Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver With Heart Rate Monitor
by Garmin
|
List Price: Our Price: $234.99 You Save: $65.00 (22%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $165.00 (click here) Category: GPS or Navigation System See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver With Heart Rate Monitor
Customer Review: Exceeds Expectation. Great Tool to Monitor and Track Training.
Summary: 5 Stars
I have owned the Forerunner 305 for about 3 weeks. Mine has performed exactly as advertised.
The GPS rapidly acquires satellites and I have not had a problem with it losing connection. I live in Hawaii and the GPS had no problem finding satellites (updating the Almanac data) and providing a fix while I sat in my living room on the initial start. Since then it occasionally seems to take longer to find satellites, but while I input my planned workout it continues to find the satellites and by the time I am done, it is ready to track my progress.
The heart rate monitor has worked perfectly. It has not once failed to immediately display my HR. So far it has worked better than my Polar dedicated HR monitors.
The display feature allows you to customize different displays with up to four attributes each out of a list over twenty different parameters. For example, if you want to know how long you have left, how far you have gone, your current heart rate, and sunset while you are exercising you can make a display just for that! The display illuminates well at night.
I have found the pace information to be very useful and not at all jerky. Since GPS does not provide speed directly, the 305 like any other receiver calculates speed based on measured position changes over time. Since those calculations tend to provide pace information that is naturally jerky, the 305 allows you to smooth the data to varying degrees. It records the raw speed information, but the pace it displays with "high" smoothing is very steady and useful. I have not tried other pace settings because I am getting useful information. Bottom line, pace information is useful, but may require you to adjust the settings to your personal preference.
The best part of the 305 is how it effortlessly provides useful summaries of your workouts, tracks lap to lap performance, and allows you to transfer information to a computer. I did update the software for the watch (firmware), the USB connection, and the computer program so I may have avoided problems that plagued earlier versions. I was very impressed how fast and easy moving training plans and routes to the watch and historical workout from the watch to the computer. The entire process took no more than 3 minutes and didn't require any complex setup. Once your training records are on the computer, they can be displayed on the Garmin software or a number of different third party web based software solutions that provide different analysis tools, workout plans, and trails to explore. Most of the features available online are free. Even if you don't use a computer, the watch stores a long history of previous workouts and displays your previous workouts with useful summaries.
In summary, the 305 is a great tool for runners who want to monitor their workouts or keep an accurate record of their training with very little effort!
Customer Review: More than a heart rate monitor
Summary: 5 Stars
I was going to try to post top ten reasons for owning a Garmin 305, but only came up with five. As a long time user of other brands - I was very excited about having GPS on my wrist. I was also not completely satisfied with needing to purchase additional parts to get another brand of heart rate monitor to work. When I saw the 305 was on sale at Amazon I bought one and it has really changed my biking experience. With that here is my list:
1. No more sensors - if you are old school like me you remember the early cycle computers there was a sensor on your bottom bracket, a sensor on your chainstay, and a magnet in your spokes. The Garmin needs no sensors only satellites.
2. GPS is better than watching your odometer roll over. Compulsive bikers need routes in all 4 compass directions and mileage usually calculated by driving it with your car. There is a lot of error in watching a digital odometer roll over 1/10 of a mile as opposed to the GPS being accurate to within 30 feet. My preliminary estimate on odometer error is about 5%.
3. Thirty miles is thirty miles. No more cheating - even on estimated routes there is the human tendency to cheat. I am not talking EPO, but following the optimal lines for cornering is often a lot shorter than the route used to map it in the car.
4. Forget about the radar boxes - you have the speed on your wrist. A couple of years ago I found inspiration from the radar boxes the police set out to advise motorists of their speed. Numerous problems with this approach including the fact that they don't always pick you up.
5. Fire up for TdF. Want to know how much distance you can cover in the same time as the prologue winner? Fire up the Garmin.
