I had a question about two different forerunners. I wanted to sell my Sunnto t6 because of it’s mac incompatibility and buy a Forerunner. I have been looking at the forerunner 310xt and the 405 and can’t decide which one is better.
The 405 is a smaller design than the 310XT and I could wear it more like a watch. I also have small wrists and I heard the 405 does not fit people with small wrists. Does anyone have experiences with that.
Does either one have the bread crumb feature? I do a lot of my training in the woods and would love to track back on the route I just ran.
Overall I am looking for which one would be better for a triathlete with a mac who likes to run ultramarathons in the winter up here in the Northeast.
310XT has GOT to be better than the 405 for all the reasons you’ve said. It fits small wrists better. It’s battery life can actually handle an ultra. The water issue is HUGE. I live in Arizona, and I get sweaty enough to mess with the 405.
I hate my 405, but love the data. It does not have a backtrack feature, only a compass to point you to your starting location. It is gigantic on the wrist, too. Smaller than some of the earlier gps watches, but still, if you have small arms/wrists, it’ll be even bigger.
One VERY nice thing about it though - it seems to NEVER lose the satellites. Even in dense woods, it still tracks properly…check out this plot - totally wooded… http://connect.garmin.com/activity/11146769 (don’t ask me about the elevation number though, they’re whack)
I have the same dilemma.
Mac user, want to upgrade to more than a basic heart-rate monitor.
Probably between the 305, 310xt, and 405.
Lots of recent conversation on here regarding these.
305 is fine, but not waterproof. 310xt is waterproof, longer battery, lot more money. 405 is smaller form, but buttons are a pain.
Regarding the mac issue though, can’t you just upload to some other software than the suunto software which doesn’t work with mac?
Training peaks will work won’t it? I don’t think wko+ is mac compatible, but the basic version I think is. Same for another program I believe is called raceday.
As most of my workouts will be indoors for the next 5-6 months, gps id imagine won’t work, so I’ll have to get a footpod or measure the track for pacing, but still, need to buy a new toy.
I can’t find anything for the mac and Suunto. As for training peaks, I just tried it for the mac and it is not compatible with Suunto. Very frustrating because I want to see all the numbers.
Is the only difference between the 305 and 310XT is that it is waterproof? If that is the case I might as well just buy the 305.
I have also heard the buttons on the 405 are AWEFUL! If I need to wear gloves it won’t even pick up my touch.
if you search through the forums, there have been a few lengthy posts on differences b/t 305,310, & 405.
If i recall, it goes something like: 305 best on a budget, not fully waterproof, no ant+ (power).
310 longer battery, waterproof, ant+, over 2x the cost of the 305.
405 great for a runner, useless for multisport (one touch sport switching), very picky bezel buttons w/ sweat.
dont take my word for it, i dont have any of them right now.
i really wanted to get a suunto, but their training program doesnt work on mac as you well know, and if nobody else can pick up that data, whats the point.
garmin seems fine by me. id prefer a 310 as it fits nicer on the wrist, and i like the vibrate built in for zones & pace, but at dbl the cost of the 305 on sale, tough buy.
i like my cateye on my bike, i don’t know that id use the garmin as a bike computer too, but who knows.
let me know what you end up doing. i’ll probably be shortly behind you.
just seems it will be nice to have an all-in-one hrm & gps. dont really need gps i dont think, but could be cool to see routes & distance. pace splits will be nice too.
i mostly just want to be able to upload a workout and see speed vs elevation vs hr at once. probably will have to deal w/ a footpod indoors for winter though.
Long time Garmin user with FR305 and Edge 305 but moved to 310 because it is better. Fr305 is a mature product which is why it’s cheaper. FR310 has a better form factor than 305 and with longer battery life and waterproof ability, better for what we want. There are other improvements too that make the upgrade worthwhile.
Used to have Polar CS200s and Cateye dual wireless fitted to bikes. Changed to GSC-10, the Garmin speed/cadence sensor to simplify things. Garmins now used for everything. Despite the cost, the FR310 price point is way below Polar’s GPS.
