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Is the Garmin Forerunner 305 Discontinued? (Read 856 times)

xor


    I've had my 310 for years.  It has always been pretty quirky, but it does TWO things which I really appreciate: 1) it disregards water (none of that "oh I sweat so much I screwed up the unit" nor "rain makes the bezel freak out") and 2) the battery lasts for 17ish hours.

     

    One of the big deals they advertised when it was released was that would acquire satellites so much faster than other units.  In my experience, that has been complete bs.  It isn't worse... but it also isn't lightning fast.

     

    It locks up occasionally, like others.  Usually the multi-button salute resets it.  One time it did not and I had to let the battery drain.

     

    The original band spontaneously combusted in the middle of an ultra.  That sucked.  However, it lasted 3ish years of much use before that happened.

     

    The weirdest quirk is that it seems to be slightly aggressive in recording miles.  When I'm running with other people who have garmins, mine ALWAYS clicks off a mile before others.  But I think that is my specific unit.

     

    Twice in the past year, I've glanced down while running easy to see my garmin cheerfully reporting that I was running 5 minute pace.  Um, no.  And I don't mean garmin's goofy instantaneous pace thingy (which is never going to mean much)... I mean average.  And it would chirp off miles as if I was running 5 minute miles.

     

    Typical stuff on technical trails with switchbacks and steep sections... it underestimates the mileage slightly.

     

    It is great with tall buildings and tree cover.

     

    Another quirk, maybe just with my unit... I go inside (or, say, in a tunnel) and it loses signal.  Then I go back outside.  It should do a straightline approximation between where it lost and where it reacquired.  Not mine.  Well, sometimes it does.  Sometimes it vastly VASTLY overcorrects.  But not always.

     

    Yes, I am running the latest firmware.  About the only change I've noticed with firmware upgrades is that the "I hit a mile!" chirp is now more subtle.  Wee.

     

    One last thing: if you are used to the 305, then you are used to the nice cradle for charging and connecting to the PC.  The 310 gets BOTH of those wrong.  You charge it with a thing that looks like a fancy alligator clip.  Getting it to seat properly is way dumber than it should be.  And if you get it a little wrong, it's like hot-wiring a car and it will just turn the unit on (WTF).  For communicating with your PC, you will have to learn about the ANT stick.  It's a USB antenna thingy.  In theory, this is cool.  In practice, it sucks donkey dingus.  For one, the ant stick is easy to lose.  For two, the various pieces of software required to make it sync are like the dude spinning plates at the circus... it breaks.  And to fix it, you can reload the driver... or you can just try again and sometimes it works "right".  GAH.

     

      Well I hope I like mine, that wasn't exactly a glowing review, haha.

      Running my way to being a little less fat.

      xor


        All of the garmin units are quirky.  It works fine, basically.  Does what I need it to do.  I only use about 10% of the features.  The long battery life and water resistance are big deals when you are a trail/ultrarunner in Seattle.

         

        I would absolutely recommend it for that price.

         

        If you want rainbows and candy, look elsewhere though.

         

          I figured I couldn't get a watch with those features at a better price point which is why I pulled the trigger on it. Wasn't even in the market for a watch but my 210 isn't great for biking so I figured the 310xt would suit my needs just fine. As long as it does what it is supposed to do the majority of the time I will be happy at $198.

          Running my way to being a little less fat.

          Trent


          Good Bad & The Monkey

            ANT sticks are a whole load of WTF.

              I don't mind mine on my FR70. In fact I like it a lot better. Then again I have the 210 and hooking the cord up to the 210 is not exactly easy. But my ANT works fine on the FR70. 

              Running my way to being a little less fat.

              Tramps


                I figured I couldn't get a watch with those features at a better price point which is why I pulled the trigger on it.

                 +1 Thanks for the lead.

                 

                DW, a triathlete, has had one for awhile and generally likes it.  I didn't need all the bells and whistles but in the absence of a better priced alternative....

                 

                And SR thought this was just gonna be a zombie thread. Wink

                Be safe. Be kind.

                Tramps


                  As an addendum, I've had the 310 for a week now and like it so far.  I'm just using it for running so I don't have any insight into its other functions.  It's very similar--almost identical, really--to the 305 in the set-up, screens, etc.  That makes it very easy to move over.  The biggest advantages for me are:

                   

                  1) the "clip" charger, which is much easier to use than the cradle.  I always had to jiggle the 305 around until it got properly seated in the cradle and the slightest bump (it sits on my desk most of the time) would unseat it.  Problem solved with the clip that is easy to attach and holds on firmly. 

                  2) The wireless upload is simple and means the 310 doesn't take up a valuable USB port on the front of my overcrowded PC. (The ANT can be stuck in the back.)

                  3) I always lost the sound beeps on the 305 within a few weeks of purchase.  I don't know if that will happen with the 310 too, but the 310 has an additional vibrate feature like that found in a cell phone.  No need to glance down to see if you've hit mile X yet; it vibrates when you do.  Sweet.

                   

                  The only annoying thing is that when the ANT automatically kicks in, I get prompted to sign-up/log-in to the Garmin Connect (or whatever it's called) website.  So every day I have to click "cancel" on that screen before it will actually upload the data . There must be a way to get rid of that damn prompt but I haven't had a chance to fully investigate it yet. 

                   

                  So yeah, good product so far.

                  Be safe. Be kind.

                  xor


                    I hate that clip charger thing, ha.  Sooner or later you will encounter the neat "hot wire" behavior where you connect the clip just slightly womperjobbed and it turns on the unit instead of charging it.

                     

                      I received mine and it had the defect where it had to have satellite reception to accurately record the date and time and the watch wouldn't remember it on its own. Not a huge deal since usually you need to have satellite to run, but if you do an indoor workout (treadmill or with speed/cadence sensor on a bike trainer) it recorded the date as 3/31/2007 which you'd then have to manually adjust in RA or Garmin Connect.

                       

                      Called Garmin and they said the only fix is to replace the unit. So I sent it back to the site I got it from and the new one is supposed to arrive today. But I did take the last one on a test run and LOVED the vibration alerts instead of having to stare at the watch all the time. 

                      Running my way to being a little less fat.

                      xor


                        Holy crap.  Mine does that, and I never knew why.  I also didn't care that the time was wrong, so I never tried to investigate.  Ha.  Very interesting.

                         

                        Speaking of the vibration alerts...

                         

                        1. Those are battery eaters. Not huge ones.  With them on, I get 16-17 hours out of the battery. With them off, apparently one can get a bit more.

                         

                        2. I have one of the original 310xts.  The vibration alert on that thing is (or, rather WAS) strong and loud.  Like a joy buzzer on steroids.  I finally got around to upgrading the firmware a couple weeks ago, which involved applying 6-7 different firmware updates.  Apparently these updates fix a bunch of stuff.  Almost all of which, I can't tell.  My unit still has the same quirks, including being dumb about time of day.  One thing that I DID notice, however, is the super amped up buzzer is a lot milder now.  Cool.

                         

                          You'd think the date/time issue could be resolved by a firmware update, but apparently not. 

                           

                          Garmin said my new one shouldn't have the problem because only like 15% of the units are defective, but if you ask me that's a pretty high rate of failure. I have an Edge 500 for cycling and a FR70 for treadmill workouts so I would stick with those for indoors, but it will still be annoying if my new one still has the issue.

                          Running my way to being a little less fat.

                          dallison


                          registered pw

                            I have just purchased a new 410 from bjs.com with a hrm for $170. It should be at my door when i get home. This was the lowest price i could find. It also was shipped for free.

                            2017 goals:

                            sub 1:30 half 

                             

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