Garmin Forerunner

[CaptainReboot]

Does anybody own a Garmin Forerunner? I'm looking at either the 201 or the 301. I'm curious if you like it, and how well it works.

Planning on doing some more 10K runs this summer and the weather is finally nice enough to start running at lunch time again.

Thanks,

[98type_r]

I have a buddy who has the 301 and my sister has the 201. My buddy who has the 301 is a triathlete and uses it a lot, I've done several rides with him and the distance/speed is pretty much identical in accuracy to my bike computer.
My sister runs with the 201 and she likes it, although she says its a bit bulky and is now looking for a 301 or the new 400-series model.
You can pick them up on ebay for a pretty good price, you won't regret the purchase.

[TACO.VIDAL]

I have a Forerunner 305. Its great and Id recommend it to everyone. Its a great training tool and a fun toy as well.

Ive had a for a couple of years now. When I researched it, the knock against the 201 and 301 was that the GPS was really finicky. It didnt work well under trees and took a long time to get a signal. The technology in those units is quite old. Id look into a 205 or 305. The price has come down a lot. The other things is that the 201/301 are large and very bulky. The 305 isnt the coolest looking thing either but the 201/301 pale in comparison.

Check out these two places:
http://www.gpscentral.ca/products.htm#fitness

http://www.gpscity.com/fitness-gps

Theyre in Calgary and usually have the best prices around.

[Oz-]

I have a 301

Taco Vidal hit some of my biggest complaints about this device on the head.

- Tracking the GPS satellites takes longer then I want most of the time
- Big/Bulky
-Tended to freeze a bit during the winter (-15 and below)

Still use it all the time, even though I am not running for distance. Mostly the heart monitor and the time interval programs that I can setup when dragging my power sled.

Look at the 305 or the new 405 (?) if you can.

[TACO.VIDAL]

Whats new about the 405? I took a quick look at the website and the 305 and 405 each have MSRPs of $299. The 405 looks a bit slicker than the 305 but are there any major differences? Ill take a closer look later.

[Oz-]

Quick hit list of the 405

-Better receivers, you can be indoors and by a window to lock into the satellites
-can do wireless download to computer and to other watches (route sharing, time sharing with training partners)
-styling is smaller
-less buttons - 2 buttons and the bezel is a button (start/stop) - not sure if this is better or not yet.

[CaptainReboot]

Is the 205 and 305 almost identical except for the heart rate monitor?

[Khyron]

305 rules - buddy with his 205 wants to upgrade now that he's used mine. I don't find it that big, but it's certainly not a watch.

Oh and none of them are rated for swimming, which is annoying.

[Oz-]

When I was training for 10k and a half, the heart rate monitor was the one thing that I used the most. Especially when I shifted from a 10:1 philosophy to a HR training philosophy.

Get the 305 for the heart rate monitor, don't be Khyron's friend and regretting the choice of a 205.

[VWEvo]

I have the 305, it makes training or just plain running/cycling far better. I love the feature that allows you to race yourself from your previous run if your running the same route (kinda like the ghost racer in mario kart) Definately get the heart monitor it's easily one of the most important things in terms of tracking your progress. I couldn't believe the difference I saw with how my heart rate improved the more I ran.

[CaptainReboot]

How do you guys find the Training Centre software? It is pretty good at mapping out your running paths?

[broken_legs]

Originally posted by CaptainReboot
Is the 205 and 305 almost identical except for the heart rate monitor?


AFAIK yes.


I have the 205. I run the trails up the hill from Edworthy Park to Crowchild. Most of those trails are in the trees but the Garmin stays locked in the whole time.


I also take it snowboarding sometimes. Its good to figure out which direction to go in a white out or off the runs. I keep it in a zipper pocket of my jacket and it works fine.

top speed tucking lake louise 84.5 km/hr

top speed running trails, not so much

weee

[Khyron]

Originally posted by CaptainReboot
How do you guys find the Training Centre software? It is pretty good at mapping out your running paths?

I use the included software for just logging numbers (it shows a rough pic of the route but it's not mapped or anything). Graphs your HR vs pace.

But you can also sign up with Motionbased.com and that overlays your run with google maps among other things. I used it at first but really aside from the odd neat one I don't really bother.

The elevation tracking is just a crap shoot - most people don't find it that accurate (GPS is location, not elevation).