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| Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver With Heart Rate Monitor | 
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| Brand: Garmin
Category: CE
Buy New: Too low to display
New (76) Used (1) Refurbished (4)
Avg. Customer Rating:  582 reviews
Sales Rank: 67
Media: Electronics
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: Yes
Native Resolution: 160x100
Display Size: 1.52
Includes MP3 Player: 0
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 8 x 10 x 6
Array:
Warranty: 1 year warranty
MPN: 010-00467-00
Model: 010-00467-00
UPC: 753759051945
EAN: 0753759051945
ASIN: B000CSWCQA
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Loved it for months until it broke September 12, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I have been a runner for years but have never bought into the gadgetry hype until this year. Until now, I have been content running sans music, headphones, stop watch, heart rate monitor, etc. For mileage I would just use online mapping tools. After winning a contest with the prize being an amazon.com gift certificate, I decided what the heck, and purchased the Garmin Forerunner 305.
It arrived in due course and having seen all the pictures online, I knew it wasnt going to be beautiful (like my Rolex- ha ha! just kidding on that). It looked very Star Trek-ish but I am not big on trying to look fashionable when I am running; I am too busy sweating to care. I have average sized wrists and this watch hurts a bit when I wear it. I have to use it on the hole that gives the tightest fit, or it will slip and slide around and hit my wrist bone painfully. But that wasnt a deal breaker.
The instructions said to power up outside and wait for it to locate satelites. I went outside, turned it on, and waited, and waited, and waited. I was in the middle of my apartment complex parking lot, no trees, no buildings blocking the sky. Also, at the time I was living in a prominent central NJ town and definitely not in a remote, off the beaten path area. Yet it took minutes to locate satelites.
But once it was on- it was on!!! I did a test run on a path that had mile markers and was really pleased that the Garmin marked those distances with accuracy! After my run, I played around it some more. Now I am a low tech type of girl, so I was content to set the watch to display the time elapsed, the time of day, and the average pace. Some people may claim the pace function is inaccurate but to me it's pretty relative, I dont need to know exactly how fast (or more likely, how slow) I am moving AT THAT SECOND. I'm content to know how my overall run went. My favorite features are the auto lap reset (I tell it to mark each mile and then I hvae a nice readout of my splits at the end) and the auto alarm feature. At first, I set the alarm to go off at a certain distance, at which I'd turn around and run back thus ensuring a cover the amount I set out to. Later, for training runs I did use the alarm feature for when my pace dropped below the limit I set- and believe me, it was annoying but also a good motivator to get my butt moving!
If you look at the photos, you will see the display is pretty large. I have no problems reading it more the most part. The two buttons under ths display are very touch responsive. however, the four buttons on the side are pretty tough to hit. I have to dig a fingernail into them to get them to respond. That's fine when I'm stationary but takes some effort when I am moving. And that sucks because in order to turn on the backlight, you must push the power on button. So basically when I did my runs in the pre-dawn darkness, I'd just give up and rely on the beeps of my watch instead.
I've mentioned I found the distance to be quite accurate. I ran a few road races with teh watch and each time, it was spot on. Granted, I was running pretty much in straight lines and in lightly wooded areas. As I'm about to explain, I think the Garmin is great UNTIL you go off road. More on that later.
The Garmin definitely brought out the OCD monster in me. With all this knowledge at my fingertips, suddenly I was keeping obsessive track of how far I ran, how fast, how long. The Garmin can plug into the usb port of your computer and downloads the info. Do NOT use the propriatary software included in teh box. It sucks. It is really basic and crappy. You are better off designing your own Excel spreadsheet; or, download a much better workout tracker. The software actually did something weird to my computer and kept running in the background even after I "closed" it (could see an icon in the system tray). However, I did not mind so much because it was the actual Garmin unit that I cared about.
And then. It happened. The Garmin broke.
