Better than 405 & Polar...GOOGLE EARTH alone is worth the upgrade!!!

I use mine for cycling and running the direct link to see your workouts mapped on GOOGLE EARTH is FANTASTIC!!!! (the included software is far more stable than the junk Polar included with their HRM's.



Heart rate strap with replaceable battery is coded and comfortable. It's better in my opinion than the Polar products (of which I've owned three)



This is much better than the Forerunner 201 which I previously owned (locks on satellites 10 times faster) and I'd avoid the 405 unless you really want to use this watch as a normal day to day wristwatch (check out the 405 reviews)



One nice feature is being able to customize the display screens. Another review criticized the 305 for the numbers being too small to read while exercising. I don't have an issue but would point out that you can significantly increase the size of the display by simply displaying fewer fields.



My only complaint is that it's easy to leave it on and run the battery down - which is a bummer if you're just about to work out. I wish there was an "auto off" feature which would shut it down if it detects no movement or heart rate within an hour or so. Fortunately with Li-Ion batteries as little as a 10 minute charge gives you enough juice for a 90 minute run.



If you've found this review to be helpful please let me know!More detail ...

Garmin 205 is awesome

This is my second one. I gave my first one to a friend as a gift and bought another. It will not disappoint you especially if you have never owned a GPS watch. It isn't a bare-bones base model but really has a lot going for it. Easy to use easy to read the information very good price.More detail ...

Do you take your running seriously?

I have recently purchased a Forerunner 301 after having used a Sports Instruments heart rate monitor for about a year. The heart rate monitor was excellent and certainly usefull in the gym - rather than wait a certain length of time between sets wait until your HR is below 120bpm. It allows you to pace yourself much more.

When it comes to running it is difficult to measure your performance (time heart rate and distance) over the days and weeks. A heart rate monitor is good but when training you need to push yourself and will always have a high heart rate.



The forerunner is a completely different animal. So different that there really isn't any fair comparison at all.

With this puppy on your arm you can build a workout (they are quite simple but effective) on your pc slap it on the forerunner and off you go. Great running feedback and excellent info when transferred to the pc. Everything is easy to do - not quite WinXP wizard easy but simple none the less.



If you live in a large city forrested areas or anywhere with sky obstructions then it may give your trouble with reception. I have had a gps for years and with my wifi experience I knew that reliable reception was going to be an issue. However for me I found the reception excellent. Great in fact! In my lounge I can still get a lock with 4 good strength sattelites! If I stop it reacts within 1 second and another second it knows I have stopped (due to the 1 second display update speed). Much better gps calculations than my garmin gps12.



If you are gagety inclined and ARE taking (not just wanting or planning to) your running or biking seriously then without a doubt this is the machine for you.



It isn't too big but big enough to read. Locks on in less than 1 minute in my small back yard and has stellar reaction time. Perhaps even just keeping track of your exercise history is worth it for you? Or the in running feedback? Or the calorie (much more realistic than anythng else I have seen) info?



I am very happy with my buy. I paid $230 for it. Worth every last buck. From my experience I have no trouble recommending the Forerunner 301 to any one who is taking their running seriously!!

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The Forerunner 201 for those on a budget

The Garmin Forerunner 101 is exactly the same as the popular Forerunner 201 with a couple of small changes. Being the case I won't review the actual product since everything that needs to be said about it's GPS features can be found in the reviews for the Forerunner 201.

The most notable difference with the 101 is that it uses 2 AAA batteries istead of being rechargeable like the 201. At first I thought this was a big detraction to buying it but it's really not that bad. Battery life is decent although not as high as with the 201 which gets up to 13 hours of use on a full charge. But if you're not a marathon runner and just run a few miles on your runs this shouldn't matter much. The only hassle is having the batteries go dead during the middle of a run which really sucks if you're into knowing exactly how far you've gone. You have to keep an eye on the battery life before going out. The batteries don't really effect the weigh or size of the product though.

The second major difference is that this unit does not interface with your PC. This also isn't too big of a problem because currently the Garmin software is really lacking. Hopefully they will improve on it with time but the PC software is nowhere near as nice as it could be at this stage. You can view a graph of your altitude for your run and graphs of your pace and speed and that's about it. Otherwise the software is really crummy. You can't even zoom in on your map like you can with the actual unit.

If you're serious about running I would highly suggest the Forerunner 201 over this product mainly because the price difference is so negligible. You can find the 201 for only about $20 more than this model and the extra money is well worth the rechargeability of the 201 and freedom from the batteries. But if you really can't afford the cost you're not going to be hurting too much with the 101.More detail ...

Just plain AWESOME !

