Garmin Forerunner 405

Officer Giggles

hey everyone i want to get something that can tell me how fast i am running at a particular time, how far i have run and when im finished what my average speed was, i searched the forum and the garmin forerunner 405 seems to be the one to get but just want to make sure, do i even need the 405 or would a cheaper one do exectly what i want

menoscemo

There are much cheaper options if this is all you require, but they may not be as accurate and the Garmin, since it works by GPS.
For what you require a pedometer and watch would be enough, they work by measuring your steps while running to calculte distance/speed.They can be inaccurte though and need to be calibrated regularly
I had a nike+ watch and chip in the shoe which i got in a running shop for €50. Go to your local running shop and I am sure there are many similar options that won't break the bank like the FR 405.

Officer Giggles

i was looking on the web for the different items i could get and i saw the likes of the nike pedometer, i would prefer to get something very accurate that wouldnt need to be calibrated the whole time as i would end up geting sick of it thats why i was looking at the garmin, if there is a cheaper alternative to the 405 that does the 3 or 4 things i need then i would get it if anyone has any other ideas

plodder

Officer Giggles wrote: »

i was looking on the web for the different items i could get and i saw the likes of the nike pedometer, i would prefer to get something very accurate that wouldnt need to be calibrated the whole time as i would end up geting sick of it thats why i was looking at the garmin, if there is a cheaper alternative to the 405 that does the 3 or 4 things i need then i would get it if anyone has any other ideas

the 305 has the same features as the 405 but is a lot chaeper

Highway_To_Hell

the Timex Ironman watch comes in a good bit cheaper then the 405 but it has a separate GPS and Data units so it is bulkier then the 405. I used one before I got a 405 and it worked fairly well, I had bought it back in 2004 and the GPS unit was a bit temperamental in cloudy weather and runing in woody areas. Apparently this issue is now resolved but having to strap on the GPS and data units would steer me towards the 405.

Sub430

I also had the nike+ thingy and it served a purpose but I have just ordered the 405. It seems like a natural progression, my view is that if you enjoy running (and gadgets) you might as well save up and get the 405 rather than spend money on the ipod+ and then buy the 405 in the future in any case.
Keep an eye on adverts.ie - 2 sold recently for €200. Otherwise handtec.co.uk or amazon/ebay for the best prices

osnola ibax

Listen for what it's worth, I think you are better going for the 405, it's very very good for what you r looking for - accuracy, no callibrating etc,, and worth the initial outlay, I see it's a bit cheaper on amazon now, down about 20 quid, you could go without hrm aswell because hrm has come down on amazon aswell so u could get it later, handtec.co.uk is also good value and where I got mine, or how about the 305, that's not much more than forerunner 50 with footpod and seems to get good reviews, it's about 50 quid cheaper than 405 if a little bigger, I've seen several reviews from people who got 405 going back to 305, I personally like the 405

Also I've only had mine about a week

osnola ibax

Boards should receive some kind of commission / gift from
Garmin, the amount of good publicity it gets here, amadeus, one for the sponsorship thread

Sub430

+1.
I hadn't heard of the Garmin until I started read the ART forum.

Stupid_Private

So we're saying there's a link between computer geeks who run and computer gadgets for running.... interesting!!

Officer Giggles

thanks for the replies, the 405 is €210 on elara without the hrm, the 305 is only 20 quid cheaper, was looking on ebay and the prices are crap, none as cheap as elara

Rusty Cogs 08

The Garmin can give a lot of different information when running/racing. I wonder what people find most useful. Essentially, I'm trying to programme in the best settings for both Training and Racing and leave it at that. I've been messing around with it lately and now I've lost some of the settings I liked (like the screen that shows time/distance/pace all on one screen).

So what information do you have yours set to show for training and/or racing ?

Training
Distance
Time
Average Lap Pace
Heart Rate

Racing
Time
Lap time
Average Lap Pace

Peterx

The 405 is a great yoke but the battery time is short and if I was buying again would put me off it. I've had several long cycles this year and the feckin thing dies after about 6 hours go-time leaving a nasty non loop on the fancy download map website thing.


In fairness most of the time it's great as I'm only out for an hour or two.

