Garmin Forerunner210

[regul8ter18]

I am looking into getting a Garmin watch. I have gotten to the point where my run keeper is just not cutting it. I would like to be able to just look at my wrist and know my pace and distance with out digging my phone out of my running belt. I also do the galloway method to I would like the interval option. My dad has the 310 but that is "HUGE"on my little wrist.

So my Question to all of you is do you like this watch?

Courtney

 

[ZellyB]

I am looking into getting a Garmin watch. I have gotten to the point where my run keeper is just not cutting it. I would like to be able to just look at my wrist and know my pace and distance with out digging my phone out of my running belt. I also do the galloway method to I would like the interval option. My dad has the 310 but that is "HUGE"on my little wrist.

So my Question to all of you is do you like this watch?

Courtney

I have the 210 and really like it. My wrists are relatively small and it fits me well. I also do Gallway and the interval set up is easy. I like that it will give me current pace as well as overall pace. Oh the one thing I don't like is the charger. It's a pain to get it hooked up right. It can be managed obviously but not as easy as I'd like.

 

[Ariel484]

I have a 210 and really like it. I had a 305 before that was great but it started making my wrist hurt. The 210 is a million times more comfortable.

The screen has 3 fields: distance, overall time and pace. For pace you can set it as current pace, lap pace or overall average pace. And I know you can do intervals but I don't use that feature so I don't know much about it. But it sounds like this watch fits a lot of your criteria.

Agree with ZellyB (hi!!) that the charger is annoying.

 

[dburg30]

Yea, does it use the same little 2 pin clamp on charger the 310 uses? If so, yea, what a pain. I do have the 310 and love it, but understand the size! I looked hard at the 210 and it was going to be my choice if I didnt go with the 310. I would also consider (this is just my own preference) the foot pod and also the heart rate monitor especially if you are early in training or this is all kinda new to you. lets you keep and eye on your heart rate so you know if you are just being a wimp that day and you can push a bit harder, or if you really are really working the heart and need to level out or even back off a bit. And the foot pod is just plain awesome for treadmill work or indoor track running. And I've found it to be really accurate also.

 

[rpcvpanama]

I bought the 610 recently and love it so far. I had one other Garmin that I liked as well but it was huge on my wrist...not sure of the model number. I also do the Galloway method and the one thing I like about the 610 is that at the intervals it vibrates on my wrist. My older Garmin model would "chirp" and I could never hear it so I was constantly looking down at my watch. With the 610 I have never had an issue of knowing when to start and stop the intervals. For me that was worth the cost of the 610 model.

 

[DVCFan1994]

I recently got the 210, and so far really like it. The connection to the charger is annoying, but I knew about the issue from reviews I read, so I was forewarned

The heart monitor works great, no spikes or major dips, and I plan to add the foot pod for treadmill running in the fall/winter when running in New England outside will begin to get trickier. I strongly considered the 110 to save money because it was on sale for over $100 less than the 210 around Memorial Day when I was looking. But, I really wanted the interval function and the choices of how pace is displayed. My only regret now is that I didn't get the triathlon one - 310 I think? I am injured and can't run. So the swim functionality I thought would not be important is now the main exercise I am doing. Oh well. Hopefully once I start PT for my tendinits my ankle with get better and I can get back to concentrating on running and training for the GSC

Good Luck with your choice!

 

[MightyDuck001]

I love my 210. After I had a lot of trouble getting endomondo to accurately record the mileage I haven't been happier.

 

[bigtony777]

I think you will be much happier with which ever Garmin you choose. In my experience, runkeeper was not that accurate. I actually found my tracks to be more accurate. But I agree that it is better to be able to see you stats anytime versus hearing them at certain intervals. I currently have the 305, and don't mind the size.

 

[regul8ter18]

Well I bit the bullet and got the 210 special edition white/green/blue and so far I love it. I have only used it twice. I went on a 4 mile walk with my mom and then did a short run today. I think it is going to help a lot.

Thank you everyone for you help

Courtney

 

[JoeKir]

We've using the nike running app on our iPhones to track our runs and just using the timer to know when do switch from running to walking (I wear an armband so it's easy to glance it.) Had no idea the garmin's have an interval option and might have to look into them!

EDIT: would there be any reason why you couldn't wear this during the races to know your intervals?

 

[cewait]

This may be a little late…

The Forerunner 210 is a solid option from Garmin. Its market niche is for the runner who really does not want/need to customize their GPS device; so, there is little in the way of customizations that the user can do. Though the screens seem to be well thought out and give most folks the information they need; just possibly not in the order they would like. The unit is quick to learn and ready to go right out of the plastic (err box). It is reportedly very accurate with its state of the marketplace antenna. For most activity, I think this a great unit.

