Garmin forerunner

clouter · 17-01-2009 01:45PM #1

Hi folks, first time poster here.
Decided to run the Belfast marathon in May (my first!!!):o

Was looking to buy the Garmin forerunner 205 or 305. Just wondering is their any store in south east that stocks them or would i have to get it online. Any help much appreciated.

hunnymonster · 17-01-2009 02:17PM

You'll almost certainly get better value online. I would definitely go with the 305 rather than the 205 if your budget allows. Good luck with Belfast training.

Running Bing · 17-01-2009 03:55PM

Personally I dont buy anything other than DVD's, CD's or Books online because I prefer the peace of mind of buying in a bricks and mortar shop and the lack of hassle should anything go wrong.....Having said that I bought a 405 before christmas from Elara http://www.elara.ie/products/results.asp?srch=forerunner&anyallexact=all&manu=&productcode=&mancode=&searchBtn=Search

Its the best of both worlds really.....much much cheaper than anything I have seen in the shops and you can pick it up yourself from their place just of the Naas road. Cant recommend it highly enough.

holdfast · 17-01-2009 04:32PM

I have a 305 forerunner for sale only used twice.

clouter · 17-01-2009 06:27PM

holdfast- how much are u looking for? what part of the country are u in?

rigal · 17-01-2009 07:29PM

I bought the 305 online last week. Doing my first marathon in May as well (Edinburgh). I think it's great so far and it has a heart rate monitor also which gives it a bit more of a novelty factor for me.

Bought it from wiggle.co.uk - see link

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Run/8/Garmin_Forerunner_305_GPS/5360022115/

€160 was good value I thought. There are usually discount codes posted up on the cycling forum which will get you c.€5-€10 off the list price.

Best of luck....

911sc · 17-01-2009 09:00PM

Check Amazon. Garmin GPS competitively priced.

holdfast · 18-01-2009 10:34AM

I am in kerry and i will sell for 100 euro or less if you can find online for less than that.

shels4ever · 22-01-2009 02:58PM

just ordered a 305 myself...

comer_97 · 22-01-2009 03:36PM

I got a forerunner 405 from Elara a few weeks ago and I love it.

Good Service and delivery time from Elara too.

misty floyd · 22-01-2009 03:52PM

The 305 is massive. About the size of a box of 20 smokes!! Anyway, great peice of kit. I find it very satisfying coming in after a run to add my recent run to all of my others. From reading up about these forerunners, it seems the 405 has pretty much the same features only smaller. The 405 also eats more battery. I didn't think it was worth the extra €50 - €60 for a smaller watch. I don't really care how it looks.

shels4ever · 22-01-2009 04:19PM

misty floyd wrote: »

The 305 is massive. About the size of a box of 20 smokes!! Anyway, great peice of kit. I find it very satisfying coming in after a run to add my recent run to all of my others. From reading up about these forerunners, it seems the 405 has pretty much the same features only smaller. The 405 also eats more battery. I didn't think it was worth the extra €50 - €60 for a smaller watch. I don't really care how it looks.

Ah i know i've seen the 305's is grand for what i need it for, not planning on wearing them out or anything. But saying that the 405 looks nice. Can't wait to try out the new toy when it comes.

shels4ever · 27-01-2009 10:57AM

Well picked up a 305 last night from Elara handy they are located online a 5 mins drive form where I live.

So will take my new toy out for a run now.

kennyb3 · 27-01-2009 12:15PM

Could anyone tell me re the link below will i need the foot pod to get

- Speed and Distance lets you track your running speed, distance and calories

???

just seems to have the heart monitor, clearly the footpod version is more expensive. most of the sites just give a standard description. really want the above features.

http://www.peats.com/cgi-bin/catalog.cgi?view_product=1&id=25433

Thanks in advance

belcarra · 27-01-2009 02:02PM

Hi all,

By any chance has anyone got a Garmin 305 available for sale?

I want to buy one and will probably buy online in a few days time but if anyone had one that they're looking to get rid of then I'd be interested.

drquirky · 16-02-2009 02:38PM

Hey all-

Just a quick question- I'll be up in Belfast the next few days and was hoping to pick up a Garmin....any recs on model? Thanks

robinph · 16-02-2009 02:42PM

The 405 is the dogs dangly bits.

I got one for £195 from Amazon recently but not sure what you'd be looking at in a real shop.

Peckham · 16-02-2009 03:19PM

If there's a notably price differential between the 305 and the 405, then I'd recommend the 305. Very little difference in features between the two.

McConkey · 16-02-2009 03:41PM

My 305 arrived today-the day after I got hurt running a race

So won't get to try it out just yet but since I had a thread on it a few weeks ago and a few people were interested in hearing about it, I am going to post a thread about it here when I get to play with it.

