[mike84]

Ive been reading reviews on the net.

But I dont know who to beleive or who not to.

It looks quite a big watch, do you have to wear it around you wrist or can you just carry it in your pocket?

Does it give you lap info on the spot or do you have to wait and see and upload what you have done?

Is there anything on the market to rival the garmin?

Thanks in advance if you can help.

 

[Katten]

Hiya

The best thing with a gps watch / hrm is the live screen, you can see exactly how fast you're running, how far, your heart rate, while you are running along. It would be kind of wasted in a pocket

There's other stuff out there, I think Polar have one or two, and Timex.

I have a garmin 205, and i find it awesome, an amazing help with my training. 305 would be even better for the heart rate stuff.

Hope that helps

 

[richardsimkiss]

Great minds eh? I've asked for one too... I currently have a Nike Triax C8 HRM, and also the Nike+ iPod attachment for speed/distance (which hasn't been all that impressive for me).

From what I've read I can't find anything that betters the Garmin Forerunner 305, and yes whilst it is big for a watch, it can do a hell of a lot and for me it'll be well worth the sacrifice! (I hope!)

 

[LEECE]

I have one coming tomorrow its a present from someone, my wrists are tiny though hee hee

 

[richardsimkiss]

Ohhh, let us know how you get on Leece! :d

 

[LEECE]

I will Richard... was told by company who is supplying the watch there is a high demand for the watch this christmas, they having trouble keeping up with demands

I will test it out on the cross country run i have this weekend.

Probably end up falling looking at it.

:d

 

[Granty]

I have a 205 and love it !

 

[LEECE]

Also a tip if you go to Amazon you can get one as low as £130.00

if i am allowed to give a tip of course

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garmin-Forerunner-Heart-Rate-Monitor/dp/B000FMQ296/ref=pd_sbs_ce_img_1

Whistles *

 

[richardsimkiss]

Excellent! I'd found them as low as £145 but saving another £15 could buy me plenty of jaffa cakes :d

Maybe once I get a 305 i'll actually start recording some sort of training log :embarrassed:

 

[LEECE]

oooohhh especially value ones you could get loads of boxes richard.

You can get express delivery on the garmin too, which is even better as you can get it quicker

And as for training log, i second that, i not done one either

Steve keeps telling me to keep track

 

[richardsimkiss]

I have tried compiling a training log, but my body seems to refuse just noting down the day, mileage, and run type... It has to be full of as much info as possible (heart rates, interval splits, route maps where possible etc...), looks like the Garmin should store almost all that information for me!

Isn't technology great eh?!

 

[rkavanagh]

I am getting a 205 for Christmas, and currently have a 201.

The main reason for getting the upgrade is for the HRM monitoring. I have heard the 305 is more accurate and gets a satellite lock quicker - has anyone got experience of this.

As for keeping a running log - I would highly recommend it. I use SportTracks with my 201 so much better than the Garmin software - it works with most GPS watches.

My training log is one of the reasons I keep running - I can see exactly how fast I ran on a course 6 or 12 monts earlier and realise I am actually improving

 

[LEECE]

Mine is arriving today so i will be playing with it this evening.

:d

Hopefully it wont be too technical for me to work out how to use it properly :d

 

[Dave]

I love using my 205,and would recommend it to anybody who felt they could use this type of help in training or racing.


Richard.
As for keeping a manual log of all your runs I use this and find it really valuable.

http://www.davidhays.net/running/runlog/runlog.html

 

[twinkle toes]

I have a 305 and love it, I would imagine if you had it in your pocket it could lose satellite signal, you can get on the spot HRM, avg min per mile and fastest pace, once you have finished your run, it will hold heaps of runs in the history, so you don't have to download all the time.

You can set it so every mile you run it will give you a break down of your min per mile, HRM etc, this can all be read from the watch.

Once information is downloaded you will get more information graphs etc.

 

[mike84]

wow thanks for this great response.

I am def gonna get one now.:d

Im not the best runner in the world, but I love running to bits and anything that will help me focus or let me know my progress .

Gonna get it off GPS Deals Via Amazon for 130.
Amazon are out of stock.

Its weird how some places are trying to sell it for double the price tho.

 

[mike84]

Great minds eh? I've asked for one too... I currently have a Nike Triax C8 HRM, and also the Nike+ iPod attachment for speed/distance (which hasn't been all that impressive for me).

From what I've read I can't find anything that betters the Garmin Forerunner 305, and yes whilst it is big for a watch, it can do a hell of a lot and for me it'll be well worth the sacrifice! (I hope!)

I did a 10k Race with the Nike+ and it said I had done over 12k.
Which must have meant the 10k training runs I had been doing were only 8K.

Plus the online website doesn't really present much info.

 

[Hollywood]

In Decathlon yesterday I saw this decathlon key maze 300 product...

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/keymaze-300-20957205/

Looks a bit like a 201/301... Claims to have the same technology as a 205... and it costs 69 quid...

Videos on it here - http://gadgets.magnify.net/item/RSY2G1HSYWJHTVZC, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kmxj1F7JryU and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRMEPwYl_-c&feature=related

Product manual can be found from here - http://www.geonaute.com/EN/keymaze-300-19389541/

But I've not seen any reviews of it anywhere yet...

 

[richardsimkiss]

Definately looks like a well priced alternative Hollywood... If I were paying for it myself I'd be very tempted to take a closer look

So how are you getting on with it Leece? I'm eager to find out :d I'm fairly confident now that Santa will be bringing me one

 

[LEECE]

I love my 305 its like my new best friend.

On cross country races people were asking how far we had left to run, because they see i had the 305 on

I have not worked out how to use it to its full potention yet but i will one day

:d