Which watch?

BriBru

Hey all,

To summarise: I'm looking for a watch.
I will be using it for adventure races, marathons and gym use.

I have looked through some of the threads and the 910 seems to be the top dog, however I do not require the swim feature so is the 910 overkill?

I like Suunto's round face, have they a suitable candidate?

I would like a Heart Rate Monitor too.

I work in a store that sells these and I'm still very confused about the whole scene!

Help please!

Thanks in advance!

miller82

i had the Garmin forerunner 405 and now have Timex Ironman Gobal Trainer. Recommend both highly. Timex is a step up and bought it in the states cheap, not sure i would have otherwise, but its class and the training peaks sight that accompanies it is brilliant for tracking your training and diet

sconhome

Polar RC3 GPS with HRM will tick all the boxes for you.

Has capability of several sport profiles and speed & cadence sensors for the bike so can multi sport with it.

Great unit and no issues.

hardCopy

If size doesn't matter, the 310xt is basically a 910 without the swim features

BriBru

amphkingwest wrote: »

Polar RC3 GPS with HRM will tick all the boxes for you.

Has capability of several sport profiles and speed & cadence sensors for the bike so can multi sport with it.

Great unit and no issues.

Are Polar still at the races? Haven't seen them mentioned much.

BriBru

hardCopy wrote: »

If size doesn't matter, the 310xt is basically a 910 without the swim features

Like most men, I believe size does matter!
The 310xt is quite large but I could get over that if it's the one for me!

Price wise, is it worth spending the extra for the 910xt?

BUACHAILL

I have just purchased the 910xt and did a lot of research on them all.

I think personally Polar are styled better but I would question the software and to be honest used Garmin before and like them so I may have been slightly biased. Think they are hard to beat overall and would certainly be the market leader so I guess if you ever where to sell or upgrade you have a better chance of getting your money back.

Even though you may not need the swim feature now its not to say you wont down the road and I would rather have it and not need it than need and not have.

Go Garmin 910 for what my opinion is worth.

BriBru

BUACHAILL wrote: »

I have just purchased the 910xt and did a lot of research on them all.

I think personally Polar are styled better but I would question the software and to be honest used Garmin before and like them so I may have been slightly biased. Think they are hard to beat overall and would certainly be the market leader so I guess if you ever where to sell or upgrade you have a better chance of getting your money back.

Even though you may not need the swim feature now its not to say you wont down the road and I would rather have it and not need it than need and not have.

Go Garmin 910 for what my opinion is worth.

I think I just wanted to someone to tell me to buy it! So unless I get a serious alternative, 910 may just win! Thanks!:D

BUACHAILL

Yes I had gathered that :-)

good luck

BriBru

With regards the 910, any issues? I've seen so many people complaining about fogging and software that it seems like it's almost 50/50 whether you are lucky or not. How rare/frequent are faults?

BUACHAILL

To be honest do not have mine long enough to judge correctly, only got it 2 weeks ago and have been injured, used twice in the pool and no fogging to date, everything else works fine and I love it.

There has been a lot of issues so far according to much more experienced on here but don't see what else out there is worth buying over it so I was prepared to take the chance

tunney

BriBru wrote: »

With regards the 910, any issues? I've seen so many people complaining about fogging and software that it seems like it's almost 50/50 whether you are lucky or not. How rare/frequent are faults?

Oh if only it was 50/50

Most 910xts either ship with or develop serious problems. As a 910 owner i would say avoid all garmin products. Their manufacturing has gone to pot.

Ceepo

+1 on thar Time Global Trainer.

Have it over 6mths, and no issues, and ok it doesn't do swimming like the 910xt , but it does everything else well. The gps, cadence, heart rate.
Also way cheaper than 910. Paid $127 on eBay.

sconhome

BriBru wrote: »

Are Polar still at the races? Haven't seen them mentioned much.

Don't get mentioned because they don't cause any problems.

The RC3 GPS is their first integrated GPS watch and is comparable with the Garmin 405/410 in terms of functionality.

Different set up to Garmin, and not ant+ compatible, Polar do their own WIND technology.

If you want more serious multisporter options then the bigger brother RCX5 is a different unit.

sconhome

BriBru wrote: »

Like most men, I believe size does matter!
The 310xt is quite large but I could get over that if it's the one for me!

Price wise, is it worth spending the extra for the 910xt?

