Garmin Forerunner 305 Review Blog

The Garmin Forerunner 305 is available a Amazon.com

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May 15, 2006: Trees

I am finally getting to test the Forerunner 305 under the trees. I have a few trails and a few tree covered roads that I run on and so far I have not had a problem at all with accuracy. Now these are your basic hardwood trees that you find here in the Northeast, not rain forests. Still, I am running on trails that used to cause my 201 to give me lost signal alerts; I am not having any problems with the 305.

Given that, this pretty much wraps up this blog. I will write up a complete and formal review in the next few weeks and post it. Generally it will say that distance accuracy is great, the feature set is phenomenal, elevation and calorie readings are completely bogus, and the HRM function is top notch. There is a significant lag between when you change your speed and when the Forerunner registers that change, but that is true of all speed sensors.

For those of you who want to discuss the Forerunner 305, there is always GarminF at Yahoo Sports, which is pretty active. Of course you can always send me an email.

Now go run.
Victor

May 15, 2006: Rain!

After putting up with all those beautiful, clear, blue sky days, I finally got some rain to run in. Not your misty little drizzle, but a real steady, soaking rain, for an entire two hour run. The Garmin was a little less precise than on the clear sky days. It was 0.03 miles off from the clear sky and no leaf cover reading of a while back. That is pretty consistent in my book. The Forerunner 305 did not suffer from the soaking and neither did I. I love running in the rain.

I have now started to use the 305 for all exercise activities, even inside stints on the bike trainer. Obviously, I get no distance measurements, but the HRM works well and I like having all my data in the Training Center software.

One minor gripe about the Training Center software. When you export workout data, the system forces you to export the entire data set. You have no ability to define a date range or activity type. That seems a bit lame to me. I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who would be happy to build applications around the xml data structure the the Training Center outputs, but that becomes a bit cumbersome if you have to export the entire database every time you want to get just the latest data.

One final mention about elevation and then I'm going to drop it. I've probably made a bigger deal about this than I should have already. I spent some time looking to see how Garmin promoted the elevation feature. As far as I can tell, they really don't. It is mentioned as a feature, but they don't try to sell it. Still, I think they should just own up to the fact that GPS doesn't do elevation and remove all mention of the elevation from the promotional materials and manuals, and then seriously consider removing the feature from the Forerunner itself. If you disagree, let me know.

Now go run.
Victor

May 9, 2006: A Bit More on Elevation

I took the Polar S625X and Garmin Forerunner 305 out for another elevation test today. Today's run was a moderately hilly 10+ miler. The Garmin fared less well today than it did yesterday: it says my total ascent was 1,139 feet! The Polar says 380 feet, which is probably pretty close. There is no way I climbed over a thousand feet.

The Polar was not perfect, however. This 10 mile run is pretty much an out-and-back course and according to the Polar I somehow ended up 40 feet lower than where I started. This barometric drift is to be expected and when I plotted the Polar data I could see that the return trip was increasingly lower in elevation than to outbound trip.

When I plotted the Garmin data in the Training Center software, I saw some pretty wild elevation spikes where there shouldn't be any spikes. The big difference between yesterday's run and today's was that today's run had considerable tree cover. The leaves are not fully out, but I believe that tree cover impacted the Garmin's ability to measure elevation. It did not seem to impact its ability to measure distance. The measurements were within a few hundredths of a mile from what they were before the leaves started to come out.

It is certainly possible that the elevation problem is rooted in the software. If so, I am confident that Garmin will fix the problem and post updated software. If it is a hardware problem...a problem inherent to GPS based altimeters...then Garmin might be able to reduce the errors with some fancy software patch, but the problem will never go away.

To be honest, I never felt like a measure of elevation was important for a runner. More important is your exertion as you pound up that hill and your HR is a better measure of exertion than elevation gain. If elevation is important to you, then stay away from the Forerunner...at least until that time, if any, that they fix the problem.

As mentioned before, the calorie readings are as bogus as the elevation readings. That is because the calorie calculations are based on elevation. I understand the math behind that approach, but in practice it doesn't make much sense. It assumes that everybody runs with the same efficiency. If I'm bouncing all over the place, pumping one hand wildly, picking my nose with the other, and bobbing my head with each step, then my calories burned per mile will be much greater than if I am running with a springy efficient stride. (Moral of the story is that to burn more calories, pick your nose and bounce around erratically as you run.) Polar takes a much better approach to calorie calculation in that they use the HR as a major variable in their calculation of calories burned.

