Advice on GPS wrist band/watch
- Thread starter Katoom
- Start date
I recently started running seriously and got a running watch.
I chose a Garmin 610, refurbished with heart rate monitor. Price was very good, about $140 USD. You couldn't tell it wasn't brand new.
I chose the 610 because it is a relatively new model (although superseded by the 620), was relatively high end but being refurbished and last gen had a good price. the GPS was supposedly very accurate. The watch it much smaller and more watch like than other units (e.g. 320XT), and it supports the garmin footpod to track cadence and give more accurate pacing information.
Overall I like it, the screen is so much easier to read than getting a phone out your pocket. And the touch screen works so much better with sweaty fingers. heart rate monitoring is really useful IMO.
There are 2 thigns I don't like about it but I beleive this is true of all, or nearly all GPS watches.
1). the GPS is less accurate than my phone, yet this was one of the main reasons I wanted a GPS watch. for Casual running this is less of a deal but as I run more seriously it gets frustrating. Friday I ran 16.8 miles, measured using geodistance.com. My phone reported 16.6 miles. The Forerunner 610 watch reported 16.1 miles. When working our my pace and timing that is a big error. Today I ran a load of lopps on forest trails so I have no idea of total true distance, my phone read 6.7 miles and the watch 6.25. my estimate would be over 7 miles true distance.
However, fromextensive research this is about as goo as you can get.I think only thr Garmon 310Xt with the fotopod attached is any better.
2). Compared to a phone, getting a GPS lock can sometimes take ages. Phones use the cell towers to get information about GPS satellites and also have some advanced software to help them lock on faster. With the 610 it can take 3-4 minutes to lock although it is often under 30 seconds.
I heard some bad things about the Garmin 10/15, very poor accuracy or something, so skipped them.
I chose a Garmin 610, refurbished with heart rate monitor. Price was very good, about $140 USD. You couldn't tell it wasn't brand new.
I chose the 610 because it is a relatively new model (although superseded by the 620), was relatively high end but being refurbished and last gen had a good price. the GPS was supposedly very accurate. The watch it much smaller and more watch like than other units (e.g. 320XT), and it supports the garmin footpod to track cadence and give more accurate pacing information.
Overall I like it, the screen is so much easier to read than getting a phone out your pocket. And the touch screen works so much better with sweaty fingers. heart rate monitoring is really useful IMO.
There are 2 thigns I don't like about it but I beleive this is true of all, or nearly all GPS watches.
1). the GPS is less accurate than my phone, yet this was one of the main reasons I wanted a GPS watch. for Casual running this is less of a deal but as I run more seriously it gets frustrating. Friday I ran 16.8 miles, measured using geodistance.com. My phone reported 16.6 miles. The Forerunner 610 watch reported 16.1 miles. When working our my pace and timing that is a big error. Today I ran a load of lopps on forest trails so I have no idea of total true distance, my phone read 6.7 miles and the watch 6.25. my estimate would be over 7 miles true distance.
However, fromextensive research this is about as goo as you can get.I think only thr Garmon 310Xt with the fotopod attached is any better.
2). Compared to a phone, getting a GPS lock can sometimes take ages. Phones use the cell towers to get information about GPS satellites and also have some advanced software to help them lock on faster. With the 610 it can take 3-4 minutes to lock although it is often under 30 seconds.
I heard some bad things about the Garmin 10/15, very poor accuracy or something, so skipped them.
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- 22 Nov 2002
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vivoactive.
has great gps for running (less than 10 seconds to get it's lock)
and it has a built in pedometer for step tracking.
bluetooth connectivity to your phone and has ant+ for heart rate monitoring.
has great gps for running (less than 10 seconds to get it's lock)
and it has a built in pedometer for step tracking.
bluetooth connectivity to your phone and has ant+ for heart rate monitoring.
Man of Honour
Indeed. A lot of people incorrectly think that Garmin devices/etc are automatically going to have more accurate GPS than modern smartphones. In older phones and apps this may have been true but with more modern phones that support GLONASS and applications that don't use a stupidly low polling rate many phones will be as accurate or more.