Garmin Forerunner 201 Waterproof Running GPS
by Garmin
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Our Price: $299.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $99.95 (click here) Category: GPS or Navigation System See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin Forerunner 201 Waterproof Running GPS
Customer Review: One of the best products I have ever owned
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased the Forerunner 201 a few weeks after I started running. I absolutely hated running, but I enjoyed the training aspect of it and keeping logs of my runs. If you are serious about running or like logging your runs, you will love this GPS. The Forerunner 201 has almost everything for the running enthusiast. Most of the details are covered below, so I'll just mention a few aspects of it. Although it looked bulky at first, the device isn't that big, and it doesn't bother me at all on runs. The personal trainer is fantastic. I don't have friends who run so I love the idea of a "virtual buddy" I can race against. The graphical representation of a training partner is easier to take in than looking at your pace and time, and it's just more fun. Battery life is great, even with the backlight set to always on. The forerunner is incredibly accurate, and can hold hundreds of runs in memory and thousands of laps before needing to be reset. It has a ton of other great features, but most are mentioned in other reviews.
The cons - The training software version that's currently out (2.3 I think) doesn't really offer much analysis over the actual unit. You can see a graph of your average pace, speed, and altitude, and a small map of your run, but that's all it offers over what you can view on the unit. It is really bare bones right now. The good news is it appears that they will be updating this frequently. Another small inconvenience is that you have to allow the unit to track satellites when you first take it outside. This takes about 5 minutes, but can take longer if you have a lot of interference such as trees. I usually leave my unit outside while I get dressed so it's ready. I also run on streets with lots of tree coverage, and I have lately noticed the unit has a lot of problems with losing signals. It doesn't seem to affect my runs much, but it does need a fairly clear view of the sky to be completely accurate.
The mapping system is not that great. You can zoom in on sections of a lap or entire run, but you can't scroll side to side, so you can't really view the map of your run through the wrist unit. You can view it on the software, but you can't zoom in. Hopefully they will fix this in a future software release.
Statistics - I have noticed that sometimes the elevation does not seem accurate. I can run up a steep hill that I know is at least 20 ft high, and the Garmin will register it as a 5ft climb. It also doesn't seem to be able to accurately predict your pace while running. It is fairly close, but seems to jump up and down a lot even though I know I'm running an even pace.
The biggest problem I have with the Forerunner is that it doesn't have a built in heart rate monitor. If you want one, you have to wear another watch on your other wrist, which looks silly. This would be an extremely nice feature to add.
I would definitely recommend the Forerunner to anyone who runs more than 5-10 miles a week. It is far superior to other distance devices out there right now, and I will actually postpone a run if I forget my Garmin rather than run without it. Not only is it a great buy, but it is only marginally more expensive than the Forerunner 101, but offers several invaluable features over the less expensive battery-operated 101.
Customer Review: 101/201 VS. 205/305 - NO COMPARISON!
Summary: 2 Stars
The 205 is $30 more than the 201, but is ten times the watch. If you can afford to the extra dough, here is why it's worth it.
I bought the 201 when it first came out (~7 years ago) It was head and shoulders above the Timex product with the remote arm pod and I would have rated it 5 stars back then because it was the best of it's kind. I even used it to go geocaching.
The problem is, I have to strongly recommend against anyone buying it today - I was "lucky" to have lost this kayaking a couple of years ago at which point I upgraded to the 305. It is SOOOOO much better that I have to now rate the 201 as one star in comparison. The 205 is the same but without heart rate.
First, the 101/201 have a very unusual shape. The 205/305 is a bulky watch but the looong 201 prevented you from wearing gloves - a real problem when skiing, cycling, etc.
Second - and more importantly, the 205/305 have the SIRF Star III Chipset which means it can lock on and hold the lock better.
Imagine if you will - you're all ready to run and pumped up - whoops, you now have to wait an extra few minutes to lock your position, otherwise it cannot tell you your speed, location, etc.