One last note that I forgot to mention yesterday. When I ran yesterday and today, I wore both my Polar and Garmin HR chest straps. The Polar, which is usually very reliable, failed to provide reasonable HR readings while the Garmin was fine. Both these are coded transmitters, but there was still interference, which the Garmin could deal with but the Polar could not. I know, you are supposed to allow your coded HRM some time to synch-up before you expose it to other signals, but that is hard when you are trying to put two HRMs on one body. Don't ask me why anybody would want to do that.

Now go run.
Victor

May 8, 2006: All Geeked Out

I was the ultimate running tech geek today. I wore both my Polar S625X and Garmin Forerunner 305 during my short mid-day run today: six relatively hilly miles. The 305 on my left wrist, the Polar on my right (which I later moved next to the Garmin on the left so I could watch them with one simple twist of the wrist), two heart rate chest straps (the Polar on backwards), and the S625X foot pod on my shoe. What a sight!

The goal was to compare the elevation readings of the barometric altimeter built into the Polar with that of the GPS of the Garmin. The results were what I expected: the Polar provided results that made sense: when I was running downhill, the Polar elevation readings declined; when I was running uphill, the Polar elevation readings increased. That was not always the case with the Garmin 305.

It seemed like the Garmin readings were more erratic when I was running north and west, but made much more sense as I ran south and east. This led to some interesting behavior. At one point as I ran south for a while both the Garmin and Polar elevations matched. I then turned west to climb a hill and the Garmin showed my elevation declining. After I turned south again and started to go downhill, the Garmin seemed to realize it was underestimating the elevation so the elevation started to climb, even though I was now going downhill. After about a minute of heading south, the readings of the Garmin matched that of the Polar.

Here are two graphs showing the elevation of the run. The first is from the Garmin, the second from the Polar.


The two graphs don't look too different, but they also tend to hide a lot of the detail. First of all, the Polar records and display elevation in 5ft increments. It doesn't try to get any more precise than that. Second, the scale of the graphs tends to hide a lot of the detail. For example, if you look at the Garmin graph at that quarter mile before the two mile mark, you will see a gradual decline, which accurately describes the actual terrain. That was not what the Garmin was displaying, however: the Garmin display was much more erratic, with ups and downs during that whole quarter mile. I'll have to take some time to wade through the data to pull some examples, but that will have to wait a bit.

One final comment today. The Garmin summary said my total ascent was 452 ft and that my total calories burned was 944. The Polar said that the total ascent was 300 ft and total calories burned was 532.

Now go run.
Victor

May 7, 2006: Upgraded Firmware to 2.4

I had another opportunity to test the 305 in overcast and foggy weather. Generally it performed OK.

There was one spot, however, where I was running on a trail through a short section of dense cedar trees. On two occasions the Garmin auto-paused for a second or less: not enough to impact distance reading in any significant way, but enough to cause concern. I have the 305 set to auto-pause at 20 min/mile. Now I've been slow lately, but I can easily walk that fast so it shouldn't have paused. I checked the course in the Training Center and the maps appeared correct, however the pace chart did show my pace slow considerably and then spike, slow again and then spike again. After that, the pace leveled off. My guess is that 305 lost contact with the satellites and and was making a guess regarding its pace: a bad guess. Once it reconnected with the satellites , it essentially jumped ahead to catch up.

Overall, the pace and distance readings seemed OK and matched existing mie markers. This reconfirms that you shouldn't trust the immediate pace readings, but look at the average over your run or for the current lap.

I did upgrade the firmware to the current version 2.4. The elevation readings continue to be bizarre. I sent an email to Garmin support and asked why they didn't use a barometric altimeter in the Foreruner 305 like they did in the Edge 305. The response was a simple "I don't know."

OK. My guess is that Garmin was trying to keep the size and cost of the Forerunner down. However, the Edge 305's list price is similar to that of the Forerunner 305 so why don't us runners get all the features that cyclists get? The Polar S625X also uses a barometric altimeter and it is smaller than the Forerunner 305, so I'm not convinced that size is the issue.

Now go run.
Victor

May 3, 2006: Oops

Recently I submitted the 305 to two tests.

The first test was a drop from four feet to a concrete floor. OK so this was not really a planned test, I just happened to drop it yesterday. It landed hard on the upper right edge so the fall was not broken by the arm band.

