Useful for non-runners? I purchased the Garmin 305 in order to track my calorie's burned for all different types of workouts, as well as tracking my HR, route
870609
It calculates calories based primarily on weight and distance (with an age adjustment, I believe). It uses relatively simple formulas just like a treadmill.That's fine for running and walking. It's not going to do much for you in most other workouts.
1550618
Yes, as far as I know, you need some sort of Garmin watch to be able to connect and track your runs.
1076548
As others have answered I would recommend this for both trail running and road races. It is possible that you will lose gps on some of the trails, but that is going to be the case with any gps watch. For OCR's, I have a friend who used this on one and he said it did fine. I think the best match for you would be the 910. If you are looking to stay within a certain price range, the 410 would work, but you may want to consider the 910.
1524187
The device works well with the C25K application. It records your heartbeat and the software will warn you if you are out of your target heart range either high or low. The results of your run are displayed on a graph showing your heart rate, pace, and distance. It helped me improve my workouts. I purchased this unit because it was on the recommended list from the C25K developers. You need to make sure it is charged up before use since there is no battery level gauge and unplug it from the chest strap after use so it doesn't discharge. Hope this helps.
2124015
It's a great unit. It measures your HR thru a chest strap which works perfect. I've never had any issues with it. Yes, It can measure your HR out of the box but to get an accurate calorie count and max HR you need to perform a test which is really simple and it gives you the instructions on what to do. The calorie and HR count are accurate. Great buy. :)
134377
It works great for my running requirements. I monitor my SPM (steps per minute) to ensure I am keeping a specific pace/cadence.
1204941
There is a free app you can download that will track info. I use a Garmin 910 so I don't need the phone info. But I did use the app to set my heart rate zones.
66679
I have a Timex Ironman (Trashman would be a better moniker for this $90 disappointment!) that has NEVER given me reliable performance and has basically just quit after 17 months of unreliable service. I'm reading enough negative reviews on the Polar F11, which had otherwise sounded promising, to dismiss risking money on that product as well! While I have little or no use for GPS, the Garmin 305 is starting to sound to me like the accurate, reliable heart rate monitor I'm looking for based on further reading!
529335
Yes, it works perfectly fine. I use Runkeeper and it tracks all my runs using GPS while in the case.
268552
I've used the first generation Nike SDM unit(which is an accelerometer) with much success over streets, trails, and races. Over a marathon it was within 10 feet over the entire distance. So I plan to check this out, first without purchasing the shoes and just strapping the accelerometer to my shoe. Once calibrated, I expect it to behave the same as my SDM. Once you have a nano it is a pretty inexpensive running tool. I picked up a 1gb nano brand new on craigslist (sf) for $100. I will purchase one tomorrow and try it out over the weekend.
238092
Yes, it tells the amount of calories burned. It tracks steps, distance, calories burned, and fat burned.
2265916
I have only used mine for running. It shows your calories burned on the display, however the heart monitor is sold separately.
234507
It tracks how many steps you have taken, how many miles you have walked, and calories burned in one day. It can also track your sleep patterns. You receive a weekly activity report via email. I just love it and it encourages me to walk more because I hate to get my average for the week down.
1748569
I am not a runner, but a cyclist with a Garmin Edge 305. As a cyclist, or I believe anyone interested in fitness, the key metrics are not speed and distance. Rather, I'd suggest that time and intensity are far more critical. You may not be interested in "training" but even if you are just interested in general fitness, heart rate is a far better measure of how you're doing. Intensity can be most easily measured by either heart rate or by power output - but I don't know how you'd get power on a run, so that leaves heart rate. Ok - now that I've said that I will never ride without heart rate (even though I can display 8 metrics on my Garmin Edge, the only things I have showing are heartrate, cadence (pedal strokes per minute) and clock (time of day, not time in workout). I'm also going to buy one of these for my wife. She is a very casual runner and I'm guessing she'll never really use the heart rate monitor. She is more interested in making sure she gets an hour in every day, and if she happened to improve her times, then she'll be happy. She'll never track her performance outside of the very simplest of measurements. So I'll spend the money anyway, but she'll never use the extra function. If nothing else, I'll have an extra heart rate strap for myself... Hope this helps, it's just one person's personal opinion.
50745
Hi Poly, I am still getting it up and running but pretty certain that it in itself only measures HR. But why it does that is handy for us who love using our smart phones for strava etc is it will translate all the ANT+ from my garmin tools (Cadence/speed sensor, Power Metre, foot pod) into a bluetooth 4.0 signal for your smart phone to read. Some of these are more or less effective on different Apps, Viii own app will receive and show all this information but for instance Strava won't show reading from the power meter. As i said its still new to me but overall Im happy with it. I looked at DCRainmakers review of the product before buying it and he goes very in depth if you want more info. Cheers
1212923
If you just need to track your speed, distance and calorie, you may not need any more equipment. However, if you want to track them accurate and have a post mortem of your run like elevation, speed-to-the-min, plot them to online charts and see statistics then I would suggest you to go for something better.
1763674
As noted, this is really for measuring your pace and distance when running/walking via GPS. It provides many features onboard and in conjunction with the Garmin website to track your progress. The battery died in ours and was too expensive to replace, so we now use the MapMyRun app. The free version gives us everything we need. We put it in an armband and off we go.