yk said:"KMcK" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:My Garmin 201's (not replaceable) battery is not keeping a charge very
long. I have only had it for one year and two months. It replaced a 201
that
Quoted message said:quit working after six months. It also seems that the 201 takes quite a
while to locate the satellites. I need to know if I have had very bad luck
or if Garmin has problems.
I am a 55 year old middle third of the pack trail runner. I have yet
to
Quoted message said:run a marathon, but have run a trail run and a road run in the half
marathon
Quoted message said:distance. I cross train on a bike, so something I could also use on the
bike
Quoted message said:would be a plus, but not necessary.
Are there are wrist GPS's or even pedometers with similar features?
Necessary options:
Distance traveled
Pace
Time elapsed
Storage of at least some lap data
Features I like that are not necessary:
Calories used
Downloadable data
Elevation
Interval (time/distance) with alarm
Walk/run timer/distance setup
I like my FR305. It believe it does all you listed above.
I have it for almost 2 years and no problem so far.
There is an optional accessary that allows you to quickly move the unit from
your wrist to bike's handle bar. You can also get an optional cadence
sensor for bike and a footpod for a treadmill.
They says the battery lasts for 10 hours fully charged, although I had never
used it more than 4 hours.
It can take as long as 5 minutes to locate satelites from col.d start. So,
I usually turns it on before reaching the trail head.
For a longer rides, I use eTrex because of a longer battery life (about 20
hrs and replaceable AAA) and map/navigation feature.
My son recently got FR305 at about $150 with rebates.
Hope this helps,
I do have a FR305 that I used when getting my Polar hrm replaced and on
rare occasion since. While it's ok for distance estimates, it's
cumulative climb data are notoriously bad (not sure if you meant
cumulative climb or really did mean current elevation), and I've tried a
couple different software downloads, although I haven't processed the
raw data myself. I mean it indicates 500ft for flat trail, 1500ft for
500ft trail. It also did something to my data one day when I had 2
separate runs that started from the same start area. I was unable to
retrieve all my data, no matter what software I used. It's been on my
[censored] list since then.
If I want serious gps data, then I use a Garmin GPSmap 60CSx. I know I
get over 20hrs of battery life with lithium batteries (replaced
partially used ones before a long run), and I just used it for an almost
13-hr adventure. It has a barometric altimeter combined with the gps
data so it gives reasonable cumulative elevation data. Most of the time
I just leave it in my pack, out of sight, since I run by effort and
don't need that information except when done - or unless I had a
particular mileage or climb goal for that day. It can be clipped to
waist belt or shoulder strap. It's out of my way. The FR305 is heavy and
hurts my wrist on long runs when I used it, but may have small wrists,
and gets in the way of peeling layers.
Dot
--
"Success is different things to different people"
-Bernd Heinrich in Racing the Antelope