A word of note for the Galloway folks. This is not the unit I would recommend for a marathon (half OK). Unless there has been a firmware revision that I have not seen, you are limited to 99 intervals. That would mean one would possibly need to stop and restart the interval function if they were a 15 minute runner and using a 3/1 (or more frequent walk) interval. The math I used would have the interval stopping at about 1:40 for a 30/30 runner; 3:18 for a 1/1; 4:57 for a 2/1; and 6:36 for a 3/1. I have a couple folks who do not mind stopping and restarting their interval timer mid run but I am one who does not want that mess. If a continuous interval function is important and you, I would go with the 610. Also, as mentioned above, the 610 has a vibrate feature that one can turn on or off.

Though in my last marathon I was a good 90 minutes off pace and found that my 610’s battery failed around 6 hours into the race with both the alarm and vibrate functions on. Admittedly, the battery did fail altogether a couple weeks later so it could have been a one off issue.

A word on RunKeeper/Nike or any other cell phone based app. These are nice apps and in general work well. I have run with RunKeeper in my ear during a few races – more for its ability to post my position live online than for pacing. My crew can then follow me on line and start to look up road once they start to see that I am within a half mile or so of their position. From an accuracy viewpoint, these are not very accurate. Their accuracy is only as good as the cell coverage in the area of the run. The general standard of accuracy for a GPS device is about 10 feet, a cell based device can vary from 10 feet up to a couple hundred feet depending on the ability to triangulate off towers in the area. For many folks this is good enough. I just find that the inconsistency of positioning can create a reported pace that jumps around much more than it should. One issue that many folks have with these apps is the battery life of the smart phone. Simply turn off the 3/4G, wifi and Bluetooth antennas and the phone’s battery will last a full marathon or longer.

Hope this helps

 

[sumlee]

Well I bit the bullet and got the 210 special edition white/green/blue and so far I love it. I have only used it twice. I went on a 4 mile walk with my mom and then did a short run today. I think it is going to help a lot.

Thank you everyone for you help

Courtney

Ooh! I have been wishing for a 210 for a while now, but I'd never seen the white/green/blue color until you mentioned it and I looked it up! So cute! That makes me want one even more! Maybe I'll have to start hinting for Christmas.

Glad you are liking your new watch!!!

 

[1MCSCROOGE]

This may be a little late…

The Forerunner 210 is a solid option from Garmin. Its market niche is for the runner who really does not want/need to customize their GPS device; so, there is little in the way of customizations that the user can do. Though the screens seem to be well thought out and give most folks the information they need; just possibly not in the order they would like. The unit is quick to learn and ready to go right out of the plastic (err box). It is reportedly very accurate with its state of the marketplace antenna. For most activity, I think this a great unit.

A word of note for the Galloway folks. This is not the unit I would recommend for a marathon (half OK). Unless there has been a firmware revision that I have not seen, you are limited to 99 intervals. That would mean one would possibly need to stop and restart the interval function if they were a 15 minute runner and using a 3/1 (or more frequent walk) interval. The math I used would have the interval stopping at about 1:40 for a 30/30 runner; 3:18 for a 1/1; 4:57 for a 2/1; and 6:36 for a 3/1. I have a couple folks who do not mind stopping and restarting their interval timer mid run but I am one who does not want that mess. If a continuous interval function is important and you, I would go with the 610. Also, as mentioned above, the 610 has a vibrate feature that one can turn on or off.

Though in my last marathon I was a good 90 minutes off pace and found that my 610’s battery failed around 6 hours into the race with both the alarm and vibrate functions on. Admittedly, the battery did fail altogether a couple weeks later so it could have been a one off issue.

A word on RunKeeper/Nike or any other cell phone based app. These are nice apps and in general work well. I have run with RunKeeper in my ear during a few races – more for its ability to post my position live online than for pacing. My crew can then follow me on line and start to look up road once they start to see that I am within a half mile or so of their position. From an accuracy viewpoint, these are not very accurate. Their accuracy is only as good as the cell coverage in the area of the run. The general standard of accuracy for a GPS device is about 10 feet, a cell based device can vary from 10 feet up to a couple hundred feet depending on the ability to triangulate off towers in the area. For many folks this is good enough. I just find that the inconsistency of positioning can create a reported pace that jumps around much more than it should. One issue that many folks have with these apps is the battery life of the smart phone. Simply turn off the 3/4G, wifi and Bluetooth antennas and the phone’s battery will last a full marathon or longer.

Hope this helps

?
By turning off the 3/4 g wifi Bluetooth will it still track your run? Via GPS?

 

[cewait]

?
By turning off the 3/4 g wifi Bluetooth will it still track your run? Via GPS?

From RunKeeper's site...
"Follow the instructions below to maximize battery life and you should get 5 hrs+ of battery on a full charge:
•Turn 3G off & Wi-Fi off
•Close 3rd party apps running in the background
•Use top lock button to sleep screen

If you need much more than that, best bet is to use a 3rd party battery extender."

One would leave the cell antenna on. You can still receive calls in this configuration.


They do not mention Bluetooth but I have noticed that my phone will on occation lock on an attempt to re-pair with my device when it is no longer in range.

I will stand corrected on one thing I said above. Seemingly, the phones do have some satellite based GPS capability - or so says a couple discussion threads on the phone sites. It may no longer be a cell tower triangulation based positioning.


Hope this helps