yup, i have the 910xt which i bought in August 2014 and had to replace the ant stick twice. Waiting for my third stick in less than one year. Can't upload any workouts. Very annoying

maybe i should switch back to Polar

I've always been happy with their customer support and products.

Used 3 305's I think. One replaced outside of warranty for free (water was getting in as I recall), another replaced with refurb on short notice when i crashed the original.

Now using my 920xt and really happy with it. Was a bit rough around the edges on BT connectivity out of the box, but it's been rock solid for months now.

-Jot

They're generally well known for software issues / bugs, and honestly it seems like they have done a decent job of fixing the main issues over the last few years. Still it can be very frustrating when we spend the amount of $$ we do on a product and end up with issues because they may have rushed something to market.

It's true that some (perhaps many) experience hardware problems as well, but honestly I get the _feeling_ that more people have success with the units and do not have problems than people who do. I think you do tend to see (and hear about) problems on forums like this of Garmin's forums because people often do there for support or are more vocal if they are having trouble.

Personally (just my 2 cents), I have had a 305, 310xt, 910xt, Swim, 610, Edge 800, 500, 920xt and fenix 3. Of all of them:
-I have had to have the 310xt swapped because of a hardware problem
-I've felt like the 310xt, Edge 800/500 and fenix have had clear software problems at times (that have bugged my usage scenarios). My gut feeling is that most of the issues have been resolved (maybe a few in the fenix remaining)

Expecting something to work for 5 years may not be over-reaching as a consumer. I suppose I can't speak fully to the longevity of the devices I have had -- mostly because I've ended up selling some used and upgrading... Maybe that's also why I haven't had as many problems, I only use devices for > 2 years :)

As many as I have bought (and seem to continue to upgrade / buy), I do continue to keep an eye out for a better alternative for my uses. It feels like Garmin has left the door open at times in terms of device quality (hardware or software robustness), as well as pricing. Still, I haven't been able to find a better alternative for my personal "needs".

Amex Platinum for the win. Add a year to the warranty and they pay pay you back for it if it breaks. I don't buy any electronics without it.

I may be in the minority (or perhaps I'm part of the silent majority), but I've had pretty good luck with Garmin. I had a Forerunner205 that worked fine for about five years. Eventually, the battery would only hold a charge for 3-5 hours, so I bought a 310XT. I've used the 310XT for about a year now. I did have to "reboot" the 310XT once (which caused me to lose some rides/runs) and another time I had an issue with Garmin Express. However, both times I phoned Garmin Support and they were very helpful talking me through everything to get me back up and running.

A little off topic, but I'm pretty amazed that Garmin (or anyone else) manages to put a GPS receiver along with all of the associated whistles and bells into a wristwatch sized device. The USAF had some early "portable" GPS navaids that we flew with back in 1994. They were the size of a cigar box with a wire attached to a six inch long antenna. You had to stick the antenna to the inside of the canopy with a plastic suction cup. We thought they were amazing because (unlike some of the other stuff we were using) they were so accurate and reliable. Who knows how much they cost, but a 310XT for less than $200 is quite a leap in capability over what we had back then. Progress is a wonderful thing.

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"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.

No issues for me for all the various run and bike devices I've used over the Utes from Garmin since I started in he sport in 2006. I've been very happy.

I've physically broken 2 Garmin 310xt's but other than that I've had nearly 100% success with them. The only issue I've had is when I use multisport and "Other" is not first in the list.

My 500 and 810 have never given me issues. My GF really likes her 920xt but has only had it for 2 weeks now.

jaretj

I have a new 920X, which is great except for one thing: the open water GPS is woeful. I've used it a few times so far when I've had a short dip in a pond after trail running - swam for a few minutes, and it showed me swimming about 120m - so 2:30m/100m. I'm not that fast a swimmer, but I know I'm not as slow as that either (usually about 1:45, 1:50 per 100).

Shame, because I bought it mainly so that I could use it to measure open water swims in the sea on holiday next month. I'm rather hoping that it works better in the open sea than it does in a city pond.

