Hello all

I am looking to get the garmin 405 this week but am tempted to save a bit of money and get the 305.

Is the 405 good value for money or would i be better going for the 305?

Hi Richy

The 405 has had good reports,But I think the guys and girls on here who use the 305 seem to swear by them.

I`m sure they will come and give you their thoughts.

Hi Richy... I think you just need to weigh up what you feel you need from the device.

In my opinion, the two devices do virtually identical tasks (I don't know of any features that one offers which the other doesn't)... but the 405 is a more discreet unit, including technological advances including wireless connection to your PC, and a touch sensitive bezel rather than traditional buttons.

For what it's worth, I'm very happy with my 305, it has a good size display (possibly bigger/more clear than the 405?) which is customisable... the GPS signal is as accurate as you're going to get atm (I don't think there is any improvement for the 405), and it's not let me down yet!

All in all, if your goal is to save money, you're not going to lose out by buying a 305 rather than a 405 - unless of course you feel the need to buy the latest version because it looks nicer, and does the same thing but with a little more style (wireless, touch sensitive etc..) - If I were Garmin-less at the moment, I'd buy a 305 for the cash save.

Btw, you're probably going to get opinions biased towards the 305 on here, since that's what the majority own (I believe); I'm not even sure if any members have gone for the 405 yet! I have tried to be unbiased in my opinions and purely state things logically.

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Get the 305, it does the job very well and although its a bit bigger than the 405 you dont notice it when your using it.
Do a search on the forum for the 305 users club and you will see how pleased everyone is with it

O.

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"Sure you've flirted with quitting every now and then. But as long as you don't action it, Running will pretend not to notice."

I considered the 405 too. However when I compared it to the 305 I just couldn't justify paying almost double the cost, given that there isn't really much between them technologically, and the opinion on here seemed that the display on the 305 is more user friendly so I plumped for the 305. Also, for those who care about such things - it just looks cooler

Ito.

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They made the 305 too good, if mine broke right this minute I would go and get another 305 I hope it doesn't break though

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305 rocks!

Nothing like an unbiased opinion

I went for the 305 for all the reasons above

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0 - 14 Miles in 6 months, 2 hours, 13 minutes and 58 seconds.
Start weight: 18 st 4.. Current weight: 14 st 11.. Current Goal: Duchy Marathon, 8th March 2009

Hi - I've had a 405 for about 6 months, very pelased with it. Design is slick and discrete.

One moan though... the bezel.
That's the button goes round the outside of the display that you tap to move between modes. When you get hot + sweaty, it can become unresponsive, a bit like when a laptop touchpad does when you drop some liquid on it.. I tend to lock the bezel on to my fave view, and leave it like that. (time, calories, elveation - something like that)

Other than that - champion!
The reports it produces, upload to Gamin connect -superb. I assume this is the same as the 305 though?

For example:
Garmin Connect - Details

Battery is probably about 6 hours tops, and remember to charge up before a long run if it's been sleeping the in the drawer for more than a few days..

Just to balance that:

The 305 doesn't have the bezel problem. It is not as posh, but it also isn't supported by Garmin Connect yet and has to use the training centre software on your computer

Should be sorted soon I hope

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0 - 14 Miles in 6 months, 2 hours, 13 minutes and 58 seconds.
Start weight: 18 st 4.. Current weight: 14 st 11.. Current Goal: Duchy Marathon, 8th March 2009