Garmin Forerunner 405 Wireless GPS-Enabled Sport Watch with USB ANT Stick and Heart Rate Monitor (Black)
by Garmin
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin Forerunner 405 Wireless GPS-Enabled Sport Watch with USB ANT Stick and Heart Rate Monitor (Black)
Customer Review: This Really is a great device
Summary: 4 Stars
For almost a year, I ran with the iPOD+Nike device as a means of monitoring my progress as I got back into shape time and time again. I thought the iPOD device was outstanding, but when I found out that there would be a normal looking, wrist mounted GPS device made by GARMIN I eagerly awaited its June 2008 release date.
THE GOOD: I purchased it the week it was released, and have used it once or twice a week ever since then. I delayed posting this review until I felt that I had a true appreciation of its strengths and weaknesses. Overall, this is the best personal training device that I have ever owned. As a former collegiate sprinter/middle runner turned US Army infantry officer, I have always tried to maintain myself at about 5:00 - 5:30 mile speed and 11:30 - 12:30 two mile speed. I typically run once or twice a week at any distance between 3 and 6 miles. Occasionally I'll do a 400 meter or 800 meter interval workout with timed rest periods.
If you are similar to me in the above goals, and training methods, I have a hard time believing that you will be disappointed with this watch. It allows me to set pacing goals, sounds a beep for each lap that I run (which I have set at 1 mile), and kept over one years worth of workouts. I have never transferred any of my data to a computer, so I cannot comment on how buggy that feature is.
The UGLY: I can definitely attest to sensitivity issues and outright refusal to function when the bezel is wet. I have remedied a lot of that by simply putting all data into the watch before I start the workout so that the only time that I touch the bezel is at the beginning.
I also had a major software meltdown at the 15 month mark. The device spontaneously started shutting itself off on a full charge if it was unplugged, and would not cooperate with my attempts to make adjustments. All of this resolved when I followed the instructions on how to reboot. Unfortunately, I lost all of the workouts that were stored on it, but this would be a non-issue if I was in the habit of transferring them to my computer.
So Overall: This watch is GREAT at what it does: It tells you how fast and how far you have run over just about any distance anywhere. I'll admit that my demands are relatively few, and that I may be a bit easier to please than your average fitness junky who bikes or runs dozens of miles weekly. But if you are the same, I think you'll really like it.
Customer Review: Drawback: "active" battery life on EXTENDED rides/runs
Summary: 4 Stars
This is my first GPS watch, so I cannot write a review that compares it to the 305 or any other GPS watch. As a fresh look, I will begin by saying that I am happy with the watch, and the whole interactive experience of being able to analyze data through Garmin Connect. I can design workouts through Garmin Training Center, which is also fantastic. Great! However, as others have pointed out, the watch could use some design improvements.
I use the watch for both cycling and running. Beside the predescribed difficulties with the bezel while in the act of cycling or running (as detailed by other reviewers), a second criticism I have, not given by others, is "active" battery life DURING EXTENDED USAGE ("active" meaning the watch is not in power save mode (PSM), and I am actively using the watch through either automatic scrolling, or manual touches). Active usage can be programmed with PSM reversion -- i.e., if one enables the "timeout" function on the watch, it can automatically switch to PSM during use; however, it becomes tedious having to press buttons to come out of PSM when one needs to check stats (compounding existing issues with the bezel), so its simpler to just use automatic scrolling while keeping the timeout function off.
What I've found is that on long cycling rides, usually at about the 20-25 mile range (after ~2 hours "active" usage), the low battery signal begins to sound off. One time during an out-n-back 1/2 century ride, my watch lost power before completing the return trip. For this reason, I turn the "Virtual Partner" and "Backlight" functions off on extended workouts. The GPS works fine, but the bottom line is that the power dies out, and this battery life issue is a drawback for endurance workouts, particularly for those training for a century, 1/2 century, or marathon. That said, battery life is less than average to average (at best). Unless one is an elite runner, the watch will most likely power out before finishing a marathon. Not sure if the same is true with the 305, but if so, then why did Garmin make an upgraded watch that does not correct a problem?
Nonetheless, I still give the watch four stars, because beside the two flaws I've mentioned (bezel and battery life), the watch is totally awesome. The Garmin 405 does give me an edge in training, just not EXTENDED training.
Customer Review: Not ready for prime time.
Summary: 1 Stars
I have owned this watch for about 3 months now. I am a competitive runner and a casual marathon runner. I have several issues with this watch.
1. The watch malfuntions (freezes up, the bezel cannot be used, bizzarily switches from one screen to another) when it is raining. Changing the sensitivity of the bezel has not solved the problem for me.