After an initial moment of panic, I picked it up and turned it on. Everything was OK...no cracked glass, not crazy display...everything normal. I strongly suggest that you don't try to validate this test at home and if you do, don't complain to me if you crack the display.

Today, I finally got another chance to run with the 305 in overcast and rainy conditions. The weather has just been so darn beautiful...clear blue skies, 55°, etc., that I haven't been able to see if the problem I had in CT was a fluke or something I should be concerned about. I am now convinced that the problem I had in CT (see April 16 post) was user error. When I turned on the 305 that day I kept it on my wrist instead of setting it down in the open like I usually do. I'm sure that was the source of the problem

So the moral of this story is that you should not wear the 305 when you turn it on. Instead, lay it down somewhere in the open and wait for it to link up to the satellites.

Now go run.
Victor

April 30, 2006: Courses

One of the Forerunner 305's great features is its Courses feature. With this feature you can create a course from a run in the Forerunner's history. This can be easily done directly on the 305 (Training > Courses > Create New), but if you want to assign a meaningful name to the course you are better off using the Training Center software and your PC.

Once you have created a course, you can then use that course by selecting it from the list in Courses and selecting "Do Course". Once you have made this selection you can then begin your run.

After starting your run you will be presented with some additional displays: one shows an image of two runners, the lower one being you the upper one being your virtual partner (you at your previous best pace), along with a reading of how far behind or ahead you are from that virtual partner. There is also a display that shows some of the relevant course data, including distiance and time to end.

The most tantalizing screen is one that shows the elevation profile along with two dots, one being your virtual partner and the other being you. The problem is that I have no faith in the elevation readings of the 305. Still, given the small size of the screen, the elevation errors aren't really visible on the 305, although they are when you plot them on a PC.

By pushing the mode button, you can also display a map that shows both your position and your virtual partner's position...pretty slick!

One final note about the 305's Courses and Virtual Partner features. Although these are great features, they make it easy to push yourself when perhaps you shouldn't. Progress isn't linear and if you are always using these features, you will always be tempted to better your previous best. There are times when that is good, but there are also times when such behavior can lead to injuries. Make sure you listen to your body first and the Garmin second. Or to put it another way, your training plan should determine your pace and not the Garmin.

Now go run.
Victor

April 29, 2006: On Vacation

Sorry for the lack of recent posts, but it was time for a vacation. We took the kids to Orlando. It really is no fun to run down there and knowing that I didn't bring the 305. I'm real good at loosing things and I didn't want to take that chance with the 305.

Although I got in only one run, I did do substantial walking and a good amount of that was with a kid on my back. It would have been interesting to see how far I walked.

Now go run.
Victor

April 22, 2006: Not Happy with Motion Based

OK, so I still haven't had a chance to try out the course and virtual partner feature. I did go for a run this morning, but not on a course I had taken the Forerunner 305 on before. Running my favorite 10 miler is more important than testing out the 305.

One feature of this 10 miler is that it parts of it are heavily wooded. I would frequently loose satellite reception with my old 201 and I was eager to get a reading from the 305 before the leaves came out. That way I will be able to compare the 305 both with and without leaves on the trees.

Another comment on the Training Center software...It appears that you can only export the entire data file. You can't export just selected records. Unfortunately, that means that your export file just gets larger and larger. I don't think it would be too hard for Garmin to give us a simple dialog allowing us to select a date range to export.

I'm going to finish my whining by complaining about Motion Based. This software seems very clunky to use and buggy. Some of the features require you to use Internet Explorer instead of Firefox. No thanks! Has anybody used Motion Based for and extended period of time and not been frustrated? If so, let me know.

Just so I don't end on a bad note, the Forerunner is still performing exceptionally well. Distance, speed, and heart rate readings are right on. Of course, it takes 15-22 seconds for the 305 to adjust to sudden changes in speed, but all speed and distance devices suffer from this same lag.

Now go run.
Victor

April 20, 2006: Blew It

I messed up when trying to use the course and virtual partner feature. It was totally my fault, but it does again point out the weakness of the manual. That may not mean much to those of you who don't read manuals, but I do...usually from front to back. Unfortunately, the Garmin manual is a bit thin, both physically and in its content.

Aside from that, the 305 continues to provide accurate and consistent readings. Remember, thought, that the leaves are not yet on the trees up here. I think we've got another month before everything is green. At that time, I'll hit the trails and see how the 305 does

For those of you who may be considering using the 305 indoors on an occasional basis, it can be done. I'm not saying you get any distance or speed measurements. No. But you can use it as a big HRM if you want to. I used this morning while on the bike trainer. HRM features are great and accurate. Mileage = zero.

