GPS Watch - Gear - Runner's World

Scottish Nocturnal Bear - http://www.justgiving.com/crowisdoingmarathon

26/04/2012 at 15:37

hey folks,

Does anyone have any good GPS watches worth looking at?

i am wanting one that tells me my speed in mph and min/miles, distance covered too if poss, i looked at the ironman timex watch so dont know any other that i should look at??

SossigeDog

26/04/2012 at 20:16

Have a look at Garmin forerunner 110, does me ok. Dont ask me anything technical about it though, lol.

Nykie

26/04/2012 at 20:47

I have the Garmin Forerunner 410. It has all the things you're looking for, plus it has a 'virtual partner', where you set it to the pace at which you want to run and try to run at that pace. It's easy to see if you're going too fast or too slow.

I found the Timex ones were way too big.

pursuedbyangrybees

26/04/2012 at 21:50

I got a Soleus 2.0, and it's pretty fine - the 1.0 is cheaper, but doesn't download to your PC. Nice small profile and works well.

exiled claret

27/04/2012 at 06:02

They'll all do what you said you want. Some will have lots of other features as well, such as being able to programme interval sessions etc. Some have heart rate monitor included.

You've got the names of the big companies (the most popular by far being Garmin's Forerunner range), so just have to do a bit of research and decide what features you want, and what price you want to pay.

Bartholomew Roberts

27/04/2012 at 09:03

The timex run trainer GPS is brilliant (much better than timex ironman gps), check this review out http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2011/11/timex-run-trainer-gps-in-depth-review.html

exiled claret

27/04/2012 at 09:20

DCrainmaker's reviews are fantastic - really detailed by someone who has actually used them in extensive training. He has done them on a number of devices.

Just realised I ought to add to my above post - you should check carefully because some watches may not tell you speed in mph (most runners only use mins per mile). My forerunner can do this when you put it into biking mode.

pursuedbyangrybees

27/04/2012 at 10:14

The Soleus is pretty new - I couldn't find any reviews, so I wrote one...

http://pursuedbyangrybees.wordpress.com/2012/03/21/gear-review-soleus-2-0-gps-running-watch/

baldbloke

27/04/2012 at 10:27

i have the very simplest Garmin - the forerunner 110 with no heart rate monitor - which you can sometimes get for 100quid on Amazon. it does the basic pace measuring via GPS while you've got the watch on (I think any more information is impossible to take in - you want to just look at the watch quickly and get one stat), then lots of stats later when you can upload to the computer. at the time, i thought 100 quid was a lot, but i've worn this on every single run and, value-for-money-wise, definitely the best bit of kit I've got. there are more advanced models if you want to run intervals etc, but personally i don't...

Scottish Nocturnal Bear - http://www.justgiving.com/crowisdoingmarathon

27/04/2012 at 10:35

Thanks for all your responses on this i shall have a look at these online when ive got some spare time

im glad i found these fourums - they have been very useful

runs-with-dogs

30/04/2012 at 11:34

Basic Forerunner 110 is available for £100 or so, but the 405CX (more features and heart rate monitor) is now an 'out-of-date' model and available for £130. Originally retailed at £350+ so a real bargain if you want more features to play around with. If not, the basic one would do you fine.

Scottish Nocturnal Bear - http://www.justgiving.com/crowisdoingmarathon

30/04/2012 at 13:51

thanks runs-with-dogs i'll have a look

runboy

05/05/2012 at 11:17

is it true that the 110 doesn't give current pace but only the average over the last mile? DC rainmaker says that you need to upgrade to the 210 to get it showing actual current pace...

ross Fripp

05/05/2012 at 12:36

i big vote from me for the garmin forerunner 205 or 305....the 205 in particular, relatively cheap but does pretty much all the things you could want. i've been using one since pretty much they came out. wouldn't be without it now!

runboy

05/05/2012 at 12:44

does it give you a current pace figure?

ross Fripp

05/05/2012 at 12:49

yes.

current pace, overall average pace, current lap pace (you can also set auto lap....for instance in longer runs or races i set it to automatically lap every 1 mile so you can see your mile splits, as well as your current lap pace to see if you're slowing down or getting quicker) and you can also view previous lap pace for easy comparison between your previous lap and current one.

Edited: 05/05/2012 at 12:50

ross Fripp

05/05/2012 at 12:52

you can have up to 12 bits of data across 3 screens when you're on the move. i have the following:

screen 1 - overall time, overall distance, overall average pace and current pace

screen 2 (for my interval sessions) - lap pace, current lap time, current lap distance and previous lap pace

screen 3 (various other info) - elevation, GPS accuracy, time of day

We'd love you to add a comment! Please login or take half a minute to register as a free member