My old 201 locked on far faster than my running partner's Timex (He had to hang it on a tree while he was getting ready since it often took 5 minutes or more to lock.) the 305 can lock in 5-10 seconds most days while the 201 would lock in ~2 minutes *most* of the time but occasionally would take up to 5 minutes. If you were ~100 miles away from your prior location, the 201 would take up to 10 minutes to get a new lock. ARRRGGGGHH.
Also the 201 would lose lock all the time when running in even moderate tree cover or heavy clouds. With the 305 I can even get a lock in my house most of the time.
Finally, the 101/201 cannot lock IF YOU ARE MOVING! The 305 can lock even if you're riding a bicycle. I think I've even gotten a lock while driving.
Yes the 205 and 305 cost more but with the huge difference in functionality I find it astonishing that Garmin would continue to sell the 201 given how much better the 205 and 305 are.
p.s. Don't bother with the 405. Interesting concept but not practical. Read the reviews.
I use mine for cycling and running, the direct link to see your workouts mapped on GOOGLE EARTH is FANTASTIC!!!! (the included software is far more stable than the junk Polar included with their HRM's.
Heart rate strap with replaceable battery is coded and comfortable. It's better in my opinion than the Polar products (of which I've owned three)
I'd avoid the 405 unless you really want to use this watch as a normal day to day wristwatch (check out the 405 reviews)
My only complaint is that it's easy to leave it on and run the battery down - which is a bummer if you're just about to work out. I wish there was an "auto off" feature which would shut it down if it detects no movement or heart rate within an hour or so. Fortunately, with Li-Ion batteries, as little as a 10 minute charge gives you enough juice for a 90 minute run.
If you've found this review to be helpful, please let me know!
Customer Review: Garmin can do better
Summary: 3 Stars
In the Washington DC area, where I live, the Forerunner 201 performs well. The only place I encounter weak signals is typically near taller buildings, and I can adjust my jogging route to avoid them. For biking and running this device is very useful.
But Garmin can do a better job.
Garmin makes it possible to download run/bike data to your PC and map it, but only if you figure out how to do it on your own. You would think that Garmin would make it easy for people to download data and overlay their route on a map, but the company doesn't.
You will need to get information from other users (a good source is the Forerunner 201 mailing list on Yahoo) and help from Web sites, such as the gpsvisualizer.com, as well as other third party tools. You will need to figure out how to split the xml files on the Garmin, which gpsvisualizer will help you do.
What is Garmin thinking? It ought to make it easy for users - even if you have to go out and buy the maps and additional software - to have some fun and map this data on satellite images and roadmaps. But there is nothing in the 34-page owner's manual that discusses how to do this. Why is that?
Frankly, for a first-time GPS users like myself it's very difficult to figure out how to do this using third party tools. And I'm not interested in turning into a GPS geek just to get additional practical value out of this tool.
The free download software that Garmin provides for collecting run data is so rudimentary it reminds me of a Windows 3.1 program, the beta shareware version. It's primitive. Offering a bare minimum number of features was obviously the design goal. You couldn't make it easy to split xml files? Why was that?
My bottom line: Don't get me wrong. This device really works for me and is a great jogging/biking aid. I've also been able to figure out how do some mapping with the track data, and have printed some of my DC jogging routes on satelitte images. Way cool. Was it frustrating to learn to do this? -- You bet, and it's still not up my level of satisfaction. I want to be able to use this data easily and on maps loaded on my PC. This isn't a minor complaint. It's a major one.
What do I want? I want to be able to go to click on an Amazon link that says: "For mapping software and maps that work with your Garmin Forerunner 201, click here and buy this." That's it. Can't we make this simple?
If you're not in a rush to buy this, I'd be tempted to wait until a new version comes out. Will Garmin realize that mapping this data might be useful to the product's owners? Garmin needs to recognize that the people who buy this product aren't likely to be GPS nuts or adept PC users, but everyday runners/bikers who want good data and have a simple way to map it so they can review their routes.
If Garmin can get its act together with the Foreman 201 and understand it's potential buyers,then this product line might get some serious mass market adoption.
Customer Review: The title-less review
Summary: 5 Stars
As a collegiate track/cross country athlete (17 years old), I found the Garmin Forerunner 201 to be one of the most important things in my training.
