UKC

Hello,

as my current Garmin Forerunner 205 has abruptly decided that it would not work more than 2h (after years of excellent service), I am looking for a replacement. Autonomy is really important (at least 8h, as well as the capacity to upload data (not clear with Suunto). I have checked Suunto and the various Garmin. Can t make up my mind as all look quite complicated compared to my old friend...

Any advice welcome!

Sebastien

In reply to sebastien:

Replaced my trusty 205 with a Garmin Forerunner 210. Nice and simple. Can program intervals but not custom workouts. Really happy with it. Boring I know (the 220 is colour display!), but does the job.

In reply to sebastien:

Check out www.dcrainmaker.com for as many reviews as you could want.

After that, it really depends on what you use it for (just running, cycling as well, maybe swimming?). As well as how you use (heart rate, pacing, cadence etc etc).

Note that Garmin is just about to realise the FR15, so prices may fluctuate as a result.

I've got a 910XT, it works for most of want I want it to do, but there are some things which have never worked as they should. So, I'd recommend buying something which has been on the market for a little while already and ticks all your boxes.

In reply to sebastien:

I have the 220. Nice bit of kit.

The 205 only works for two hours? There are YouTube videos on how to change the battery.

In reply to sebastien:
Ive got the fr620 for running and the Suunto Ambit for cycling and walking. Both great bits of kit and recommended.

In reply to sebastien:

As others have said/implied it depends how many features you want.

There are other makes, but the Garmin range is pretty comprehensive, and on the whole works really well.

Everything from the pretty basic FR10 up to the FR620 ( which will tell you your average oscillation height, ground contact time per stride, cadence, etc, etc ).

For a good middle of the range watch, with a bit of customisation, then the 220 is probably all you need.

Handtec.co.uk are normally cheapest, unless you have any discount codes for other stores. eg use MAY145 at sportsshoes today only for a further 10% off their already discounted price.

In reply to sebastien:

I have the Ambit and it's the dogs B####s as far as doing what it says it' does.

Provided you don't want to use it for navigation, following a route type thing then battery works for ages, and it produces all the data / info you'd ever need- about the only thing it doesn't do is measure lactic acid levels.

Cheers
Jez

In reply to sebastien:

I have a 205 too, and if I were in your position I would look for one second hand on a well known auction site. Or change the battery as someone has suggested. The only problem with that is achieving a good waterproof seal I imagine.
Garmin's pretty annoying as a company but I suspect other GPSs may not be as good. I'm pretty satisfied with the 205 and its features

In reply to digby:



From what I've read, the 205 isn't sold as waterproof anyway. Water resistant only. Which basically means splash proof. The case is glued together so you just have to cut it open and glue it back together again.

Although I think Garmin will replace it with a refurb for a reduced price. It's worth contacting them.

In reply to DancingOnRock:

Yes, water resistant. But it's important to achieve that. Sweat/rain getting in can fatally corrode the contents as I found out in a previous one.

In reply to digby:

Fair enough but in its current state it's heading for landfill anyway.

In reply to sebastien:

I am now the proud owner of a fetching lime green FR 10. It's a big step up from the iphone + runkeeper. So far so good, the only issue is the 5hr battery life which limits it's use on longer runs.

In reply to sebastien:

I've had a Garmin forerunner 110 and 210. The strap has broken on both of them after about 12 months. Straps can't be replaced. I think watch is fine but strap design is shit.

A.

In reply to jezzah:

"I have the Ambit and it's the dogs B####s as far as doing what it says it' does."

Hello jezzah, is it actually positive or negative? (sorry me foreigner, no understand all...)

In reply to sebastien:

Thanks a lot for the replies! Especially re. changing the batteries. Sounds like a perfect recycling plan!

After much reading, I am thinking about the ambit 2 rather than Garmin fenix2. However, I have one issue with ambit: to my surprise, it is no longer the battery life my worry, but the amount of data the unit can record. On the ambit2, the new data starts to overwrite hold data after 16h of recording. It appears to register not only the position but also, altitude, temeprature, air pressure. For my trip, I think I can access electricity at least every three days. But a computer?! Which must have the right interface to upload data on the internet?! Over a two weeks period, I ll start loosing data half way in the trip...
Does any one knows a way around that?

In reply to sebastien:

That's pretty rubbish.

The Garmin 910 ( which has a 20 hour battery ), can record 220 hours of data in it's memory before it starts overwriting old data. To get 220 hours you have to use the "smart recording" mode where it works out how often it saves the data. You can change to force 1 second recording, this reduces the memory to 48 hours.

In reply to sebastien:

You should look into USB solar chargers.

In reply to sebastien:

You can set different 'modes' with different recording and GPS polling frequencies on the Ambit 2, so the 16h figure will not be set in stone. For example: http://forums.watchuseek.com/f233/ambit-memory-size-870486.html#post6389135

I've definitely held more than 16h in mine on several occasions. The MovesCount software suggests a battery life of 50h at the "OK" level of GPS accuracy, polling approx. every 60 seconds.