Click here to Add Your Own Review. It's quick and easy! No login required.
|
Graham
Waterloo, ON
December 30, 2009
|
EXCELLENT PRICE/PERFORMANCE RATIO
Pros: display is very customizable
Cons: slightly chunky on the wrist
Will track everything you want it to, especially with the
cadence/speed add-on.
6 out of 14 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Steve
Montreal, Quebec
December 28, 2009
|
GARMIN 305
works great, and really easy to use and download info to
computer.
7 out of 15 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Sandy
Omaha, Nebraska
December 26, 2009
|
FORERUNNER 305
Cons: see above
For a small woman's wrist this item is way toooooooo
large. We will be returning it to try to find something
that "fits" her size. I don't know if anything exists that
also offers what the Forerunner 305 does. Guess we shall
see.
9 out of 17 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Biker
Ontario
December 14, 2009
|
THE GARMIN FORERUNNER 305
Pros: everything
Cons: nothing so far
Does everything it say's great. Easy to change screens to
your personal preferance. Finds satellites easily.
14 out of 28 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Graeme
Calgary, AB
December 7, 2009
|
FORERUNNER 305
Excellent purchase, exactly what I wanted in a GPS watch.
14 out of 27 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Luber
Barrie, ON, Canada
December 6, 2009
|
GREAT PIECE OF KIT
Pros: endless, endless features. everything works.
Cons: fairly steep learning curve.
Amazing. This wrist tool does EVERYTHING! Literally. I cannot think of
one single feature I could possibly add. Not yet anyway. It's amazing what
Garmin has packed into this tiny device (OK it's not really TINY). And how
configurable can you get? At $180CAN it was a big jump up from my Nike
iPod sensor, but there is no comparison. Even the web site is great. Not
fantastic but great. Give it a little attitude, Garmin. Runners are energetic
people.
16 out of 31 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Devin
PE, Canada
November 19, 2009
|
GARMIN FORERUNNER 305
Pros: 4 way split screen so you can see multiple items
I've only had the chance to use my new Garmin a few times,
but from what i've seen I like it. I ran my first half-
marathon without any GPS, just a stopwatch, so I bought
this Garmin for my next big race. I think it's going to
come in very useful in my training, so that I can reach my
new goal time, and get a new PB in my next half-marathon.
I was a little concerned about it's size from reading
reviews before I bought my new Garmin, but i'm happy to say
that it's not too big at all. It looks to about the same
size as other GPS products that i've seen.
23 out of 44 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Paul
Kincardine, Ont
November 2, 2009
|
GARMIN FORERUNNER 305
A great running aid. Used it last month for Toronto
marathon and dead accurate, ie, 42.2 km logged.
Allows impartial and objective instant feedback as to how
one is running. Now I can monitor both my engine rpms,(HR)
as well as speedometer.
26 out of 52 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Vic
Blainville
November 2, 2009
|
RELIABLE AND GREAT VALUE GPS WATCH
Pros: great price and reliable gps reception
Cons: none
This product has great GPS reception within forests and
around high buildings. The watch is simple to use and many
customizable data fields. Looks big but feels light. Love
the software by garmin for post race autoevaluation.
30 out of 60 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
MCGYVER
Tacoma,WA
September 20, 2009
|
BEST RUNNING GPS IN MY OPINION
Pros: very easy to use
Cons: it is bulky if you have very small wrists
have been using this model for over a year and am very
happy with the performance of it. I also have the 205 as a
back up for when we want to run a very long ultra. I have
never had a problem with this or my 205. I even bought my
wife a 305 and she uses it alot. we average about 11 hours
out of the 305 and about 7 hours from the 205. I would
recomend either one.
29 out of 67 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
MRComment
N/A
June 30, 2009
|
HIGHER MODEL OF FORERUNNER 305
Starting with the Forerunner
305. Garmin finally started producing GPS-enabled
watches that
didn't make you look like a total goof while tracking your
pace and
vitals, but these still weren't timepieces you'd be comfortable
wearing to the office or even a bar. Then came the Forerunner
50, which had the perfect watch-like form factor, but
unfortunately, no GPS. So fans of this line will be pleased
to learn
that Garmin has somehow been able to shoehorn a satellite
receiver
into a casing not much bigger than the 50's and dubbed it the
Forerunner
405. Besides monitoring and logging speed, distance,
heart rate
and location, the 405 also features a touch-sensitive bezel for
controlling its various functions, as well as the same
proprietary
ANT+Sport wireless syncing technology as the GPS-less 50.