It is a pleasure to go out and know that you can hit it as hard as you want, everything is flawlessly recorded and you get accurate real time data that you can use. My workouts immediately evolved into a warm up, a recorded period on the 305 and a cool down period. The final result is that all of my miles are actual quality miles at a certain speed with specific goals. I don't count the warm up miles any more.
Is there any downside? The Garmin 305 needs to be recharged from a wall outlet. That was a surprise to me and there have been times when I was concerned about losing data due to a depleted battery. That has never actually happened. There have been a few times when I have bent my wrist and accidentally pushed a button that changed the display, but this is usually easily changed back. The only other frustration is that it takes a while for the watch to lock on to the satellites and this can slow you down if you have just pumped up your tires and you are ready to go.
The Garmin is superbly engineered, the software interface performs as advertised, and it has just about everything that I need to get the most out of training on a bike.
George Dawson
Customer Review: Great for recuperation too !
Summary: 5 Stars
Garmin Forerunner 305 - Speed and Distance Monitor & Heart Rate Monitor
To start with, I'm a disabled veteran, 3 herniated discs, and have had both hips totally replaced. Prior to my injuries, I ran 7-milers, swam laps for 1.5 hours, and biked in excess of 30-40 miles, & also worked out at a gym. After my injuries I found myself unable to exercise for # 10 years. Now I'm 45, and do not want to blow my heart out, because I foolishly try to work out like I used to.
This Forerunner 305 can watch your heart rate at many different levels, and help you motivate, and pace in ways that just were not possible, in a little package like this 10 years back ! I can Power walk, and ride a recumbent bike, and even though this watch is marketed at runners & cyclists, using it for walking and hiking are among its major talents too. There is a bit of a learning curve, but the rewards, are a very flexibly progammed unit that frees you from guess work, and keeps you on track, when your trying to re-build your body after major surgeries.
It suggests heart rate settings for different aerobic levels, and creates zones for them. Remember though IF YOU DO NOT SIT DOWN WITH THIS UNIT AND ITS MANUAL FOR A FEW HOURS OR MORE, you will miss out on just how flexible and customizable it realy is ! I noticed a lot of complaints about this unit, and I think most of them are being made by people who refuse to read the MANUAL. As with most things in life, what you put into it is what you will get out of it. If you are lazy and hate to read & learn, then stay away from intelligent devices like this one, as it was never made for you. If you have half a brain, then grab one of these, and I suggest getting the foot pod that goes with it. If you hit a stormy sretch or worse, you still keep traking your speed along with time and heart rate. Go to your Local health club and find out your V02 max and ideal heart rate levels. Your local Dr. can often do this too. it's good to have these starting levels professionally targeted ahead of time, but the watch will do a rough estimate for you.
I have experienced no hardware or software failures of any kind as of yet with this unit. I updated the Garmin exercise software that came with the unit, I updated the USB Drivers, the watches GPS drivers, and the watches GUI software too. These are all avaiable at Garmin's website. Do It first befor you start using it for workouts etc. If you are not tech savy, then call Garmin tech support, as I had no trouble reaching them. It was an 8 minute wait... Remember Walking, carefull execise, and nutrition helps heal Back injuries ! Try juicing lots of organic veg. & fruit too. and get off that damn junk food and fast food, or you will never heal. I know, I did the wrong things first, but when I cleaned up my diet,and started walking, I lost @ 55 pounds, and healed up almost compleatly.
Hope you found this helpfull etc...
Customer Review: A gadget can't make you get in better shape....or can it?
Summary: 5 Stars
All in all, I've seen my share of fitness gadgets and tools come and go and I've come to appreciate a few as my very favorites and the forerunner 305 definitely in my top three. Now is the Forerunner 305 a completely necessary tool, no, not at all, if you really wanted to you could just googlemap out your run and figure out your pace with a watch, and you could definitely get a much cheaper heart rate monitor for that purpose. That being said, the Forerunner 305 is a fantastic tool and does everything that it can do nearly perfectly.
