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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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin Forerunner 201 Waterproof Running GPS
Customer Review: Flawed Device
Summary: 1 Stars
I purchased the Garmin Forerunner 201 from Amazon, believing I was buying a reliable piece of gear. It doesn't work properly in any built up area, i.e. city, where most of us live, or areas with too many trees, i.e. where we city dwellers like to go when we leave the city. Basically it leaves stretches of your running route out, but the stop watch carries on ticking. So if you're like me, and take satisfaction in turning out fast-paced runs (or what passes for fast-paced for us amateurs), the 201 will only be a source of frustration. It'll time your run perfectly, just like any stop-watch (duh!), but then leave out some of the distance you ran, so that you get a mile for mile average that yo-yos in a very suspicious way. Particularly when you've put out a steady effort. And it'll miss out bits of your course in different places on a day-by-day basis. You'll find yourself "adapting" the info the device gives you: how's that for precision? The interval training feature is even worst. You dial in some mile repeats, with a timed interval, and set off at full blast. The minutes tick by and the mile never ends! That's when you find that there are gaps in the "mile" you're running, and you're killing yourself when you've actually done the mile, and should be in your rest period. I kid you not, I wouldn't dare sell a GPS device that works 70% of the time and I'm not speaking of heavily built up areas, I run in spaces where the closest buildings are at least 60-90 feet away...
But this is not the worst of it. I though I was getting a well made piece of equipment. I live in Brazil, so I bought it off Amazon, and a friend kindly brought it over for me from the US. In less than 1 year, it started turning on/off by itself, in a crazy dysfunctional way, rendering it totally unusable. Currently it doesn't stay on for more than 1 minute at a time. It now runs it's battery flat by itself. Even though I'd been scrupulously careful w/ it, not taking it out in the rain, and drying off the moisture & sweat after every run religiously. Some of you may say I should have used the warranty, but when you have mailing costs Brazil-US, and if the thing's fixed or replaced, 100% customs duty when it gets sent back here, you'd give up, just as I did. I'm not paying twice for a piece of gear that never worked properly in the first place.
My conclusion: try some other model, or even brand. I'd not lay my hard-earned cash on this gizmo again.
Customer Review: OK product - not OK company
Summary: 2 Stars
This is a product that could have been great. It has some strange quirks, however, and so far as I can determine Garmin couldn't care less.The battery is supposed to last 15 hours. Fully charged it has never displayed more than 12 hours remaining and after only two weeks is down to a maximum of 11 hours.
While the unit stores up to three years of run data be careful that you dont goof up or use it for any other purpose because although you can view individual run histories as far back as you like THERE IS NO WAY TO DELETE INDIVIDUAL RUNS. If you get a bad run your history totals will forever be wrong. This seems incredibly stupid.
While the average pace calculation for a run seems right on the current pace is a complete mystery. On a recent run with good satellite coverage the whole way, the unit registered paces between 3-1/2 minutes (a new world record thank you) and 32 minutes per mile. It seems to be completely confused when running downhill - many of my apparent slowest paces have been on downhill sections.
The elevation calculations are also flaky. Go run the same route with a few hills two times and compare the elevation graphs - they will be different - sometimes grossly different.
So what does Garmin have to say about all this? Who knows - and that is the main reason for giving it two stars. Try calling tech support - the shortest announced wait time I have heard yet is at least 30 minutes and usually it is 40 minutes or more. So use the internet, you say? Submit a tech support request over the internet and you will be informed that they will respond within 5 to 7 working days. Folks, the last time I checked, 7 working days with a weekend thrown in was a looooong time to wait for an answer. Since many support questions often require two or three exchanges you can easily expect to take a month to resolve a question. That is if you ever get a response at all. I have not received any reply to the question I sent in over two weeks ago.
I could be happy with this product. I wanted to be happy with this product. It appears to have the capability to be a great product if some firmware changes were made. As it is, being treated as a nuisance rather than an asset by Garmin has turned me pretty negative.
So...... it may well do just what you want. Buy it, give it a try. But if you question some of its features or performance don't bother asking Garmin. Just send it back - and tell them why!
Customer Review: Very good performance, a few limitations, and some nice surprises
Summary: 4 Stars
First, know that that Garmin just announced (1/05/2006) the ForeRunner 205, the next-generation model they claim has less trouble with trees or tall buildings. It's the size of a large heart rate monitor - quite a bit smaller than the 201- but about $100 more.
That said, I've had the 201 for three weeks and am happy with its performance with the exception of the live pace function. Here are my observations so far:
Distance
I've found that it's very accurate. In about 10 miles where I compared the 201 readout versus known distances, about two thirds came within +/- .01 mile. The others were usually off by .02, with one off by .03. If you run a 9-minute-mile, that means most mile times are within 5 seconds, which should suit most runners' needs.
Interference.