Available
in either black or green. To read heart rate monitor buyer
guide, please visit http://www.coolcheapest.com/HeartRateMonitors.aspx
94 out of 187 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Warren
Ottawa
June 26, 2009
|
GARMIN FR305 - AWESOME
Pros: east to use and an excellent training aid
Cons: heavier then 405
I love my Garmin 305FR!! I debated bewtween the 305 and
405 and I am "Totally" pleased with my decision. It is
easy to use and has a big display of up to four readings
per page and it can rotate between display pages
automatically. I look forward to each and every run with
my Garmin Coach, cause that what it is to me. The watch as
many functions, too many to list here....buy it and you
will love it!!
95 out of 197 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Adam
Toronto
June 17, 2009
|
FORERUNNER 305
Pros: good unit, flexible and nice software.
Cons: tricky downtown to initially get a lock.
The forerunner 305 is a very versatile companion for anyone
training in multisport. Many feature include the use of
routes, virtual training partner and customizable workouts.
Well thought features also include Auto Pause which stops
timing your workout when you are forced to wait at red lights
and therefore won't affect your overall pace times.
93 out of 188 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Vanessa
Timmins, ON
June 10, 2009
|
VERY USEFUL RUNNING TOOL
Pros: good price, lots of informatio
Cons: large, but isn't cumbersome.
After each workout I can review my workout on my Mac, with speed, elevation
and distance. Very user friendly.
110 out of 212 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Cali
Toronto, ON
May 25, 2009
|
GARMIN FORERUNNER 305 REVIEW
Pros: really motivating, helpful for safety
Cons: bulky, slow satellite loading time (city)
The Garmin is a great running tool for those who want to run
longer distances. I bought it so I could run around without
planning my route on the internet (on a site such as
mapmyrun.com) and so I could run by the lake and on paths (these
places can't really be tracked).
113 out of 209 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Dany
Rougemont, QC
May 22, 2009
|
FORERUNNER 305
Exactly what I was looking for. Easy to use. Good
accuracy on distance, confortable, large display.
Excellent product.
100 out of 205 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Mike
Suffolk, GB
May 4, 2009
|
EVERYTHING PROMISED
Pros: ease of use, comfort on wrist.
Cons: difficult to push side buttons.
Great product! I've been using it for a couple
weeks now and so far it hasn't let me down.
Satellite acquisition is quick and reliable. I
don't think I've ever waited more than 45 seconds
for a signal, usually it takes around 10 seconds.
This watch has really re-invigorated my exercise
program!
107 out of 206 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Richard
Toronto, ON
April 30, 2009
|
GOOD PRICE / EXCELLENT PRODUCT
Pros: a wide array of features a big screen
Cons: a little bit large but ok
Got this device for my workout. Compared to the
newer / higher end model, the price was quite
attractive for all the features it comes with.
Some reviews indicated that it may take a while to
pick up GPS sats, so I was a bit concerned, but I
found it to be quite fast. Maybe the newer
firmware helped. Mine shipped with the latest
firmware, etc, and I am very happy with the device.
92 out of 195 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
molongneck
Poplar Bluff, Mo
April 27, 2009
|
GARMIN FORERUNNER 305
Pros: everything
Cons: a little big
Excellent product. I wish I would have
purchased one sooner. Being able to see
improvement is another motivator for me. This
is a good item for beginner to advanced runner.
93 out of 187 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Jim
Kingston On
March 29, 2009
|
GREAT PRODUCT
Very impressed with the forerunner 305. Light,
comfortable, and large display. This is my first
GPS and I found it very user friendly and easy to
learn the menus.
109 out of 206 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Dave S
Calgary, AB
January 24, 2009
|
A GREAT BUY AT AT GREAT PRICE..
Pros: versatility in programming display, ease of use
Cons: inadequate battery life indicator
The 305 has more than met my expectations.
