The dragon boat team was very sweet and they contributed towards the purchase of a GPS watch. It was their way for thanking me for captaining the team this year.
I did a bit of research online about the GPS watches out on the market. A GPS watch accurately tracks the distance you cover by locking on to satellites. From that, it can also map out the route you took, the speed and the pace you were travelling. I was looking for one which had an integrated GPS unit with the watch, rather than having a separate unit to strap on your arm.
It seemed like the best watch would be from the Garmin Forerunner series. At first, I was thinking of getting a cheap older model like the 101 (which will make you look like you strapped a keyboard on to your forearm) or the 205 (looks like those bracelets they use when they put you under house arrest). I knew it was going to be chunky but there weren't many slim GPS watch models out there in the market yet.
But after finding that the above models were more or less obsolete, and the only way would be to order them via Amazon, I decided to plump for Garmin's latest model, being the Forerunner 405.
After looking around in both KL and Singapore, I picked up the 405 at Perfect Watch in Sim Lim Square in Singapore. I got it for S$470 as I opted to not get the heart rate monitor accessory. The HRM would have increased the price to about S$540, and that would have still been a lot cheaper than the RM1800 price I saw in KL.
The watch is still a little bit chunky and it can't quite pass off as an ordinary sports watch just yet, although I am sure the technology will allow such watches in the future to shrink even more. Here are some pictures of how the watch looks on my wrist:
Either the watch needs to get slimmer or my wrist needs to get bigger
I have already used the watch for a few runs and I am really liking it. You need to get the watch to lock on to the satellite before you start your run. The very first time I did that, it took a while to locate a satellite but for subsequent runs, it locks on in less than a minute. I just used the basic function of tracking the time, distance and the pace I was doing. I am next going to try out its interval training function.
All the data from the watch can then be uploaded wirelessly to your computer via a USB receiver. The data is then stored and displayed on the Garmin Connect website.
Summary page of the information on my run
Detailed map of the route I ran
Playback function for me to 're-live' my run along with continuous data flow
The above run was the i-Run in the Singapore city. Very nice route running by the Singapore River and Esplanade, a nice and easy 7km run (or 6.92 km based on the GPS tracking).
A few comments about the 405 in general. It works via a touch bezel, think iPod-like scrolling ability, around the silver bezel of the watch. It would be a bit difficult to use it while running, so you are pretty much locked onto one screen only, and you can't tweak any of your settings on the fly. I am OK with that, since I only need to glance at some of the information displayed. I can easily lock the bezel (by pressing both keys at the same time) so that I can lock the screen I am at.
The ANT Agent program, being the wireless connection between the watch and the computer, doesn't seem to work 100%. It will detect the watch and then download the data but then there will be an error in transferring the data to Garmin Connect automatically. I have to manually go into the Garmin Connect website to then upload the data, which is fine with me.
I would have also preferred the option of having an offline option for me to upload the data in case the Garmin Connect website is down or my internet is down.
I would have also liked the option of checking the exact sessions I want uploaded onto the website, and not automatically have every single entry uploaded.
Overall, I am very happy with the watch, and it is exactly what I need for my runs. I can't wait to use it for some of my longer runs and when I run at different places. The added use of such a watch is that I'll be using it at dragonboat practices to track the distance we cover, to mark out exact distances for us to practice, and to track the speed of the boat.
Edit on 18/1/09: The connection problem between ANT Agent and the Garmin Connect seems to have been resolved. The ANT Agent now automatically links to the watch and uploads the data to the website.
I did a bit of research online about the GPS watches out on the market. A GPS watch accurately tracks the distance you cover by locking on to satellites. From that, it can also map out the route you took, the speed and the pace you were travelling. I was looking for one which had an integrated GPS unit with the watch, rather than having a separate unit to strap on your arm.
It seemed like the best watch would be from the Garmin Forerunner series. At first, I was thinking of getting a cheap older model like the 101 (which will make you look like you strapped a keyboard on to your forearm) or the 205 (looks like those bracelets they use when they put you under house arrest). I knew it was going to be chunky but there weren't many slim GPS watch models out there in the market yet.
But after finding that the above models were more or less obsolete, and the only way would be to order them via Amazon, I decided to plump for Garmin's latest model, being the Forerunner 405.
After looking around in both KL and Singapore, I picked up the 405 at Perfect Watch in Sim Lim Square in Singapore. I got it for S$470 as I opted to not get the heart rate monitor accessory. The HRM would have increased the price to about S$540, and that would have still been a lot cheaper than the RM1800 price I saw in KL.
The watch is still a little bit chunky and it can't quite pass off as an ordinary sports watch just yet, although I am sure the technology will allow such watches in the future to shrink even more. Here are some pictures of how the watch looks on my wrist:
Either the watch needs to get slimmer or my wrist needs to get bigger
I have already used the watch for a few runs and I am really liking it. You need to get the watch to lock on to the satellite before you start your run. The very first time I did that, it took a while to locate a satellite but for subsequent runs, it locks on in less than a minute. I just used the basic function of tracking the time, distance and the pace I was doing. I am next going to try out its interval training function.
All the data from the watch can then be uploaded wirelessly to your computer via a USB receiver. The data is then stored and displayed on the Garmin Connect website.
Summary page of the information on my run
Detailed map of the route I ran
Playback function for me to 're-live' my run along with continuous data flow
The above run was the i-Run in the Singapore city. Very nice route running by the Singapore River and Esplanade, a nice and easy 7km run (or 6.92 km based on the GPS tracking).
A few comments about the 405 in general. It works via a touch bezel, think iPod-like scrolling ability, around the silver bezel of the watch. It would be a bit difficult to use it while running, so you are pretty much locked onto one screen only, and you can't tweak any of your settings on the fly. I am OK with that, since I only need to glance at some of the information displayed. I can easily lock the bezel (by pressing both keys at the same time) so that I can lock the screen I am at.
The ANT Agent program, being the wireless connection between the watch and the computer, doesn't seem to work 100%. It will detect the watch and then download the data but then there will be an error in transferring the data to Garmin Connect automatically. I have to manually go into the Garmin Connect website to then upload the data, which is fine with me.
I would have also preferred the option of having an offline option for me to upload the data in case the Garmin Connect website is down or my internet is down.
I would have also liked the option of checking the exact sessions I want uploaded onto the website, and not automatically have every single entry uploaded.
Overall, I am very happy with the watch, and it is exactly what I need for my runs. I can't wait to use it for some of my longer runs and when I run at different places. The added use of such a watch is that I'll be using it at dragonboat practices to track the distance we cover, to mark out exact distances for us to practice, and to track the speed of the boat.
Edit on 18/1/09: The connection problem between ANT Agent and the Garmin Connect seems to have been resolved. The ANT Agent now automatically links to the watch and uploads the data to the website.
2 comments:
Thanks for the great write-up. If you have any questions about the 405, check out our online tutorials at http://www.tinyurl.com/405help
Take care, and happy running!
Jake from Garmin
twitter.com/jakesjournal
Thanks for dropping by Jake. I was really surprised to see someone from Garmin dropping by my blog.
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