My usual settings are;

Run training - lap time, average pace/km, distance
cycling - speed, time of day, distance
Hillrun racing - lap time, distance, altitude

William72

so if your requirements are limited to those listed by OP would you not just got for the Garmin 50? Just wondering cos I am in a similar boat...

scottreynolds

William72 wrote: »

so if your requirements are limited to those listed by OP would you not just got for the Garmin 50? Just wondering cos I am in a similar boat...

TBH. I'd generally recommend a 405 as your going to end up wanting some of those features like downloading to Mac (or heaven forbid a PC). The GPS recording features are cool as well so you can see where you went -- cool when your away from home. There's not much difference in cost -- there's a new 405CX which is the same with a few tweaks. The 305 has also been replaced by the 310XT

aero2k

It's still possible to get hold of the 305 if it's what you want. Got mine for €170 from Amazon about 3 weeks ago.

Vinny Mulvey

I have been using the garmin 405 since last Oct/Nov and I absolutely love it. I use it every day with and without the heart monitor. Its really brilliant for judging pace and not going too fast or too slow when out on runs, particularly long runs and tempo runs. I'd highly recommend it to anyone thinking of getting one. On my display I have overall time, pace and distance and the heart rate is just a tap of the bezel. I find its very useful too for when i'm training other people as I can keep account of their fitness, their progress and everything is measured properly for runs. Another thing which I love about the watch is that you can upload your runs straight away onto a computer and look at the pace, the heart rate and the splits and the elvation too. Well worth buying if you're in 2 minds about it!

osnola ibax

I have the 405cx, it's a fantastic piece of kit. As vinny was saying above, you can check out the elevation profile on the pc after the run. That's a brilliant tool. The other day I wanted to see the difference between a 10 mile training run I did and the 5 mile lap of the Phoenix park in July.

I just opened two tabs in ie7 and could toggle between the two easy. The training run had overall elevation gain of 1100 feet and the park has an overall elevation gain of 360 x 2 I suppose for the 10 miler.

It's also great for logging runs and seeing tangible improvements in efficiency with the hrm. Would recommend it highly. Just in terms if choosing, the 305 looks a fair bit bulkier than the 405 in my opinion.

Izoard

Ummm...

I was sold on the 405CX and now I see the 310XT.

I'm not a gadget freak, so am looking for something simple-ish that would cover for all things tri.

THe 405CX looks nice and compact, but I guess it wouldn't stand up to a trip into the nearest body of water?

Anybody got a view on one over the other?

Gringo78

Izoard wrote: »

Anybody got a view on one over the other?

I was strongly thinking of upgrading my 305 to a 305XT until I read that that although the XT is waterproof to 50m, the GPS will not work in the water so it will not give all the stats I thought it would (and I love stats). But if you were using it for triathlons, I suppose being able to wear it from the off and time your swim would be fairly good even if it will not actually give you feedback on the speed/distance.

The 405 is smaller and neater, the 305XT has double the battery life though so if you were going doing ironmans or ultra running I'd say you'd want the 305XT but otherwise the 405 would be better. All boils down to whether you want to wear the watch while swimming, what battery life you need and whether you can live with the 'larger' 305 v's 405.

TJC

Is there much difference between the 405 and 405cx. Or is the CX just a more advanced watch?
Excuse my ignorance, but thinking about getting one of these myself and have only read a few reports on them..

Krusty_Clown

TJC wrote: »

Is there much difference between the 405 and 405cx. Or is the CX just a more advanced watch?
Excuse my ignorance, but thinking about getting one of these myself and have only read a few reports on them..

405cx comes with a soft strap (that you can now actually buy separately for the 405), and it has a new (more accurate) algorithm for calculating calorie information, taking into account heart rate. That's it, as far as I know.

jlang

Does anyone actually take any notice of the calorie figure? (Any runner, I mean)

TJC

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

405cx comes with a soft strap (that you can now actually buy separately for the 405), and it has a new (more accurate) algorithm for calculating calorie information, taking into account heart rate. That's it, as far as I know.

Doesnt seem to be too different. not too worried bout the calorie info..
Thanks for that

osnola ibax

Think kc is pretty spot on, not worth the extra outlay for cx, and soft strap gets fairly smelly from shvetting

Rusty Cogs 08

Didn't someone post that the 405cx doesn't lose the plot when it starts raining like the 405 tends to do (when you don't lock the bezile). Given the choice I'd probably go for the 405cx but not if it meant much difference in price.

mithril

osnola ivax wrote: »

I have the 405cx, it's a fantastic piece of kit. As vinny was saying above, you can check out the elevation profile on the pc after the run. That's a brilliant tool. The other day I wanted to see the difference between a 10 mile training run I did and the 5 mile lap of the Phoenix park in July.