In reviews from other people on the web, I was
looking for the rare negative comments. But when
I actually got the 305, I didn't see what they
were talking about. Comments like the heart rate
value wasn't readable at the top right-hand
corner of the display (preset display), or
another was that you couldn't use it like a watch
(not sure why you'd want to but..). However, if
you read the manual and understand how to adjust
the display, you can set from 1 to 4 items to
display at one time, with any combination of
measurements (including the time). It is
completely self tailoring a wonderful surprise I
was not expecting. I have the preset display set
to just time, and then can cycle through preset
displays for outdoor running (GPS enabled) or
indoor running with the heart rate monitor (no
GPS).
The heart rate monitor works well, no issues so
far with interference. The wrist device is
comfortable but may be an issue on a smaller
frame. The availability of a foot pod for indoor
running or treadmill as well as a cadence kit for
biking was an unexpected surprise and I have
interest in purchasing later on.
Finally, the software allows easy graphing of all
measured parameters and ability to view GPS
information in google earth a wonderful idea.
Would like to have seen better integration with
other existing training software (PC Coach).
106 out of 228 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Mig
Charlottetown, PE
January 9, 2009
|
GARMIN FORERUNNER 305..GREAT ASSET TO TRAINING
Cons: none so far
Great product! I had used one for a race before I
bought it(got it from a friend). I was hooked
after that. If it could help me that much in a
race imagine how much for my training! So much
information can be taken from these little things,
never lost signal yet!
REcommended 100%
137 out of 289 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Jules G
Quebec City
January 5, 2009
|
A NICE EXERCISE MONITOR AT A REASONABLE PRICE
The Forerunner 305 does a lot for a reasonable price.
It is rather small and comfortable considering what it
does. The heart rate monitor works perfectly. The GPS
is OK - it takes way too long to locate the satellites
but doesn't seem to loose track once started. The
software that comes with it is not very good but I
don't mind since the free SPORTTRACKS available on the
Web is extremely good - don't miss it. The cadence
option is nice and works well. The Bike mount is
useless - don't bother - you need to remove the arm
band each time you want to use it - stupid!
On the weak side, I would have liked an easier to read
display and an option to make the timer count down at
will. The battery is a major weakness: it is not
replaceable - when it goes bad (and it will), you must
buy another unit or send it back to the factory - also
a charge doesn't last very long, not long enough for
some endurance bike rides or treks. The 4 side buttons
are difficult to push, impossible with gloves. The
elevation data is not accurate but Sporttracks is able
to correct that. The memory capacity is not very big
but ok for my needs if I don't keep too much history.
A great product priced right ! Highly recommended.
138 out of 261 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Mike
Iowa
December 26, 2008
|
VERY IMPRESSED... EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS
This unit does everything I expected and the unit
software is quick to download and easy to use. I
fortunately have MapSource from another GPS unit, so I
have a good set of maps. The included maps, I agree
are almost useless. I just bought the cadence/ speed
sensor and am looking forward to using that on my
indoor trainer to track my winter workouts. I might
even get the foot pod as well.
I'll also note the antenna strength is very good and
the heart rate monitor seems to have a higher refresh
rate or uses a shorter rolling average than my Polar
units.
The best feature is the ability to correlate speed to
heart rate. Training by pace instead of time or
distance is great with the flexibility of not having
to be on a running track. This is the best way to
determine efficiency and fitness level.
Drawbacks:
1) I would like to have 6 fields on the display at a
time. Then I could put the instantanoueos values on 1
page and the average values on the next. I'm a nerd,
I'd like to have more info displayed at one time
without having ot change pages.
2) I'd like to see a "Total Altitude Climbed". Also
the grade and altitude calculation could use some data
point smoothing. Meaning, it's too sensitive for the
accuracy of the calculation being done. Just making
the value more of a rolling average value. I think
the elevation data is good, when some type of linear
regression is used to smooth the data. I'd say that
when figured over a 200 foot distance, the data is
good, but over a 50-100 foot distance it varies too
much.
I'll have to use it more to make my judgement about
the memory issues and battery life. For longer
bicycle rides, I might extend the distance on the
waypoints.
Overall pretty good product for the price I paid $165
@ Walmart on a 1 day special (Sorry GPS City...you
were very close. I did buy the cadence sensor from
you).
