Garmin watches

[IMGONNABE40!]

I am in the market to replace my Garmin 405. I never used all of the features to download my runs to the computer, and don't see myself doing so in the future. So, I am thinking of downgrading.

The Forerunner 10 has an attractive price-$130, but a big drawback is that it doesn't have average pace! For 200 bucks I can get the 210 model with both average pace and a longer battery life-8 hrs training as opposed to 5 hrs on the Forerunner 10.

The 210 model lacks auto-pause which the 10 has, and I am used to... does anyone know if I can manually pause the 210 without having it reset when I want to restart?

So, it comes down to
1) 70 dollars
2) auto-pause vs. average pace
3) 8 hrs vs 5 hrs on battery life



A

 

[longhorns2]

I have the 10, so I can't speak about the other one.

As far as battery life, do you often train longer than 5 hrs at a time? I wear mine all the time as a watch and haven't had the battery go down at all- and I don't charge it every day. So far my longest training was almost 2 hrs, and it still showed a full battery when I was finished.

The auto pause is really nice for a frequent pee-er like myself. LOL

And the size even more than the price is what attracted me to the 10. I have small wrists and didn't want a bigger than normal sports watch. This one is the same size as my polar heart monitor I used to wear as a watch.

 

[IMGONNABE40!]

Thank you for that. I do have events that last longer than 5 hrs.

While I hope to improve, my marathon PR was 4:59:53! So, real close to the 5 hour mark. In addition to half marathons, I plan to do one marathon a year. And, there is a 107 mile walk I do each year and we are out longer than 5 hrs.

So, I think I am leaning towards the 210, I am just curious whether I can manually pause it without resetting the workout.

Oh, and yes, I should give the 10 props for style! Not only smaller but I can get a pink one!

 

[geaux_half]

I've run with Garmin 205, 305 and 405 models. After less than 6 months of use, the bezel on my 405 froze so I had to send it back to Garmin for a refurbished replacement. While it was away, I ordered a Timex Marathon GPS watch. I now use both the 405 and TImex.

The Timex is a much more basic (and cheaper priced unit) but has all of the features that I use in a watch. It gives me time, distance and current smoothed pace while running. Once you complete and save a workout, you can get average pace as well.

And if color is important, it does come in pink!

 

[rocio]

I just got my husband the forerunner 10 for his birthday and while it doesn't give him an average pace at each lap (it gives you the pace for the lap/mile), it does give you average pace at the end of the workout and when you download it.

 

[steph0808]

I have the 110 and love it! It does do average pace per mile, though doesn't give instantaneous pace. The battery lasts for a long time (I charge mine like once every two weeks) and I got it on sale from Amazon for $150.

 

[lisah0711]

I have the 210 and I believe that you can pause it without having to reset. Garmin has good customer service so I would email them before taking my word for it because I am not the best Garmin operator. One thing I don't like about the 210 is that the intervals can only be done in 10 second or minute increments. Also you can only do 99 intervals and have to reset again. It's not something this is easy to do on the fly. I end up using my Garmin to keep track of my pace and my Galloway timer for my intervals and my iPhone for music. I seem to be gathering more electronics than getting rid of them. If I had it to do again I would get another model. Good luck with your decision!

 

[Reep]

Maybe consider the Nike sportwatch? I have had the Garmin 310XT, which was a great watch, but a bit too bulky (although lighter than the 405) for racing. I bought the Nike as a race watch and really like it. It does not have autostop, but there is a big button on the side that's easy to hit (remembering to start again is the trick).

I like the Nike watch. I race with it. It is much lighter an more compact and has the features I need (instant pace, distance, time, auto-lap) with a nice big display.

Also, the Nike watch comes with a shoe pod (fits inside Nike and some Adidas midsoles, or can attach to the top of a shoe) that lets you measure of satelite or pod (if GPS isn't available), which is nice. You can start your run on the pod and then the GPS will kick in when it gets signal. The pod measured my 6.0 mile route at 5.9 miles, which is pretty good without GPS.

 

[Qltrgrl2]

I have the Garmin 210 and am not very saavy with tech things. That being said, I do start and stop the watch without any problems during a run if needed. I am quite happy with my watch and it is about 1 and 1/2 years old.

 

[IMGONNABE40!]

Thank you for your responses. I think I will go with the 210. If I was willing to spend the money on the 610 I would have all of these features and many more!

 

[hollieplus2]

I researched watches for awhile and ended up buying the Garmin 10. I'm a new runner and knew I didn't need all the bells & whistles. All I really wanted was time, distance, intervals and pace. I won't wear a heart rate monitor and I don't want a computer sitting on my wrist. I hadn't bought anything because nothing at the time was small & simple enough until I saw the 10. I jumped on it and you'll have to pry this baby out of my cold, dead hands. I LOVE the pink and the size and it does everything I needed. The only function I wanted that it doesn't do is the vibration alerts for intervals but you have to get the 610 if you want that and it's pricey. Just wanted to let you know or anyone else know that I'm super duper happy with the Garmin 10.

 

[wiigirl]

I have the 110 and love it! It does do average pace per mile, though doesn't give instantaneous pace. The battery lasts for a long time (I charge mine like once every two weeks) and I got it on sale from Amazon for $150.

Same here...the 110 is awesome!