I have been using this watch/footpod/HR monitor now for about 6 months and I absolutely love it. It is like having a coach. I am a fairly new runner and completed a half marathon this past spring and loved it. I decided to get more serious about my training and run a fall marathon. The longer runs were really a pain because I'd have to get in my car and drive the route each time....and then remember them as I ran . And of course if an unpredicted problem came up (angry dog suspicious person etc) I couldn't really deviate without blowing the run and not knowing how far I'd gone . And also......my paces were off. I was running my recovery runs and easy runs WAY too fast. And then at the time I was using an old treadmill that was totally off pace so my faster runs---well who knows how consistent they were. I needed help !



And I got it. Everything fell completely into place after getting the watch. It basically sets ITSELF uptoo. So easy to use. The Garmin website is awesome. I understand they had bugs at first but I have encountered none of that. I can look at a run and see my heart rate and pace on a graph. I can also see reports on mileage etc. And the ability to see cadence per mile is cooltoo. I have learned so much by having all this data. It has made me a much better runner. I pay attention to heart rate nowtoo.



And of course it is wonderful to be able to track my distance and pace as I run outdoors. I can just take whatever direction I want now....I feel totally free and spontaneous out there. And I use it on the treadmilltoo. Way more accurate than the treadmill as far as pace is concerned.

I also run in a lot of trees which is why I avoided the GPS version. The footpod works everywhere and GPS will lose way points in heavy trees or in a city with tall buildings.



It coached me to a 4:14:01 first marathon finish this past October. It is really accurate and I have never calibrated it. Although I plan to go to an indoor track this week and do that this week before I start training seriously again (I wore it in the marathon and it tracked the the distance as 26.58---not bad over that many miles with no additional calibration but still.....).



I highly recommend this product to anyone who would like to be able to monitor their training. It is all they say and a lot more. I plan to try to qualify for Boston this spring and I know my chances are much improved with my Garmin FR60 (yes all my friends are definitely tired of hearing how much I love the watch!).More detail ...

Works Flawlessly

I have my Foot Pod paired with my Garmin Forerunner 305 and am very satisfied. The Foot Pod has a plastic bracket that fits under my shoe string while the Foot Pod fits over my shoe string. It can be a little difficult to get the two pieces to click together but when they do they form a secure arrangement. I followed the instructions in the Forerunner manual and paired the Foot Pod with the Forerunner on the first try. Once this is done it does not have to be repeated since the Forerunner automatically detects the Foot Pod from then on.



The Foot Pod measures my pace in strides per minute and also measures my distance traveled. I am a little disappointed that the Forerunner allows the distance measured by the Foot Pod to over ride the distance measured by the GPS in the Forerunner. I suspect the distance measured by the GPS is more accurate but I can not find an option to force the GPS distance to be used while the Foot Pod is in use. Walking the same course results is a measured distance of 3.26 miles using the GPS and 3.30 miles using the Foot Pod which I feel is good agreement. I did not have to follow the calibration instructions to achieve these results.



Overall I have found the Foot Pod a great addition to my exercise equipment especially when I am inside and out of range of the GPS satelittes.More detail ...

Garming FR60 GPS Not Really.. HRM Yes Sir.

I Purchased the Garmin FR60 Bundle W/ Foot pod to Help me learn run pacing and for Triathlon Training. My old HRM just gave up but the chest strap works still works with most of the equipment at the gym without the watch. But there is no need since I have the FR60 but there are some "Issues" to deal with first. The Look and function is very good. However since I'm new to Garmin the menu's took a little getting used to and programing was a little bit difficult but from what I've heard this is typical. Once you do get the menus down it's very intuitive and similar to other models they offer. The other reason I picked the Garmin unit is the Manufactures of other HRM's in this price range had non replaceable batteries. IE you had to send them back to the factory to be replaced. This is something I really wasn't fond of since I use mine daily. This unit fits nicely on the wrist and can be used as a "Sport Watch" and no-one would know you a Workoutaholic if they didn't know you.



Packaged in the box were the Owners manual and Watch Foot-pod HRM-Strap USB Ant+ stick. There is no software to speak of since it's self loading on the Ant+ Stick. You also need to set up an account with Garmin to download your data and analyze it. BEWARE: Firmware Updates will erase your data and settings on the watch and they need to be set back up!!! There is no Off-line option to review your data :-(. This means you upload your data to Garmin then re-download it in Excel or TCX format then upload it into a training website like Training Peaks(Online) or Sport Tracs(Stand Alone Runs Offline). Granted it takes only a few minutes to do but is a little bit of a pain. Also when uploading you have the option to leave the data on your watch for you to review or when the download is completed the workout date is erased. It takes a little bit of faith to let your data go. When setting up your account you can set up your Heart Rate zones based on age and resting Heart Rate. You can add as many zones as you see fit. For Simplicity I just use 5 now when you look at your data though the amount of time in each zone is not displayed on the website on your HR Graph. The graph look really good but the only data given is Avg HR Max HR. It would be nice if the time in each Zone was given as well. My old HRM(Which was $40) displayed these with times and % in zones on the watch and didn't need to upload the data. Other data that is Give is Workout Time Avg Speed/Pace Max Speed/Pace Avg Cadence Max Cadence. All good Data that is essential for training/racing purposes.



