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opinions on running watches... (Read 1400 times)

    I am looking to purchase a new running watch.  GPS is not important to me.  I rarely run in areas I am unfamiliar with.  I am more interested in being able to measure my pace and distance.  I found the following online and wondered if anyone had ever heard of it.  I just can't see dropping the extra cash for GPS when I really don't need it.  I have not been able to find any reviews on it, thus why I am throwing it out here.  Let me know what you all think. 

     

    <cite>www.pyleaudio.com/sku/PPDM2</cite>

     

    Thanks,

    Kathy

      How are you going to measure your pace with that? 

      You _can_ get an older version of the GPS watches for about the same price, or less. 

        If you don't want a bulky watch (cough ... *FR305* ... cough), you could probably get the well-regarded Garmin FR60 and a footpod for about the same price.  Calibrate the footpod at the track once, and you'll get your distance and pace data thereafter.

         

        Polar makes good devices and good-but-bulky footpod units, too.

        "I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."

        -- Dick LeBeau


        Prince of Fatness

          If you really want to go cheap use RA to get the distance of your runs by mapping them and buy a Timex Ironman watch for ~$30.

          Not at it at all. 

            If you really want to go cheap use RA to get the distance of your runs by mapping them and buy a Timex Ironman watch for ~$30.

             

            This combo has served me without fail for several years.  'Plus one', as the kids say. 

            "Because in the end, you won't remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn.  Climb that goddamn mountain."

            Jack Kerouac

            xhristopher


              How are you going to measure your pace with that? 

              You _can_ get an older version of the GPS watches for about the same price, or less. 

               

              I paid less for my FR305. The FR305 also helps to maintain arm strength. I didn't see that on the Pyle watch's list of features.

                If you really want to go cheap use RA to get the distance of your runs by mapping them and buy a Timex Ironman watch for ~$30.

                 

                +0.5, I go with the box store chinese $10 watch, as I am prone to losing them relatively often

                Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
                We're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
                drrbradford


                  The way I read your post makes me think that you assume GPS watches give you directions like an in-car system. They don't (but some can, kind of). The main function is to record your location at small intervals. These trackpoints can then be used to get distance, pace and various other things.

                   

                  Personally I would either get a GPS watch or get a cheap sports watch and measure your routes manually using one of the various mapping tools available freely online. Personally, I don't see the point in getting anything in between. Footpods rely on your stride pattern being relatively constant which is a pretty big assumption, especially if you're running off-road or on gradients.

                   

                  If you're happy to pay $133 for a [dodgy-looking] non-GPS watch, would the extra $10 really hurt to pick up a FR110 (see Amazon link below). The 110 is well made and will last you years if you treat it right. Admittedly you don't get an HR monitor but it doesn't sound like you want one (why would anybody?!).

                   

                  http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Forerunner-GPS-Enabled-Unisex-Sport/dp/B003JNYULA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1322746636&sr=8-2


                  Oh roo roooo!

                    If you really want to go cheap use RA to get the distance of your runs by mapping them and buy a Timex Ironman watch for ~$30.

                     Works for me, and the watch doesn't bruise my wrist by constantly slapping against the protruding bone as the big fat annoying Garmin does (yes, I have one and it is handy at times, but I use it seldom and will not replace it when it goes to hell).

                      Personally I would either get a GPS watch or get a cheap sports watch and measure your routes manually using one of the various mapping tools available freely online. Personally, I don't see the point in getting anything in between. Footpods rely on your stride pattern being relatively constant which is a pretty big assumption, especially if you're running off-road or on gradients.

                      Once calibrated, I've found footpods (including the crappy Nike+ gizmo, when it's not locking up) to be pretty accurate as compared to a running companion's Garmin read-out.  When the terrain gets especially hilly, I think the footpod is more accurate than the GPS.  Just calibrate it for the type of terrain you predominantly train on, be it roads or trails.  I think in-run variations in stride length come out in the wash, at least for training runs of any length -- e.g. it may not be the best for straights-n-curves.

                      "I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."

                      -- Dick LeBeau

                      jEfFgObLuE


                      I've got a fever...

                        Timex 100 Lap Ironman is all the watch any runner needs.  Big easy-to-read display with Indiglo for excellent night visibility, stopwatch (obviously), countdown timer, programmable 9-segment interval timer, 5-alarms.  Nice big button for starting the run and hitting laps, and the stop button is on the side -- helps prevent accidentally stopping the watch.  No, it doesn't measure pace and distance, but that doesn't really matter. Just run, baby.

                         

                         

                        On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office.  But you will wish that you'd spent more time running.  Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.


                        "run" "2" "eat"

                          my opinion is that a running watch is better than one that is not running.

                          i find the sunshine beckons me to open up the gate and dream and dream ~~robbie williams

                            my opinion is that a running watch is better than one that is not running.

                             

                            Unless its purely decorative, then either would do.

                             

                            The pain that hurts the worse is the imagined pain. One of the most difficult arts of racing is learning to ignore the imagined pain and just live with the present pain (which is always bearable.) - Jeff

                             

                            2014 Goals:

                             

                            Stay healthy

                            Enjoy life

                             


                            "run" "2" "eat"

                              a watch that doesn't run isn't a watch -- it's a bracelet.

                              i find the sunshine beckons me to open up the gate and dream and dream ~~robbie williams


                              Tomorrow will be worse

                                the FR's have gotten smaller with the 405, though still a bit bulky, and aren't that much more than what you're looking at (and include a HR monitor, AND somehow the 405CX is cheaper than the bulkier 305). I really like that I can set it to mile splits and see if I'm dropping off at the end of long runs, if I'm maintaining a pace vs drastically up and down, etc. Plus seeing how far I went without measuring anything later. But to each his/her own - it's certainly far from a necessity. Stop training based on distance and start based on time, and it becomes (nearly, but not quite) irrelevant.

                                 

                                http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Forerunner-405CX-Sport-Monitor/dp/B0025UHKNS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1322760228&sr=8-2

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