Having this tool to track and keep a history of my runs has really inspired me to run much more often. And looking at the watch while running definitely inspires me to run faster to keep pace or go faster than my last run. So from those perspectives the Forerunner 305 actually does get you into better shape.
For tracking runs the Forerunner 305 can't be beat, it's incredibly accurate in it's gps positioning and keeps detailed history of your runs (or bikes for that matter). I used to use the Nike + run system and this watch keeps much more accurate records on distance. The only small issue that I've run into with the watch with respect to its gps function is that the watch can sometimes take a bit longer to locate satellites when it's turned on if it's overcast outside. It also gives a great deal of display options and can show you pretty much exactly what you want to focus on in whichever display position you desire.
The workouts option provide good options to train with including the expected distances, 5k, 10k, marathon and anything custom inbetween.
The heart rate monitor is quite accurate and the watch even enables you to set alerts to go off if your heart rate is too low or too high. The only other issue that I have with the watch is that the calorie counts aren't necessarily the most accurate. The calorie counts are calculated based on weight and distance traveled. This is a basic method to calculate calories burned, and can vary in it's effectiveness based on the overall fitness of the person. A more accurate method to determine calories burned would be based on heart rate, which this watch should use, but does not, and I've heard that some of the cheaper polar heart rate monitors will do (because they have to since they don't know the distance traveled).
Overall though, this watch has been an invaluable part of my fitness arsenal and has enabled me to stay in great shape without a gym membership.
My other two favorite fitness tools are PowerBlock Elite 90 Adjustable 5 to 90-Pounds per Dumbbell Set and Bowflex SelectTech Adjustable Bench Series 3.1.
Customer Review: Overall, very good, but with some limitations
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this because the device I *really* wanted was one I just couldn't justify the cost of. Overall, I've been pleased with the Garmin 305, though. I primarily use it for tracking metrics on my walks, which are training toward walking half-marathons and marathons.
In general, it does a very good job of this. The depiction of the walk on the Garmin software is pretty accurate. Some limitations I've found:
* When I'm walking in downtown Indianapolis, which doesn't have particularly huge buildings, I have extreme difficulty acquiring a satellite if I want to track my pace. I have absolutely no difficulties away from taller buildings, however. At home, acquisition is virtually instantaneous. At work, it can take upwards of 10 minutes, and I rarely have the time to stand around looking like an idiot consulting a very bulky watch while I'm at work.
* It really is pretty bulky. I don't have very large wrists, and it's pretty chunky. That said, it's not nearly as bad as I expected. So, bulky, but not way out of line.
* The heart rate can be difficult to acquire. I was *very* pleased that it's a digital signal, because this is less apt to be confused by other HRMs around me (the one thing I didn't like about most Polars); however, my girlfriend simply can't get it to read her. If you're carrying significant weight around your upper abdomen, you may have trouble. Or, it might just be her. I haven't had any trouble.
* Don't really pay attention to the pace most of the time. If the satellites have trouble tracking you because your under foliage or obscured by a building, it won't read you correctly. And can you really be sure that you aren't being obscured somehow? I do sort of check my average pace, but more toward developing a feel for how fast I'm going. My preference would have been for a foot-pod-driven pace tracker, but I couldn't afford the systems which use it.
The difficulties are why I gave it three stars instead of four. Things I really, really like a lot:
* I get a feel for where my heart rate is throughout the session. I'm generally trying to stay in Zone 2, and this helps me know when I'm there. I'm hoping to notice myself staying in Zone 2 more as I get more fit.
* I can customize the screen for up to four different read-outs. I like that a lot. And there are literally dozens to choose from.
* I can get a feel for what my pace is. Even though I don't pay minute attention to the pace, I do use this as an overall check.
* I have room to grow with the system. No doubt I will find more ways to use this as I go along.
* I already had some familiarity with Garmin because I own one of their GPS'.
Bottom line is that there are definitely better items out there, but probably none that is as reasonably priced as the Forerunner 305.