Garmin Advice!

fguinan

Hi All - I am a relative newcomer to this running/adventure racing lark and am thinking about getting a garmin GPS.

I have read all the online reviews and comparisons but need help on deciding which forerunner to buy!

The 405 main drawbacks seem to be the bezel function, and the short battery life.
The 305 seems to be great value on amazon - £137, the size is the only drawback.
The 310xt is all singing all dancing but at the end of the day doesn't seem to do anything that the 305 can't... is it much smaller? and is it worth paying double the price?

Thanks

_sheep

I own a 405 so ill give me 2 cents. I can see why the bezel function of the 405 annoys some people, but to be honest while you are running you dont use it anyway so its not an issue at all (well for me anyway). The few times I've had to use it while running all i had to do was dry my finger a little bit and it was very easy to use.

The battery at 8 hours or whatever isnt fantasic, but again for me its a none issue as nothing I plan on doing in the forseeable future will have me out for more than 8 hours. The reduced size of the 405 is what swung me in the end after seeing a guys 305, but I could very easily have bought a 305 only for I got a good deal on the 405.

gerard65

fguinan wrote: »

Hi All - I am a relative newcomer to this running/adventure racing lark and am thinking about getting a garmin GPS.

I have read all the online reviews and comparisons but need help on deciding which forerunner to buy!

The 405 main drawbacks seem to be the bezel function, and the short battery life.
The 305 seems to be great value on amazon - £137, the size is the only drawback.
The 310xt is all singing all dancing but at the end of the day doesn't seem to do anything that the 305 can't... is it much smaller? and is it worth paying double the price?

Thanks

My 2 cents - I have a 205 (305 without the HRM) and a 405. The 405 was my worse buy. Never liked it - the bezel is awful, even when your not using it on the run, and the battery life is very poor. I also found the screen too small to read on the run. The 205/305 has real buttons, easy to use and a good battery life (which seems to get better the longer I have it). The draw back is its size if you have small wrists but I don't find it a problem. I don't know anything about the 310 but it looks slightly smaller than the 205/305. Unless you've got small wrists you'd be better going for a 205/305 - you'll pick one up much cheaper.
P.S.. I think the 405 picks up the sat. signal a bit quicker.

RacoonQueen

The bezel can be a right pain in the backside especially in the rain/if you have sweaty fingers and sometimes it just decides not to work. :rolleyes:

RayCun

I've a 305 and I'm happy with it. It looks huge, I know, but it doesn't feel heavy or awkward when I'm wearing it.

fguinan

Thanks for the replies! I have decided to go for the 305.... now all i have to do is train

crosbie

Just to confuse things further, there is a new entry level Garmin GPS coming out the 110 xt. Specially designed for runners and smaller than the 205/305 so maybe u wanna wait and have a look at that!!

torunforfree

i have 405 and think its fine.best to lock bezel when in use.
just wondering when i use the stopwatch part and look at it i see a time,say 69 sec,but when i press lap it goes to 70sec.is it just slow changing or does this have something to do with the sats

480905

Can anyone troubleshoot a problem with the 305. When I connect it by USB to the computer I can hear the sound but when I go to transfer information a dialog box pops up and says "there was a problem communicating with your device,please make sure it is connected toy your computer". Now I've done all the usual turn everything off and turned it back on and I've uninstalled it and re-installed it but it still comes up with that message. HELP please,

gerard65

480905 wrote: »

Can anyone troubleshoot a problem with the 305. When I connect it by USB to the computer I can hear the sound but when I go to transfer information a dialog box pops up and says "there was a problem communicating with your device,please make sure it is connected toy your computer". Now I've done all the usual turn everything off and turned it back on and I've uninstalled it and re-installed it but it still comes up with that message. HELP please,

Had this problem a good while ago but there was a hardware/software ungrade on the garmin site which fixed this. Make sure all your versions are up-to-date.

InTheTrees

I just bought a 305 this afternoon. I read the reviews and decided against the 405.

$190

Its certainly bulky and I'm a man (not Big though). But Its light so that helps, i was worried it would be heavy and unbalanced but its okay.

Its charging right now and i was going to use it for my evening run but its dumping rain and I guess I'll be on the treadmill instead.

Krusty_Clown

InTheTrees wrote: »

Its charging right now and i was going to use it for my evening run but its dumping rain and I guess I'll be on the treadmill instead.

It's water-proof to IPX7 (1 metre of water for 15 minutes). I'm sure a bit of rain wouldn't do it an harm.

DeepSleeper

Found a Garmin (minus the wrist strap) on a mountain in the west a while ago - send me details of model and mountain if you think it may be yours...

InTheTrees

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

It's water-proof to IPX7 (1 metre of water for 15 minutes). I'm sure a bit of rain wouldn't do it an harm.

I saw that. Really impressive.

Its purely my own delicacy thats keeping me indoors.

:rolleyes:

InTheTrees

crosbie wrote: »

Just to confuse things further, there is a new entry level Garmin GPS coming out the 110 xt. Specially designed for runners and smaller than the 205/305 so maybe u wanna wait and have a look at that!!

I read some reviews and they trashed it. APparently it doesnt give you pace, all it does is give you an average pace at the end of your run.

Check out amazon.com for user reviews.

Krusty_Clown

DeepSleeper wrote: »

Found a Garmin (minus the wrist strap) on a mountain in the west a while ago - send me details of model and mountain if you think it may be yours...

Ooh, I love guessing games. 310xt on Djouce? Do I win?

Fair play to ya.

InTheTrees

DeepSleeper wrote: »

Found a Garmin (minus the wrist strap) on a mountain in the west a while ago - send me details of model and mountain if you think it may be yours...

You could try plugging it into a computer andit may well identify the owner. You'd have to get a mini-usb cable though...

DeepSleeper

Not Djouce anyway, because I've never been there.... Can't power it up because I don't have a base unit or whatever it plugs into - No sign of a place to connect a USB to it. Might try to open it with a soft tap of a hammer to see what's inside...;)

InTheTrees

DeepSleeper wrote: »

Not Djouce anyway, because I've never been there.... Can't power it up because I don't have a base unit or whatever it plugs into - No sign of a place to connect a USB to it. Might try to open it with a soft tap of a hammer to see what's inside...;)

Hmm, thats right it docks to a charger which has the USB connection...

If its a 205 or a 305 its well worth seeing if you can get it going, you can buy the charger and the cable and a new strap and you're good to go.

I wouldn't worry too much about reuniting it with its previous owner.