Now go run.
Victor

April 19, 2006: Accuracy Returns

The accuracy of the Forerunner 305 seems to have returned. It was overcast when I ran and the 305 did't skip a beat. I still don't know whether the problems I had before Easter were due to the dense cloud cover and for or not. I'm still waiting for that rainy day. Seems like we've had nothing but sunshine.

One other improvement over the #01 series involves the use of the stop button. When you pressed the stop button on the Forerunner 201, it triggered a lap. That always used to drive me crazy whenever I had to tie a shoe, stretch, or make side trip into the woods.

I'm going to try some of the course and virtual partner features tomorrow.

Now go run.
Victor

April 16, 2006: Time to Gripe

Today is going to be gripe day.

This weekend we went to my mother-in-laws house for Easter Weekend. No. Wait! I'm not griping about that. Really! The trip was fine, and this isn't a blog about mother-in-laws anyway.

No, I'm going to gripe about my 305. When I went out for a run Saturday morning, down in CT, the sky was heavily overcast and although there was no rain, there was a dense, murky fog. I put on my 305 went out and turned it on and waited for it to link up to the satellites. And I waited, and waited, and waited. It took a full four minutes before it made the link.

That in itself, didn't seem like a big deal. After all, the 305 was a good distance from home and perhaps it suffering from being in a strange place. Yeah, that's it, I thought. The 201 took a good amount of time to link up whenever it was moved a few hundred miles.

After about a half mile, I realized that although the Forerunner 305 was picking up my heart rate with apparent accuracy, my distance read zero. I went on for another mile and a half (or so I guessed), hoping it would start to display a speed or distance and curious to see what speed and distance it would display when it did.

It didn't, so I stopped at a village green, pressed the stop and then reset buttons, and turned it off. I then took it off, turned it on, set it in the grass, and then backed away from it so that even I wouldn't be able to block its view of the sky. Now, the only thing between it and the satellites were a few billion droplets of water.

After a few minutes, it appeared ready and I picked it up, put it on, and proceeded with my run. From this point on, it seemed to work well and recorded distance with apparent accuracy. Unfortunately, I didn't have any trusted reference points, so I can't really vouch for its accuracy in less than perfect weather. Lots hope for more rain and fog so we can see how it does.

I did try out the "back to start" feature. I wasn't afraid of getting lost on the back roads of Connecticut (although if I ever were to get lost, it is much more likely to be in suburbia than in a major city or in the wilderness), but I really wanted to try this feature. I'm not sure it has many practical uses. Does anybody really get lost while running?

The Garmin faithfully beeped as I approached each major turn so I would know when to turn and it did successfully guide be back to where I restarted it on the village green. I did manage to get lost on the stretch between the village green where I restarted the 305 and home. Well I really didn't get lost, I just made a little wrong turn, which I quickly corrected...well, I corrected it once I found myself in a cul-du-sac. So maybe the "back-to-start" feature does have a practical use.

My next gripe concerns the manual. It seems somewhat incomplete. For example, the back-to-start feature isn't discussed in the manual. I don't know if there are any other omissions, but I'll check.

Time for one more gripe. For skinny guys like myself, the elastic HR strap seems a bit big. I can see myself running out of elastic once the thing start to loose some of its stretch. Garmin may want to consider offering a variety of sizes for those purchasing replacement straps.

Now go run.
Victor

April 13, 2006: Counting Calories

I heard back from the people at Garmin about the calorie inaccuracy problem mentioned below and was told that this is a know problem and that engineers are working on it. That's great! But I'm not so sure that a fix will be quick. I say that because I think the calorie problem results from inaccurate altitude readings, which the 305 uses, in part, to estimate calories burned. If the 305 is measuring altitude every second then small but frequent altitude errors will add up quickly. I notice that I rarely get the same altitude readings at the same point on an out-and-back course. Altitude also seems to vary by 20 feet or more along flat stretches of road. Since the calorie estimation is based on distance and elevation, frequent fluctuation in elevation (especially those that are not really there) will cause higher then expected calorie readings.

But this does bring to light one Garmin's great strengths: you can update your firmware when Garmin writes fixes or improvements. This is only one of many benefits of having a hard wired connection between the 305 and your PC. Try that with a infrared connection!?! You can't. (Somebody please email me if I'm wrong.)

