Garmin Forerunner 405CX GPS Sport Watch with Heart Rate Monitor (Blue)
by Garmin
|
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 |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Garmin Forerunner 405CX GPS Sport Watch with Heart Rate Monitor (Blue)
Customer Review: I love this HR watch.
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had this for about a month now and I find it to be easy to use, mine workout logs from, and even update the firmware with. The connect from Watch to my laptop to Garmin Tools works great. Garmin's website isn't the fastest but that is a minor grip. For workout data and programming, they also provide software you can run on your local box. All-in-all Garmin has done a great job of automatically handling the log data and making communication automatic and seamless.
With respect to the bevel, yes it doesn't work the same way as an Apple but it is close. First of all, It has two modes of operation: 1) where the bevel will not respond or 2) where it will response. To get the bevel to wake up, I have to it the "lap /reset" button first. Then I can get the bevel to do anything I want. Also it took a little practice on how to touch it at first. Instead of a flat surface the bevel is at an angle and it's best to touch it from the same angle. The idea is to you get as much surface contract as possible direct between your finger tip skin and the actual surface of the bevel. In the out of the fox factory setting of medium sensitivity, the bevel responds very well for me if I account for these two things. Then again, I've only had it one month and have not used it in rain or with lots of sweat on my hands.
So far it's been a great product and easy to use once you learn it's few of modes of operation. The documentation isn't very deep but the product is fairly intuitive. I have emailed support a couple of times any they have always been quick to respond.
Just like Steve Jobs, Garmin attempts to make the interface as easy as possible and the effort does show. Their customer support is also good IMHO.
Customer Review: Dropoff from function & ease of use in 305...
Summary: 2 Stars
The 405CX is the 3rd generation Garmin that I've had over the last 5 years. Have had the 201, the 305 before. Really liked the 305 other than how bulky & heavy it is.
+'s of 405:
+ It is light weight, smaller & less bulky than 305
+ It does seem to load up & find satellites pretty fast for me (living in Austin, TX)
+ It looks kinda cool, more like a watch
-'s of 405
- The bezel controls almost everything of interest. This drives you nuts if you're used to buttons, and is almost impossible to manage while you're actually running.
- The bezel ranges from ultra sensitive, literally moving and selecting stuff by itself on the run - to almost non-responsive (with low or medium sensitivity set)
- There is no power button to turn the d@mned thing off!! seriously. they don't tell you this anywhere before you buy it or worse, even after you buy it. you just get to find out on your own. kind of shows the arrogance of the design & marketing, that Garmin knows what's best for you. No informative text required.
- The font is a bit smaller than I expected, but still manageable.
In short, I like some aspects of it and will get used to it, but am really disappointed in the "steps backward" compared to the 305, even if it is much more creative. Also really feel like Garmin intentionally misleads with the marketing & ads on the 405. It's almost like they don't want you to know how weird & different it is (bezel controls everything, no power switch, etc) so that you'll buy it and "learn to love it." Garmin - if you're listening, this is not the way to keep loyal customers... Treat us like we have a brain & can deserve the whole truth upfront.
Customer Review: Great Product - Buy It!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was a little dubious about the 405Cx, given the mixed reviews, and I briefly considered other models. Main concerns seem to be the touchiness of the bezel and the complex operations. Don't worry. These issues are totally manageable, in my experience. I found the watch accurate, easy to use, and incredibly useful. I hadn't used a GPS watch or a heart-rate monitor before. I think it's made a huge difference in my marathon training. It's also really fun. Here's the lowdown:
-The bezel operation works fine--not so well when your fingers are sweaty or cold, but I generally set it and forget it during a run. If I want to change the display, it's really not a problem to unlock the bezel and give a tap or two on the fly.
-To prevent inadvertent operation all you have to do is lock the bezel, which is super easy.
-It's accurate compared to my car GPS, and satellite pickup is very fast.
-The ANT+ Agent has been touchy once or twice (I use a Mac OS), but all you have to do is upload the data again; the Garmin Connect site has a really nice layout and user interface and tells me everything I need to know. I can easily e-mail my workouts to my kids to brag about how far I ran!
-The virtual partner is a fun way to track your pace, but less helpful than just monitoring your actual pace against your target, which is also really easy to do on the watch.
-Battery life is great. A 10 to 15 mile run usually consumes about 40 percent of the battery.
-The heart rate monitor is really comfortable and has added a new dimension to my training.
To me, the additional features of the 405CX justified the price premium relative to the other Garmin models. It's a terrific device.
Customer Review: Started Out Great ..... But ........ Wound up Fine!
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this watch in late August. It started out great. Battery life was good, it found Satellites fast, I really loved it.
But now it is a little over 3 months later. The battery only lasts a couple of days, (there is no way to turn this thing completely off) and it takes forever (sometimes as long as 5 minutes) to find satellites.
I'm guessing there is something wrong with the acquisition and so it burns up the battery trying to acquire satellites. I do turn the GPS off when I store it but that doesn't seem to fix the battery life problem.
I have tried contacting Garmin but if you call you will be on hold for 45 minutes before you give up. I'm on my second e-mail and still waiting for a reply. Hopefully I will hear something soon and will update this with my progress if I get any.
UPDATE 12/11/2010: I received an e-mail from Garmin about performing a soft reset and also a reset to factory defaults. You must upload your data before performing either one if you want to keep it. The soft reset did not fix my satellite problem. The hard reset did. For both resets you hold both buttons on the side down until the unit powers off. For the hard reset, release the start button (the top one) while continuing to hold the lap button (the bottom one) after the power off until a pop-up menu appears. At that point you release the lap button and click the start button to reset to factory defaults.
UPDATE 1/16/2011: After performing the resets recommended by Garmin, I haven't had a single problem. I'm upgrading my 3 stars to 4 stars - knocking 1 star off because of the issue. But other than that it has been working great and as advertised.
Customer Review: Awesome running companion
Summary: 5 Stars
I've taken this watch with me on two runs so far, and it will definately be a part of my runs from now on. I mainly use the watch for analyzing my runs afterwards. I like the ability to watch my heart rate and chart my runs/distances. I live in an area with tall building and I am still able to get GPS reception, which was my primary concern before purchasing. Although it takes some time to initially get a GPS lock, afterwards it keeps tracking consistently during my entire workout.
The touch bezel isn't my favorite thing, but I don't mess with the watch while I'm running, only before and after, so I don't find it to be difficult to work with, although if I were a designer, I would tend to prefer buttons over touch technology, not a big deal for me at all though. The touch does work fine and I have no issues with the functionality of it, but can't comment on the sweat and touch bezel interference part.
Heart rate monitor is flawless.
My only gripe about the entire system is Garmin's lack of including the software with the watch. They only include a CD version of the owner's manual. You have to download the software (free) from their website. Not a big deal, but could have saved the 100+ MB of download by just including it on the CD with the owner's manual.
ANT+ technology works great too. It automatically syncs from the watch to the computer. I think you are also able to sync stuff from the computer to the watch, but haven't gotten that far with it yet.
Overall, I think this is a great tool for running. I like the ability to plan my routes and save them on my computer to track my run times, heart rate and pace to see if I'm improving, and where I need to improve.