Well, I sure hope someone responds here. I have a three year old 305 with HRM (that I rarely ever use), and it's starting to get a little squirrelly with shutting itself off, or not turning on at all without a reset, or losing satellites in the clear blue sky... whatever, nothing fatal, just annoying. I think a new Garmin should go on the Christmas wish list but not sure what to ask for.

Suggestions?

The new ones just came out, which means prices should drop on the older models.  You might want to keep an eye out for that.

I got a 310XT during a good sale, which come regularly.  It's more than I need (multi-sport etc) but it works well.  Things I like:

• the square screen allows for four data fields, to which I've gotten accustomed (some models have round screens with less data)
• the square screen also allows for larger font (with fewer fields) for those of us with horrible eyesight (especially with glasses in the rain)
• the vibration alert system.  Love this.  Allows me to run with music without checking to see if a mile marker is coming up to check pace.  It just vibrates on the miles (or whatever you set it for) and flashes my pace for that mile.
• It's pretty easy to create and download workouts (intervals, etc) to do, which is useful since I never get to a track but do those on the road
• It's very consistent (thought it measures a tad long, which is why I set my alerts at 1.02 miles which equals 1 mile in the real world.
• It loads satellites very quickly, big improvement over my old 305.

So it doesn't dazzle me but it's a workhorse that seems to perform all the basics well.

I have an old 305 with HRM that still works but the speaker doesn't beep anymore and there is no vibration feature so you don't know when miles go by or if you have a programmed workout you can't tell when the change from one part of the workout to the next happens.  An internet search shows the speaker problem is common for that model.

So I got a 410 with HRM.  It works good, gets satellites quicker, can double as a regular watch (because unlike the 305 it has a regular clock feature.)  It is the size of a regular watch and if you stick with just 2 things on the display you can see what you need.  But it has crazy bezel controls.  You have to press and hold the side of the watch to start the workout feature, and if you want to pick a workout you have to swipe your finger along the edge just right.  (It's hard just to describe how it works.)  To change the display you just touch a different part of the edge, but if you are sweating and a drop of sweat hits the right part of the edge, the display will change.

So I wouldn't recommend either one of those.

I have a Forerunner 210 with HRM that I like. It has some quirks (like getting the cable clip-on thingy to make solid contact), but it is simple and does what I want it to do. Oh, and I bought a Polar HRM strap for $18 off of Amazon -- it works so much better than the strap that came from Garmin. There is almost universal consensus that the soft strap that comes with the 210 is just about worthless. I think there is a new version coming out (model 220?) that looks thinner, and appears to address the clip-on issue.

I have a 610 and it does everything I need, and more.  Easy to use and love the touch screen to rotate screens.  Only issue is the battery is only good for 5-6 hours, so if you runs ultras longer than that it will wimp out before you do...maybe.

I have a 310XT that I quite like.  I am going to second everything Tramps said.  One nice thing about the 310XT is that because it is designed for multi-sport use, in particular swimming, it seems to stand up better to the rigors of running better than most of their other models.  Rain does not bother it, while that is what finally did in my old 305.

Alas, mother nature has fooled me into starting and then . . .