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: Highly recommended
Summary: 4 Stars
I've researched a lot before taking the decision of buying the Forerunner 405cx, which is my first GPS (I am long time Polar user) and to be completely honest, I still had some doubts when I placed the order, specially after review the comments of previous buyers.
Clearly the main potential problem is the bezel, that in fact is difficult to manage in the very beginning but at least for me it was not the nightmare that some people reported in this space, but after a few days, you get used to the sensibility it's no longer a problem.
A very good tip, that I got in these reviews (apologies, I can't remember wo wrote it but thanks anyway!) is to lock the bezel when you are not using it.
GPS is really great. I've already used it in three different cities in Brazil and it never took me more than a couple minutes to get satellite signal. In some cases only a few seconds after turning it on it was ready.
HR measurement is not really Garmin's "thing", but the monitor is OK, not the most confortable I've ever used, but it doesn't annoy me, even in long sessions, over 1,5 hours.
The ANT is also really good, just getting the close to a computer you can transfer all the info from the device, and the software is very intuitive, you can get all the information you want very easily.
Battery duration could be better, but once you check it periodically, you will not get in trouble without battery during your exercise.
To sum up, I think it really delivers what it promisse, and stongly recommend it
Customer Review: Decent device, but a few shortcomings
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this because I needed something that could track my heart rate accurately during my workouts and wanted the extra GPS flexibility that doesn't come standard with the Polar devices. It's a very solid device for monitoring your heart rate, though some Spectra 360 Electrode Gel Parker Labs, Each 250GM Tube will come in handy for getting a good heart signal.
The GPS is outstanding, it tracks just fine under heavy tree cover and in other environments where lesser GPS' would lose signal. The only major downside that I've found is that you can only enter waypoints or view your location using deg/min/sec, and I find it much easier to work with UTM references. Hopefully Garmin will fix that in a firmware upgrade. You can of course enter waypoints on your PC and upload them to the device, but it's good enough that it's replacing my etrex on short hikes and it'd be nice to more easily cross reference with a topo map.
It also integrates nicely with Garmin Connect and lets you publish your trail details - here's one of my hikes [..]
You can configure the ANT wireless to automatically download your track and heart rate data when the device is within range of your PC. It's definitely the easiest GPS i've ever had for accessing my trail data.
The battery life isn't wonderful, but it does charge from a standard USB connector so it's easy to keep charged when you travel.
Customer Review: Great, but don't buy if you own a Mac.
Summary: 1 Stars
I agree with the majority of the positive reviews here. In fact I would probably give the 405CX five stars if I owned a PC, but I don't. The device is great as a device and does what it advertises, but if you own a Mac, stay away. I immediately had problems getting the watch to upload its data to the Mac when I got the device three months ago. It would try repeatedly and eventually succeed. Then I installed their upgrade and now it is useless. It has been trying to upload its data for almost a week without success. Three e-mails to Garmin on this have yielded zero responses. They do not post old software versions so reloading the old version is not an option.
I am convinced that they just do not know how to write software and it really shows -no logging of failures, hence no way to diagnose why it won't upload, no feedback mechanism so that failures can be tracked by Garmin in order to improve their software, feature poor interface, etc. Add to this that their web site support requires you to re-enter all of your data even though you are logged in and they have your product information. Garmin may understand GPS, but they don;t get software and they are a long way from understanding what a 21st century web experience should be.
I could sing the praises of the watch's functionality and ergonomics, but what is the point? Without being able to upload your training history, I might as well use a cheap Timex and Google maps to track my training. Find another solution if you own a Mac.
Customer Review: Its really nice not fearing getting lost hiking anymore
Summary: 5 Stars
I have used this watch for 3 months now, and I am 99% percent happy with it. It is very easy to use. After 20 minutes I knew how to access most of its features. The data transmission to the computer is very nice, too. You only have to stick the usb receiving device into your computer and it detects the watch and retrieves the data. So, after all that, I can say that it was a great purchase, and I recommend it for anyone who likes running and gadgets. The touch bezel works great. Even when it was raining I was able to use it with no trouble at all. The battery life is not great, but it's ok. It takes about 3 one-hour workouts (5 days) to wear out the battery. The GPS is about 95 percent accurate, but it is good too. Sometimes the map shows my route as if I had been taking shortcuts through the bushes. I would rate its accuracy as been 8/10. It's my first GPS device though, I don't know if they are all like that. The heart rate monitor is excellent, much better then my Polar. It's more accurate (doesn't show absurd values like the Polar does sometimes) and it allows you to change the battery instead of having to buy a new one when the battery dies. Another great thing about this watch is that it allows you to select the data fields that you want to view during your workout. So, you can configure up to 3 sets of data with 4 fields on each one to view during the exercise. You can either change the data sets by touching the bezel or configure the watch to rotate through them.
Customer Review: Great Product for training
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought My Garmin Forerunner 405CX to assist with my half marathon training. I needed help tracking my distance. This is a great product and has a lot of features. I would absolutely recommend this product to everyone. The bezel soetimes is non responsive when your hands are wet from sweat.
The only problem that I have had with the watch, is the battery life. On a full charge I could only use it for 2 hours before it would start beeping that the battery life was 0. There were times when the watch showed a 90% battery but once it picked up the sattelites, it started flashing low battery. when I ran my half marathon, I was not finished when it started flashing low battery. It completely died less than 3 hours from the time I started the timing. Luckily I was finished with my race by that time. When I tried to charge the watch after the half marathon, it would not charge and I could not get it to do anything. I called Garmin and they tried to talk me through resetting the watch. When that was unsuccesful, they had me send it in to be worked on. I received a new watch from Garmin less than a week after I mailed off the watch. This new watch, holds a charge for days! I ran for hours this past weekend, and still had a 70% charge. I think the first watch had a bad battery. I was extremely happy with the attention and help that I received from Garmin when I had a problem with my watch. I was worried that I would be stuck with a $400 paper weight.