 

[buckeyecinderella]

I researched watches for awhile and ended up buying the Garmin 10. I'm a new runner and knew I didn't need all the bells & whistles. All I really wanted was time, distance, intervals and pace. I won't wear a heart rate monitor and I don't want a computer sitting on my wrist. I hadn't bought anything because nothing at the time was small & simple enough until I saw the 10. I jumped on it and you'll have to pry this baby out of my cold, dead hands. I LOVE the pink and the size and it does everything I needed. The only function I wanted that it doesn't do is the vibration alerts for intervals but you have to get the 610 if you want that and it's pricey. Just wanted to let you know or anyone else know that I'm super duper happy with the Garmin 10.

I am looking into the 10 as well. But I've read some reviews that the beeper isn't very loud. Do you find it difficult to hear the beep at every mile? Or do you find it difficult to hear the beep when your interval changes? I'm just wondering if I'll be able to hear it in races with all of the music, etc.

 

[hollieplus2]

The only time I don't hear it is next to the train tracks. It's not very loud about as loud as my timex watch which was what I was using. I've never heard other Garmin watches so I can't compare it to anything.

 

[Dennyha]

I manually start and stop my 210/310 regularly, without resetting it. I then manually reset it before I start a new run.

 

[Terapin]

I have the Garmin 310XT. Big and a bit clunky to look at, but I forget about it on my wrist. I don't think this is a current model, but it is recent and available.

I like it because:

-you can do custom intervals, up to about 2000, and the intervals will either beep or vibrate (I use a ipod when running so miss audio cues)
-almost instant pacing which was necessary for small lap speed work at the track
-waterproof
-very customizable screen
-not fussy or hard to press wrong buttons
-got very good accuracy ratings
-long battery life
-easy to use
-auto-pause for traffic lights

 

[Stitch_lover_Sith]

Go with the watch with longer battery life. It says five hours but you have to acquire satellites first and that drains the battery quicker. I learned this the hard way in August. Took my 610 to Vancouver for the Sea Wheeze Half Marathon, checked the watch the night before and had about three hours left. Race morning I turned the watch on as I was getting into my start corral and it took about three minutes to get satellites. Went from Hawaii to Vancouver so no big surprise with that. The 610 Then turned itself off at 8.34 miles and 1h 16m into the race because of depleted battery. So for me the big lesson was charge the watch before the race and account for big moves and the longer time it takes to get satellites.

 

[slp1650]

I have the Garmin 310XT. Big and a bit clunky to look at, but I forget about it on my wrist. I don't think this is a current model, but it is recent and available.

I like it because:

-you can do custom intervals, up to about 2000, and the intervals will either beep or vibrate (I use a ipod when running so miss audio cues)
-almost instant pacing which was necessary for small lap speed work at the track
-waterproof
-very customizable screen
-not fussy or hard to press wrong buttons
-got very good accuracy ratings
-long battery life
-easy to use
-auto-pause for traffic lights

I like the Garmin 310XT as well. Definitely a bit clunky, but definitely forgettable. I've been running with it for a little over a month now and believe I've definitely upgraded from the iphone Nike+ app. It was a long overdue upgrade actually.

I have one small issue personal issue and an accuracy issue (and if you can help with either please let me know).

1) I would like the light to stay on a big longer because I do run quite a bit at night and twilight hours, but again that's a personal thing. The light is easy to turn on so it really isn't a big deal to keep doing that. It's just a bit repetitive.

2) Calories burned is having accuracy issues. Apparently this morning on my 7 mile run I only burned 200 calories (actually a bit less). That's obviously wrong... It has been right before so I'm not sure why it wasn't this time. It seemed like my heart rate monitor was working but it might be loose. I'm going to trouble shoot with it for a few days, but overall I'm not super worried about it.

Both are not issues that will make me return my Garmin and I still love it, but it's just things to be aware of. There are definitely more pros than these cons.

 

[EEsloveDis]

I have the 110 and love it! It does do average pace per mile, though doesn't give instantaneous pace. The battery lasts for a long time (I charge mine like once every two weeks) and I got it on sale from Amazon for $150.

I got the 110 on Amazon, had it in my shopping cart and on Black Friday the price dropped to $140. This watch is all I need although I wish it came in all pink.

I'm buying my husband one for his triathlons for Christmas and I'm hoping to see that price drop too.

 

[MouseDogMom]

Go with the watch with longer battery life. It says five hours but you have to acquire satellites first and that drains the battery quicker. I learned this the hard way in August. Took my 610 to Vancouver for the Sea Wheeze Half Marathon, checked the watch the night before and had about three hours left. Race morning I turned the watch on as I was getting into my start corral and it took about three minutes to get satellites. Went from Hawaii to Vancouver so no big surprise with that. The 610 Then turned itself off at 8.34 miles and 1h 16m into the race because of depleted battery. So for me the big lesson was charge the watch before the race and account for big moves and the longer time it takes to get satellites.

Funny. Just had the same thing happen. Had fully charged it the week before and hadn't used it until race day. Turned it on when I left the hotel and let it go to power save while we were walking around - probably about 30-45 minutes. When I brought it back to life in the corral, it flashed "low battery." It made it 7.69 miles, 1:21 into the race. Lesson learned. Charge it the night before, don't turn it on until 5 minutes before the start!

Jackie