the moment I have a polar ft4, but I need a gps watch as the nike + is just not accurate enough. I'm thinking of getting the garmin forerunner 110 or the 210 (leaning towards the 210).

tia.

Ps i have posted this in another runners group too.

Replies

  • ebaymommy
    ebaymommy Posts: 1,067 Member
    I have a Garmin Forerunner, I think mine is the 205. It doesn't have a HRM on it but I don't care about that. I have had it for about 2 years and I can't remember what it was like to run without it. LOL! It has all the bells & whistles I need. I use it every time I run.
  • Run4iiiiiit
    Run4iiiiiit Posts: 489 Member
    I have a Garmin Forerunner 305 and love everything about it. I just bought my wife the 405, she just used it for the first time so don't know about it yet.
  • rockstarginaa
    rockstarginaa Posts: 1,529 Member
    I have the Garmin Forerunner 210 for a few months now and love it. Only issues are sometimes it takes awhile to "locate" before a run and sometimes hard to get it in the right way to charge.
  • mmk137
    mmk137 Posts: 833 Member
    ok after do a bit more research i'm now looking at either
    1. garmin 405cx or
    2. nike+gps+hrm
    They are both around the same price. Atm i'm leaning towards the nike+ only because I already have a nike+ profile and I like nike products anyway, however in saying that, I might be able to pick up the garmin for less.
  • essjay76
    essjay76 Posts: 465 Member
    I honestly don't know much about the nike+ watches. I have a Garmin Forerunner 305 and I love that thing. I like it for the HRM. However, it also takes a long time to locate GPS satellites sometimes.
  • bstamps12
    bstamps12 Posts: 1,184
    I have a Garmin 310XT and I love it. It's geared for triathlons (waterproof) but I absolutely love Garmin! I'll never buy another brand. Easy to use, great battery life, easy to review my runs online, easy to see my history on the watch itself, can set it to a million different customized settings.
  • Kilter
    Kilter Posts: 188 Member
    Garmin 310xt for me. I had a Garmin 305 before but moved up to the 310xt for the swimming capability (waterproof) and battery capacity (20 hours). It has an excellent display, great interface with the computer and is easy to wear and use.

    it moves from my swim, to my bike, to my run with no problems.

    Of course, I want the 910xt just because it can also count swim strokes. :) but that's a toy.

    S
  • mmk137
    mmk137 Posts: 833 Member
    thank you to everyone who has replied.

    At this stage I am leaning more towards garmin, because I like the features they offer.
    Price wise, it's pretty much on par with the nike+.

    It's a bit more than I'm wanting to spend, but i know it's an investment. Will let you know what I decide.
  • lilsmiley11122
    lilsmiley11122 Posts: 11 Member
    I have had a Garmin Forerunner 205 for 4 years now and it has been super-reliable through training for 4 marathons. My husband makes fun of me for how big and clunky it is, so for my birthday he got me the Forerunner 405CX. There were some things I liked about it (flashing average pace for each mile, overlays on Google Maps on the computer, and of course the smaller size), but I found the controls extremely frustrating. Instead of buttons, you have an outer ring that you are supposed to tap or press and hold or roll your finger around in various ways to get through menus and make selections. This is just my personal opinion of course, maybe it is more intuitive for some people, but I found myself spending more time yelling at the watch for doing something I didn't want it to do than I actually did using it. I recently had a problem where it will not charge, so have gone back to using the 205 while I work with Garmin customer service (who has been very helpful) in troubleshooting.

    Sorry for the long post, just wanted to share my thoughts! Hope you get one that works well for you :-)
  • mmk137
    mmk137 Posts: 833 Member
    ended up going with the 405cx was about to get a seriously really good deal on one.

    will let you know how it goes.

    thanks again.
  • grinch031
    grinch031 Posts: 1,679
    Garmin Forerunner 405. I have to say this is an annoying device. First off, it is very difficult and confusing to navigate using the bevel. Also it can take 5-10 minutes to find the satellites or the device can record the first half mile or so very inaccurately if you don't wait long enough. Also I don't like how the pace doesn't seem to show your current pace, but your projected pace for completing the current lap (~1 mile by default).

    So if you run 3/4 of a mile at an 8:00 pace and then suddenly slow down to a 16:00 pace, it will actually show 12:00 as your pace for the next 4 minutes because 12:00 will be your average pace once the mile (lap) is completed.

    Also this device is very buggy and we have had to reboot it or even factory reset it a few times.

    The interesting thing is on Amazon the 405's price seems to have gone down dramatically. We paid $350 for it (with HR monitor), but it now sells for $150 on amazon (w/out HR monitor).

    I just bought a Timex Marathon GPS watch so I'll be sure to post on that once I try it out.
  • DianaBall
    DianaBall Posts: 12 Member
    I have a Garmin Forerunner. I just love it have had it about 4 years and it is still going strong. I think some of the newer ones are a little more sleek but I am used to this one so it is fine. Like I said mine is an older one but it shows current pace, total time ran, calories burned etc. You can also connect it to your computer to show your route, the areas that were faster or slower, etc. I think it is the Garmin 205. My sister recently found a refurbished one for $85. Good luck.
  • brandyk77
    brandyk77 Posts: 605 Member
    i had the 301 and the 205 and loved them. I recently had to purchase a new one due to accidentally washing my old one with my running clothes. I ended up getting the 110 just because I found I didnt' use most the features on the higher end models. I will never get one with a bevel. Those things are way too touchy