Initial thoughts: It is a big watch but then I have a slim wrist (I'm a girl), but it fits fine, I was afraid the stap would be too large.

It is in the middle of its first three hour charge now so I can't mess with it. If you look back a couple of weeks on the threads you might find some info there, Woddle gave me a few links for different sites containing information and indeed critique of the various Garmin watches.

kennyb3 · 16-02-2009 04:15PM

I have a forerunner 50 with footpod, obviously no GPS like the others mentioned above. but does the business for me - distance run, splits, total time, speed in kmph or mph while running.

got one for €110

HardyEustace · 16-02-2009 06:33PM

I used my sister's 305 at the weekend and loved it. Lovely screen, really easy to use. Was worried about it being big and heavy as I'm fairly small, wrist circumference of about six inches but was very comfortable for an 18m run.

Thus was wandered into amazon to see how much the 405 was. The reviews for the 405 were fairly shocking. I was expecting to see rave reviews but it was certainly not the case. Shame as the 405 is a lovely looking watch.

TheRoadRunner · 16-02-2009 07:20PM

HardyEustace wrote: »

Thus was wandered into amazon to see how much the 405 was. The reviews for the 405 were fairly shocking. I was expecting to see rave reviews but it was certainly not the case. Shame as the 405 is a lovely looking watch.

I've read some of those reviews also but still went ahead and bought the 405. I absolutely love it, no complaints at all. I've never had another GPS watch to compare it against though

Redjeep! · 16-02-2009 07:33PM

I've got a 305 and love it more than is healthy.

copacetic · 16-02-2009 07:39PM

I have both, the 405 is great, but so was the 305. Main difference is the size and the wireless data transfer, the 405 gets the sats quicker too. The 405 is wearable day to day if you like also.

Not sure why the 405 would have bad reviews, imo it is worth the extra for the more 'watch' like size and the fact you can put it in watch mode. If you don't care about this the 305 would be fine and can probably pick up second hand one for next to nothing.

Running Bing · 16-02-2009 07:51PM

Got the 405 at Christmas and its one of the best presents I ever got.

My only criticism is when its raining the touch bezel is totally unusable. Two reasons this doesn't bother me:

1) when I use it I generally lock the bezel anyway. The screen shows up to three fields of info (e.g Heart rate, pace and distance) which I find is enough

2) I am generally lucky in avoiding the rain as since Christmas running 5-6 days per week I have only really encountered the problem once (it was annoying when it happened though:D)

Aside from that I find it really excellent. Very usable, incredibly helpful when doing stuff like intervals or tempo runs where pacing is important, you get ages out of the battery (which I was surprised with) and the wireless transfer is very convenient. Great product imo.

BeepBeep67 · 16-02-2009 08:01PM

Great timing for this post, I'm over in the US in 2 weeks and was thinking about picking one up.
I have the Timex Ironman Bodylink Speed and Distance, but because the GPS receiver needs to worn on the arm I tend to only use for new routes.
So looks like I might try and pick up a 405

TheRoadRunner · 16-02-2009 08:14PM

as was said above the bezel can be a pain in the hole when it is raining but I always lock mine so it's never an issue. I also have an unhealthy love affair with my 405.

Krusty_Clown · 16-02-2009 09:55PM

Babybing wrote: »

<Lots of really good feeback>

Everything that Babybing said, +1. I too have an unnatural love affair with my 405. More than any gadget deserves.

A few friends have had problems with theirs, but when they work right, they really work great. If you have problems, you need to upgrade the firmware, and if they still persist, send it back.

Daithi BC · 16-02-2009 09:59PM

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Everything that Babybing said, +1. I too have an unnatural love affair with my 405. More than any gadget deserves.
A few friends have had problems with theirs, but when they work right, they really work great. If you have problems, you need to upgrade the firmware, and if they still persist, send it back.

Everything that Krusty said +1. I'd be lost on my long run without my 405. The main reason I got it instead of the 305 was for the heart rate monitor, but the GPS on it is also much better than the 105 I was using before that.

Very annoying in the rain though....

Sosa · 16-02-2009 10:03PM

kennyb3 wrote: »

I have a forerunner 50 with footpod, obviously no GPS like the others mentioned above. but does the business for me - distance run, splits, total time, speed in kmph or mph while running.

got one for €110

I have the same model and its the job.
I got mine for €70 on ebay.

Cualaman · 17-02-2009 09:06AM

Was up north on Saturday and picked one up in Halfords in Craigavon for 169.99 and i am delighted with it so far. Check the Halfords website, you can reserve on line and pay when you pick up in the store.
Good luck
Cualaman

Garmin forerunner

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