Garmin Forerunner 405 Wireless GPS-Enabled Sport Watch with USB ANT Stick and Heart Rate Monitor (Black)

Overall Rating:

Retail Price: $282.61

Amazon Price: $166.98

The Garmin Forerunner 405, while admittedly a high end product, is a feature rich and sleek looking training gadget that can surely catch anyone’s fancy.

But questions arise as to how does the design help your training and if you can actually use these features.

Out of the box, the most noticeable Garmin Forerunner 405 features are the:

• Sport watch
• Auto Lap®
• Time/distance alerts

At its core, the Garmin Forerunner 405 is a sports watch. It can give you the features that you need when running from block to block or at your local park. The Garmin Forerunner 405 would provide you with the necessary tools to track the usual data.

The auto lap feature automatically starts a new lap as your run, and the time/distance alert provides you with an alarm whenever you reach your goals. Used in conjunction with each other, these features of the Garmin Forerunner 405 gives you your time, lap splits, lap times, distance and overall pace that would help in determining whether you had a good training or not.

Of course if you are happy with those features then you can simply select lower end models. The Garmin Forerunner 405 shines when you delve into its more advanced functions.

More advanced features of the Garmin Forerunner 405 include:

• Faster satellite uplink time
• Intuitive Controls
• A host of compatible accessories
• Easy connectivity between devices and computers

The quick satellite uplink of the Garmin Forerunner 405 truly stands out. Now you don’t have to wait long hours when using satellite guidance for its data. With it faster tracking of waypoints, routes, or even measuring just how you are doing at a specific area or place in your usual training route becomes much easier. The improved GPS system can truly help you analyze your data more precisely.

Another thing that’s good with the Garmin Forerunner 405 is its host of wide ranging compatible accessories. There is the Foot Pod for tracking speed distance and cadence when indoors, or even bike speed or cadence sensors if you fancy yourself as an indoor cyclist.

The Garmin Forerunner 405 is also proud of having:

• Intuitive interface to set watch while training
• Compact and lightweight construction
• Easy connectivity with computers

What makes the Forerunner 405 more amazing is that it is quite easy to use. Aside from its lightweight and compact design, Garmin has also made the Forerunner 405 much more intuitive.

They have included 2 buttons on the side of the Forerunner 405 that users can easily press to adjust the necessary settings. Users would not have to fiddle around much when trying to customize their training.

After all the training that you do, the Garmin Forerunner 405 also shines in synchronizing data to your computer. As long as it recognizes a connected “USB ANT stick “  to a PC it would automatically transmit your workout data to the PC.

This makes it much easier to store, share, and analyze your training data to find out your areas of improvement.

Conclusion:

Given all the functionality of the Garmin Forerunner 405, you would be able to see how it is a great fit for runners who truly take their training seriously and are not too shy about spending for the additional benefits.

While a bit higher in price compared to the other Garmin models, the added features, improved capability, and more lightweight and compact build that can truly advance your training makes spending that additional money worth it.

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1. Garmin Forerunner 405 Black GPS Enabled Sports Watch HRM Factory Refurbished
2. Garmin Forerunner 205/305/405 – Top Running Watch 2009
3. Garmin Forerunner 205 Review

Highgear Summit Computer Watch with Altimeter, Barometer, Compass, and Thermometer (Shadow)

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Retail Price: $159.99

Amazon Price: View Sale Price

For more advanced training, people need to be able to go past the usual splits, chronographs and other time based details to learn more about their training. The Highgear Summit Computer Watch tries to provide the necessary tools for people to be able to do just that.

The Highgear Summit Computer Watch with Altimeter Barometer Compass and Thermometer Shadow packs the capability to gather information regarding altitude, temperature, barometric pressure and of course timekeeping functions such as dual time zone; Dual daily alarm .

If you have the Highgear Summit Computer Watch, all these data are available to you with a simple glance at your wrist, legibly displayed in a big watch face and illuminated by the EL backlight system.

Of course, people looking for a watch that are expected to undergo strenuous training. That’s why the Highgear Summit Computer Watch is made to be durable. It is made with a tough stainless steel bezel, and is even water resistant up to 100 ft.

Details:

• Altimeter: Digital altimeter with working range of -2,305 ft. to 30,045 ft.; Stores 15 altimeter data readings with altitude, time and date
• Barometer:  1 mbar resolution… working range: 300bbar to 1100 mbar
• Compass: 1 degree resolution with 16 cardinal points
• Thermometer: User option for fahrenheit or celsius; working range from 15 degrees F to 140 degree F

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User Ratings and Reviews

1 Star nothing more than a simple watch
The watch was awesome until a month into ownership and the temp/alt/baro function stopped working and the girlfriend threw away the reciept. although i just ordered a casio pathfinder. the weather icon is nice but knowing how to read a barometer is a lot more simpler. Cheap price, cheap watch

2 Stars An awful watch for the money.
I bought this watch on the recommendation of a friend. It has just about all the readings that one would need as a novice hiker, mountain biker, camper, etc. Very impressive, and even your grandparents can read the face from across the room. It takes some time to learn all the buttons, as they are different from the Iron Mans I’ve worn over the last decade. The problem that I’ve had with it so far, is that most of the readings began failing within four days of receipt, so I had to go to the highgear website to figure out how to get it to them for repair (on a brand new watch!!!) or replacement. Their emails were immediate with the information to send it in, but finding the status of the watch was difficult. I finally received the watch after about 3 weeks, and it appears to work correctly. UPDATE: after a year, the watch was easily damaged in the OFFICE environment, rarely held its altimeter readings (barometric based), the bezzol-ring moves freely (which won’t help you if you really need to land navigate) and now the battery has died, almost nobody will change it since I did not buy it at a local store, and those who will change the battery, can’t get the cover off to do it. I’d either dave your money and buy something much cheaper, or splurge for something that has a lot more quality associated with it.