I ran through a forest preserve with tree cover (no leaves in Chicago this time of year) with very infrequent satellite loss. Through town, with two- and three-story buildings, the same result. I did try the unit in downtown Chicago and it couldn't locate satellites, but this is consistent with Garmin's claims. The manager of my local running store claimed similar experiences. Overall, I had very few problems.
Speed/pace
I'm not sure why, but the speed/pace isn't very accurate. My 9-minute-mile pace jumped from 7 to 11 minutes, rendering this feature unusable for me. However, when I used average speed per lap - with my laps being one mile - the accuracy problems went away, perhaps driven by averaging over the longer distance. So, I'd recommend using this to pace your miles as a whole rather than your speed at any given moment.
Size
It looks big but is light. With 25 miles so far, it hasn't bothered me at all.
Unexpected cool features
Some web sites allow you to upload your GPS data and view your run superimposed on a commercial map, such as Google Maps (as of 1/12/06 this was offered at www.gpsvisualizer.com). Also, if you get lost, the 201 will point your way home via the map function.
Overall, if real-time pace isn't important to you (again, I'd recommend using the lap pace which seems accurate) and you don't have any more sky obstructions than a typical suburbanite, I'd highly recommend the 201.
Good luck, and happy running!
Customer Review: Excellent Product
Summary: 5 Stars
The Forerunner does exactly what it says it will do and more. Setup is easy, use is intuitive and results are very accurate. I've used it on a total of 5 runs since receiving it for Christmas and have yet to experience a signal loss. During the last week my runs have been from between 1 and 1.5 hours in length and went through suburban neighborhoods, a built-up university campus and a downtown urban area with "canyons" sided by 4 and 5 story buildings. I also went through both open flat and hilly areas. Again, not once did I lose the signal. Now I'm back home (900 miles from where I spent Christmas) and the Forerunner is still delivering. According to the owner's manual I was supposed to have set the unit outside for 15-30 minutes so it could re-initialize, but in reality it only took about 40 seconds to set up. I have experience very good accuracy as well. Here at home I have a "loop" that I run around my neighborhood. In the car it measures just under 3.4 miles. With the Forerunner my first loop measured 3.33 miles and the second loop measured 3.34 miles. That's as accurate as I'll ever need. The Forerunner's features are exceptional. The three things I like the most are;
- The freedom to just run wherever I want without feeling like I have to stick to a specific route in order to get a specific distance in.
- The Virtual Partner: I run fairly quickly (7.5 - 8.0 min p/mile) and I haven't found a lot of folks who like to run that pace. As such I don't usually get "pushed" to keep a specific pace. Now my virtual partner does that for me.
- "Live" Pacing: This is a great feature for training for long-distance runs and marathons. I can now see and adjust my pace without having to do "advanced algebra" in my head after a specific distance on a specific course. I can do the first half of a run at one pace and the second half at another pace. I've noticed an immediate increase in my distance by being able to strictly control my pacing in real time.
Battery life has been impressive as well. The 2 set-ups, all five runs and a bunch of playing with the features have all been done on one charge that took only three hours - and there's still 4 hours of charge left.
All in all you can't go wrong with this product. I very highly recommend it.
Customer Review: The perfect running companion
Summary: 5 Stars
The Forerunner 201 is by far the best product I have bought this year, period. I bought it to help me get back in shape to run in long distance races. I used to be in the track and field team in high school, long time ago. In the last couple of years, I have been running in local/regional runs. I have been trying to keep the training routines that I used in high school: long, easy runs, threshold runs, intervals, etc. The Forerunner 201 has been essential in keeping me honest and at the right pace.1. Long/easy runs. It is very easy and tempting to runs faster than the easy pace dictated in your training plan. Using the Virtual Partner feature, you can keep yourself at the right pace. The Virtual Partner will tell you how far ahead or behind you are from your virtual partner, the screen shows two icons: one for you and one for your partner. A large display tells you the distance between the two. Easy to read at a glance, the background indicates if you are ahead or behind. My goal is to stay within 20 feet of my virtual partner. That way I can assure the correct pace. This feature has been instrumental on keeping me from getting injured for running too fast.
2. Interval Training. Use the Intervals section to set the distances and pace for running. Once you set the number of intervals, distance, and resting time/distance, you do not have to worry about keeping time, just run. The Forerunner will keep track of everything for you. It will beep when you are done on each interval and will beep when you are 5 seconds or 20 feet from the next one. Unfortunately, there is no option to set the pace. I would love to use the virtual partner to do intervals, that way you can also keep to correct pace during intervals.
3. Threshold runs. Just use the Virtual Partner and set the pace to the correct one for your running threshold. Your Virtual Partner will keep you running at the right pace.
I take my Forerunner on all my business trips and do not worry anymore about measuring or calculating distances. The Forerunner may not measure distances to the inch, but it has proven accurate enough for my daily training.
The ideas above are just a sample of the many fun ways to use the Forerunner. I am sure the reader will find many other uses for the Forerunner.