I’ve had the Garmin Forerunner 305 for about a week now, and have been using it for about five days for running only.
I bought the unit from REI.com. I seem to recall it was $349.99. I also use it with motionbased.com and Google Earth.
Here are my early impressions: The unit is relatively easy to use with practice and dilligence reading the owner’s manual. I own an older Forerunner, the previous larger model, so was somewhat familiar with the operation of Garmin brand GPS’s. The new Forerunner 305 is substantially more comfortable to wear than the previous version that was oriented more horizontally on the wrist. All buttons are extremely easy to use and relatively easy to understand with a couple days’ practice. Accuracy and signal integrity is very good. I have not lost signals or compromised my positional/distance data even once since I started using the unit. This includes circumstance when the GPS conditions were recorded by motionbased.com as “poor”. Even with a limited satelite acquisition the unit performed reliably, i.e., did not report dropped signal or report distortions in position (according to the motionbased.com plot). The unit appears to triangulate position and speed accurately from a wide range of satelite acquistions, even without a “3D” fix. The auto-lap feature could be better. Mine is programmed for “distance” and reports with an alarm the passing of each mile ran. An audible alarm sounds and a cursor appears on the screen. My eyesight is poor so I cannot read what the cursor says. To this day, I have no idea. My preference would be for it to display the previous split, i.e., if you just ran a 7:14 mile, that the display simply lit up very large and said “7:14” at the alarm. Now, there may be a capability to program this into the display. If there is, I haven’t found it in the manual. The heart rate strap works fine- no better or worse than any other. It provides a reliable read out. I always get a signal. Using the unit with the “Training Center” software makes for an OK log but more usability and functions with some color would be nice. The basic software is… very basic. Using the unit with motionbased.com is the key to unlocking its true accuracy and potential. motionbased.com provides data collection and analysis that is both entertaining and extremely informative. It gives you control of your training and unlocks the true potential of GPS/heart rate training. Without motionbased.com you are not getting the full potential from your GPS fitness monitor. The use of motionbased.com with your GPS actually increases the accuracy of the data by reporting the results of more GPS positional samples than is reported with the “stock” Garmin TC software.
In short, the Forerunner 305 is a good unit made even better with motionbased.com. I like using it and find it pretty darn useful but much more so when combined with motionbased.com.
Thanks for the your initial thoughts. Mine arrived a day or two ago and I have not yet put it into motion. I do, however, have a question.
I picked up the Forerunner 305 over the Edge 405 so I could use it both for running and cycling (and apparently the Forerunner was designed to do just that). However, the orientation of the transponder in the wrist unit is aligned with the screen for use when running, i.e. the transponder is below the screen so your wrist naturally directs it upward while running.
On the bike, the position is quite different. With the transponder below the screen, it seems as if I’ll have to flip the unit over and learn to read upside down.
Have you had a chance to (or do you intend to) try the Forerunner on your bikes? If so, I welcome any advice on optimal mounting/reading position.
Thanks for the info Tom, I have been considering getting one but I keep going back to wanting to upgrade my SRM powermeter to the new Dura Ace/FSA version. Not enough money to buy any other toys until I get out of school.
I too would like my Garmin to say that I’m running 7:14 miles, but unfortunately that has nothing to do with the Garmin’s programming…
I agree - I have mine on auto lap for each mile except for interval workouts, and when it alerts me that I’ve completed the lap, in the process it obscures the area that says what my time/pace are.
Tom, when I was up at your shop getting fit, I metioned I had the Edge 305. So far no problems except on the HR strap, it is too big. They make these things for fat people. Garmin needs to make two sizes of straps like Polar does.
Hmmm, well, at $349.99 I would (and do) expect a lot of functionality. More than just a heart rate monitor. To me the best thing about the 305 is being able to monitor running distances and pace accurately as well as interfacing it with my heart rate. I can see exactly how hard or easy I am working at an 8:00 mile pace or how fast I am going at 165 beats per minute under a given set of conditions.
I used to actually go out on my bike and map out run courses around town, marking the pavement with spray paint at my mile markers to record my splits. I had four different loops mapped out: 3.62 miles, 4 miles, 5.5 miles and 8 miles. I could combine those for different distances. Over time the pavement spray paint wears off or constuction crews remove it. One of my mile markers was in front of city hall so I could put a paint mark there and another was in front of Independance Hall in Greenfield Village (a big historical museum across from my house) so I couldn’t mark the pavement there. With an accurate GPS I don’t have to worry about that. I can run anywhere and have acurate time/distance data. To me, that is the big benefit.
Mine arrives on the 24th. My Timex system is quickly headed south. It gives me very inconsistent results. I am looking forward to using google earth and motionbased.
The auto-lap feature could be better. Mine is programmed for “distance” and reports with an alarm the passing of each mile ran. An audible alarm sounds and a cursor appears on the screen. My eyesight is poor so I cannot read what the cursor says. To this day, I have no idea. My preference would be for it to display the previous split, i.e., if you just ran a 7:14 mile, that the display simply lit up very large and said “7:14” at the alarm. Now, there may be a capability to program this into the display. If there is, I haven’t found it in the manual.
If you are refering to the auto-lap feature (vs. distance alert), then it’s been my experience the 305 should display, albeit in small size, exactly what you want it to, lap number and split.
If the auto-lap display is too small, one workaround afforded by the customizable screens is to set one up to display your previous lap split in one of the panels (and the less panels you have displayed, the larger they are–so perhaps one screen with two panels displaying previous lap and current lap pace).
As for biking, I’ve owned a forerunner 210, 301 and now the 305. I’ve used the 305 on both a road bike and tri bike mounted to my bars for a number of rides and have also brought my 301 along for the sake of comparison. I’d say the 305 works very well and I haven’t found the direction of the antenna to be an issue at all. I certainly wouldn’t think flipping the unit upside down is merited.
Tom have you played with the pace smoothing feature? Does the current pace seem accurate? With my 201 the current pace seems more accurate the longer I am into the workout. At the beginning it seems to say I’m going faster than I feel like I’m going, but toward the end it seems pretty close.
Not clear from your post what you are doing with Google Earth and the 305. Is there some way to upload your GPS tracks to Google Earth to see a 3/D view of the route?
Just curious b/c I have a 301 and am thinking about the upgrade to 305 b/c the 301’s signal loss problems.
I had some short-lived frustration figuring out how to set the smoothing. I put a thread up on here a few days ago soliciting assistance with it.
Ultimately I went back to the owner’s manual and re-read it. The answer was on page 45, last paragraph, lower right.
The smoothing feature works fairly well, but you can see the thing trying to adjust the pace. Sometimes you are wailing on it and it says “8:20” pace, and you know you are in the low 7:00’s. Other times you are cruising at 7:30 and it says “6:19”. Once you reach the distance programmed it all seems to work out. In the middle of the lap the read-out of your pace is a little funky.