Garmin Forerunner 405CX GPS Sport Watch with Heart Rate Monitor (Blue)
by Garmin
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List Price: Our Price: $177.99 You Save: $192.00 (52%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $144.99 (click here) Category: GPS or Navigation System See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin Forerunner 405CX GPS Sport Watch with Heart Rate Monitor (Blue)
Customer Review: I love it!
Summary: 4 Stars
I have been running with a polar RS200 with a foot pod for about 6 years now, and it finally started to die on me. I went to replace it with another similar unit but was turned onto the Garmin 405cx instead. I was a bit reluctant to change, mostly because of the price difference, but I liked the idea of not needing a foot pod and REALLY liked the idea of tracking distance by satellite instead.
I have to say that you really need to read the extended manual that you download from the website. The "quick start" manual that comes with the unit might be enough to get you started but there is a lot of other stuff to know. I had a pretty easy time setting it all up, and even though the menus seem a bit complicated, the way they are set up now seems more logical than the Polar menus. The other feature that is better than the Polar are the customizable displays. You can have up to 3 different pieces of information in each view, and there is an entire host of things to chose from such as speed, pace, time, heart rate, elevation, etc. They can even tell you sunrise and sunset times in your area!
When I actually went for a run the first time, it took forever to locate satellites, but after that it now takes about 15 seconds. Once I finished my workout, I found the distance tracking was much more accurate than my foot pod on the Polar unit. When I walked into my apartment, I looked at my computer and the ANT unit was already transferring data from my watch to my computer. FABULOUS!
I like that I can use the GPS on the watch without my chest strap, as well. I like to walk a lot since I live in a city, and now I can use the watch to track how far I go (without needing a foot pod).
My only gripes (hence 4 stars and not 5):
1) I wish the maps on the computer software were a bit more detailed.
2) I'm small boned so the watch is really BIG on my wrist! I may try the included velcro wrist straps instead of the rubber ones to see if it helps with the fit.
All in all I'm very pleased with my purchase!
Customer Review: Great watch, but I have had problems
Summary: 3 Stars
I am a moderately high volume runner. I have been training for ultra marathons, and got my Garmin 405cx watch to help measure the distance of my runs out on the trails. I use the heart rate monitor as a guide for both exertion and hydration. I have been using the watch about two or three times a month since 2009 to measure distances on new routes, and during races. I have been satisfied with the performance of the 405cx with a few glaring exceptions.
First, I am very unhappy with the rechargable battery life. I have used and recorded about 100 runs and races with this watch, and now it will not hold enough charge to operate for more than an hour. (And yes, I did reboot the thing and loose all my history and data as an attempt to rectifiy the problem.) On my last run, it started beeping "low batt" after only an hour, and when I stopped it, it said it had 14% battery left, which lasted about another 8 minutes.
Here's my issue. This watch retails for (when I bought it new) around $400. To send it back to Garmin for repair, which they send you a reconditioned repleacement, costs $110. That seems like way too much money for what the performance I got. $4 per run to save and record data? Is it really worth it? I will not be making another purchase or repair until I have heard Garmin address this problem and make some significant improvement.
My other issue is the touch bezel reacting with sweat and rain. It does both, even after I have turned down the sensativity to low, and lock the bezel. After I learned to tune out the single beep from the bezel, and listen only for the mile marker beep and the low batt beep, it didn't cause problems other than a minor annoyance.
So if you have the cash to burn, and are aware of the battery and bezel problems, this watch is about the best product in its class on the market. I have liked the ant+ feature, and downloading data has been easy. The maps generated can be imported to google and topo maps which is great too.