I would recommend the 310 quicker than the 910 for someone who has their heart set on Garmin.

If you want swim functionality you can always pick up the specific swim watch at a later stage.

Avoid the 910 until they do a product update. There I've said it.

Ceepo

Really like the look of both polar watches., and have been using Polar hrm for years problem free, only thing I ever had to do was replace the battery.
The Global Trainer has all the functions as the Garmin 310xt with out the glitches.
So I suppose it comes down to what you want the watch for and what you want the watch to look at.
910 looks nice and neat, but has to may issue's for my liking and is expensive, 310 ugly as f*UK, and bit better on price but HR not reliable. Polar are the front runner when it comes to hr, and nice looking watch as well, and issue for me at the time was not ant+ and rcx5 has separate gps unit, and rcx3 is integrated but wasn't available at the time. I have been using a Timex watch ironman 100 lap for over 10 yrs, that speaks for itself, just replace battery and go again. I did find the Global Trainer a bit big at the start but once u start running you forget it's there, ant+ so I use Garmin cadence. Heart rate is bang on which for me was important. it comes with a bike mount so I less thing to buy. And at the price I paid for it, and it was well worth the money.

So my friend the choice is yours


You will probably go for the Garmin because, as well everyone else does :-)

tunney

amphkingwest wrote: »

Don't get mentioned because they don't cause any problems.

The RC3 GPS is their first integrated GPS watch and is comparable with the Garmin 405/410 in terms of functionality.

Different set up to Garmin, and not ant+ compatible, Polar do their own WIND technology.

If you want more serious multisporter options then the bigger brother RCX5 is a different unit.

Unfortunately if you are serious, runner or multisport, then post do not have a offering for you. RS800 maybe but that's it.

sconhome

tunney wrote: »

Unfortunately if you are serious, runner or multisport, then post do not have a offering for you. RS800 maybe but that's it.

Stress is on the word 'serious' too. As serious sportspeople may have a combination of different units for achieving different things its proving very hard to find one size fits all in the multisport watches.

The RS800 is a smashing unit. Just not as user friendly as the Garmin. Also because it is a few years old at this stage it is not as easy to use on the back end with Polar Personal Trainer etc.

On the other side a good coach / program and a simple heart rate monitor works for some.

tunney

amphkingwest wrote: »

Stress is on the word 'serious' too. As serious sportspeople may have a combination of different units for achieving different things its proving very hard to find one size fits all in the multisport watches.

The RS800 is a smashing unit. Just not as user friendly as the Garmin. Also because it is a few years old at this stage it is not as easy to use on the back end with Polar Personal Trainer etc.

On the other side a good coach / program and a simple heart rate monitor works for some.

I'm actually coming around to the multiple units that do things right idea.

Garmin swim in the water.
SRM on the bike.

Question is what on the run?

Ceepo

tunney wrote: »

I'm actually coming around to the multiple units that do things right idea.

Garmin swim in the water.
SRM on the bike.

Question is what on the run?

If like me most people will know where they run and how far some loops are eg 6ml 7ml 8ml etc etc so i dont need to measure every run, And i train by time 50 min run 1h run etc, so dont need Garmin Global trainer etc for every run, i use hr for some runs, mostly for recovery runs, i do my speed work on marked roads or track so only need time as i do speed of time feel,
Ok Ok maybe not all train this way.

So answer is Polar HRM with record function RS400 maybe

Kurt Godel

tunney wrote: »

I'm actually coming around to the multiple units that do things right idea.

Garmin swim in the water.
SRM on the bike.

Question is what on the run?

This is the reason I am looking at the 910xt. I'd love to get the Garmin Swim, but its only good for the pool, no OW capabilities. If it had GPS for sea swimming, I'd be all over it, but then if it had GPS it may as well support running and biking... and be the 910.

What'll you do for your OW data?

shotgunmcos

The 910 is grand, for training. Some people just like to moan about every bit of new kit that comes out! To be honest I'd have kept the 310 if it had the swim features. Yes there are things I could improve about the 910 that I'm sure they will figure out and add to a newer model in time to come. For a triathlete though or an OW swimmer who does a little running or biking, its a great training tool. I try not to be a slave to it though and train to feel a lot as (LD aside) I'll abandon the watch for race day.

Like any Garmin, it would be nice if it picked up the GPS quicker. HR data for swimming would be cool too

sconhome

Any GPS unit will track your OW swim.

