I've been thinking about getting a Garmin Forerunner 405 for about six months now, and yesterday I picked one up. It's a training watch with a built in GPS tracker.
Here's the low-down from a day's worth of use.
- It's beefy. This is a big watch. Anyone significantly smaller than I may find it uncomfortably large. But, I went on a ~15 minute run earlier today and didn't notice the bulk at all once I got underway.
- It takes a while to get started. After entering "Training" mode with the GPS enabled, the watch acquires satellites for 15+ seconds before you can get going. For me, that means standing in my front lawn staring at my watch.
- It's awesome. The watch provides stats on my pace and whether I'm meeting my goals, and can apparently be programmed with courses and stuff. The data is all accessible later (downloaded automatically when I walk near my computer!) and ends up being rendered in totally kickass shots like the one at right, with way more telemetry than I'll ever need.
I still haven't gotten all of the settings figured out, but the only somewhat bothersome part I've found so far is that it's difficult to get heart rate information overlaid on any of the screens that presents pace information. So if I want to know both (which I do), I need to switch back and forth during the run an awful lot.
Will it export the tracklog to a useful open format so that you can view it with geo-referenced maps? Their other products have been pretty good about that.
Not sure. I'll check tonight and will let you know.
--D
How did you manage to swing the heart rate?
The watch gets its data from a standard heart-rate-monitor chest strap. I've been wearing one of those during my runs for the last two years or so.
Is that what you're asking?
--D
Mouser-
It appears the software will import Garmin History Database Files (.hst) and Garmin Training Center Database Files (.tcx) but will only export the latter. So it looks like interop is somewhat limited.
--D
There's a standardized protocol for heart rate monitors?
I don't know any details, but it certainly appears standardized. Whenever I go to the gym the treadmills pick up heart rate signals from any brand of monitor. It's possible they all have different protocols, but I doubt it.
--D
Actually, I'll try to see tonight if my Garmin and Polar monitors are compatible. I've got a strap and a receiver for each.
--D