I just opened two tabs in ie7 and could toggle between the two easy. The training run had overall elevation gain of 1100 feet and the park has an overall elevation gain of 360 x 2 I suppose for the 10 miler.

.

How accurate is the elevation data? On my Forerunner 305, the elevation data is much less accurate than the flat distance values. Wonder whether this has improved? Run a lap of the same course multiple times and you see a different elevation profile each time.

gizmo73

hey guys, if you get a watch without the HRM, can you use any HRM strap with it?? i have monitors from old watch and want to purchase

Krusty_Clown

No. The 405 accessories use ANT+ wireless technology to communicate with the watch, so an older HR monitor from another device will not work. You can use a HRM from a previous Forerunner model though, or you can buy it separately at a later stage.

asimonov

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

No. The 405 accessories use ANT+ wireless technology to communicate with the watch, so an older HR monitor from another device will not work. You can use a HRM from a previous Forerunner model though, or you can buy it separately at a later stage.

So when does that new job with garmin start?

Krusty_Clown

asimonov wrote: »

So when does that new job with garmin start?

Oh, I forget to mention, the Forerunner comes in a range of colours, to suit every outfit and occasion. The question isn't whether you can live with a Forerunner, the question is, how have you managed to live without one?

I'm actually starting back to work on Monday after a layoff of 7 months, however it's far less glamorous than a job in Garmin. So if you're a Garmin representative reading this thread, please offer me a job, or just send me free stuff. I have no scruples.

Fizman

Does anybody here have any experience with the FR 60? Looking into getting a gadget soon. This also might interest the OP (getting the footpod will allow for tracking of speed and distance). Comes in at almost half the price of the other gadgets too.

catweazle

I see someone has mentioned about waterproof watches above, I would be looking for one that will handle swimming as well. Has there been one invented yet that can track distance covered in water, I swim regularly in a nearby lake and my only way of estimating the distance I have swam is from the time it took me to swim it

Bambaata

i dont know of any doing it but there probably are but you could go to mapmyride.com and plot your course on the map to get the distance. it will do it as long as the "follow roads" option is unticked

Highway_To_Hell

I use my 405 when in races and while it will record the general course I swam the distance is not very accurate. The 750mtr swim I did on Saturdays race was logged as 2K. I don't think there is any GPS device that is accurate in water as I presume he signal will weaken when your arm is submerged in water. For my open swims I use mapmy run/ride (in satellite view) to plot my distance, works well enough for me.

BeepBeep67

catweazle wrote: »

I see someone has mentioned about waterproof watches above, I would be looking for one that will handle swimming as well. Has there been one invented yet that can track distance covered in water, I swim regularly in a nearby lake and my only way of estimating the distance I have swam is from the time it took me to swim it

Garmin 310XT just launched

Bambaata

i have the 310XT. now i havent tried it in water yet but they do state it doesnt work in water. it will track some sort of distance but will eb erratic at best. it isnt being sold as a HRM/GPS in water device. its waterproof so you dont have to worry about it in the swim leg of a tri etc

Izoard

Highway_To_Hell wrote: »

I use my 405 when in races and while it will record the general course I swam the distance is not very accurate. The 750mtr swim I did on Saturdays race was logged as 2K. I don't think there is any GPS device that is accurate in water as I presume he signal will weaken when your arm is submerged in water. For my open swims I use mapmy run/ride (in satellite view) to plot my distance, works well enough for me.

So, you can use the 405 in the water?

Garmin seem to be pitching the 310XT as the in-water solution (albeit with no GPS). If the 405 survives the water in the swim leg of a tri, then that would be great and I can avoid the USS Enterprise (310) on the wrist!

GoHardOrGoHome

catweazle wrote: »

I see someone has mentioned about waterproof watches above, I would be looking for one that will handle swimming as well. Has there been one invented yet that can track distance covered in water, I swim regularly in a nearby lake and my only way of estimating the distance I have swam is from the time it took me to swim it

As already mentioned it's waterproof but the GPS function won't work well apparently as it's under the water for at least half the time of every stroke. What other people have done however is put it under your cap at the back of your head (not the top) so that when you're swimming with your head in the water it's facing the sky. Haven't tried it myself but others have found it to work pretty well.