Does the 910 give you your stroke count and SWOLF scores in OW?

@tunney - I'm guessing that a universal program like Training Peaks or WKO is probably the best base to collate the multiple training data strands rather than a little bit on Garmin Connect, some on PPT or Polar ProTrainer for example?

If I was going run specific, I'd probably go Garmin 610 or Polar RS800.

The RS400 while a good watch does not give any option of adding GPS tracking, whereas the G3 & G5 pods can be used with the RS800.

Sorry to OP for diverting the thread.

tunney

Kurt Godel wrote: »

This is the reason I am looking at the 910xt. I'd love to get the Garmin Swim, but its only good for the pool, no OW capabilities. If it had GPS for sea swimming, I'd be all over it, but then if it had GPS it may as well support running and biking... and be the 910.

What'll you do for your OW data?

I don't really care about OW swimming to be honest. In a race its irrelevant, in training in OW all I care about is sighting and distance doesn't matter.

shotgunmcos wrote: »

The 910 is grand, for training. Some people just like to moan about every bit of new kit that comes out! To be honest I'd have kept the 310 if it had the swim features. Yes there are things I could improve about the 910 that I'm sure they will figure out and add to a newer model in time to come. For a triathlete though or an OW swimmer who does a little running or biking, its a great training tool. I try not to be a slave to it though and train to feel a lot as (LD aside) I'll abandon the watch for race day.

Like any Garmin, it would be nice if it picked up the GPS quicker. HR data for swimming would be cool too

Other than the fogging I am completely happy with the 910xt, I think the features are excellent.

amphkingwest wrote: »

Any GPS unit will track your OW swim.

Does the 910 give you your stroke count and SWOLF scores in OW?

@tunney - I'm guessing that a universal program like Training Peaks or WKO is probably the best base to collate the multiple training data strands rather than a little bit on Garmin Connect, some on PPT or Polar ProTrainer for example?

If I was going run specific, I'd probably go Garmin 610 or Polar RS800.

The RS400 while a good watch does not give any option of adding GPS tracking, whereas the G3 & G5 pods can be used with the RS800.

Sorry to OP for diverting the thread.

610 - is that even vaguely waterproof though?

I have used TrainingPeaks and WKO for about 5 years. All data in one place and I can get numbers on anything very very quickly

peter kern

I know I wad never a serious athlete
But my Casio for 12 euro was first class with a meassured out run course for intervals and gave me the pace I needed more accurate than any gps
Worked fantastically well in the pool

So 12 euro gave me a lot I needed and no hassle with strapes batteries etc,

On the bike its either power or nothing speed distance pretty much irrelevant
And if you want cadance by a metronom ....

amphkingwest wrote: »

Any GPS unit will track your OW swim.

Does the 910 give you your stroke count and SWOLF scores in OW?

@tunney - I'm guessing that a universal program like Training Peaks or WKO is probably the best base to collate the multiple training data strands rather than a little bit on Garmin Connect, some on PPT or Polar ProTrainer for example?

If I was going run specific, I'd probably go Garmin 610 or Polar RS800.

The RS400 while a good watch does not give any option of adding GPS tracking, whereas the G3 & G5 pods can be used with the RS800.

Sorry to OP for diverting the thread.

sconhome

tunney wrote: »

610 - is that even vaguely waterproof though?

Was gonna do something like '910 - FYP' but enough Garmin bashing. Its a great watch just has basic fundamental faults that shouldnt be there.

The 610 I was suggesting as run specific, no water based activities.

Kurt Godel

tunney wrote: »

I don't really care about OW swimming to be honest. In a race its irrelevant, in training in OW all I care about is sighting and distance doesn't matter.

I take your point about pool metrics being most useful, but I'd also be interested in the sighting line info from OW swimming, to see how much off the straight line your garmin track goes. Distance/time info I find as useful as running distance/time, fun to look at.

This is a very useful thread, and its made up my mind to purchase a 910, versus a Garmin Swim/305 combo. The consensus seems to be the 910 is the best jack of all trades.

tunney

Kurt Godel wrote: »

I take your point about pool metrics being most useful, but I'd also be interested in the sighting line info from OW swimming, to see how much off the straight line your garmin track goes. Distance/time info I find as useful as running distance/time, fun to look at.

