Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver With Heart Rate Monitor
by Garmin
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver With Heart Rate Monitor
Customer Review: The ForeRunner
Summary: 5 Stars
For my birthday, which was about a month ago, my mom bought me the Garmin ForeRunner Watch. I would classify myself as a serious runner. I am actually running a marathon in two weeks. And I cannot say enough good things about this watch. It has really helped me train. The ForeRunner is able to keep track of my pace, time and distance and each run is stored on my computer. I have not once had a problem with the satellite. The ForeRunner has a pretty good battery life; it can last for longer than a two-hour run. I am planning to use it on marathon day to help keep me on track and at a good pace.
My particular watch does not have the heart rate monitor attachment (since I do not need it at a ripe age of 22). My dad, however, also has the watch and he does have the ForeRunner with the heart rate monitor attachment. He loves the watch as well, I have not once heard him complain about it. The heart rate monitor provides a good way for him to wage the intensity of his workout. On weekdays when he has less time (since he has to rush to work), he does a high intensity, short workout. On weekends, he usually does a longer but less intense workout. These types of workouts are monitored and distinguished with the help of the ForeRunner, along with his own fatigue and breathing capacity levels obviously.
In my opinion, one of the best features about this watch is the ability to log your times, paces, distance and the route on your computer. The ForeRunner actually brings up a map of where you ran, street names included! I use a Mac and the ForeRunner software is fully compatible with my computer.
I have used a Garmin watch for years now, owning the original one, a far chunkier gadget. It was a huge, rectangular watch that almost weighed down your arm as you ran. The new, current ForeRunner, however, is a chic, black watch, that fits nicely on the wrist. It is a good size, not too small and not too big. The ForeRunner has a big enough screen so that the numbers are readable even while running. The screen is exceedingly clear, almost too clear that it reminds you on those slow days just how slow you are really going. And, to be completely honest, the watch makes you look intense. So even if you are not a big runner but want to impress your friends, purchasing and using the Garmin ForeRunner is rather clever way to do so. I promise I won't tell.
Customer Review: Best Training tool around
Summary: 5 Stars
I was very hesitant to purchase the Forerunner 305 as I had read many reviews, some of which were not pleasant. I finally ordered one around a month ago and have been nothing but amazed since then.
First off, the one con I was most nervous about was the satellite reception issues people have had. After a month I have not had one dropped satellite in the month of running. The unit has found satellites within 15 seconds of turning it on....in my house. The longest it has taken was about 45 seconds on a very rainy day. I run on primarily back roads with heavy trees with an occasional trail. My watch beeps within 3-4 strides of my lap marker (since I use the autolap feature).
The next concern I had was in regard to the heart rate monitoring. I have used a polar F11 prior to the forerunner for several years. While the polar was a great tool, I sometimes had difficulty acquiring a HR. The forerunner seems to pick up a HR as I'm putting the chest strap on. I have been impressed with the comfort of the strap and accuracy of the telemetry.
As for battery life, I have not done many training sessions over 3 hours, but I have never run out of battery. I can understand if you wouldn't be able to recharge for a few days that it may be a problem, but I tend to sync after every run.
I was a little worried about the size of the unit, but once it is on my wrist it is very comfortable and not cumbersome at all. The size lends well to good visiblity. the display is very easy to read and highly customizable with sport specific display pages.
Along with the pros, there are some cons I feel I have to agree with. The elevation and grade features are generally useless. GPS is simply not designed for elevation unless you are in to aviation grade GPS. If you require accurate grade and elevation data this unit is not for you.
The Garmin Training center software is very good, but has some glitches Garmin hasn't fixed yet. If you create courses in the Training Center software, you may experience difficulty syncing the watch with the PC. I had to erase all my course data and reset the watch in order to restore the sync capability.
Overall I am very pleased with the function of the watch and highly reccommend it to anyone wanting further motivation for training.
Customer Review: one of the best investments you can make a runner
Summary: 5 Stars
Ok first let me say. This is one of the best investments you can make as a runner other than a good pair of running shoes. Ive had this for about 7 months now and absolutely love it. Whats so good about this unit? Well first of all you can run anywhere and not have to worry about mile markers. This openes up so much more possibilities on where you can run. You know exactly how far you have ran. Its really accurate. If your a runner who is competitive and trying to increase their minute/mile or training for that race or you just want to increase your stamina/endurance than this watch will be a godsend. If your one of those people who goes and run and really don't care your distance or if you improve your time then this watch is probably not for you. Now i do have to tell you sometimes when you turn the watch on it can take 3-5 minutes to acquire a satellite after its locked it does a really good job of holding onto a signal. For me it looses it at two places where i generally run. I run under a big metal bridge (under an interstate) and i run through a tunnel that looks like a big gutter (made out of metal). I would expect it to loose signal in both of these places. Otherwise i run through some heavily wooded areas and it never looses a signal.