Of course in 5 years with advances in flash memory and
increased screen resolution, we'll have the mapping
capability of the Edge 705 or even a Nuvi in a unit
only slightly larger than the Forerunner 405.
144 out of 268 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
john winterdyk
December 8, 2008
|
My 405 is very good except the HR font is so small
that the only way I can view it is to stop running!
Did I miss something in the instructions....? I find
this an invaluable function but am essentially unable
to use while running. Only able to access avg HR after
the run.... very frustrating.
John
132 out of 269 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Warren
November 24, 2008
|
GOOD BUT...
I've owned this product for about a year. It is
acceptable but has a few tragic flaws:
1. The battery life leaves much to be desired.
The battery discharges quite a bit when the unit is not
used. Now matter how small your runs are if you do not
charge the unit between runs you risk having the unit
shut off unexpectedly.
2. The unit requires more memory.
I have the optional cadence sensor and cycle with it on
smart recording. I get a maximum of about 80-100 km of
stored information on smart recording when I cycle.
That's not acceptable. I can ride upwards of 250 km in
one day. The unit is completely useless for 2 day
treks where electricity is not available as the memory
is quickly filled up and battery will surely die after
a few hours of use.
3. The software and maps that come with the unit are
crap and basically unusable. I personally use
"sportracks" - it maps data on google maps and provides
much analytical graphs etc (for free - donations are
accepted). If it wasn't for this software offering I
would have probably returned the unit. That's how bad
the software is that is shipped with the unit.
4. The elevation and grade data is way off. The data
is unreliable and therefore unusable.
Summary - The unit is ok for running but it suffers
from a limited battery and not enough memory for most
cycling pursuits. A software work around is available
and should pose a problem. If your buying this unit
with the intention of using elevation and/or grade data
- forget it.
Cheers
135 out of 262 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Michael
July 13, 2008
|
FORERUNNER 305 - EXCELLENT
I bought the 305 for my wife as she has taken up Nordic walking and wanted to keep better track of her distance and pace - so far she has needed to pry it off my wrist to use it herself. The features, display and amazing GPS signal acquisition has really impressed me. I was worried she might find it heavy and large on her wrist but it seems to be very comfortable. I’m still playing with both the Garmin training Center software and the free SportTracks software to decide which the best is. I suspect we will use SportsTracks to store and view the history but use GTC to build routes and courses (at least until SportTracks improves this set of features). My only complaint is the 305 does not allow for multiple profiles so we can both use it under our own profiles – or maybe this is just a good reason to get my own!
I'll add that the price, availability and fast shipping from GPScity was exceptional.
133 out of 283 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Mike
KS
July 12, 2007
|
DOESN'T DISAPPOINT
Let's face it...I'm a 'Garmin Geek'...and have several models. One for my car, one for my truck, one for my bike, and now...one for my running! I love the Forerunner. It really is like having a training assistant. I ran against myself again tonight (and got beat)...so I'm ready to race myself again tomorrow. And don't forget you can upload your workouts to Motionbased for archival and comparison to other runners (or bikers or walkers) around the country!
133 out of 276 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Chris Chapman
ON
January 4, 2007
|
First thing to do with this unit is download the firmware updates. Out of the box the unit may behave erratically with inconsistent pace alerts, lost signals, misreported distances and calorie burn, among other things.
Make sure you get at least v 2.50 for the unit software and 2.90 for the chipset and things should be ok.
145 out of 300 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
Tom
IN
December 31, 1969
|
I have had my Forerunner 305 for two weeks now and it is amazing. I used to run carrying my Garmin E-Map, which lost its signal reception at five points along my route. The 305 has NEVER lost its reception.
The information like heart rate and pace are great tools for conditioning. The screens are easy to customize and even easy to read while running.
Downloading the data to a PC is a snap; even my 75 year old mother-in-law likes to look at my screens to see what route I took, my speed at certain hills, and my heart rate.
The heart monitor took a couple of times to get used to (a band around your chest), but now I forget that I even have it on. The size and weight of the 305 itself has never been an issue; I actually expected it to be larger and heavier.
If my 305 was stolen or lost, I would re-order one immediately, even at twice the price.
123 out of 280 viewers found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
|
| |