Garmin software is limited in its functionality whether Mac or PC. You will more likely than not be looking for some 3rd party post processing software such as SportTracks for Windoze, Ascent, iSmartTrain, Rubitrack for Mac. Also RunSaturday.com for web based social data storage and analysis.
I have both and the 310 is WAY better.
Pros of the 310 over the 405:
Battery life, MUCH easier to change modes (run, bike, etc), no random changes of the menu from shirt sleeves etc, quicker link to Sat. Up to 4 panels for display of things like pace, time, etc. Ant+ wireless for your bike stuff.
Cons
It is really not a watch, it is a display for exercise. If you do not turn off the GPS when you display the watch, it will use up the battery inless than a day. It’s ORANGE!
The cons are really minor.
Having said all that I have a less 1 year old 405, I’ll make you a smoking deal on!
-mb
Recently got the 310 xt. Been pleased with the unit thus far and no complaints other than the aesthetics. The big orange box can’t really be used as a watch. The 405 was nicer looking but for me function trumps form. The waterproof feature, long battery life, ability to use with powertap were the deal makers.
I think I’m the only one here who prefers the 405! I bought the 310XT and took it back. I just didn’t like the size of that thing on my wrist, it was big, bulky and heavy. The 405 is much better in that regard. In terms of the touch bezel and all that, I just set it to auto-lap at every mile and I keep the display the same – avg pace, time, distance and lock the bezel. I don’t care about seeing HR or anything else. Does the bezel get sensitive with sweat – not really. I am a heavy sweater and have had no issues with that. Running in the rain is another issue. I’ve run in the pouring rain a few times, one time it went crazy – backlight kept coming on all sorts of screens kept coming up, I couldn’t get it to lock down. I thought this was all minor compared to wearing a laptop on my wrist. I would try them on both first and see what you think.
One big plus for the 310 is the Ant+ capability. So in the future if you purchased a power tap or Quarq it is compatible. Might not plan on it today but you never know.
I am also not sure if the 405 has a quick release bike mount capability.
I think I’m the only one here who prefers the 405! I bought the 310XT and took it back. I just didn’t like the size of that thing on my wrist, it was big, bulky and heavy. The 405 is much better in that regard. In terms of the touch bezel and all that, I just set it to auto-lap at every mile and I keep the display the same – avg pace, time, distance and lock the bezel. I don’t care about seeing HR or anything else. Does the bezel get sensitive with sweat – not really. I am a heavy sweater and have had no issues with that. Running in the rain is another issue. I’ve run in the pouring rain a few times, one time it went crazy – backlight kept coming on all sorts of screens kept coming up, I couldn’t get it to lock down. I thought this was all minor compared to wearing a laptop on my wrist. I would try them on both first and see what you think.
Best thing about the 405 is that it starts downloading data as soon as I walk into my house. I may be an imbecile, but I can’t stand navigating my way around that interface on the watch with its touch sensitive buttons. I really wish there was a PC based interface that let me program the thing the way I wanted online and transfer those to the watch via download. Just to change which parms the display shows out of the billions available is beyond my comprehension.
you note the improvements of the 310 vs the 305.
did you have any specific problems with the 305, or do you just like the additional features of the 310?
as a newB who is just getting into HR & data collecting, the difference between 150 & 400 is pretty steep.
i get that power compatibility is a big deal, but im not spending the money on power anytime soon anyhow.
I don’t imagine wearing it in the swim regardless, waterproof or not. my $10 watch from target keeps time just fine. plus a brick on your wrist can be that fun when stroking.
305 seeming like the best option here unless you have a good chunk of free cash. am i wrong ?
Do you sweat a lot? I broke my 305 after only about a year of use from mostly being a heavy sweater. So then I got a 310 and it is a bit smaller and waterproof. However, if excess sweat or waterproofing is not an issue, go for the 305. It’s slightly larger but the data collection/display is roughly the same.
really?
it died just from sweating?
that’s got to be super annoying.
id say i’m a moderate to heavy sweater.
the 310 would be great, but cost is the killer here.