Before I got this, I was always surrounded by a ton of athletes who would train using these devices (or the 101/301), and still am. I was amazed by the features, but was thrown off by the price (again, i'm a broke college student). So with this in mind I used Google maps, and variatios of it to measure out my runs. This got very time consuming, not to mention inaccurate.
So I buckled down and got it, and boy was I happy! It's like having a computer on your wrist. It has all the good stuff you read about(tells pace, distance, time, time of day, etc.) and many more. It logs your weekly and total mileage, so you don't have to sit and crunch numbers anymore. It also finds your average pace for the week. The training assistant is pretty neat to have, especially if you're doing intervals or track workouts, and can't remember all your times. You can also set it to tell you your pace and give an alert at whatever distance you want. The map mode isn't quite what I expected (I was looking for a full on city map), but it shows a trail of where you have ran for the total run, great to avoid getting lost.
I can go on and on about how cool this little guy is, but that's boring, let's get to the flaws.
Cons: WEEEEAAAAAKKK signal. If you like to run in a park with tall trees shadowing your every step, you won't get a very accurate measurement. I've read reviews where people say the signal gets lost behind tall buildings, but I live in the suburbs so i've never had any problems. If you go inside ANY building, you will lose the signal, and the device will continually annoy you with 'Weak GPS Signals' until you go out in the open again.
After storing your run in the history, you can't navigate through the map mode very well, unless you upload your run into your computer. Which brings up another con; the software sucks. It's very user friendly, but only because it doesn't have much features. It displays a simple graph of your overall pace, time, and distance, and a map of your run. It also lists your total runs, but in a hard to navigate style. It would be much nicer if it came with a type of training log to personalize.
And the serial port?!? I can't believe Garmin is forcing us to rely on a serial connection, when we are in the USB age. And the cable they provide you with just barely wraps around to the back of my computer.
Of course, don't let these little annoyances stop you from getting this. It's a great tool, and I seriously recommend it. Rob a bank, collect cans, steal your little sister's piggy bank, do whatever it takes, this is a great product that will last a good while.
Customer Review: Initial Experience Great
Summary: 4 Stars
Have had the Forerunner 2 weeks and so far have had great luck using it on the north side of San Antonio.Initally required a hard reset before acquiring GPS signal (hold mode button while pushing the power button). Since then have had no trouble acquiring signal averaging 45 secs each time. Stepping into the garage or onto the porch will yield a weak signal message but this goes away quickly when I step back out under the sky.
Accuracy is good compared to known routes measured by odometer. I have also found that it correlates well with the mile markers on the highway and that pace correlated with my speedometer. I tried its accuracy by walking back and forth over a 21 foot path 10 times and checking the total distance. There was some rather large variation with each lap but the total path measurement was accurate. Best result was with maximal smoothing (1% error) vs minimal smoothing (5% error). Not an adequate test but a good quicky measure that pleased me.
No log book software and I am not expecting much - but maybe. If the software is good this will be a homerun product I think. In the meantime download Topofusion and hook-up your Forerunner it will display your route over an aerial map and color code the path to indicate the elevation changes. It will also calculate the total distance, time of travel and total change in elevation over the route.
Heart monitor people might want to try Endless Pursuit's website. They don't offer stand alone software but rather a subscription online service you can upload GPS and heart rate data to. They will then combine it and provide you with all sorts of analysis. Haven't used it as I do not yet own a HR monitor.
Have used the auto lap and virtual partner and found them both useful. The display is indeed easy to read. My one gripe is the message display. I would prefer just a beep to notify me of each lap or milestone. As it is, to have an audible beep also requires display of a message box that persists too long (unless you hit a button)obscuring the data on your screen. You can have messages without beeps but not the other way. And yes the beep is a little too quiet to hear everytime. ONe other gripe: Don't really like the strap, almost too small for my wrist but too large with the extension. May have to look for a watch band.
Overall a pretty nifty product. Simple easy to use. I would tell Garmin to Keep it that way and not add a heart rate monitor - probably would mess up the box which is on the border of being too large already. Instead add the functionality to the software to import and combine data from heartrate monitors.