Which Garmin, if any.

[that_fjell_guy]

I have to say I quite like Connect, although I have zero to compare it with. They do give average moving speeds etc, which may be the same as 'combined active laps'? Its not perfect but its a nice tool to play with apres run.

[Martyn P]

Do read Rainmaker's in-depth review first. The Fenix seems to have a lot of bugs at present. It also sounds fiendishly complicated, particularly if one is used to the Forerunner series, as it doesn't work in the same way. Rainmaker found that the battery life, claimed to be very long, is unpredictable. He concluded that this was more a watch for mountaineering than running. I have not yet found him wrong about anything.

Thanks Alex, I did read Rainmaker's (extensive) review and you're right, it sounds like a change in direction from those used to the Forerunner devices. I may wait a while and see how they shape up before I splurge on one (that sounds all wrong, but you know what I mean).

[Mike T]

Has anyone got a 110? What is it like - a friend is thinking of buying one.

[tele]

I have to say I quite like Connect, although I have zero to compare it with. They do give average moving speeds etc, which may be the same as 'combined active laps'? Its not perfect but its a nice tool to play with apres run.

With sporttracks you can hightlight which laps were rest and which where the active ones. i.e. if your doing hill reps, highlight the laps where you're pegging it up the hill and deselect the laps where you trot back down. It will give you your mean average for the hill reps. Haven't found a way to do that with connect. From that I create a custom workout on my forerunner for next time for the same session and set a taget pace quicker than the mean.

[geronimo]

Thanks Alex, I did read Rainmaker's (extensive) review and you're right, it sounds like a change in direction from those used to the Forerunner devices. I may wait a while and see how they shape up before I splurge on one (that sounds all wrong, but you know what I mean).

Martyn
I have the 310XT and it is fantastic
I had a misting problem and emailed Garmin when it was about 6 months old and they said send it back. I forgot about it and then this september after I wrecked it falling on the Nevis race I sent it back before I went on holiday (this is nearly 2 years old now)
When I got back off holiday a new one had been posted through my letterbox. still a slight misting but I can live with it. cannot fault Garmin for such fantastic service
as for the watch itself, it is very accurate over timings and distances. find it useful that you can compare up to 3 similar runs side by side such as split timings (I split by each mile) so I can see where I lost or gained on a race or previous training run.
the fact you can display british grid is really useful in clag (as was the recent case on leg2 of a BG)
you can upload a previous course and it will give you a breadcrumb trail on the screen to follow
you can set a previous run as virtual partner so you can see if you are ahead or behind your last run
cant really trust the elevation total whilst on a run as this seems to get distorted but corrects itself on Garmin connect
can set your own screen options and have seperate options for cycling and running
most of all it wont lie so the mileage showing on Garmin connect is a true reflection of your mileage (except you can manually put a run onto connect if you forget your watch)
it will connect up with other devices such as cadence on a bike or the BC-1000 scales that records all sorts of body statistics
Garmin connect will record your weight manually if you input it. essential to log again performances
It can make a brew (sorry getting carried away)

[Alexandra]

Originally posted by geronimo
I have the 310XT and it is fantastic ... find it useful that you can compare up to 3 similar runs side by side such as split timings (I split by each mile) so I can see where I lost or gained on a race or training run.

geronimo, it's better than that - you can compare 4 different runs in Connect. But I suppose that would apply to any Garmin watch that downloads to Connect.

[Alexandra]

I don't think connect is that good, sporttracks is a lot better. For me I like the fact you can hightlight which laps were your rest laps and it gives you the averages for al the combined active laps.

http://www.zonefivesoftware.com/SportTracks/

Can you download data wirelessly eg from the 310xt to Sporttracks? I seem to remember this wasn't possible in the past.

PS I've just lost interest as I discovered SportTracks costs money!!!

[tele]

Can you download data wirelessly eg from the 310xt to Sporttracks? I seem to remember this wasn't possible in the past.

PS I've just lost interest as I discovered SportTracks costs money!!!

Sportstracks doesn't cost or didn't. you can run it in freetrial mode, which you don't have full functionality. Which limits I think the number of plugins you can run and the number of user accounts from memory. Install it and try it and yes you can use it with the 310XT.

[Blacky]

the fact you can display british grid is really useful in clag

That is useful. I don't think you can do that on the 410 can you? Plus the battery life, that is (sadly) probably worth the extra £50 - I will have to save up!!

[Martyn P]

That is useful. I don't think you can do that on the 410 can you? Plus the battery life, that is (sadly) probably worth the extra £50 - I will have to save up!!

You definitely can't do that with the 405/410. I agree, well worth the extra 50 quid.

Still undecided whether I want to mortgage my soul and buy a Fenix. If I'm carrying a rucksack I normally have my eTrex 30 with me, it's a cracking little device and has served me well in about a year of use, but is a bit bulky when you haven't got a convenient pocket to shove it in.