GPS / Hear rate monitor

TheRoadRunner

Hey

I know there is nearly a thread a week regarding GPS watches for running but I'm tired of searching through posts so here goes.

My polar heart rate monitor is on its last legs. The monitor itself has a dead battery. The watch has a dodgy strap and the lap button fell off today. I was thinking about getting it fixed but having done so a couple of years back I remember it was quite expensive. I'm thinking I might upgrade anyway.

I'm thinking of getting a GPS watch and was wondering do any incorporate a heart rate monitor ?

Either way I would be grateful if people could recommend a product and a good site to buy if possible. I've been looking at amazon.co.uk and could get stuff delivered to the UK. Uk prices are soooo musch cheaper than here :mad:

TheRoadRunner

Should have mentioned I'm a macos user. I was looking at the Garmin Forerunner 305 and it looks the business. Apparently it isn't macos compatible though !

I have bootcamp so I can boot my computer up in Vista. I wonder will this overcome this problem.

Brian_Uckfast

Got one a while back, pretty good

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/12/02/slaves.white.house/index.html

Woddle

I now swear by my garmin forerunner 405,you have the option of buying it with or without a heart rate monitor. I believe dabs.ie is one of the cheapest places to buy. I did get mine in the state though so maybe ask people for feedback regarding dabs. The 405 is just the best toy a runner can buy themselves

TheRoadRunner

Woddle wrote: »

I now swear by my garmin forerunner 405,you have the option of buying it with or without a heart rate monitor. I believe dabs.ie is one of the cheapest places to buy. I did get mine in the state though so maybe ask people for feedback regarding dabs. The 405 is just the best toy a runner can buy themselves

Cool thanks. I'll have a look at the 405 now. The 305 is going for 130 sterling on amazon which seems really good value. I don't want to spend too much on it. I always get carried away with excitement when buying new technology.

The software issue with macosx I mentioned seems to have been resolved with the new intel chips, yipee

TheRoadRunner

Brian_Uckfast wrote: »

Got one a while back, pretty good

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/12/02/slaves.white.house/index.html

Is that an incorrect link ???????

Woddle

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

Cool thanks. I'll have a look at the 405 now. The 305 is going for 130 sterling on amazon which seems really good value. I don't want to spend too much on it. I always get carried away with excitement when buying new technology.

http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4Y4W&CategorySelectedId=11203&NavigationKey=11203

TheRoadRunner

I've read some reviews about the 405 and people seem to be bitching about its ability to operate in the rain. Have you had any problems ? What about battery life ?

I'd prefer the 405 to the 305 because of the size of the watch itself.

Woddle

The rain thing is a good point. What tends to happen is that it can change the screen to the next data field, but it's easily sorted by locking the bezel to the data field you want, so to me it's a non issue as I mainly use the data field that has pace,time,HR and the other data field I use is time,hr,distance.
But it has only happened on rare occasions and also any issues seem to be adressed quickly by garmin with updates and now that I think this hasn't happened since I updated about 6 weeks ago, coincidence maybe.

Krusty_Clown

I don't think the 405 is Mac compatible, because of the wireless ANT technology they use. I believe the 305 is Mac compatible though. Check out the motionbased forum:
http://forums.motionbased.com/smf/index.php

If you can get around the Mac limitation, and are not planning an Ultra (or event of +8 hours) then I'd recommend the 405.

Supercell

I lock the bezel as standard before heading out, its a two button push that takes a second.
The 405 is nice and small and does everything I want including nerdy heart rate analysis.
As to the ability in the rain..well I just run...and look at the time and heart rate..am i missing something?

Abhainn

I've borrowed the Garmin 305 from a colleague and tested it out for the last couple of runs and it seems to be great... but bulky.
I'm used to the Polar RS 200 as it's small enough to use as an everyday watch which the 305 ain't.
So as a training tool and everyday timepiece I seriously consider the 405 next.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUCyjfyVigU

TheRoadRunner

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I don't think the 405 is Mac compatible, because of the wireless ANT technology they use. I believe the 305 is Mac compatible though. Check out the motionbased forum:
http://forums.motionbased.com/smf/index.php

If you can get around the Mac limitation, and are not planning an Ultra (or event of +8 hours) then I'd recommend the 405.

Yeah I think you are right. I found this http://www8.garmin.com/products/trainingcenter/ 305 does seem to be mac compatible. It is a bit bulky though !!!

Definitely not doing an ultra thanks very much and hopefully no event I will take part in will last over 8 hours. Although the way training is going at the moment who knows

I can get the 305 from amazon with a heart monitor for 150 euro though. I think this will sway it for me, the 405 will cost over 200. I think I'll sting the Mrs with this as my Christmas present. Her head will be wrecked. I hate Christmas and told her I only wanted a CD for Christmas last night.

One Final question about the 405. What is the battery life like ? If it was fully charged and I ran for an hour lets say first thing in the morning. Could I wear it for the rest of the day ? If it can't be worn as a wrist watch for the day I'll defo go with the 305.

Krusty_Clown

Abhainn wrote: »

So as a training tool and everyday timepiece I seriously consider the 405 next.

An everyday timepiece that you have to charge every other day.
But seriously, it is a really great piece of kit. It worked out great for the interval training I've done over the last couple of weeks. Handy when you don't have a track readily available.

I usually only have one data screen enabled (but I do use different screen for different types of training), so the rain (and hairy arms :eek:) doesn't flip the screens.

Krusty_Clown

Battery will last for 8 hours of exercise, or two weeks with the GPS turned off.
I generally charge it every other day, but have been clocking a lot of hours over the last few weeks.

911sc

Woddle wrote: »

I believe dabs.ie is one of the cheapest places to buy

i also swear by the 405.
Regarding prices, €246 on dabs.ie, €191 on amazon.co.uk if you can get it delivered up north.

TheRoadRunner

thanks for all the replies guys.
I think I will go with the 405 now.

Blazher

I was also looking for info on a new watch.
I'm using a polar sc 6 but . Think I'll get the 405

shels4ever

Was doing the Xmas shopping today and almost spent all themoney on a 405.. The kid would haev loved to open that on Christmas morning...

blah

Just ordered this for myself from Amazon, black with the HRM, express delivery in the UK, so hopefully I'll have it tomorrow.

shels4ever

blah wrote: »

Just ordered this for myself from Amazon, black with the HRM, express delivery in the UK, so hopefully I'll have it tomorrow.

oh why did you tell me that.... ....

ajk24

Ordered off ebay today with HRM. €225 including shipping - the weak pound is great for internet shopping

shels4ever

Thats not bad 330 in Harvey Norman and 249 for the 305.. I think i'll live without if for a while longer..

TheRoadRunner

Just received my Garmin forerunner today. I bought it from Dabs.ie. Cost about 230 euro. Probably could have got it cheaper from amazon but would have had to gey a UK relation to take delivery and bring it home etc.

I haven't used it for a run yet but have it set up for tomorrow. I'm going to wear it this evening while out walking the dog as a test run/walk. It looks the business so hopefully it will perform as well as it looks !

I was worried the 405 wouldn't be compatible with my computer which is a MAC. Turns out my concerns were correct which is unsurprising seen as the Garmin website said they wouldn't be :rolleyes:.

However I have installed Windows XP on a separate partition on my laptop and I'm sucking diesel now.