For Running the Foot Pod Sensor tracks steps pacing and speed very accurately out of the box. Pick a spot on your shoes to mount the sensor and pair the device with your FR60 I did a test run at the track and it was spot on after a 1 mile test run. You can either adjust the stride length automatically or manual adjust. There are supposed to be shoe on the market that the Foot-pod will mound directly into the sole under the shoe insert. I believe Nike makes one. Mounting in the laces are just fine for me. The advantage the FR60 has is It can be used indoors without a GPS signal. The combination of the Foot-Pod and HRM gives you very accurate Calorie data when running of a treadmill. I have found that most treadmills are off speed wise to the FR60 for example I warm-up at 10:00 indicated pace on the treadmill and my FR60 shows anywhere from a 9:20-9:35. No a big deal since I'm logging the information for later retrieval.



Since I Cycle I use the GSC-10 Speed and Cadence Sensor for my Bicycle. Same setup as the Foot-Pod with regard to pairing. This can be used indoors as well during winter months on Stationary Fluid Trainer or Rollers to track speed and distance. The downside is NO FREAKING Odometer!!!!!!! what was Garmin Thinking. You get everything else Distance Current Speed Calories Avg/Max Speed Avg/Max Cadence Time Lap/Distance/Time/AvgSpeed/MaxSpeed/LapCalories blah blah blah... I had to add my old Speed sensor back to the front wheel to capture Overall ODO distance.



Functionality: The FR60 is pretty easy to set up once you figure out the page layout and logic. You get your data input(AGE HEIGHT WEIGHT ACTIVITY Class(read the manual for this one) into the devise under SETTINGS/USER. After pairing your footpod and Speed/Cadence sensor You can then set up your "TRAINING PAGES" This is where the FR60 really shines. You can take all the data collected from either your Run/Bike/Other and display up to 3 pieces of data on the screen and have 5 pages to display the data. You can have one screen for Time only and another for Distance and Pace then another for Heart Rate HR Zone Calories and so one. If only One line of info is displayed it fits almost the entire screen and gets smaller from there. the Dot Matrix LCD Screen is fairly easy to read at a glace either running or biking.



The FR60 HR Chest Sensor Foot-pod are all waterproof to 3 Meters so they can be worn during the swim portion of Triathlons or during off road runs that cross creeks or during Steeplechase events. I've worn mine during the swim of a sprint Triathlon. For Triathlon the F60 is not Tri Friendly meaning you cannot change sports easy. I just set it up in Other and Just Press Lap during transitions in and out. Since I'm only concerned with overall time and HR. The FR60 can be set up to scan for Pods so it will pick up either sensor when you press the lap button during T1 or T2. If your set on sport specific Timing press and hold the MODE button and you can then change sports.



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Mostly excellent

I was drawn to the Garmin FR60 as it represents one of the least expensive full-featured heart rate monitors which can download training data to a computer. Since I do a good chunk of my training indoors on a treadmill particularly in the winter a GPS based system was not required.



My experience with the Garmin FR60 has been mostly positive. First it's important to point out this watch is sold in at least 3 different bundles. There's the basic heart rate monitor only (all black watch) this version (red) which includes an ANT+ Stick used to download training data to a computer and a more expensive version which includes a foot pod for measuring distance. When shopping for this watch be sure you know which bundle you're ordering I had to return the black version after ordering it without realizing it didn't include the ANT+ Stick.



The watch itself is a nice form factor smaller than the large Polar S120 I'm replacing. Initial setup is easy the included quickstart guide walks you through the procedure in straightforward fashion. The screen is easy to read and navigation between menus and setting adjustments is easy. My only gripe with the watch is the placement of the Lap/Split and Start/Stop buttons. Quite simply these should be reversed. The Start/Stop button is a large white button centered just below the display area it's quite easy to press. The Lap/Split button is a small button on the side of the watch and takes a firm touch to trigger. When I'm running hard it's takes a bit of concentration to record a lap certainly more than I'd like. I expect I'll get more comfortable with this as I use the watch more.



The heart rate strap fits comfortably and is in most ways quite similar to my familiar Polar T31 chest strap with one important exception it has a door through which I can replace the battery. The Polar strap has to be sent back for a new battery and a replacement strap is $30-40. The replacable battery on the Garmin is a nice upgrade. As for function the heart rate is recorded accurately and I've yet to see it interrupted by interference. Of note the Garmin HR strap does not appear to be compatible with any treadmill I've seen the watch still records HR accurately but the treadmill will not display HR on screen. Polar seems to have cornered the market here.



