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I figure it is about time that I cough up the $300-$400 it costs for a solid satellite timer for my Chicago marathon and then tries in the 2010 Spring.

Anyone have particular opinions about them or even recommend other brands. I trust Garmin and have only heard good stories.

Thanks,

Check out Gpscentral.ca

They have Garmins new and used for tens and even hundreds less than retail. It would still be cheaper to buy and ship too. I have bought two through them and have been very happy 4yrs later.

Polar is mediocre for me. It has to be manually calibrated to your stride and has always been inaccurate for me, by a couple miles.

Thank you for the suggestion. I really like Garmin but I didn't know if there were any odd brands that I should trust more. I do trust Garmin so much that I proved (along with about 15 or so other Garmin users) that the Illinois Marathon last year was .1 off. Between mile 2-3 it got off by a tenth and from then on everyone's Garmins were beeping before the mile marker.

I really appreciate the help as I have never had a Garmin for me, just barrowed one for races but I figured that if I am making the lifestyle change (and I lost my reebok watch ) that I should just go for a Garmin.

Thank you

I have the Garmin Forerunner 305 and love it. Some people do not like it b/c it is too big, but since I have large wrists, it fits perfectly. The only problem I have with the Garmin is it takes a while for the satellites to load. I heard this problem is fixed with the new Garmin 405, though.

I use it primarily for running and fortunately, I run in fairly open places. I have heard of it dropping the signal if running in a major downtown area with a lot of high rise buildings, but I have yet to experience this.

Still, I love this watch, and the ease with which it syncs with your PC is great. I have recommended it to many people.

We have a Garmin nuvi model for cars, plus you can hand carry it on the sidewalk with a good battery life, but it's too large for your marathon purposes. We wanted a larger screen for use in the car.

It works very well, had it a little over a year now. Besides our own 2 cars, we sometimes take it along with us when friends are driving their cars to new destinations and request it. We have both a windshield mount, plus a heavy kind of grippy "beanbag" base for our friends' dashboards.

We also have friends with a Tom-Tom car model GPS which they seem to like. We certainly have no complaints about our Garmin.

i got the 405 for the marathon i did back in may. LOVE IT, the only problem with it is the non-waterproofness of it, which would make it perfect for my triathlon season, but what do you know, they have brought out one of those too.

I'm a Garmin user as well. Have the Oregon 400t (the topographic one) that I love and a Nuvi as well.

My only complaint about it is that if you live in a downtown area with lots of tall buildings, it can have real problems finding the satellites. When I lived in SF and lived downtown, I could never get a signal from my apartment and I'd have to run out .5 a mile before getting it to track me.

Since moving to LA I haven't had a problem at all.

It's super easy to use and works great otherwise.

There's a new forerunner and its great. it has a new bevel touch band that takes a bit getting used to for sure. but its a great tool and the watch is the size of a normal watch. i love it.

If you have an iPhone im sure there is an App that uses GPS to calculate your times and distances.

Yep. I just checked. there are at least a dozen that do what a Garmin does. Plus you can listen to music while you run!

RowBuddy saidIf you have an iPhone im sure there is an App that uses GPS to calculate your times and distances.

He's right. Check out either RunKeeper Free or RunKeeper Pro. They map your workouts via GPS and are AMAZING. And the most you'll spend is ten bucks so you should give them a try before spending hundreds.

A buddy of mine has an iphone that he uses when we go run. First off its so big and akward that you have to figure out what to do with it while you run. And then it tends to be dramatically inaccurate for whatever reason. I can judge our distance and pace by time and instinct better than his iphone.

Runsupport saidA buddy of mine has an iphone that he uses when we go run. First off its so big and akward that you have to figure out what to do with it while you run. And then it tends to be dramatically inaccurate for whatever reason. I can judge our distance and pace by time and instinct better than his iphone.

That's one of the reasons I still prefer a small cell phone. It's not an albatross around my neck, and it's the one thing I MUST have with me, if I have anything.

My Palm PDA is also taken along at other times. I can't function without my calendars and all that info. It can dial the cell phone for its 1000 contacts via BlueTooth, so together they become a sort of a 2-piece smart phone. And the Palm also has GPS and WiFi Internet, and features the iPhone doesn't have, but no streaming video stuff, which I don't want anyway.

I'd like a smartphone all-in-one solution, but until there's a very small device available, I'm still waiting.

RowBuddy saidIf you have an iPhone im sure there is an App that uses GPS to calculate your times and distances.

Can't use those during a marathon or tri. That is the purpose, to have something that is on me during the race to monitor performance.

I want the forerunner 405cx but meh that is a bit on the expensive side for garmin and I still want to get my new road/tri bike

I went on a trip to Boston on the weekend to go to my Nephews wedding. We all had different GPS systems in our different car rentals. My brother-in-law's Garmin was exceedingly simple and easy to use compared to the others. It was gave accurate directions, so I was really impressed with Garmin.

I've had one for years (305). I love it. It updates regularly (although they often want PC for the updates).

It was well worth the money. I use it more often than I wear a regular watch.

Pinny said

RowBuddy saidIf you have an iPhone im sure there is an App that uses GPS to calculate your times and distances.

Can't use those during a marathon or tri. That is the purpose, to have something that is on me during the race to monitor performance.

I want the forerunner 405cx but meh that is a bit on the expensive side for garmin and I still want to get my new road/tri bike

you CAN use an ipHone during a race. you just cant use the headphones. They dont want you listening to music.

Sorry, off-topic I suppose, but how do people run with their iphones?

I realize there are sport arm bands but the iphone is so big... and the tan lines it would cause!

the iphone is no bigger/heavier than walkmans or Discmans used to be, in fact they are lighter. If we could deal with those inventions then, why not an iphone? i run with mine in a ziplock baggy in my back pocket. its not noticeable at all.

Arm bands are only good if you are not running, otherwise I feel like it chafes. There are a lot of good belt clips that work too.

I have been using the Forerunner 305 for 6 or 7 weeks now. It is bulky, but it has been a great tool for me. I am training to run my 5th marathon in January and the Forerunner has been great for keeping me on pace on my long runs and I use it for all of my speed workouts as well.