1 Star Scary choice for serious backcountry use…
I’m on my second Terra Summit; the first was replaced by the vendor (not Amazon) after its crystal got heavily scratched and fogged and the bearing markers for compass wore off on a single 4 day backpacking trip. This time I took it in the woods, got turned around, and soon was seriously lost because… the compass doesn’t work! No matter where I pointed it, it was “SSW”. This isn’t a mistake I can afford to make and next trip this watch is staying home.

3 Stars Highgears Summit watch
For the first three months it was pretty nice. The watch band eneded up breaking away from the base unit. It was too late to return it for a refund. Amazon only has a poor 30 day policy for refunds. I tried to have the watch band fixed at a local watch specialist shop. No one in my area could do it. The actual connections to the watch housing broke. I tried several shops and 4 months later it still sat on my dresser. Actually it’s been a year now the watch is still running well, but telling time/temp/alt/bara from a drawer now instead of my wrist. I am sending it soon back to Highgear to either fix the watch band or replace it. Their rep has informed me that there is a 2 year warantee on the Summit. I wish Amazon would have told me that when I purchase it.

1 Star “Watch” out – low quality makes it disposable
I enjoyed using this product — until it came time to change the battery. Then I discovered how low quality the materials are in the construction of the watch. It is essentially impossible to change the battery: the soft plastic holding the battery deforms, so it is extremely difficult to open the compartment. The watch repair store wouldn’t even try. In desperation, I carved out the plastic well enough to get two-screwdriver leverage to open the battery case, to replace the CR2032 battery. But even worse, then the poor construction prevented the closing of the battery case. So beware: you need to treat this watch as disposable, once the battery wears out!

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Garmin 010-00679-05 Forerunner 50 Sports Watch with Heart Rate Monitor and USB ANT Stick

Overall Rating:

Retail Price: $106.65

Amazon Price: $129.95

Improve your training efficiency becomes easier with the Garmin 010 00679 05 Forerunner 50 Sports Watch with Heart Rate Monitor and USB ANT Stick. The package includes Forerunner 50 watch, USB ANT Stick, Heart rate monitor, Owner’s Manual

Nowadays, simply increasing exercise load is not enough to ensure that you are getting the best workout possible. You would need to be able to find the proper data to ensure that your training matches your body’s needs. The Garmin Forerunner 50 provides you with the necessary tools to do just that.

The Forerunner 50 is equipped to record all kinds of training data such as training time, pace, distance, lap pace, lap time, lap distance, calories and average heart rates. This allows you to gain an idea on how well or how poor you are doing in your training, no matter if it’s running, cycling, or any other fitness activity!

All the data that the Forerunner 50 gathers can then be transferred to your computer through the USB ANT stick connection. Now you would be able to analyze your data, or even compare your training program with others online.

Best of all, the Garmin Forerunner 50 can be modified to suit your needs. It has a whole host of accessories that are sold separately such as a foot pod or a speed sensor to much any kind of training that you have

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User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Garmin 50
This is a good entry level HR/watch, very pleased with it. If needed I can add other features, like bike sensor

2 Stars Works great until the battery dies…
Pros:

*Easily the most inexpensive HR monitor that transmits workout data to computer.

*Very comfortable as a casual watch — very light, great band.

*Great display – easy to read.

*Easy to use.

Cons:

*HR signal is not compatible with fitness equipment (doesn’t send live signal to elliptical/stairmaster/treadmill), like Polar and Nike are.

*Once the battery dies, you are in trouble. Took to jeweler as recommended in manual, but they wouldn’t touch it because they didn’t sell that model. They said they could send it off, but would cost appx $25 (for a $50 watch???). Replaced the battery myself, but you cannot do this without breaking a plastic covering inside. Since replacing the battery, I got it to work for a day, but it has since shut down. By taking it apart and putting back together (not as easy as it sounds), I’m able to make functional for about an hour before it goes out again. This is after using this for about 6 months.

4 Stars Works great!
The watch works great. No problems getting the heart rate monitor to sync with the watch. I had a bit of a problem getting the software to download from the Garmin website…but not a big deal in the end. The heart rate monitor works great and is not as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. Great product!

1 Star Get your money’s worth and don’t buy this product
Even with my engineering background and Ph.D. I found this watch confusing. The button setup lacks logic and during a race chances are that you will waste a lot of time on trying to just simply toggle between and your running time and HR. In addition, the HR sensor is not reliable, as is the USB connection. So, without a doubt I’m staying with my old Nike C6 for my 10K and 5K training and racing.

5 Stars Garmin Forerunner 50 Sports Watch
I was so impressed with the watch and price that I had to get one for my running friend.

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Related posts:

1. Garmin Forerunner 405 Black GPS Enabled Sports Watch HRM Factory Refurbished
2. Garmin FR60 Mens Red Fitness Watch Includes Heart Rate Monitor USB ANT Stick
3. Garmin FR60 Womens Fitness Watch with Heart rate monitor Footpod and USB ANT Stick Black