Garmin Recommendations?

I have an old Forerunner 305, I've seen reviews that say its better than the newer models.

You also need to seriously consider buying the SportTracks software it provides many more features for tracking and analysis - I think its $30

I had a Forerunner 610 which I liked, but the screen broke a while back so I got a Forerunner 910xt with heartrate monitor now and I love it. It's somewhat bigger than the 610, but light and it is waterproof so you can use it for swimming as well. Highly recommended. The Garmin connect web site it great for tracking your progress and staying motivated.

the 910 didn't exist when I got the 610, the 910 is also more precise for elevation. I would probably still not get the 910 because it is more bulky, but that is just me.

I've had the 305 for 3+ years and it's never let me down. Its battery life is fantastic, and its customization is very easy. You can set up the display so that you see what you want to. I've got one screen I use indoors (ie. where pace doesn't count), and another set up for outside use. I also purchased the cadence monitor a couple of years ago - it pairs easily with the 305, and allows me extra info when I'm using my bike - indoors or out.

My bf has the newest model, and the HR monitor no longer works. This doesn't surprise me though. It seems that every time Garmin launches a new product, it seems to have a bunch of bugs for the first year or two.

I'd confidently recommend the 305. There's nothing it doesn't do that I wish it did. I've run 1 marathon and 9 halfs plus countless shorter distances with mine. No complaints from me.

As for purchasing one, in Canada, Costco (I think, Sam's Club in the USA) has both the 305 (it always makes me wonder why they don't discontinue old models when they introduce something new....maybe because the 305 is awesome) and the new model at much less expensive prices than running stores.

I have the Forerunner 405cx. It meets all my needs.

The 305s are great but when mine croaked I went for the 610 (the 910s hadn't been released yet) I like the form factor for the 610 - like a bigger sports watch and the touch screen is great. The one thing I miss from my 305 is the display - it's big enough for feeble old eyes like mine to read it easily.

If you're looking at functionality and price I'd go for a 305. (There were lots of runners wearing them at the Ottawa Marathon & Half-Marathon)

ive got a forerunner 60 with footpod, good if you run on a treadmill, its been a real good hrm

I would definitely recommend the 305. Used it for years and it was great until my dog decided to chew it up. This time I opted for the 310 which has a 20 hour battery life which I hope to test out one day. I noticed the 305 has gone up quite a bit in price since I first purchased it years ago, but it's still cheaper than a lot of other models. As a first Garmin I would go with the 305....

I have and love the FR60. I chose this model as I wanted a watch that didn't need constant charging. This one works on a standard button cell battery that will last for about a year. I have the HRM strap and the footpod as well.
I am not interested in mapping via GPS, but love tracking my mileage. I upload my data directly to RunningAhead via usb stick thing.

Another 305er here. Had it for a couple of years and it's still going strong. My only two gripes would be firstly that it can take ages to load up the satellites to start with (up to three minutes) - although this may be because I generally boot it up on my road which has terraced houses on both sides. It's also a bit bulky. However, battery life is great and tracking seems accurate. And yes, it does track calories based on the heart rate monitor!

Yeah the satelites are a pain- I went on a 10 minute walk yesterday (I already had the belt on from a hike I had done earlier) it took 4 minutes to get tracked - useless.

I'm trying to remember to put it on the window ledge a few minutes before I go, it seems to lock on faster if I'm not moving.

Garmin recommends that you not be moving (how's THAT for grammar!) when initializing the GPS on the 305. All said, though, 4 mins is quite a long time…

I've had a 305 for…51 weeks (been running a year!) and my SOP is to put the Garmin on the railing of my verandah, change into my running gear, and then grab the 305 on the way out the door. It's always locked on to the sats by the time I'm finishing getting dressed.

One issue to watch out for is if you're synching a 305 to Garmin Training Center. I've found that it's best to connect the 305 to its cradle and then launch GTC. As soon as GTC is active, it will attempt to download the data from your run.

The code that does download data is poor quality so it will sometimes time out even though it's started to transfer data. One trick that helps is to delete the run as soon as you've synched (and done a backup, if you're so inclined). It seems that I got more timeouts if I had more runs stored in the HRM.

The price of the 305 climbed steadily for months (I bought mine on Amazon for $125 last year) due to Garmin phasing it out.

The 305 a good device but it does not use HR to calculate cals burned. The Garmins that end in -10 use HR, the others use height/weight/time/HR and plug those into a formula.

Yeah the satelites are a pain- I went on a 10 minute walk yesterday (I already had the belt on from a hike I had done earlier) it took 4 minutes to get tracked - useless.

I'm trying to remember to put it on the window ledge a few minutes before I go, it seems to lock on faster if I'm not moving.

Garmin recommends that you not be moving (how's THAT for grammar!) when initializing the GPS on the 305. All said, though, 4 mins is quite a long time…

I've had a 305 for…51 weeks (been running a year!) and my SOP is to put the Garmin on the railing of my verandah, change into my running gear, and then grab the 305 on the way out the door. It's always locked on to the sats by the time I'm finishing getting dressed.

One issue to watch out for is if you're synching a 305 to Garmin Training Center. I've found that it's best to connect the 305 to its cradle and then launch GTC. As soon as GTC is active, it will attempt to download the data from your run.

The code that does download data is poor quality so it will sometimes time out even though it's started to transfer data. One trick that helps is to delete the run as soon as you've synched (and done a backup, if you're so inclined). It seems that I got more timeouts if I had more runs stored in the HRM.

The price of the 305 climbed steadily for months (I bought mine on Amazon for $125 last year) due to Garmin phasing it out.

The 305 a good device but it does not use HR to calculate cals burned. The Garmins that end in -10 use HR, the others use height/weight/time/HR and plug those into a formula.

This is true-- it doesn't use HRM to measure calories burned, but it does measure AVG HR, which is what you need (along with weight, gender, age, and a simple equation) to measure approx calories burned. Between the 305's measurement and using this formula, one can get a *decent* but not perfect measure of calories burned. This is still MUCH better than the available alternatives at comparable prices.

I had the 205 (just like the 305 without the heart rate monitor) and loved it. I replaced it because the battery life was starting to falter and it didn't beep anymore. I still have it actually and use it when my new one is dead (because I forgot to charge it). I now have the 210 and it's pretty good. My favorite part is it's smaller than the 205.