Highway_To_Hell

Izoard wrote: »

So, you can use the 405 in the water?

Garmin seem to be pitching the 310XT as the in-water solution (albeit with no GPS). If the 405 survives the water in the swim leg of a tri, then that would be great and I can avoid the USS Enterprise (310) on the wrist!

The booklet mentions that the watch in not intended to be used while swimming and prolonged submersion can cause a short. But I do remember reading somewhere that the watch is ok in shallow water for a period of time but to ensure the watch is completely dry before attempting to recharge.

I have only used my watch in races and to date the max amount of time in the water is 30ish mins, doing the HIM at the end of the month so I will probably be in the water for 45 mins. (also in races my watch would be under the sleeve of my wetsuit)

Bally8

Hi all

My fab OH bought me a Garmin forerunner 405 for Christmas. Its brilliant. So good in fact he went off and bought one for himself. Problem is, he didnt take the time to read the set up instructions. So our run today was his first time using his. He just charged it up,turned on the gps and off he ran. We discovered after a mile or so that he was picking up my heart rate monitor. His was still in the box in the bedroom. Now I cant get his forerunner to be unpaired from my HR monitor

I have just set up everything for him- the ANT stick, his garmin account but I cannnot figure out how to pair his forerunner with his heart rate monitor not mine.

Any solutions?

DustyBin

Hi Bally8
Same thing happened to me too - must be a man thing??
Branty new 305 for Christmas, charge her up, strap it on, and head out running with no HR strap - ended up connecting with one of the other lads in the group and collected his HR data for a couple of days before I copped it :rolleyes:
Was able pair up with my own HR strap though no bother, just had to go into the settings and select 'scan HR devices' or something similar [there was a second option for a cadence sensor]. Just made sure that there were no other devices in range and haven't had to touch it since, been out wth the lads again too, and only collecting my own info now.
That was my 305, so hopefully should work with your 405 too?
Goodluck

Edit: didn't actually need to unpair from the first HR device, the watch just ignores it since I paired it up with my own one

plodder

I have the 405 manual on my laptop. So, the exact sequence
is:

Settings -> ANT+ -> Accessories -> HR Monitor -> Rescan

while making sure the other HRM is well out of the way, and I believe you should be wearing the new one, because it has to be activated in order to communicate with the watch. Shouldn't have to go near it again after that.

VanBosch

whats the difference between the 405 and the 405CX? I had a look on the Garmin website and cant see a difference except price.

Sub430

AFAIK the only differences are the CX has a calorie counter and a velcro strap - apparently helps those with slimmer wrists. I have the 405CX and skinny wrists and have never used the velcro.

It's good to see how many calories you have burned but I wouldn't miss it.

If you don't need either of these, then go for the cheaper option.

Bally8

Thanks Dustybin and plodder. It worked a treat, problem solved. I suppose I should have read the manual myself

plodder

Bally8 wrote: »

Thanks Dustybin and plodder. It worked a treat, problem solved. I suppose I should have read the manual myself

Not at all. These Garmin gadgets are the business as far as I'm concerned, but they're not exactly user friendly!!

bren74

I find the Garmin 405 a great piece of kit for all of the reasons mentioned before. It does go a bit loopy when raining (bezel becomes hard to use).

Also one of the more humourous functions is its route recognition . I was using it at a graded meeting 1500m during the summer and on every bend it beeped and indicated "approaching turn"

I think the Garmin Connect website could do with more features - its useful but there are lots of areas where they could improve.

gizmo73

hey folks, i`m in states on hol at mom and want to buy watch(i`m thinking 405-not sure yet) but just a quick question.. will there be any hassle using one bought here back home or is there european/american differnces? thanks

plodder

gizmo73 wrote: »

hey folks, i`m in states on hol at mom and want to buy watch(i`m thinking 405-not sure yet) but just a quick question.. will there be any hassle using one bought here back home or is there european/american differnces? thanks

You might need to buy a new mains charger for it. You can get USB mains chargers here for < €20, or else just charge it off a computer. Apart from that, there aren't any differences.

robinph

No differences at all in getting one in the US. Just you may not get a three pin mains to USB adapter for it, but you really don't need that anyway.