This is a very useful thread, and its made up my mind to purchase a 910, versus a Garmin Swim/305 combo. The consensus seems to be the 910 is the best jack of all trades.

But the 910xts swim lines in OW won't be straight either. The lock loss and re-acquisition makes it a little inaccurate.

amphkingwest wrote: »

Was gonna do something like '910 - FYP' but enough Garmin bashing. Its a great watch just has basic fundamental faults that shouldnt be there.

The 610 I was suggesting as run specific, no water based activities.

But what if it rains an awful lot and it gets very very wet that way I meant!

tunney

peter kern wrote: »

I know I wad never a serious athlete
But my Casio for 12 euro was first class with a meassured out run course for intervals and gave me the pace I needed more accurate than any gps
Worked fantastically well in the pool

So 12 euro gave me a lot I needed and no hassle with strapes batteries etc,

On the bike its either power or nothing speed distance pretty much irrelevant
And if you want cadance by a metronom ....

To be fair to this approach I am back working where I worked for 5 years and when I ran alot. So I know where the 1km markers are and I know what time to hit them in is "good" depending on the wind conditions. Alot to be said for it.

sconhome

tunney wrote: »

But the 910xts swim lines in OW won't be straight either. The lock loss and re-acquisition makes it a little inaccurate.



But what if it rains an awful lot and it gets very very wet that way I meant!

Ok, I tap out, go Polar RS800 instead. 2 year warranty & waterproof.

tunney

amphkingwest wrote: »

Ok, I tap out, go Polar RS800 instead. 2 year warranty & waterproof.

No that was a genuine question - can the 610 cope with heavy rain?

I am leaning towards a garmin swim, SRM and RS800 approach for training to be honest.

sconhome

Watch is IPX7 rated so can take a dunking.

The only problem with the Garmin 610 and rain AFAIK is that the screen would be activated by rain drops and this annoyed people who forgot to either lock the screen or trigger an auto-lock function. Its been a while, but that was the downside.

Feature wise (for run) I'd stick it up there with the RS800.

peter kern

tunney wrote: »

To be fair to this approach I am back working where I worked for 5 years and when I ran alot. So I know where the 1km markers are and I know what time to hit them in is "good" depending on the wind conditions. Alot to be said for it.

i did not know polar and garmin have a wind normalizer built in their watch.
otherwise its casio on a 400m track 2 k ecaxt garmin most of the time gives 2.1 k and then people ask me is the running track accurately meassured ;-)

tunney

peter kern wrote: »

i did not know polar and garmin have a wind normalizer built in their watch.
otherwise its casio on a 400m track 2 k ecaxt garmin most of the time gives 2.1 k and then people ask me is the running track accurately meassured ;-)

no but I do, I start most of my runs with a small lap so i know where the wind is and how strong it is and can adapt the sessions accordingly

hardCopy

peter kern wrote: »

I know I wad never a serious athlete
But my Casio for 12 euro was first class with a meassured out run course for intervals and gave me the pace I needed more accurate than any gps
Worked fantastically well in the pool

So 12 euro gave me a lot I needed and no hassle with strapes batteries etc,

On the bike its either power or nothing speed distance pretty much irrelevant
And if you want cadance by a metronom ....

Just bear in mind the Casio F-91W will only time up to one hour.

Kurt Godel

Kurt Godel wrote: »

This is a very useful thread, and its made up my mind to purchase a 910, versus a Garmin Swim/305 combo. The consensus seems to be the 910 is the best jack of all trades.

Why don't threads stop when you make a decision? Peter Kern's point about the old school casio made me cancel my 910xt order. My hoary old 305 will still do me for runs and bikes tracking, casio for intervals, and a new Garmin Swim for the pool. I'll rob OW data from Abhainn's garmin (just lap him and multiply his distance x2;))

ray o

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Why don't threads stop when you make a decision? Peter Kern's point about the old school casio made me cancel my 910xt order. My hoary old 305 will still do me for runs and bikes tracking, casio for intervals, and a new Garmin Swim for the pool. I'll rob OW data from Abhainn's garmin (just lap him and multiply his distance x2;))

I think your right. I picked up my replacement 910 yesterday - only my 2nd one but if this one doesn't work out i'm not taking another one. I'll take a Garmin swim instead and revert to my old 405 and 310xt for the rest.

tunney

ray o wrote: »

I think your right. I picked up my replacement 910 yesterday - only my 2nd one but if this one doesn't work out i'm not taking another one. I'll take a Garmin swim instead and revert to my old 405 and 310xt for the rest.

