Garmin 310xt - thoughts/experience

Triathlon Forum
1

I’m considering asking Santa for a 310 this year. Anybody own one and want to share their experience with it? I already own a Garmin 205 that I use for running and love it, but I’d love to have the HR functionality,

2

Upgraded from a 305. Love it. Slightly smaller, water proof and longer battery life. I’ve done two races with it without any issues.

3

I’ve been very happy with mine and won’t get anything else if and until garmin shrinks it down. It does EVERYTHING I want it to, HR, waterproof, ANT+ pick-up, and while its a bit bulky, its really light.

4

Can you (or someone else) expand on how it works as a power meter?

thanks

5

It works as a recording unit for an Ant+ powermeter. So you pair a powertap, srm, quarq, or the new pedal based system and use the garmin to pick up and recrod the power data.

6

thanks…and how would you characterize it’s performance, and how would you say it stacks up compared to a wired Powertap?

7

thanks…and how would you characterize it’s performance, and how would you say it stacks up compared to a wired Powertap?

Fewer wires? :wink:

Seriously, it’s a head unit. Wireless is the future although obviously it’s more expensive now.

-Jot

8

I did a lot of research (including looking at the killer CC wired deal) and eventually ended up with a 310XT and Elite+ combo. I’m really happy with it so far, but still on the steep part of the learning curve.

If you’re asking for it as a gift, make sure you specify the HR version - there is a box that looks pretty much exactly the same but doesn’t include the HR strap.

Here’s a page I put together based on what I dug up:
http://sites.google.com/site/garminpower/

dcrainmaker has a great review here:
http://dcrainmaker.blogspot.com/2009/09/garmin-forerunner-310xt-in-depth-review.html

A good chunk of the issues I read about that had me a bit worried at first seem to be WKO+ (and/or LYC) idiosyncracies rather than any fundamental problem with the Garmin itself (although it’s not 100% blameless).

I’ve been meaning to update the page with the latest notes I’ve jotted down (and, ahem, to correct some information that is flat out wrong…):

  1. There are issues with the WKO+ and the 310XT. Per this page:
    http://support.trainingpeaks.com/compatible-devices/garmin/forerunner-310xt.aspx

“310XT is NOT compatible with WKO+ at this time.”

The main problem is how WKO+ deals with “Smart recorded” data. With the 310XT, Power is recorded every 1s. Everything else (speed, elevation, etc.) is recorded using “Smart recording”. This is no longer an option you can disable (like you could on the FR305 and Edge705). WKO+ does not deal with this elegantly, and it leads to problems in many areas.

Another reason you see differences when people compare data between the LYC and 310XT seems to be related to how the .tcx format deals with pauses (Auto Pause, Stops, the length of them, etc.).

  1. Part of the issue is that the latest version of WKO+ (2.2 Build 106) was released back on February 24, 2009.
    Per these threads:
    http://www.trainingpeaks.com/bbs-forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=50410&posts=10
    https://www.trainingpeaks.com/bbs-forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=48192&posts=8
    https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?t=1876

They won’t be addressing the problem until Version 3. There is no date for v3 yet, but if you buy 2.2, “Major version updates can be purchased for half price of new version.”

  1. They seem to be rolling improvements into Training Peaks pretty frequently (the beauty of web based SW development cycles):
    http://support.trainingpeaks.com/whats-new.aspx

e.g one of the improvements is:
“Single points (e.g. from Garmin 310XT elevation, where having a null, then a point, then a null, is common) are now displayed as single dots, where before they were just invisible”

9

My wife bought me one from Amazon ( early Xmas gift ) and it arrived , not working.

Seems Garmin Quality Control , needs to buk up.

As I live in Singapore , it could not be fixed by Garmin Singapore as it was a unit from Garmin US… internal problem of THEIRS that became mine.

So , in a nutshell , additional shipping to send back and time delays ( still waiting for the new unit to arrive ). My friends are very happy with their products , although 1 out of 3 had the identical problem as mine and had to send it back.

