http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/23/timex-global-trainer-gps-watch-now-available-exclusively-at-rei/
Does anyone have the new Timex GPS watch? It’s one of the few that says waterproof up to 50 meters. I don’t like the price of $300, but you could swim with it.
Just curious if anyone has this watch and if it holds up to Garmin watches.
Thanks.
dcrainmaker.blogspot.com has a detailed review. He told me that he prefers the 310XT. But, I think the Timex has updatable firmware (like the 310XT) so it might improve. You can swim with the 310XT too but with either watch you will not get HR while swimming.
I’ve swam with mine lots.
I bought mine at REI and have used it in Eagleman 70.3
and Muncie Half with much success. Great watch for a triathlete.
Works well in swim, but you need to keep the watch close to the surface while stopped or waiting in order to not lose the signals.
I have the unit and am near completed with a review for publication. My deadline for this is 2:00 PM Tuesday (8/24). I’ll put a thread up when I finish the review.
It’s kkind of a complex review as this thing has pretty impressive capabilities and some interesting little nicks.
Everybody starts increasing the width of their wrists… That thing is big as a boat (not that the 310XT is much better, but a rectangle inside a rectangular watch kinda works better than a rectangle inside a round watch, space-wise).
Now why can’t Sunnto do a decent reasonably sized watch with easy upgrades?!
Here is a sneak preview speaking of relative size:
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I do have delicate dainty wrists myself.
I prefer the 310xt. I was excited that timex came out with a watch with built-in GPS and tri stuff, but it has a few issues that I cant get past. The biggest for me are the “pop-up” screens during the run. They are too small and impossible for me to see. It also does not support a foot-pod, so you cant get mileage while running on the treadmill. In addition - at least with the firmware in the version I had - you cant set separate HR zones separate for bike and run. The watch is less comfortable than the 310xt which is surprising since they are both pretty big. I do like that when you turn it “off”, it becomes a watch with date and time and on the 310xt I have to configure a field on the screen with the time to use it for that (no date field). There a lot of little things I like better on the 310xt, but the timex is very close. The no-footpod and teeny text on pop-up screens are show stoppers for me.
What treadmill are you running on that doesn’t track mileage? It may not be completely accurate, but close enough for a treadmill workout.
Yes, my treadmill tracks mileage, but the watch doesnt while on the treadmill. So the data isnt there for uploading to garmin connect etc. With a footpod, you get mileage on the watch while running when GPS is not available.
I’ve heard they are working on a footpod. I don’t care about footpod for treadmill workouts, but find them much more accurate for pace indication.
I’ve had one for a couple weeks. I compared it pretty close to the Garmin 310xt. Mostly they are pretty similar, but there are a few minor differences. The Timex was a little cheaper and most of the feature differences were in it’s favor, so that is the way I went. It has worked very well for the most part. The pace indication, like any GPS, wanders too much even under maximum smoothing. The TrainingPeaks version it comes with is a pretty nice bonus and much better than the Garmin software…I am told.
Thia is a very detailed review by slowtwitcher dcrainmaker
http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2010/08/timex-ironman-gps-global-trainer-in.html
H
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I would stay away from this watch. i’ve had too many issues with it to date.
1-its switched on me from ‘performance mode’ to ‘multisport mode’ therefore left with numerous ‘bogus’ laps.
2-heart rate has been intermittent
3-cannot see ‘lap distance’ this is not an option.
4-watch automatically shuts off after 30mins with no activity. shut off on me minutes before a race
5-claims to have a 15hr battery. After swimming for 40mins, then biking for 4hrs the watch was on its last legs for battery time.
6-not easy to cycle through screens. If you are running, and have 2 screens set up, you need to cycle through your bike screens, time, swim screens to get back to current screen.
7-2 instances where i’ve been running and the watch will stop displaying pace/distance. its been calculating it(from what i can see in trainingpeaks). I’ve had to shut off/turn on watch again mid run to start displaying distance/pace. when doing so distance/average pace are not accurate.
All,
First and foremost let me say that I am a member of Team Timex. Just wanted to get that out of the way now.
As for the watch I think it’s the best heart rate / GPS tool I’ve worked with. I’ve been in this sport for almost twenty (20) years and have used every heart rate monitor / GPS watch out there (except for Suunto).
I’ve been reading about all the issues that some have been having with the watch and I have to tell you, I haven’t had any of these issues.
Switching from Performance Mode to Multisport mode. The only way this can happen is if you actually hit the watch button in the lower left hard corner. I use the watch every day and this has NEVER happened to me.
Heart rate for me has always been spot on. Even when riding my trainer to a Spinervals video to running on my treadmill. I would say if you’re having an issue you might want to check where you putting your heart rate strap on your chest or check your batteries.
Lap distance was initially an issue but you can change around how or what you want the watch to display. Problem solved.
I’ve never had my watch shut off after 30 minutes. I used it yesterday for a trainer ride and it’s still on when I went to go check it to see if it had, in fact, turned off. Nope, still on (although it was giving me a low battery warning).
The battery life is as advertised. I get around 18 - 20 hours of use when I completely charge it up.
The cycling issue I am not versed on. I don’t cycle through my screens when I am actually training/racing. I worry about looking at all of that stuff afterwards. I have one screen showing in regards to my training session and pay attention to those. For the bike it’s miles, speed, heart rate and WATTS. That’s all I care about. For the run it’s Heart Rate, Miles, Time and average mile pace. Again, that’s all I care about. I very rarely swim with the watch on.
Again, I have never had an issue with pace/distance displaying. My prep for getting ready to run and ride is to always have the watch fully charged, have it outside and in Navigate Mode and Location. When I go to put the watch on it shows me exactly where I am and my Altitude. I slap the watch on my wrist and away I go. Again, I’ve never had an issue with the pace/distance stop displaying.
