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Garmin Garmin Forerunner 301 Wrist Watch GPS and Heart Rate Monitor - 010-00375-00

Garmin Forerunner 301 Wrist Watch GPS and Heart Rate Monitor - 010-00375-00

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Garmin Garmin Forerunner 301 Wrist Watch GPS and Heart Rate Monitor - 010-00375-00

  • Reviewed by: johninminnesota

    10-10-06

    Duration of ownership: 3 Months

    Strengths: looks great

    Weaknesses:major design flaws

    Overall Evaluation: First of all, Garmin's software DOES NOT work with Macintosh. There is no version of their software available for Mac, regardless of what their press release of Jan. 2006 say - as of Oct. 2006 there is no software for Mac.When I first got the Garmin Forerunner 305, I followed the instructions, got it plugged in and went out for my first run with it. When I got home and plugged it in to my computer USB bus, the computer froze and required a reset to reboot. Once the computer came up again, the USB bus didn't work. Had to replace the motherboard.Their support person informed me:1. Check for chipset names that are INTEL, NEC, etc. These are compatible chipsets with our devices.2. If you have a chipset name that contains SiS, Via, OpenHCD, Ali, or Alr,these chipsets are not compatible with our devices and may not allow the USB Card Programmer to function."Unfortunately, it appears as if we are unable to determine why the failure occurred given the information you provided. Thus we question whether the Forerunner 305 had anything to do with the failure on your PC. The device you provided does meet all specification standards. I will no longer respond to questions regarding the previous unit.". UPDATE: 2 October 2006 - After I filed the complaint with the Better Business Bureau, I was emailed by Garmin's senior staff attorney telling me he wanted me to contact him regarding this issue. I sent him the "final response" from Garmin's technical support that basically told me to shove off, to which he responded that they wanted to offer me another 305 as payment for my troubles. I requested they pay me for my motherboard and my time since I was now VERY DISAPPOINTED about how I had been dealt with, and basically the attorney told me in about 3 paragraphs that I needed to read their warranty which clearly states ... "blah blah blah" we aren't responsible for your problems.UPDATE: 6 October 2006 - The replacement unit is now causing blue screens (through the USB hub). What a disappointing experience. $350.00 of junk.Be ForeWARNED!

  • Reviewed by: LuckyLuke

    04-07-06

    Duration of ownership: 1 Months

    Strengths: size: easy to read but ... see weaknesses. GPS: perfect. HR monitor: awesome. Training plan:

    Weaknesses:size: big but ... see strengths.

    Overall Evaluation: If you're a serious runner or thinking about to become one this is the device for you. It's a little big but it help to glance down and see all the info without looking too long and strip/run over obstacles. Besides, i only wear it when running not to go out with it as a watch, so the size is a non-issue for me. 1) The HR monitor with strap-on gives more accurate monitoring and it can be customized to whatever you want to monitor (it saved me with beeping to tell me to slow down when my HR shot up to 205 bpm). 2) The GPS is very good for me. After a run, you can upload to the provided software, or a free web site (motionbased.com) which will keep the last 10 runs data. You can see your route from start to finish with data anywhere in between (distance/time/HR/elevation, etc.), and on the street map. 3) You can setup a training plan and download to the device so that it can monitor and keep you on the plan (tempo/long-run, warm-up/cool down by time/distance etc.) with all the beepings to tell you when to speedup/slowdown while constantly monitor your HR. Overall, I love it and it's worth every penny from $160.

  • Reviewed by: gooru

    03-04-06

    Duration of ownership:

    Strengths: compact, third-party support

    Weaknesses:can't find signal, expensive, bad non-Windows compatibility

    Overall Evaluation: After seeing scripts that people had written to upload data automatically from this watch to work with Google Maps and blogging software, I decided to purchase it. Big mistake. I have a lot of trouble getting it to find a signal and have decided that it's just too bulky for my small frame to wear it. Furthermore, I use a Mac, and the included software won't work with my computer. However, third party scripts supposedly do.

  • Reviewed by: 67beano

    12-27-05

    Duration of ownership: 20 Days

    Strengths: Pace settings, virtual partner, pre-set workout settings valuable tool for interval/speed workouts, multi-sport use ie road cycling and best most accurate heart rate monitor for training purposes.

    Weaknesses:GPS took a while to locate at first. Under trees in old neighborhood unit would lose gps but quickly re-calibrated to get me back on pace. Not a big deal.

    Overall Evaluation: I run marathons and have loved using this unit to keep me on pace the last 6 miles of pain and out of la la land. The high/low pace settings and beep notifications are awesome to keep you on pace. Virtual partner is awesome as well to push me on tough running days. GPS would go out in heavy tree areas but calibrate quickly to still give you an accurate pace & distance. I love the pre-set workouts I can input into the units so I can really push my performance on hard day workouts. I have used the Polar heart rate monitors but this one is the most accurate and best I have ever used. Software program is very easy to use so you can track you workouts and performance progress. I hope to set some pr's after using this unit more in the next year of training for Boston. Works great on my road bike cross training days. I recommend buying the bike mount as well. Awesome unit is all I can say.

  • Reviewed by: jlantzy

    11-07-05

    Duration of ownership:

    Strengths: Easy to use, excellent display, lots of other great features.

    Weaknesses:Elevation reported by GPS doesn't always seem accurate. Maps displayed on software interface are somewhat crude.

    Overall Evaluation: Despite the one or two weaknesses mentioned above, I love the Garmin 301. Prior to this, I'd be running with a Reebok heart rate monitor (no GPS). The Reebock unit had served me well for over 3 years, but it was starting to have problems. I decided that I could splurge a little bit for a replacement unit that also included GPS. For me, being able to download workout reports to my computer and view my progress in the Training Center software is a great motivator. I'm an information junkie, so I love the configurable graphs, maps, tables, etc. Though some users have reported problems keeping a strong GPS signal, I've had no problems with it (as long as you give it 10 minutes to acquire signals before you start your workout). I have noticed that elevation data seems to be a little out of kilter. One of my runs has me turning around at the crest of a hill. On the map of the workout that the training center displays, the turnaround point should also be the peak elevation, but instead the peak elevation is shown about .2 miles before the turnaround point. I don't consider that a big deal since the elevation measures are more of a "nice-to-have" feature than an essential one.

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