Garmin Forerunner 310XT Waterproof Running GPS With USB ANT Stick and Heart Rate Monitor

Overall Rating:

Retail Price: $399.99

Amazon Price: $349.99

User Ratings and Reviews

1 Star SWINNIMG GPS signals don’t penetrate WATER
OK, so I don’t own one of these units. I am researching and thinking of buying something. It occurred to me, with all the complaints about swimming accuracy, that I should mention something:

Electromagnetic signals (ie. GPS signals) DO NOT EASILY PENETRATE WATER. Just ask the Navy. Any water other than distilled water has some conductivity, especially salt water. It acts as a Farady shield – the GPS signal hits a conductor (water) and creates a current in the conductor. The resistance of the conductor will dissipate the energy of the signal. BASIC ELECTROMAGNETISM. This is how your microwave keeps the EM radiation inside from getting out and cooking you – by using a conductor shield to trap it.

I am surprised Garmin claims they have a GPS unit that will work under water. Call the Navy! They would love a way to communicate with submarines without having to use sonar, which gets them in a lot of trouble by disrupting marine life. The reason they use sonar is that ELECTROMAGNETIC SIGNALS DON’T TRAVEL WELL UNDER WATER!

The GPS accuracy while swimming will be based on how far you plunge the watch under water, the type of water, etc. The device might work better if you strap it to your head! Just my two cents.

5 Stars 310XT is most everything Garmin says it is
I felt compelled to write a review, because I am disturbed with what some other reviewers are publishing. This is the best watch of it’s kind I have owned, and as long as a purchaser understands what it does, and it’s limitations, I think they will be more than satisfied. It may be that this watch will not meet their needs, but it should not be a cause to deliver a poor rating.

I have owned the Forerunner 305, the 201, the Timex GPS and a Polar, so I have years of experience. Since I do triathlons, I was most looking forward to the waterproof controls, and 20 hour battery. The charger is a bit funky design, but for me it seems to work just fine. My battery has been lasting at least 16 hours–I haven’t tested it further before recharging. One issue that I had with the 305 also, though: the watch should be TURNED OFF while you are charging. If not, as soon as you disconnect the charger, since the watch is ON, it will start “discharging” (as it does normally while it is on. I have been caught several times with a depleted battery on my 305 because of this quirk–I think the watches should be programmed to automatically turn themselves off when the charger is connected).

I have used the new watch swimming, biking and running and hiking, and I am pleased with the performance for each sport. One reviewer pointed out that there should be a “swim” mode–I agree, but I think Garmin may have avoided that mode because the GPS does not work well in the water. Several reviewers complained about that, however Garmin does write on their website AND in their manual that the GPS does not work well in the water (I don’t know that I would blame that on Garmin–probably the technology is just not there yet–besides, GPS signals do not penetrate water.) In fact, I did NOT get an accurate GPS distance reading for open water swimming, but it did map my COURSE correctly, albeit with a lot of zig-zags (I know I can’t swim in a straight line, but I am not THAT bad).

The biking portion works great. The Garmin matches pretty closely with the distance measured on my bike computer (I don’t have the Garmin bike sensor–I want that and the quick-release mount for my next birthday). Of course it also tracks speed, altitude, heart rate, etc. (I used the heart monitor strap from my 305).

Running works well also, basically same as biking although I do set up the display screens differently.

Other, useful new features I have noticed:

1. The watch locks onto satellites more quickly than my 305

2. The watch vibrates, although I wonder how this affects battery life. For instance it vibrates every lap (if I set it) so I know I have completed an autolap without having to look at the watch.

3. The software is more refined (lots of small fixes. For instance the settings function lets me know what sport mode I am in–although I think this could still be made easier and less confusing. And the time zone can be put on automatic–I always wondered why they couldn’t do this before–the watch knows where it is for gosh sakes. And there are extra custom screens if you want them–statistic hounds take note.)

4. Wireless data upload. Very nice! Their new “Garmin Connect” site is also pretty useful, and the data can be uploaded directly to the Internet.

5. The 310XT is not much smaller or lighter than the 305 (according to the specs), but it FEELS MUCH smaller and lighter.

6. There is a progress bar for the battery charging. I would like to be able to see how much time is LEFT in my battery–I wish Garmin would add this.

In summary, I think this is far and away the best GPS watch Garmin has made, and is especially appropriate for triathletes (despite the swimming issue). You DO need to become accustomed to using the watch. Although I do not think it is hard to use, you SHOULD read the manual. At least you do not have to keep RE-reading the manual like I do for some other gadgets. I do think this watch is way overpriced, but I am a gadget freak, and I’m sure the price will come down over time, like it did for the 305 (which is a great deal, now, btw, if you don’t need a 20 hour battery-life and a waterproof stopwatch

5 Stars garmin 310XT
ran a marathon with my new garmin and every thing was perfect except the distance calculation. the marathon splits ended up being .2 mile off at the end. so the mile alert was always a little early at each mile, therefore my av. pace was also a little off. my old 305 did the same thing, so i am disappointed that the 310XT wasn’t better. this watch is very user friendly.

5 Stars runner
It’s the first gps so i’m not able to do comparison but this product in my opinion is excellent.

5 Stars Great Watch
I had been using the 201 for the last 4 years and just upgraded. It is much smaller and is much more accurate. I have also taken it hiking in Colorado and it never lost the signal even under the trees.

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