So although the calorie fix may take some time, I know that when it is fixed I will be able to upload the fix to my 305.

I want to make one last comment about the 305's fit. It is a big watch, no doubt about that, but it fits. Well, it fits me. If you have a really small wrist (I don't have a big one) then you may find it uncomfortable, but it is well designed to wrap around your wrist just right.

Now go run.
Victor

April 10, 2006: Interval Training

Yesterday I ran using a workout I had created with the Garmin Training Center software and uploaded to the Forerunner 305. This software is sweet: I found it very easy to create a workout and upload it to the 305. As I mentioned, you can create workouts of incredible complexity in the Training Center and then load them on the 305. Well, my workout wasn't all that complex: just a two mile warm up followed by a series of 1200's with a 400m rest intervals and a two mile cool down. (BTW, I didn't run them fast...I'm in miserable shape right now and just wanted to test the feature.)

When running a pre-programmed interval workout, the 305 adds two new screens to the three you already have. One of these screens tells you the basic stats of your current workout step (time or distance, and target, if any), and the other describes the current step, the results of the previous step, and what you have planned for the next step.

It all worked precisely as one would expect. The 305 even provides a series of beeps to let you know that the next step of your workout is coming up soon.

I do have one rather serious grip that I have to mention, and this is not related to the excellent workout tools. The calorie calculations seem to be way off. As I recall, this was a problem with the 201 as well. On a recent easy run, the 305 told me I burned 183 calories per mile. I've sent Garmin an email asking if they could explain.

Now go run.
Victor

April 8, 2006: Training Center Software

First, my apologies for not posting for a while. I managed to pull a muscle lifting something heavy last weekend and have been out of action since then. I did manage a short five miler yesterday and continue to get very accurate results from the Garmin Forerunner 305. Yesterday it was quite overcast and that had no impact on the 305's accuracy.

I have been playing around with the Training Center software. This software is much improved over the Logbook software that shipped with the 201. Most interesting is the ability to create intricately detailed workouts. Pretty much anything you can imagine can be created in the Training Center and then uploaded to the Forerunner. All kind of intervals can be set up by time, distance, heart-rate, calories burned, or by when you press the lap button. You can also set target speed or heart rate zones for each segment of your workout. This kind of flexibility was sorely missed in the Logbook software and this made the 201 fairly worthless for complicated interval sessions.

Creating a workout in the Training Center is fairly intuitive and easy to use. It even comes preloaded with a variety of workouts built in which you can then duplicate and modify. Very nice.

I've created a fairly complicated workout which I will test tomorrow.

Now go run.
Victor

April 2, 2006: Accurate!

OK, so I've been running and biking with the Forerunner 305 for a few days now and it is about time I commented on its accuracy. The answer is that so far it has been amazingly accurate. Today I went for an easy 6 mile run. This out and back course is one I have run hundreds of times before with a variety of distance measurement devices.

Now each device usually has its own idea of where the three mile mark is and I've pretty much averaged them all and turn around when I think I am at the three mile mark. The important thing for me in measuring the accuracy of the 305 is that it be in the ball park and that, most importantly, it gives me the same measurement on the way back as it did on the way out. The Garmin alerted me to where each mile was exactly when I expected it would and at the three mile mark I immediately turned around. Each mile mark on the return trip was exactly where it was on the way out, and it read 6.00 miles at the exact spot where I pushed the start button.

Nothing I have used before has been so precise. I pushed the start button as I stepped from my driveway into the road and the Forerunner beeped just as I stepped back onto my driveway from the road. It could not have been more consistent. Now today was a beautiful clear sky type of day and there are no leaves on any of the trees yet, so this accuracy may change once it's view of the sky changes. Other runs have had similar accuracy. I ran the same 13+ mile loop on two different days. On one day it read 13.20 miles and on another it read 13.22 miles...pretty darn close.

The Forerunner 305's precision, does not unfortunately translate to its estimate of your speed. This is a problem with all speed and distance units. It is seemingly impossible for a speed and distance monitor to accurately display ones speed at a single moment. Sure, over a distance, it is extremely accurate, but if you want to know how fast you are going at any single moment, then forget it. I don't know of any device that will do that. The Forerunner takes 15-20 seconds to adjust for abrupt changes in ones pace. This makes it less useful when running short intervals. Again, this is a problem inherent in all speed and distance units. The Polar S625X took a good 15 seconds to adjust to abrupt changes in pace. The Forerunner 305 takes a little longer than the Polar foot-pod based units.