2. The watch uses a fair amount of energy in relation to the built in barrery capacity. Consequently I find mine constantly drained and often running out of juice when on a long run. It is annoying to always have to fully charge the device before I go for a long run (13 miles or more - let alone marathon preparation runs of 20 miles or more). As a result using this watch on your long runs requires careful planning. Otherwise you find yourself having to wait 30 minutes or more in order to charge the watch before you can go out for a long run.
3. The watch often records all sorts of nonsense. Half of my runs uploaded to garmin connect are nonsensical represenations of my run. (Incomplete, or no gps info, or whatever.)
4. The unit locks up from time to time even in good weather conditions.
5. I am 6'4'' tall and the watch does not fit comfortably around my wrist as a notable portion of the watch's electronics are contained in the wrist band. This renders the wristband stiff. You cannot see this in the pictures. Buy packing much of the electronics into the wristband they were able to make the watch look like it is of regualar watch size.
6. The speed measurement accuracy while running is dissapointing. My speed tends to swing widely on the display although I run at a pretty constant place.
I still use the watch mainly to help me know the lenght of runs when I explore new routes (which I tend to do a lot) but I am less than satisfied. In fact I am back to my good old trusty Ironman Timex (without GPS) for most of my routine runs where I know the mile markers.
One day, I am sure, most of these issues will be ironed out, but until then I can't really recommend this watch (at any price actually) to anyone. It is NOT ready for prime time.
Customer Review: One should not buy this watch
Summary: 1 Stars
Unless willing to pay top $ for an unfinished product.
The list of issues I ran into:
1. The altitude and elevation gain/loss data is completely off. For example, once I ran an almost flat loop 7 times, yet the website shows that I have climbed 5,352 ft. during this run. That is impossible. Equally surprisingly, the elevation curve shows no pattern; I would have expected to see an elevation pattern repeating itself 7 times.
2. The Garmin Ant Agent application is in the habit of crashing on my computer from time to time. This uploads the data from the watch to the Connect website.
3. If the Garmin Ant Agent misses uploading one workout to the Connect site I can find no way to manually upload it from the watch. According to the documentation, one can force-upload all workouts, but I'm wondering if that will not overwrite the already uploaded ones.
4. The Pace and Lap Pace functions are so off that one must not rely on them. This means that you have no idea on how fast you're running.
5. One cannot press a key to manually record a lap (the Auto Lap/Lap Press Only function does not work).
6. The automatic lighting of the screen in response to key presses and alerts works only sporadically: it does not work for approximately one hour into the run. As I start my workouts before dusk, it means that I see no alerts while it is dark outside.
7. After I've upgraded the watch's software to version 2.3, I could no longer access the watch's second time zone: if I enable it from the settings, I stop seeing the first time zone.
8. The Connect website is amateurish and seems to be eternally "under construction". Is this mentioned anywhere in the marketing documentation?
9. If it rains, the bezel does not work: it does not take user input and flips screens randomly.
10. The support staff is totally unresponsive: I did fill out two complaints on the website and I have heard no response.
Please note that I did not use all the functions this watch offers, so chances are there are more bugs that I did not run into.
Customer Review: Knowing what I now know, wouldn't buy it again
Summary: 3 Stars
I've been holding off a long time on buying a GPS enabled watch...waiting for a decent watch (with a heart rate strap) that doesn't look like a laptop strapped to my wrist. When I saw the 405 with HRM strap included for $300, I took the plunge. I thought the 405 was the one, but I must admit, after using it for the past couple of months I'm disappointed. My major disappointment came on the morning of the Pittsburgh Marathon (May '10). I bought the watch about 6 or 8 weeks in advance so I would be thoroughly familiar with it on race day. I never had any trouble with it UNTIL race morning. It was locked up, and no amount of button pushing, resetting, or putting it on/off the charger made any difference. Thanks Garmin! Luckily, I had a plan B and went back to my old Timex HRM. When I got home after the race, the display had gone completely blank and it then charged like normal with no problems since; very frustrating.
The second big frustration is the difference in mileage on my trail runs. The same course will sometimes differ by a quarter to a half mile (in 12 miles). I understand the watch must be able to receive signals from satellites and I'm sure the tree canopy can throw it off, but some days it seems very accurate in dense trees, then other days it will be considerably short on a known course. One last gripe is the battery life. They say you will get 8 hours, but I doubt very much it will make 8 hours from what I've seen. I've been down to single digit battery life in about 6 hours. I run some ultra distance races and this is only a problem a few times per year.
I haven't had as much trouble with the bezel as some of the other reviewers, but then again, I'm pretty happy with being able to see 3 different data points on one display (i.e. heart rate, time, distance). I do like the ability to upload my data and see my splits, heart rate, elevation, etc., and the ability to share it with my friends.
Bottom line, knowing what I do about the watch now, I would not buy it again. I would wait for some of the annoying shortcomings to be fixed or just buy one of the older, cheaper versions.