Some of the bad things ive read about the watch are the following:
1) Support for the MAC
2) Elevation readings
3) Calorie Readings
I tell you even if i couldn't use the watch with my PC i would be totally happy. The PC software is kind of cool how you can map your route but the watches ability to get accurate distance/time measurements is the MOST important thing. I really don't care about elevation or calorie readings. There are calculations you can find on google how to determine a estimate anyways.
Ok i will have to tell you. When i bought the garmin i had a $[...] rebate. If i didn't i probably would have got the 205 instead of the 305. The 205 is the same but it doesn't have the heart rate monitor (which i never seem to wear anyways) and you can buy accessories for the 305 that you can't get for the 205 but the important point is the 205 has the IMPORTANT features. If i were you i would look at the accessories available for the 305 and/or decide if the heart rate monitor are that important to you to justify the $[...] price difference
Customer Review: middle-aged geek turned runner loving this new toy
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow. I am really having fun with my forerunner 305. I thought it would be cumbersome to wear because it's kind of big, but it's not. I don't even mind the heart-rate monitor that straps around my chest (wireless communication with watch). I've logged 11 running miles this weekend and 5 bike miles. When I come home, I just plug my watch into the usb on my laptop and the software downloads the latest info from the watch. Then I can see all the statistics from each run, with averages for each lap, each run, even each week. And I can view the course I ran in google earth. That's really fun too.
You can setup 3 separate screens with 4 fields each and have the watch cycle through them as you run if you want. So you can track 16 different pieces of information like pace, elapsed time, heart rate, distance, etc. I find that to be too much info with the cycling between screens. You can average these by lap or by the whole run. You can choose how many and which fields go on which screens, and you can have a special screen for biking and "other" which are different from your running screen. I think I'm going to get one screen with my most important info and manually move to different screens when I need to. The buttons are easy to push while running. I really like the fact that I can just take off running and go whichever way I feel like it, and just stop when the distance gets to my goal. I like the fact that I can see my heart rate at any moment, rather than having to stop and check it, like I did with my other watch. There's also a calorie counter, but I'm not sure how it's calculating. Today I forgot to put on the heart monitor, and it still calculated calories. I ran 3 .1 miles with the monitor and it recorded 366 calories, today without recorded 367. A 5 mile run yesterday burned 596.
I like the fact that everything is saved to my laptop and I can easily refer back to it. I don't have to keep a manual log anymore.
There's a whole bunch of training stuff that I probably won't use. There's also a navigation tool with a compass, etc. If you're in an area you don't know very well, you can mark locations and then the watch will guide you back there using the compass. Haven't really tried this out yet.
So far, I can't think of anything I don't like.
Customer Review: Great watch, lame software - Get an iPhone?
Summary: 5 Stars
I am an avid runner and bicyclist and I love this watch. With the heart-rate monitor strapped to my chest (embarrassing when running with your shirt off, but effective), it is the perfect way to track my fitness progress. The watch is bulky, but it is not at all inhibiting and I'm never embarrassed to be seen running with it (though I would never wear it anywhere else); and the large screen with its simple user interface is excellent during a run.
Unfortunately, the software that comes with the watch is in dire need of a make-over. It is WAY too simplified and doesn't give an athlete enough options in terms of visualization and data tracking. It has one graphing interface, and one way to view your data.
Fortunately you can upload your data to Google earth and other 3rd party sites save your routes overlapped on a satellite image of the earth.
Since this watch's sole purpose is as a GPS device to enable one to log and visually track one's exercise data I would expect Garmin to have put MUCH more R&D into creating a better program. My advice to Garmin would be to start there. My advice to the consumer of this product would be to buy an iPhone and a $5.00 program capable of rendering this watch obsolete. Since the iPhone uses open-source applications creative people get the opportunity to come up with brilliant designs that makes the experience of tracking your exercise data much more enjoyable.
Pros of the watch:
- it works
- the heart-rate monitor function is excellent
Cons of the watch
- the computer program, for the reasons mentioned above
- there is no function to track your best mile or your average pace over a mile unless you specifically set the watch to end laps in one mile intervals. I see no reason why a runner shouldn't be able to select ANY mile of a 20 mile run and see what his or her pace was during that mile. It's a simple enough operation.
- There are random spikes in pace measurements, perhaps due to momentary interruptions in the signal between the satellite and the watch. The spikes occur literally every few seconds, therefore your instantaneous speed is unreliable. You can't tell what your pace is by looking at the watch. As far as i can tell the average pace is pretty accurate.