One final word before I finish this post. Using the MotionBased.com site has been a brutal experience. I have tried it with both FireFox (my preferred browser) and IE, and uploading data from the Forerunner and then clearing them out of the inbox has resulted in a series of site errors and lockups. Maybe they are just having a bad night. I'll try tomorrow night.

Now go run.
Victor

March 29, 2006: Multi-sport?

I have been using the Forerunner 305 for both my training runs and my bicycle commute into work. On my first ride into work, I was amazed to notice that the Forerunner was in bicycle mode. I wondered about this and tried to figure out what kind of algorithm could be used to automatically switch between running and cycling mode. I knew it could not be based on speed alone.

I shouldn't have wasted my time thinking about it because when I went for a run that day, the Forerunner was stuck in bicycling mode. Well, it wasn't really stuck, it was just that my expectations were stuck. I played with the buttons trying to get it into running mode while I ran till I stumbled over some road kill and figured I'd better watch were I was going and just run.

After I got home I did figure out what I had done. There is no automatic way for the the 305 to figure out what sport you are participating in. You need to manually switch between sports. This is done by going to Settings > Running > Use This Sport, or the equivalent for bicycling.

One quick word about the HRM that comes with the 305. The chest strap is actually much nicer that it looks. It is very flexible and, although it can't compare to the Polar Wearlink® transmitter, it is quite comfortable. Heart rates have been right on and so far I have yet to get errant or missing HR readings.

I had a brilliant idea while I was riding home tonight and trying to figure out how to mount the 305 on my handlebar. As I mentioned before, the antenna will not be well positioned when I do finally mount it on my handlebars. To solve this, Garmin could give the user the option to display the information upside down. OK, so I know nothing about LCD displays (that's what it is, right?) or how amazingly impossible programming the flip would be, but if it is possible, it would solve the problem. Simply mount the the 305 on the handlebars with the buttons facing away, the antenna pointed to the sky, and the display staring you in the face. Push a few buttons to get the screen to display the contents upside down (which will now appear right side up) and bingo, you have a great cycling computer that you don't have to always wear on your wrist. OK, maybe a dumb idea.

Now go run.
Victor

March 27, 2006: Buttons, buttons, and more buttons

The Forerunner has 7 buttons (count 'em). At first this seems unnecessarily confusing. Well, it is confusing, but after you use it for a while the buttons all make sense. Yes, there are some ways they could have consolidated the functions of these buttons, but this is a minor issue.

One of the biggest button improvements of the 205 and 305 over the 201 and 301 series is the placement of the start/stop and lap buttons. They have been well placed right on the top of the watch where they are easily accessible. They are easily pushed, even with mittens on. The five buttons on the side, however, are a bit difficult to push. I find myself using my fingernails to push them. This worries me, although it probably shouldn't. If I keep on pushing these buttons with a fingernail, will I eventually put a hole through the rubber button covers? That would be a bummer. Maybe I should cut my nails.

I took the Forerunner 305 with me on my bike commute to work today. The 305 does not have an optional bike mount, even though Garmin promotes it as a multi-sport tool. This is probably due to the fact that mounting the 305 on one's handlebars would angle the antenna slightly downwards. This could impact reception. I'll have to rig up some way to attach it to an old Polar handlebar mount to test this.

In the meantime, I rode with it on my wrist. Since I was just commuting and didn't really care how fast I was going or how hard I was working, it didn't bother me to wear it on my wrist where I couldn't see the stats. In fact, given how out of shape I am, I preferred that.

Now go run.
Victor

March 25, 2006: Opening the box

After some delay and rumored quality problems, the much anticipated Garmin Forerunner 305 was recently released. This GPS boasts of improved reception due to a repositioning of the antenna and to the high-sensitivity SiRFstarIII™ architecture.

My first impression, after taking the Forerunner 305 out of the box was that it was big. It has been a while since I ran with a Forerunner 201 so I was comparing it to my tried and true Timex Ironman watch.

As a comparison, here are the weights of some other similar devices:

The 305 gives you complete control over what information shows in its big display. It can accommodate up to four data elements on its screen and you can cycle through three screens. That gives you 12 data elements that you can monitor during your run. That's plenty. More than that you you're likely to drift off the road and into a tree while you obsess over statistics.

More to come, but after one run the Garmin Forerunner 305 seems like a sharp piece of equipment.

Now go run.
Victor