I heard it gives you mile times so probably but I wouldn't get it just principle alone

She had a Garmin, Black Friday is coming and Garmin is moving from 220 / 225 to 230 / 235, which means there will be tons of sales and she won't have to change platform and move workouts. Seems fairly straightforward to me.

Which principle?

I hear you. I used to be a Garmin user myself but they lost me with their policy of forced obsolescence. She is also not using Garmin Connect so logging workouts is not a factor.

I'm assuming she is not carrying over any accessories (HR strap, footpod) as her old Garmin would be ANT+ but Suunto would be BT, so I would suggest look at Polar products as well (M400).

Correct, no accessories.

I agree, polar make some very good running watches (I own a v800).

I wouldn't agree that Garmin builds in obsolescence. I also own several Garmin running/cycle computers going back to the forerunner 305. All of them are perfectly useable. Admittedly my 910xt can't be updated with the features of the 920xt, but it doesn't make it obselete.

I have been using the Surge for my runs during the last eight weeks, including the NYC marathon. It is a perfectly capable watch, and I have enjoyed its simplicity. The corresponding smart phone app is also nice. I would recommend it if you can get it for a good price.

I use an app and just carry my phone but my good friend uses the surge and swears by it. He is trying to get me to switch as he loves it. If I do I'll let you know what I think.

And how is this different from any other company, especially technology companies?

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I didn't see you state which specific Garmin, as that might make a bit of difference. For example, if she was going from the FR910XT, to the Fitbit Surge, she might find that awkard (or insert other odd word here).

However, if she was going from something like a FR210, then she might enjoy the move.

One aspect you may want to consider is how accurate she wants the optical HR sensor to be (or if she cares). Specifically, around intervals. It's not bad for steady-state runs, but it's a bit slow on intervals (and horrible cycling). Though, most wrist-based GPS watches with optical sensors are bad cycling, so that's probably a wash.

I'd agree with others though that buying today would generally be poor, given the impending weekend of sales. But if you're locking down research, than being ready for the weekend is the place to be (no matter the brand).

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My tiny little slice of the internets: dcrainmaker.com

I used to be a fan of Garmin and they have lost me as a customer due to what I perceive are unfriendly customer policies. Suunto on the other hand has been flawless so far (about 18 months). I would rather take a chance with a non Garmin product that may disappoint me versus a Garmin one which I trust will disappoint me. But I would rather not debate that and get feedback on the Fitbit Surge instead.

Thank you for your reply. Indeed she had a FR210. She mostly cares and distance, pace and time. I am unsure she would use too many features beyond those. I agree about your point on not buying today but am trying to decide on which product to buy so that I can then look for deals.

If she doesn't care about HR, then it's actually pretty good otherwise. Not sure what other platforms she might use (i.e. a TrainingPeaks or something else), but you may want to consider that too. If she's more minimal, than the Surge is in a better spot.

As a side note, the Surge just got some updates today, some to HR pieces, and some to other random stuff. Just FYI.

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My tiny little slice of the internets: dcrainmaker.com

I use a Surge for logging everything now and am liking it a lot. Nice and simple, the GPS seems accurate enough, and it's great just having one device I wear the whole time, no straps, no footpods, etc. HR for running is fine, though it sucks for cycling. Am finding the general lifestyle tracking features (steps, calories, stairs, testing HR, sleep, etc) more useful and interesting than I expected.

The software syncs very nicely, it isn't the best for doing detailed analysis of training, but its easy enough to sync to a third party site like Strava to do that if you want.

That it's a fitbit and that is lame

Ray, I read about the updates that were introduced today, but haven't seen a prompt from my app to download/install them. Have you actually seen the update deployed?

What makes it lame, if you care to expand?

I didn't charge mine up to try yet.

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My tiny little slice of the internets: dcrainmaker.com

I used the FitBit surge as my daily watch, step counter and running watch for about 6 mths this year and thought it was great. I would probably still have it if I didn't temporarily get caught up in the iWatch hype. For what you are saying she'll use it for I think it would work well.

The TomTom runner and multisport GPS watches with wrist based heart rate are on sale right now on The Clymb for what looks like pretty good prices. I wasn't crazy about the HR feature but the GPS worked well for the short time I had one.