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Need a GPS Watch but clueless (Read 224 times)


justrundan

     

    This is no longer true. My forerunner 235 has 'learned' my stride length at different paces while on GPS runs and uses that, along with motion detection, when I use the treadmill to estimate my distance without a footpod. It works pretty well. For all runs with the watch it tracks average cadence and average stride length, which can be viewed in the app. I still mostly pay attention to time, distance, and pace but some of these other stats are neat to check every once in a while.

     

    Marylander- I've been considering the 235 but have been concerned about some reports on HR inaccuracy.  How have you found it to work for HR monitoring!

    Thanks.

    Dan

     

     

     

     

      I have a Garmin Forerunner 305, and seem to recall that it had a routing function on it.

       

      Quick search on google gives the following:

      -  Strava Forum Discussion talking about using the 305 to pre-load a course/route and follow it.

      -  DC Rainmaker - How to create maps/courses for your Garmin Forerunner:  When in doubt check with the master.

       

      I can't comment that either of these solutions will work for your purpose as I haven't tried it, but I think it may fit your basic need.  You still have to create the maps in another program or download a map from someone else.  It also doesn't give turn-by-turn directions, but it gives a basic breadcrumb trail to follow for the route.  Maybe I'll give it a try and see what happens.

      Marylander


         

        Marylander- I've been considering the 235 but have been concerned about some reports on HR inaccuracy.  How have you found it to work for HR monitoring!

        Thanks.

         

        I haven't had any trouble with it. I haven't done anything like wearing my old 310xt w/chest strap and comparing, which some folks have done, but the graphs look good to me. I'm not so concerned about it perfectly tracking short intervals as I don't do them but I also don't know that it wouldn't be close enough for my own purposes anyway. I love the thing. Having the HR built in is just awesome.

        runmichigan


          Scottch is right on the mark that you can create routes and download them to certain Garmin GPS watches (see DC Rainmaker - How to create maps/courses for your Garmin Forerunner).  However, Garmin began removing this ability from their watches beginning with the 220 and the 620. So if you plan to use the course/navigation function you need to make sure it is on the older watch you are buying.  The watches have this function do not display a base map or provide turn by turn directions.  Instead they typically provide you an arrow indicating when you should turn.

           

          Treadmills in gyms are notorious for not being calibrated correctly on both the speed and distance.  The newer Garmin watches do have an accelerometer built into them which will allow you to get reasonably accurate readings of speed and distance based on your arm swing for indoor runs.  This feature is automatically calibrated for you as you do more and more outdoor runs.  The only caveat is the accelerometer is most accurate when you are running indoors near your normal outdoor training pace.  If you are running faster your arm swing will often change throwing the accelerometer results off.  If you want you can still get a foot pod, pair it with your Garmin, and calibrate it outdoors before moving indoors.  Foot pods also use an accelerometer but are less impacted by changes in running speed.

          omdno1


            I think I would be ok with not having turn-by-turn directions.

            An arrow would be perfect. I saw an arrow on the TomTom, but not sure if it's a navigation arrow or not.

            The Forerunner 305 seems god awful huge, not sure I would enjoy running with that, but..it's affordable at least.

            TJoseph


              The Fenix 3 has that kind of navigation with the breadcrumb trail, distance to next turn, and arrow. I have a Fenix 3, but I haven't used the navigation features other than the compass.

              JimR


                This thread is funny.

                 

                Yes, it's critical one runs exactly the distance stated on their training plan, and no doubt at exactly the pace prescribed, because if you don't, you've ruined it all!


                an amazing likeness

                  The Forerunner 305 seems god awful huge, not sure I would enjoy running with that, but..it's affordable at least.

                   

                  Compared to current generation Forerunners which are very watch-like size/shape, the Forerunner 305 is like wearing small toaster oven on your wrist.  Back in its day, the 205/305 was revolutionary.

                   

                  The 305 is at least 4 generations old from the current Garmin Forerunner models and is a design from over 10 years ago.  Should you not want to check Garmin.com, here is a wikipedia page showing the Forerunner model history.

                  Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.

                  omdno1


                    The fenix models seem to a bit over my price range, bulky and targeted more for hikers, explorers.

