Garmin 310XT - should I?

hunnymonster

Has anyone seen this orange babe in the flesh yet? I'm quite tempted but slightly worried about size since Hardy Eustace mentioned it looks like a monster.

Also what's the best price people have seen for the watch & HRM strap? wiggle is giving me the best I've seen so far.

tunney

Considered it myself. Huge thing on the wrist. Stupidly ugly. Very expensive. Poor use as a HRM.

If I was going that expensive I'd going Polar 800CX with GPS.

Garmin FR60 with foot pod is what I was recommended. Getting alittle tired of my 625x with foot pod and gps.

Only thing the 310xt has going for it is if you had wireless SRMs,

MadHatter

Yes, got mine last week. It's big, much bigger than I expected. Screen size is great for the bike though.

Haven't run with it yet (achilles problem at the moment :rolleyes:) but the it looks bulky on the wrist. Might get used to it over time.

Got the bike bundle from wiggle, cheapest price I found. handtec.co.uk may be cheaper for the watch/strap only.

tunney

prices for these in irish shops are stupidly high, dollar:euro is 1:1

Bambaata

I got mine from www.handec.co.uk with HRM a few weeks back. Its my first such device and i'm loving it. I cant compare it to anything else so chances are i'd love any such device. It is big but i don't feel it hampers me. I used it at the Caroline Kearney Tri a week and a half ago and used the multi sport function with no issues. the Garmin Connect facility is cool. They've also just added a manual log feature. Here's my activities log if it helps give an understanding of what its doing - http://connect.garmin.com/explore?owner=bambaata83

There were updates yesterday so the site was down so my pool swim yesterday was manually put in. I'll have the laps later when i get home. And as expected the swim GPS data is wildly inaccurate!

MCOS

I considered it too. One of the lads in the Club had one. Impressive display, more like a computer than a watch but in saying that, very bulky, stupidly expensive and I couldn't imagine swimming with it. Got a separate basic enough HRM and I'll just wait until they inevitably slim the multi sport gps devices down a bit

tunney

MCOS wrote: »

I considered it too. One of the lads in the Club had one. Impressive display, more like a computer than a watch but in saying that, very bulky, stupidly expensive and I couldn't imagine swimming with it. Got a separate basic enough HRM and I'll just wait until they inevitably slim the multi sport gps devices down a bit

aye, its the HRM stuff that is really important.

Bambaata

Handtec have it for £316.45 to include the bike mount, HRM strap and speed/cadence sensor. Forgot to add, i only got the bike mount the other day so i haven't tried strapping it to the tri bars yet. not sure that'll work so well and it is hard enough to see on the arm when down on the bars. I'm sure ill figure something out when i have a look before the weekend

Izoard

Couple of comments in a previous thread that the 405 will survive in the water, so for me, no requirement for the Starship Enterprise on your wrist...

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055576229&page=3

hunnymonster

thanks for the feedback guys. Really the battery life is what I'm after. I can continue to use the 305 I already have for training (and it has everything I need) but battery runs out in races.

tunney

hunnymonster wrote: »

thanks for the feedback guys. Really the battery life is what I'm after. I can continue to use the 305 I already have for training (and it has everything I need) but battery runs out in races.

footpods or polar with gps.

MadHatter

Bambaata wrote: »

Handtec have it for £316.45 to include the bike mount, HRM strap and speed/cadence sensor. Forgot to add, i only got the bike mount the other day so i haven't tried strapping it to the tri bars yet. not sure that'll work so well and it is hard enough to see on the arm when down on the bars. I'm sure ill figure something out when i have a look before the weekend

See that now, must have dropped their prices as they were dearer a couple of weeks ago.

Re mounting on tri-bars, seen a couple of solutions on the web. This guy uses a Profile Universal Computer Mount but they seem to be hard to source. Alternatively, a piece of plastic piping between the two bars, strapped to each bar with tie wraps, should work the same.

Edit: computer mount can be got from wiggle, slightly different name.

scottreynolds

hunnymonster wrote: »

thanks for the feedback guys. Really the battery life is what I'm after. I can continue to use the 305 I already have for training (and it has everything I need) but battery runs out in races.

If you already have the 305 then for you I'm sure the 310 would be a good upgrade. You know all the software and what it feels like to wear a laptop on your wrist. As we know your probably looking to go longer now so all the battery life would be handy.

Saying that I bought a Polar 800CX with GPS and can't fault it much. Battery life for the GPS is 20 hours or so but aparently I can get 40 hours if I run on low mode -- haven't been bothered to find that... the HR strap and watch will record literally for days and days -- although I haven't tried that.

Doesn't work on Macs though.

BeepBeep67

I've been kicking that (310XT purchase) around in my head for a while, what makes it more tempting is that I'm in the US at the end of Sept and you can get them for $349 - $399 with HRM and with a 1.4$ makes it tempting. But in these recessionary times, I'm sticking with my Timex S+D, even though the seperate GPS drives me nuts - so I never use in races. I'll hold out for the new 405 replacement with 20hr battery life (don't know if there's one on the way, but heres hoping).

Bambaata

the 405 has an upgraded 405CX but i believe it is not water proof and the battery doesnt seem all that great (from site - 2 weeks in power save mode; 8 hours in training mode)

Peterx

slightly off topic - if it's only a strap upgrade and a new HR calculator the new 405 has poor battery time. 82% just got me 3.40 of active time last Saturday and then died within an hour.
100% has repeatedly died on about 6 hours.

not the option for anyone who is going to anyway from a power source for more then a day either.
However the functionality is great.

Raging_Hull

I bought the Garmin Forerunner 405 with HRM about a month ago from Amazon. It has worked very well. Looks just like a normal watch. Only small complaint is that you tap the bezel to change display options which can be a bit hit and miss. Although it is water resistant it can't be used for swimming.It also uses the Gamin Connect website, with the option to download Garmin Training Centre and SportTracks (all free) on your PC. Used it with the Bike Cadence attachment yesterday which also worked well.

dario28

This is an interesting blog on extending the battery life of a 305

http://www.jwshale.com/cycling/qr_battery/qr_battery.html

I got 305 amazon for 128 quid on monday..