Customer Review: Great concept, not so easy to use
Summary: 4 Stars
I guess I am a simplistic runner. I want to slip on my shoes and hit the road. But in the realm of milage tracking and trying to improve performance I wanted to know how far I am really running and at what pace etc. This Garmin seemed like the ideal, GPS tracking of mileage, HR monitor, pace/lap virtual monitor. WOW so many features I needed 3 days to get it set up and I'm still not sure I have all the bells and whistles working properly! What I don't like is that it seems to take forever to track the satellites to get the GPS up and running then once I finally get that after 5 minutes it drops the dam things again and starts searching all over again! Dam the orbits and all! Then I just want to see time, distance and HR, Good so I set up those data fields and think I am good. Nope. Get ready to run Turn on GPS wait 5 minutes to get aquainted with the satellites then try and find my training data field but all the watch wants to let me do is run against my virtual partner (who I don't really care about to be honest!) after much random "bezelling" I somehow magically and mistakenly come across my running profile that I set up and hit start timer and lock the bezel so I don't screw it up again, start to run and then after about 5 minutes notice that hey the distance isn't tracking! Well guess what lost the GPS again so we start again to try to find the satellites, find them I lose my profile, and I am so pissed off at this point I don't care anymore and I just run 'cause this blasted $260 toy has just cost me a half hour of my running time and as a working mom, I don't have a lot of time to dink around. Not every day is this bad but just be aware this is not a simple thing to operate and you are going to need to read the manual multiple times. Over all I get it to work for me now about 80% of the time I have had it for 2 months so who knows maybe we just need more time to get aquainted!!! Over all I think it is a good product just wish it was a bit more user friendly and easier to operate!Customer Review: Frustrating and No Support
Summary: 1 Stars
This is a very frustrating gadget. I have gotten most of it's functionality to work, but it has been a challenge, and key pieces remain unworkable. Here are the problems I ran into:
1. It defaulted into Russian. Try doing an initial configuration in Russian. There are no entries in the manuals on how to change the language, and the on-board menu system doesn't help when you can't read it.
2. The quick launch instructions give outdated information--e.g. the URL given to download the software for your PC to work with the watch is completely wrong.
3. I have been unable to get the watch to synch with the foot pod for pacing information etc. They don't work together.
4. The watch still will not synch up with my PC. They sense eachother, communicate initially, attempt to transfer information, then it flashes "Failed." It tries again every couple of minutes they are within range of each other. This is a common problem. If you do a Google search you will find hundreds of others with this problem--with some esoteric solutions that work for some and not for others. None of them work for me.
5. Tech support. Tech support is unresponsive. You can stay on hold for as long as you like, but nobody will ever answer. This is very frustrating.
6. It is hard to read, and hard to manipulate when you are running. Some of the readouts are too small, and the touch dial is difficult to operate, when you are in motion.
7. It is bulky and heavy. I thought it would be thinner and lighter. I was surprised when I put it on. It felt like it was from the 1980s.
Total for the watch, heart monitor, and foot pod was about $450.00. That is a lot of money for a piece of junk, which is what this is when the major functions don't work, the functions that do work are hard to use when you are using it (i.e. when running), and you can't get any help from their support.
Customer Review: Comparison to the Forerunner 305
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought this to replace my old Garmin Forerunner 305. I thought it would be a lot better, but it is actually mainly worse. First, it does not do multi-sport like the 305 can. What this means is that you will not have accurate data for a triathlon. The watch will always think you are running. The 305 can be set on "bicycle" or "other." Not a deal-breaker ... yet.
Second, it is not waterproof, but neither are any of the Garmin's except the Forerunner 310XT, which is probably the next one I will get. They are all considered water-resistant, but not recommended for swimming ... Still not a deal-breaker.
One of the advantages of this watch was it's small size (better for a woman's wrist) and it's functionality as a sport watch when not being used as a GPS. Unfortunately, this multi-functionality makes it difficult to use. Just when you are ready to use the GPS, it will automatically switch back to "watch" mode. This is not really a problem once you have figured out how to use it correctly, but I read the instructions, then took it out for a run only to find I couldn't figure out how to get it back to the GPS mode. Very frustrating.
Finally, there is the touch bezel feature. Great idea, but not well executed. The buttons are very finicky and often don't work as they should. When you are in the middle of a long run, the last thing you want to be doing is fighting with your watch to get it into the mode you want. Just the last straw in this sub-par edition of the Forerunner. I returned it and got a replacement of my Forerunner 305 for $79 directly from Garmin. When I upgrade next time, I will buy the waterproof 310XT, which also has the multi-sport feature.
The reason I purchased this model in first place was for its charging cradle (one of the things that went bad in my 305) and for its ability to remotely sync with your computer. Both of these things do seem to work better than the 305.