                    Yea, toaster oven is right..lol

                    Hell, even the newer versions seem kinda big too.

                    All of this really came about when I decided to run a trail near by, that had no mileage marked and every person online who had ran it, came up with different distances so..i bought 2 different pedometers and had a hell of a time getting an accurate mileage reading from them. Seems they are much more difficult to program these days for me. So,  I decided to look at alternatives like GPS watches. The turn-by-turn thing just popped in my head, thinking it would be a nice addition but..looks like we are not there yet

                    Marylander


                      The fenix models seem to a bit over my price range, bulky and targeted more for hikers, explorers.

                      Yea, toaster oven is right..lol

                      Hell, even the newer versions seem kinda big too.

                      All of this really came about when I decided to run a trail near by, that had no mileage marked and every person online who had ran it, came up with different distances so..i bought 2 different pedometers and had a hell of a time getting an accurate mileage reading from them. Seems they are much more difficult to program these days for me. So,  I decided to look at alternatives like GPS watches. The turn-by-turn thing just popped in my head, thinking it would be a nice addition but..looks like we are not there yet

                       

                      I don't think the turn-by-turn thing is being called for by the market or it would exist. I have no interest in such a feature myself. If I did want that I could just carry my phone with me and use google maps.

                       

                      Also, have you noticed that this site has a tool for creating routes under resources?

                      rmorrissey64


                        I love my 235. Does so much more then I expected. I wear it full time (something I never would have done with my 310xt.) I haven't had any issue with the heart rate monitor. My understanding is the problem with it is during burst workouts such as hill repeats or weight lifting. If you're concerned about the HR monitor you can go with the 230, which is the same watch, but uses a HR monitor chest strap as well, and is cheaper.

                        omdno1


                          Ha..thanks Marylander, I didn't notice the map creation in resources, thanks!

                          There are a few map creation sites out there and yea, I guess I could use a phone and with a smart watch would be exactly what I'm looking for. But, because I'm kinda clueless, I beginning to think I don't need turn by turn. I would like to be able to try to be able to create (or take a route someone else made), upload it to a watch. Drive to spot, begin running, then maybe a vibrate with arrow for each turn would be pretty cool. That would be my perfect watch.

                          I like the look of the 235 Morrissey, but price range is a bit steep for me. Maybe I need to wait a bit for these prices to go down.

                          seeEricaRun


                          Awesome

                            I love my 235. Does so much more then I expected. I wear it full time (something I never would have done with my 310xt.) I haven't had any issue with the heart rate monitor. My understanding is the problem with it is during burst workouts such as hill repeats or weight lifting. If you're concerned about the HR monitor you can go with the 230, which is the same watch, but uses a HR monitor chest strap as well, and is cheaper.

                             

                            This. I got one a month or so ago because I wanted a device that I could transfer complicated (or not so complicated) workouts into and it would just tell me what to do.

                             

                            ... and I haven't taken it off since, because I love it. It monitors steps and sleep and resting heart rate and calories burned over the course of a day, and all sorts of absolutely meaningless data that I can obsess over when I'm procrastinating.  The GPS is AMAZING compared to prior Garmins and because it's backed up by the accelerometer you never have to worry about your satellite connection.

                             

                            Heart rate monitor works great - or at least well enough for me. It is a little annoying that it beeps every 5 seconds or so when you switch from one heart rate range to another during a present workout - it won't acknowledge that heart rate is a lagging indicator, but I'm so starry eyed over the device that don't really care.

                             

                            It connects to my phone, which is something that I thought I would absolutely hate, but it turns out that this is one of the key features. I never have to connect the thing to upload workouts, or download workouts. When I get home (or to work) and I'm near my phone again, it automatically transfers. Text messages come to my wrist and I can dismiss them without ever having to pull out my stupid phone and because my calendar sends notifications, I actually remember to show up to stuff.

                             

                            Battery life is excellent. I think the max I've gone is 4 days (5?) without charging and it still had 55% charge even with the way I abuse it. It charges pretty quickly, maybe under an hour?

                             

                            Only drawback is that I wish it more comfortable, but it's not unreasonable. Also, it has to be swapped from wrist to wrist to keep the heart rate component from causing pressure-related skin breakdown (which you can see in the Amazon reviews).

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