Well, first what happened was I visited my parents in a more rural part of the country. The Garmin took a long, loong time to locate satelites (I think it had memorized my old NJ address) and then it said it couldnt locate any. The pace feature did nto work but the stop watch did. Fine, I thought. When I went back to NJ, it again took a loooooong time to locate satelites, and then it gave me the "cannot find" message, which I thought ???? I turned it off, turned it back on, and finally it found satelites. I also noted at that time the bleeps and blurps had grown distinctly fainter.
Then in the past month I moved, still within NJ, but now my neighborhood has lots of trees. O my first run, the Garmin could not locate any satelites. I ran anyway. The following days, it still couldnt find any satelites, and I noticed the progress bar it shows when it tries to find satellite signal was not even moving. So did it "teach" itself to give up trying to find my location? As noted before, the sound volume had also gotten really soft. And then it died. Completely and utterly. I had charged it just the night before so I wondered if I'd accidentally knocked it askew on the charging cradle (aquite possible as it is a very loose connector). Charged it up again that night, but the next day it still wouldn't turn on. I put it back on the charging cradle and saw the unit displayed "Charge complete" Eh? I pulled it off. No power. Put it back on the charger. Said it was "on" PUlled it off. Nothing. so basically I have a Garmin that runs on DC but not otherwise. That will do me little good when I am outside running.
That is pretty much how it stands right now. I hvae tried contacting customer service, and that is a big big BIGJOKE. The 1-800 number is just awful, and no matter what time I call, the wait is always 35-40 minutes. And I have yet to get a human on the line. I called the other number (has an area code) and this very sourly woman came on and promptly transferred me to the automated 1-800 number! I called again, got her again, and when I told her she'd transfered me to the damn "hotline" she hung up on me. Sigh. The other option Garmin tries to steer you towards is using the online product support but that's alo a joke. I dont get any replies until days later, and they're always from different people. I have started replying and in my replies I would quote from the email chain below the message. The tech support guy (always is a guy's name) would just write back some robotic message that clearly ignored every point I made in my original messages. For example, I would state I could not power on the unit when it is not on the cradle, and tech support would email me back telling me to "power on the unit." UGH.
So this is my rather longwinded report....I am glad I had my little few months of fun with the Garmin but it appaers the honeymoon period is over.
 Garmin Customer Service is non existant September 12, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
First off, I love my Garmin 305. It has been my training partner for two years. The only problem is that I got caught in a thunderstorm and it died. There goes their claim as being water resistant. The bigger issue is there is no customer support for their products. I have emailed them for over two weeks about the issue and each time after around three days they respond, and it's always from one person, and they ask me for information. I send them the information and then the same person after three days sends me an email telling me that he has no idea what my issue is and I repeat it. I'm now on my third time. Don't call either, they send you to that one same person and you have to sit on hold for 15-20 minutes and they keep interupting telling you to go online. What a joke. I think if a company wants to be the best it's not only the product but the support. They need to follow in Apple's footsteps on customer service.
 Excellent! Small, accurate, reliable - would buy again! September 11, 2008
Garmin Forerunner 305 Wrist-Mounted GPS Fitness Computer with Heart Rate Monitor Excellent buy - great performance - reliable recording - fast response times - good software (with VISTA). I would highly recommend this product if you wish to have the "coach" on your wrist. It is very easy to program and out of the box, it worked well. I have NO complaints on this purchase. USB connection is solid and craddle is too. Windows XP also functions well with the 305. You can upload to Google maps if you like and also use Motion Based for internet access - it DOES work!
great gift for my boyfriend September 8, 2008
After doing some online research, I purchased this gift for my boyfriend, who is training for a marathon. It seemed bulky to me and I was worried that it wouldn't work well enough for him, but he loves it. We run in New York City and the mileage count from the GPS was extremely accurate. He found the splits feature easy to use and the online software helpful in his training. I debated between this model and the 405 but I think made the right choice with this one.
Best running buddy ever! September 6, 2008
I absolutely love this watch. Now, I can see how far and fast I am running instead of wondering how much I really worked out. It's amazing to see the map online at the website, too. I've not had a chance to play with all of its amazing tools, but I can tell you, no one who loves to work out will ever regret purchasing this item.
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