Garmin 010-00679-05 Forerunner 50 Sports Watch with Heart Rate Monitor and USB ANT Stick
by Garmin
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Our Price: $129.95 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $81.97 (click here) Category: GPS or Navigation System See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin 010-00679-05 Forerunner 50 Sports Watch with Heart Rate Monitor and USB ANT Stick
Customer Review: Garmin Forerunner 50 Sports Watch
Summary: 5 Stars
I was so impressed with the watch and price that I had to get one for my running friend.Customer Review: Decent Heart Rate Monitor with some flaws
Summary: 4 Stars
I've used cheaper Heart Rate monitors (mostly from Polar) and despite some of my complaints below, I'm pleased with the Garmin Forerunner 50 after using it over the past 3 months.
Pros:
* User replaceable heart rate monitor strap battery
* Heart Rate Graphs that can be analyzed (the .tcx format is in XML)
* Wireless transfer to the PC with a supplied USB stick (I couldn't find other units that could do this at this price point)
* Heart rate picks up pretty quickly if the strap is a little wet, except on the first time I used the device
* Customizable displays for Heart Rate and split or overall time data
* Can share data with friends using Garmin Connect (so your exercise buddies know you worked out - good for accountability)
Cons:
* Wristwatch software menus are somewhat unintuitive, others are a bit cumbersome. For example, why would you want to have two separate times with different a different date, hours, minutes, or seconds? I can see having different time zones, but the rest doesn't make sense.
* Some customizable displays are useless. Why would I want to display Heart Rate on top (as the large easy to read number) and Heart rate on the bottom (smaller to read number)? The split data also displays this way.
* Wish there was an autosave feature. You have to press the "stop/start" button to stop the workout, then hold the "view" button to save, then press the "view" button again to confirm the save. I lost a two hour workout once, but now I remember the key sequence.
* Cannot easily determine calories burned. Even the online app (Garmin Connect) didn't calculate this information for me, because the XML file just stores a zero instead of taking the information from the average and the weight that you input into the device. It's possible to manually calculate this from the data, but it may be annoying to users that use the default software.
* USB stick has a key ring area which is flimsy. I had it attached to a metal keyring and it broke in two weeks.
Some other things worth mentioning:
* I had to return one unit to Garmin since the Heart Rate Alarms would not work, but it was covered under warranty. I had to pay for return shipping and the new unit works just fine. Tech support was decent and prompt - I didn't experience the hold music that other reviewers had reported.
* I'm using Garmin Training Center v3.4.3 and wrist watch software 1.1d which appears to be the latest at the time of this writing. While the wrist watch software cannot be updated by the end user, I hope that Garmin Training Center and/or the Garmin Connect (the online equivalent) will improve and perhaps one of these programs
Customer Review: Great product, with a few short comings
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a great product. Fits nicely on the wrist (male, average, 180cm, 80kg).
* Data transfers easily to the PC (a little testy at times, but the job gets done).
* You don't even know you have the footpod on. It covers about 3 - 4 lace overlaps on my shoe, and incredibly light. Footpod was out 4 metres on a measured 878 metre track.
* HRM takes a little getting used to because the front part (the sensor) is plastic (though fairly bendy).
The bad:
* Absolutely terrible user manual. What were they thinking? Slightly better than no user manual at all. Would have been just as useful written in Russian.
* Difficult (at least for me) to tell the difference between the various alerts (am I running too slow, too fast, heart rate is too low or too high, did I just complete a lap?).
Customer Review: works great, lots of set up and battery stinks
Summary: 4 Stars
My wife loves it! she has used it so much for her runs that the battery went out in 6 months! We went to a watch store to change it. It had no power unless we adjusted it, then it would lose power again...uggg. My wife loved it so much we just got a new one. I hope the battery last longer, if not, looks like she'll have another one for her birthday (easy gift). The set up is a bit of a pain, but if you call Garmin, they can help and it's only a one time deal. Other than the set up & battery, it's great. Tracks speed, distance thru-out the run (i.e. when you slow down it shows you on the computer via graph and text when and how long during the run you slowed down and what speed you going). Pretty cool. Just make sure you get the foot pod also.Customer Review: Excellent entry-level HR monitor
Summary: 4 Stars
This HR monitor does exactly what it's supposed to do. The computer upload is excellent - I litterally take off my watch and toss it on the next near the computer when I come in from a workout and when I come back, the software has popped open and the data is there. If you want more detailed analytics, you may need additional monitors (like shoe or bike), but this is more than capable. The signal from the heart strap should be picked up by machinery at most gyms, too. I wanted it specifically so I could do workouts away from machines (like classes or circuits) and be able to analyze whether or not I'm getting the heart rate levels I want. I'm very pleased with it.