Garmin 910xt #4 of mine is going back tomorrow, this time to Garmin.

However in my email correspondence with them they have state that "direct sunlight can cause this".

So here we have a sports watch that cannot be used in daylight hours............

ray o

tunney wrote: »

Garmin 910xt #4 of mine is going back tomorrow, this time to Garmin.

However in my email correspondence with them they have state that "direct sunlight can cause this".

So here we have a sports watch that cannot be used in daylight hours............

Well they can add moonlight and/or street lights ot that list. I was out with it last week at 8pm and it fogged up. Not as bad or for as long as in direct sunlight but still happned. Also put it into perspective last night when the wife caught sight of the box with the price tag (hid the last one). "Thats nearly €500?" Yeah I said, it's a great little unit. but the more I thought about it the more pissed off I felt.

BriBru

Is there anything to be said for the Suunto Ambit? Seems like a great little unit with very few reports of faults!

tunney

BriBru wrote: »

Is there anything to be said for the Suunto Ambit? Seems like a great little unit with very few reports of faults!

ANT versus ANT+

sconhome

DC Rainmaker always has tons to say about gear. He's the go-to gadget person.

tunney

"Next is the heart rate strap. This wirelessly transmits data to the Ambit using Suunto’s variant of ANT. Note that this is not compatible with ANT+."

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2012/04/suunto-ambit-in-depth-review.html


Might as well just get a polar for interoperability.

BriBru

Forgive me, but ANT and ANT+ are what exactly?

tunney

BriBru wrote: »

Forgive me, but ANT and ANT+ are what exactly?

data transmission protocols.

ANT+ (Garmin, SRM, Powertap, Power2max most things)
ANT (Suunto, SRM)
BTLE (no one despite what AKW will tell you)
WIND (Polar)

ANT and WIND are dead.

BTLE showed promise but was stillborn.

ANT+ dominates.

BriBru

Oh ok! So if it's not using ANT+, it's not worth mentioning?

sconhome

ANT+ is the future proofing of your new unit. It will allow you to add non Garmin power meters, weighing scales etc to your collection and allow them to communicate together.

WIND is the Polar version. There is no possiblility of communicating with non Polar products in the current range of Polar.

Looking into it I agree with Tunney on the BTLE. Polar brought out a BTLE strap to enable a Polar HRM to be coupled with iPhone to run with standard fitness apps. All the other BTLE products seem to have disappeared a quiet death.

I'm not, not recommending Polar to you but I think Garmin may be getting their act in order with newer batches of their 910xt. Put it this way, they have to.

peter kern

BriBru wrote: »

Oh ok! So if it's not using ANT+, it's not worth mentioning?

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2012/08/suunto-ambit-to-get-full-ant.html

still more valuable for orientiering.

BriBru

Is this a bad time to be watch hunting? Am I better off waiting for the next, hopefully faultless, edition of the 910xt?

sconhome

BriBru wrote: »

I will be using it for adventure races, marathons and gym use.

OK back to the original question.

If you came into me with the above criteria for advice the first watch I would recommend would be the Garmin FR10 or Forerunner 210

BriBru wrote: »

I would like a Heart Rate Monitor too.

When you mention this, my advice would be Polar RC3 GPS.

To fit the bill as you outline it Polar RC3 GPS is perfect.

peter kern

BriBru wrote: »

Is this a bad time to be watch hunting? Am I better off waiting for the next, hopefully faultless, edition of the 910xt?

so you are willing to spend big on a suntto
than I would go and buy a casio 12 euro ( your all day watch the most aero dynamic watch on the market and the lighetest one too ;-) battery live is 3 years i think
polar hr 65 euro they work .
buy a 2nd hand garmin from all those people that dichted their 310 or 405 garmins for for the 910 for about 100 euro
and then but a pool mate ( again 2nd hand ditched by the 910 guys and buy for 50 euro
and for 230 euro you have quite a lot of stuff and 1 watch out of those 4 will always be working.....
and the good thing the casio works better on the track
the polar hr way better than the garmin HR
and the 405 and 310 are proven models and i think the older the more robust they were built ( something the new garmins seem to fail )
so at least everything you buy works ;-)
and if you lose 1 watch you havent lost half a grand ;-)
in the worst case 100 euro .......