Once a workout is complete recorded heart rate data can be downloaded to a computer via the ANT+ Stick a simple USB stick. Once setup the download process is quite easy. Garmin offers two options for logging your data the desktop-only Garmin TrainingCenter (which must be downloaded) or the web-based Garmin Connect. I've tried them both and find the TrainingCenter software easier to use particularly when viewing heart rate data graphs. If you spring for the footpod the software will correlate HR time and distance. Workout notes can be entered making this a nice all-around training log. It seems like development is on-going for the web-based Garmin Connect so it's possible it will get improved features in the future. Note that the data can be exported from either program as XML-based TCX files which can be processed into Excel sheets (with third party software) or uploaded to other third-party training log software. If you're comfortable with the format the TCX files can be edited directly to include data not recorded by the watch (distance if not measured by the foot pod calories burned etc).



Overall this setup has allowed me to do exactly what I had hoped; accurately record my heart rate over training runs and download it to a computer for review and analysis and comparison with previous workouts. I'm excited enough about the system that I'll be adding the SDM4 Footpod to record distance as well. If the Lap and Start/Stop buttons we're swapped it would be the perfect non-GPS based running tool and an excellent value as one of the least expensive heart rate monitors which can download to a computer.More detail ...

Impressive Hardware Poor Software Non-Existant Support

Update: after two months of using the 405 I have some additional observations. Based on my experiences I would lower the star rating to 3 stars. The decrease in rating is due to incredibly poor software and support from Garmin. The hardware is still extremely impressive despite the software failings.



Software and Support:



The Garmin Connect (which allows you to track your training progress) is nothing more than a beta with limited functionality and slow response times. Moreover it is still very buggy. The software which automatically uploads the computer data to Garmin Connect just suddenly stopped working a month ago.



Hold times to get in touch with Garmin telephone support is 45 minutes. Email support is terrible - it has taken a full MONTH to have two email exchanges with support. All this and the problem has not been fixed.



Moreover the software is poorly designed. You have to constantly monitor Garmin's website for software updates (there is no "Check for Update" feature). If a problem occurs in the software there are no features to aid in resolving the problem.



Hardware:



First impressions: the form factor is nice but you need to be aware that the watch is somewhat "thick". If you are wearing a button down shirt the 405 will not fit comfortably under a sleeve cuff. However looking at it from above it looks like a normal watch. Wearing it while running will probably not draw a second look from other runners. This is also a downside since you want people to notice your shiny new 405.



Setup - this took only a few minutes and was very easy. TThe 405 walks you through a brief tutorial. Overall setup was very easy.



Navigation - this takes a few minutes to get the hang of. Once you have the buttons down it is quite easy to navigate. The sensitivity of the touch bezel is adjustable for your taste. I've played with the 305 in the store and the 405 actually seems more intuitive to navigate.



Initial lock - finding the satellites takes a few minutes the first time. It will lock on much faster if you are not moving. Subsequent times to find the satellites was much quicker.



Use - After you have turned on the GPS and gotten a lock all you need to do is press start to begin your workout. It was very easy to use. I basically forgot about it while I was running other than to check my pace every mile or so. Kept a lock the entire time (keep in mind this was in Chicago's Lincoln Park - roughly 2/3rds of the sky is clear (except for trees) so achieving constant lock-on should not be a problem for any GPS. I have not tested this downtown).



For those worried about water resistance my first usage of my 405 was in the pouring rain. It didn't seem to notice (or care) about the rain. It can handle a good amount of water without issue.



Syncing - you need to download the software from Garmin (it's actually a web plug in). However the manual was clearly rushed out the door. Not only does it contain typos (at one point it refers to the wrong step) but it is not clear from the manual that you need to download the USB drivers. DO NOT put the ANT USB key into the computer until you have downloaded the specific ANT drivers from Garmin (so you have to download two different pieces of software - the plugin and the USB driver). If you plug the ANT key into the computer w/o the Garmin USB driver Windows will find what it thinks is the correct driver (which is the wrong driver). The syncing will not work if you do this. Just a heads up.



I wish I owned a 305 to compare it to. In the Garmin store the 405 did not see that much smaller than the 305 although the 405 was clearly more elegant. Functionally I hear that they are extremely similar. You just need to personally evaluate whether the 405 is really worth the increased cost over the 205/305. Personally I plan on keeping the 405.



Battery Life - After playing with it for 30 minutes taking it on an hour's run and syncing it with my computer it only used 12% of the battery life.More detail ...