My first GPS watch was a lemon. When it died and refused to work after sporadically using it for a year and half, I was bummed to say the least. Angry that I had spent a significant amount of money on a watch that wasn’t a good value, I ran watch-less for several months.
I played with the idea of training for the New York City Marathon without a watch of any kind, but quickly realized that I enjoyed the freedom a GPS watch allows. I like having the flexibility to change my running route on the spot, but still hit my planned mileage.
Not wanting to buy yet another lemon of a watch, I went to several running stores to discuss the Garmin 405 (the lemon) and how it compared to other models.
I finally decided to purchase the Garmin 210 at The Running Company because they have a great return policy.
Out of the box this model is easy to set up and the functions are simple. It’s small compared with several other GPS watches.
It basically has two major functions:
- Basic run tracking that displays either time, average pace and distance or time, current pace and distance.
- An easy to use interval function.
One of the reasons I choose to purchase another Garmin is their online tracking system where you can upload workouts after they are complete. I didn’t find another GPS watch that included something similar.
The Garmin 210 finds satellite quickly even in Manhattan (at least compared to the Garmin 405. I’ve been using it since late April and it’s yet to let me down. It is consistent and hasn’t let me down on a run yet.
The only thing I would change about it is the band. The 405 came with an additional band option that allowed it to have a more personalized fit. While the watch isn’t large per say, the design of the watch face is a little to big for my wrist and therefore fits slightly strange.
Overall, the Garmin 210 is a reliable GPS watch I would recommend to a friend.
Do you use a GPS watch? Have you found one that you can reliable upon?
I have this watch too! I do like it, but in the city I find it takes forever for me to find satellite!! I have started bringing my iPhone with me and using Log Your Run, the iPhone GPS is much better so it grabs quicker–but I don’t WANT to do that really. Ugh. Good luck with yours! I love the watch it is just the darn 10 min wait for it to adjust.
Mine definitely doesn’t take 10 minutes to load! Maybe you can find a corner or spot that’s a little bit better for satellite reception?
If I use it consistently it probably takes three minutes or less. If I haven’t used it in a week or so it takes longer.
My Garmin 405 was a lemon too! Really stressful, and frustrating to have an expensive device die without even being used much. I went with the Nike+ SportWatch and despite a couple of minor glitches, I really like it. They have a comprehensive online tracking system as well, which I find more user friendly and easy to read and visually pleasing (you can point to any spot along your route and see your exact pace at that time). It also shows me the percentage changes between my pace at each mile, which is a really nice feature. I also like that I can start with the footpod so I don’t have to wait for a GPS signal, but once I get one it kicks in and adjusts to account for my footpod time.
I had the same problems with my Garmin 405! After about 6 months the performance got spotty, but it worked sometimes, so I didn’t call the company until it completely stopped functioning (past the warranty of course). I can’t tell you how frustrated I’ve been to have to go back and forth with their customer service again and again to no avail. I gave up and ran without it for about a year (including a marathon) and it really limited my training options to not run with a watch.
Thank you for letting me know that the 210 is a good option, and it makes me feel better to know my 405 wasn’t the only one that was a total fail 🙁
I love my Garmin 110!!!
The Nike + sports watch is not perfect and probably not for someone who loves having every single stat, but it’s a good basic gps watch for only$200.
I have the 305, which I’ve had since December ’09. I bought it over the 205, because after some reading I thought I’d dive into using the heart rate monitor to help my training for my first marathon…yeah, not so much. I pretty much only use the straight up mileage/timer function, the interval function (which I love love love, as I do my long-runs/marathons in intervals), and recently started using the lap function with some hills.
I really appreciate this post. I am looking into buying a GPS watch to track my runs and am glad to have recommendations and comments.
Sounds like 405 is out!
Thanks for this 🙂 I recently had my forerunner 305 stolen out of my car and I’ve been on the market for a new GPS watch. I’m waiting until after the baby’s born to treat myself to one, but the 210 has been in the back of my mind.
Crazy! I was about to email you yesterday to ask which GPS watch you recommend then decided I would ask you on Friday 🙂
My 405 was exactly the same! My husband just got me the 210 for my bday and I am excited to try it now!!
Love the watch. I recently bought a Garmin 210 and love it!
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