I'm also disappointed with their durability, my 800's USB port broke (loose), and based on a few google searches - it seems like a common failure.

I'm on my 3rd 910XT, and this one is now doing strange things like turning off in the middle of a data transfer, or simply refusing to transfer data for a day or so and then suddenly transferring everything. It has also stopped recording my bike ride in the middle of a workout once in a while. I'm still trying to figure out if that one is me hitting the stop button somehow accidently or if the device has another ghost in it.

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

I found the power off during transfer to be the fact memory was filling up. Maybe clearing history may help a little it did for me

My nth 910 (maybe 6th) ran into the infamous altimeter problem. I will drop it off at Garmin tomorrow and get the $99 exchange for a refurbish. This program seems to run me $99 per year for a working watch.

Over time I have/had a vehicle nav system, 910XT, Edge 500, 920XT, Edge 800, cadence sensors (bike and run) & heart rate monitors.

The only two products I have had issue with are the 910XT and heart rate strap (not the monitor itself). When I had the 910XT I had to send it back and get a new one due to miscounting laps. Also had some issues with ant sticks. I think I have 3-4 ant sticks up stairs and one works. (I now use the 920XT). Their heart rate straps are horrible. Period. I have had 3 over the course of my time with Garmin Sports products and each one fails within months and needs to be replaced. (I don't know why I bought a third after the first two failed. Maybe optimism that they improved the strap?)

As far as customer service goes, I have only had one bad experience. IMO they handled the 920XT launch poorly both from an internal communication standpoint with their own customer service reps and with their customers. They just kept pushing the launch back without any form of communication.

Other than that, the customer service is generally top notch compared to most organizations. Anytime I have issues with a product (920 as mentioned above, Ant sticks, recently with a Vector pedal pod) it is taken care of promptly and a new product is at my door within days.

Overall I have had a great experience with Garmin and Garmin Products.

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"Just don’t abandon everything you’ve ever learned because of something someone said on the internet." - Eric McGinnis

I've owned numerous Garmin watches and bike computers over the years and have nothing but good things to say about their products. The only issues I ever had were the mounting tabs sheared off my Garmin 500 a few years ago, and the dumbass watchband design of the 310 with the spring pins. The 500 was out of warranty but Garmin replaced it for free. The quick mount fixed the band issue on the 310.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

^this

The only issue I've had with my 910 is the elevation gain reporting huge numbers. After cleaning out that little hole on the bottom, the issue seems to be fixed. My original HR strap is still going strong. My watch is about 5 years old. I just ordered my first bike computer, the 520.

My 910's been pretty much flawless over the past few years, but I've had some crazy things going on this week. It's eaten two of my runs. Both were on the watch, I reviewed the data, tried to upload, got an error, and then the file was gone from the watch. Very frustrating.

I've not updated to the 9.20 software yet and am wondering if that's causing an issue. My memory's at 87% so I may wind up clearing that out as well.

I must be really unlucky because I'm on my like 10th in the 2.5 years I've had a 910. It's usually elevation issues then the vibrate would stop but yesterday my month old 910 just turned off and wouldn't turn back on. Glad they have good customer service but I keep telling myself I'm done with the 910 each time. But my 500 and 210 have been going strong for years. So maybe the take away is get one product for each discipline. But that's still annoying!

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I'm one of the lucky ones. Never had one go bad yet.

Garmin 305, 205, 405, 910, 620, 920
Edge 500, 510
Vector and Vector S PM

I gave away the 305, 205, 405, and 500. Sold the 910 and still have the 620, 920, and 510.

I do think the 205 contacts got corroded and difficult to make contact in the cradle. I broke the strap of the 405 during a crash, but my friend still wanted it. Amazingly I had 2 bad crashes while wearing the 920 and not a scratch. All the HRM's and 2 foot pods I bought kept working even when I gave them away. All the bike sensors still work.

I've had 705 500, 800 and FR70. No problems.

And yes, any sort of GPS receiver this small is amazing. And the CA (civilian) receivers now rival the P and Y (military) receivers from the 90s for precision.

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Developing aero, fit and other fun stuff at Red is Faster