Which watch?

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 .......

BriBru

Unfortunately, this is where I become problematic as a customer.

The thoughts of having 3 or 4 different watches or data trackers is the stuff of nightmares for me. I LOVE integration; and the seamless the better too!

In an ideal world, there would be one watch to rule them all (a nod to my love of fantasy!) At the moment, I'm making the transition from running to running and cycling. I have no intentions of swimming competitively in the next 12 months so a swim feature is not essential.

The reason why I was looking at the Ambit and 910xt is because I thought they were the best for what I wanted. I did have concerns that they might be overkill, however I'd prefer that my chosen watch was too good than not good enough.

Am I being too picky? Is there hope for me yet?

tunney

amphkingwest wrote: »

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



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

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

Going to agree with this the Polar RC3 GPS sounds ideal for the poster

BriBru

I actually like this watch! It looks slim and easy to use! I think we might have a winner! Thanks people!

just-joe

So there are some problems with the garmin 910. Are there any problems with the garmin 310xt?


It seems like garmin 310xt can do cadence as well, and the unit is included in the bundle. So that would cost extra with the polar rc3 gps?

sconhome

just-joe wrote: »

So there are some problems with the garmin 910. Are there any problems with the garmin 310xt?


It seems like garmin 310xt can do cadence as well, and the unit is included in the bundle. So that would cost extra with the polar rc3 gps?

There are a number of different bundle options available on most sports watches.

The 310xt is bundled either with or without HRM as is the Polar RC3 GPS. Unless there is a special edition bundle speed & cadence sensors are usually bought as an add on to the package. As are the other optional accessories like, handlebar mounts, foot pods etc.

Re the problems with 910xt, they appear to be getting sorted as issues with the earlier batches are being resolved (fingers crossed). It does seem to be a mixed bag of issues but regular updates are sorting the software issues. There have been no issues with the 310xt in my experience.

tunney

I've returned four garmin 910xts.

I got a garmin swim and was going to use that in conjunction with something else.

The garmin swim fogs worse and longer than any of the 910xts and I've not yet swum with it. Goes back Monday or Tuesday.

I think the moral of the story is to outright avoid Garmin products.

tunney

As an aside I went swimming this morning. No Garmin Swim, no 910xt, no Swimsense, not even a stop watch. Normal clock for session length and the pool clock. And it was a great swim, no distractions, no stupid watches crashing or fogging. Way to go

BTH

tunney wrote: »

As an aside I went swimming this morning. No Garmin Swim, no 910xt, no Swimsense, not even a stop watch. Normal clock for session length and the pool clock. And it was a great swim, no distractions, no stupid watches crashing or fogging. Way to go

Strange that. I've never seen the pool clock fog up either. Always works, and you never leave it at home by accident either. Think ill stick with that.

BennyMul

tunney wrote: »

I think the moral of the story is to outright avoid Garmin products.

would the moral of the story not be that there is a significantgap in the market for an all-round quality watch, with a good build standards.

sconhome

BennyMul wrote: »

would the moral of the story not be that there is a significantgap in the market for an all-round quality watch, with a good build standards.

Polar.

You can't fault them for quality or build standards. 2 year warranty as standard.

The downside of Polar is the lack of integratablility with ANT+ trainers etc.