Garmin USA responded promptly to emails , although their “solution” would cost me ( a new customer ) 10-15% more than I additionally paid for a brand new product. An expense , that in principal , is being passed onto a new customer who purchased a “quality” product in goodwill.

All in all , I am trying t remain positive as I have used Polar products for 9 years and I am fed up with their hefty marketing and inability to deliver a quality product without constantly requiring “tweaking” by your local distributor every 3-4 weeks.

Terry

10

If you just want HR functionality, you can get 305s for pretty cheap. Compared to a 305, you get longer battery life, better water-resistance (I had a 305 crash on me b/c it was rained on while sitting on my bike while I was on the swim leg), and power.

There are two issues I’ve had with the 310xt are:

  1. there is a defect in some units where the internal clock doesn’t work. (I.e., if you get a satellite fix at 2 pm, turn it off, go inside, and at 6 pm, turn it on again while inside, it may read 2 pm.) You can’t fix it, and in the Garmin forum, Garmin engineers have acknowledged this. If it happens to you, check the forum and call customer support. They’re very good about getting you a replacement unit.

  2. Power recording is on a 1 sec. interval, you can’t adjust it to display a longer (3sec/etc.) interval (like what I believe the PowerTap head unit can do). Also, WKO+ can’t deal with 310xt files well, as has been discussed on this forum before. (I don’t use WKO+, so that’s not an issue for me, but I’m waiting for the new release).

Hope this helps.

11

I really enjoyed mine not having to worry about it getting wet. That is until Ironman Hawaii when i either sat it down at the finnish area or I put it in 595’s transition bag by mistake however ther is some a-hole out there with a brand new 310 registered in my name.

Aloha
Hope you enjoy it

12

I made the same upgrade this year (205 to 310). Love it. Not having to switch watches in T-1 is great. I don’t use the h/r function, so I can’t comment on that. There is also a $50 coupon floating around the forum.

13

Is it worth it if you do not use the power capability and just use it as a GPS watch?

14

Is it worth it if you do not use the power capability and just use it as a GPS watch?

Quite honestly…no.

The only significant feature differences are:

  1. Power meter (you said you don’t care)
  2. Waterproofing (not terribly useful though since it doesn’t track underwater)
  3. 20hr battery life (useful if you do activities that last longer than 10 hours - the current 305 limit).
15

Is it worth it if you do not use the power capability and just use it as a GPS watch?

Quite honestly…no.

The only significant feature differences are:

  1. Power meter (you said you don’t care)
  2. Waterproofing (not terribly useful though since it doesn’t track underwater)
  3. 20hr battery life (useful if you do activities that last longer than 10 hours - the current 305 limit).

I thought I heard that it connected to satellites significantly faster? I get sick of waiting for my 305. If it is cloudy, it takes forever.

16

Is it worth it if you do not use the power capability and just use it as a GPS watch?

Quite honestly…no.

The only significant feature differences are:

  1. Power meter (you said you don’t care)
  2. Waterproofing (not terribly useful though since it doesn’t track underwater)
  3. 20hr battery life (useful if you do activities that last longer than 10 hours - the current 305 limit).

I thought I heard that it connected to satellites significantly faster? I get sick of waiting for my 305. If it is cloudy, it takes forever.

Yes, that’s true - though I’ve personally never seen the huge lag issues on the 305, but others have noted it. There are other minor improvements (UI, data display, backlight, etc…), but the ones I listed are the ‘big three’.

17

I get sick of waiting for my 305. If it is cloudy, it takes forever.
I live in Portland, where it’s cloudy eight months of the year (at least), and my 305 almost always picks up the satellites in less than 10 seconds. For me and others I’ve talked to, a key to quick pick-up is setting the device down and leaving it completely stationary when first turned on. Maybe you are already doing this but if you aren’t, might want to give it a try.

Pete
Portland, OR

18

love it, finally a gps system in the watch that you can race a tri with
.

19

To me it is, but then I can piss away $350 very easily, so the “worth” is a personal decision.

20

Another dumb question: Does it work if you wear it in a pool or only open water?