Now, I am certainly not saying that you’re not having these issues. You may very well be having them. But for you to say STAY AWAY FROM THIS WATCH because you’re having these issues doesn’t mean that other individuals are. Obviously I am not.
Again, you can take my post for what it’s worth. I’ve been using the watch since February 2010 and think it’s the best watch out there. The last GPS / Heart Rate monitor I owed was a Garmin 405CX. The Timex GPS Watch blows this watch away. The bezel functionality on this watch is a disaster. My own sweat would make this functionality hard to work with. If anybody is looking to buy one I’ve got one for sale…fairly cheap.
Bruce Gennari
Team Timex Multisport
How does it compare to the Garmin 305? Minus the swimming part, it would seem to be comparable and the 305 is now selling for less than $150 on Amazon.
Thanks Team timex and thanks to the other users that posted the reviews. This sounds like the watch that I want so now i just have to save up my pennies or wait till xmas. Still, i’m sold on this watch. I always loved my timex ironman watch for how easy it is to use. I hope this watch is the same way.
bump
I would stay away from this watch. i’ve had too many issues with it to date.
1-its switched on me from ‘performance mode’ to ‘multisport mode’ therefore left with numerous ‘bogus’ laps.
I think there’s a way to lock the screen if you accidently hit the mode button with your wrist. May not be an ideal solution though.
2-heart rate has been intermittent
I’ve seen this too, but I think it was related to my battery on the HR strap. I changed the battery and haven’t seen this issue since.
3-cannot see ‘lap distance’ this is not an option.
4-watch automatically shuts off after 30mins with no activity. shut off on me minutes before a race
5-claims to have a 15hr battery. After swimming for 40mins, then biking for 4hrs the watch was on its last legs for battery time.
Do you have the latest firmware? I haven’t tested it out on that long of an exercise, but it was supposed to resolve lots of this.
6-not easy to cycle through screens. If you are running, and have 2 screens set up, you need to cycle through your bike screens, time, swim screens to get back to current screen.
You should be able to go back and forth by using the up/down arrows instead of cycling through all of them.
7-2 instances where i’ve been running and the watch will stop displaying pace/distance. its been calculating it(from what i can see in trainingpeaks). I’ve had to shut off/turn on watch again mid run to start displaying distance/pace. when doing so distance/average pace are not accurate.
FYI - I bought mine from timex-ironman.com for 249 no tax, no shipping and didn’t have any issues getting it delivered. Maybe that will make your penny saving go by quicker.
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I really like mine so far. I’ve had to build a special mount to put it between my aero bars because it has to be mounted parallel to the handle bars. I like that I don’t have to waste a data field to display the time of day all the time too.
The only thing that has frustrated me so far is the popup messages. If I’m using it for swimming a 5x100m set with 5s rest between sets, I hit the lap button as soon as I hit the wall. By the time the popup disappears, more than 5s have passed, so it’s really no good for short intervals. For normal running or cycling use, I’ll never do a 5s rest interval, so it’s a non-issue outside of the pool.
I would stay away from this watch. i’ve had too many issues with it to date.
1-its switched on me from ‘performance mode’ to ‘multisport mode’ therefore left with numerous ‘bogus’ laps.
I think there’s a way to lock the screen if you accidently hit the mode button with your wrist. May not be an ideal solution though.
- i believe there is a way to lock the screen. the time it happened i was out in open water swimming and hitting the lap button. My coach had us run out of the water and mimic a transition. when i hopped out and hit ‘stop’ to end the workout it switched into ‘transition’. The watch was never set in the ‘multisport mode’.
2-heart rate has been intermittent
I’ve seen this too, but I think it was related to my battery on the HR strap. I changed the battery and haven’t seen this issue since.
-will try this.
3-cannot see ‘lap distance’ this is not an option.
-i’ve checked the options and ‘lap distance’ is not one of them. the only option for ‘distance’ is ‘distance’
**
4-watch automatically shuts off after 30mins with no activity. shut off on me minutes before a race
-should clarify this. Once acquiring a sattelite signal, if you do not start activity within 30mins the watch will shut off/stand by.
**
5-claims to have a 15hr battery. After swimming for 40mins, then biking for 4hrs the watch was on its last legs for battery time.
Do you have the latest firmware? I haven’t tested it out on that long of an exercise, but it was supposed to resolve lots of this.
-i believe i have the latest firmware. I was prompted to update the firmware when i connected it to the timex device agent the first time. I’ve connected it almost daily and not been prompted for another update. Will try again.
6-not easy to cycle through screens. If you are running, and have 2 screens set up, you need to cycle through your bike screens, time, swim screens to get back to current screen.
You should be able to go back and forth by using the up/down arrows instead of cycling through all of them.
-there is the up button, however the ‘down’ button is also the ‘stop’ button. I like to have 2 screens set up for each activty. 1 screen with all my ‘currents - lap time, distance, heart rate, pace.’ then ‘averages-total time, average heart rate/pace’. When activity is started can only push the ‘up’ button, as the ‘down’ button will stop the activity.
7-2 instances where i’ve been running and the watch will stop displaying pace/distance. its been calculating it(from what i can see in trainingpeaks). I’ve had to shut off/turn on watch again mid run to start displaying distance/pace. when doing so distance/average pace are not accurate.
-not sure why this is happening. satelite signal is there, however not displaying distance/pace.
another issue I had is where the watch went completly dead. plugged into wall and was non responsive. ended up pushing all 7 buttons at same time, and it came back on.
I’ve talked to timex canada, and they are seeing about getting another watch for me…hopefully this will solve some of the issues i’ve been having.