I’ve had the timex Speed and distance sytem for a while and I’ve gotten pretty used to wearing it on my arm. I was trying to decide wether to buy the heart rate monitor that goes with it or just buy a whole new system with the new style gps and heart monitor. I checked out the new gps and it doesn’t seem to fit as well ergonomically on my arm. It is a bit smaller though so I thought maybe the new ones work better on the belt clip. I can’t wear mine with the clip. It bounces way too much. Also does the new gps get better reception? If anyone has any opinions on this I would appreciate it.
Blas
I have the old style S + D and always wear it on my arm. It bounces around way too much on the belt clip, or in a pocket. I think it gets better reception when it’s not bouncing all over also. I haven’t seen the newer units in person to have an opinion.
One thing I did find, is that it seems to work much better now that I started using Nimh batteries in it. It syncs up faster, and doesn’t lose signal as much.
I also have the old S + D and always wear it on my arm. I’ve tried it on my belt and it loses the signal. I never have that problem with it on my arm. I also use the Nimh batteries.
The complaint I have about the arm band is that I’m forced to wear a t-shirt. If I go sleeveless the belt rubs and I get a huge rash. For this reason alone I’m seriously considering the Garmin Forerunner.
Don
I have the old gps unit and the new watch / hrm. I contacted timex before I bought the watch and they said that the gps units are the same (in terms of functionality, accuracy, etc). The new watch / hrm works just fine with the old gps unit. I don’t have any drop out problems. I don’t like the Timex HRM as much as a Polar HRM I used to use a couple of year ago…
Polar is coming out with a new distance / hr gadget that looks cool…not that I need a new gadget…but it looks cool…well maybe I need a new gadget…
Hey thanks for the info. I think I’ll just get the add on heart rate monitor. Have any of you used the data collector device and training software?
Yeah, I have the whole system…I’m kind of a gadget freak also. The data recorder tends to turn itself off rather often, and loses all the data. Timex has explained to me that this is due to static electricity, though I don’t know how that happens against my sweaty body in hot/humid air. Also, if it loses signal from one of the devices, or detects a signal from a device, it starts a new file. These files cannot be combined or blended together. So if your heart rate monitor slips and loses contact during a run, and then you re-adjust it again, the recorder creates three files for your one run and the traces, maxes and averages will all be split in three.
The software has limited usefulness, IMHO. It yields two traces: speed/pace and heart rate. The heart rate pace is usually very smooth, but the speed/pace trace is all over the place. You can read thru it and eyeball an average, roughly. THis happens both running and on the bike. I was hoping for smooth traces so that I could monitor heart rate for a given pace during different workouts and races, but at this point I can’t do that. The overall averages and maxes it gives you are available on the watch alone, in summary data screen. I have not tried to download data into excel to try to manipulate it better, and I don’t know if it’s even possible. I would like to hear from others who are using the data recorder and find out their thoughts.
The Garmin is pretty good. It is big for a watch/HRM but not so much that it bounces or affects your form. No problems losing signal either. Amazon has them for $115.
The only downside I see is that it doesn’t have an HRM though anyone who buys a Garmin is a gadget freak and anyone who’s a gadget freak already has an HRM. The Garmin does make you wear a second watch though.
For the past month I have used my brand new bodylink system.I always wear the GPS clipped to my shorts when I run .I forget it is there I feel to make sure it didn’t not fall off.I also have the data recorder.I clip it beside the gps with no problem.They work fine for me and I highly recommend them.
Are you using the new style gps or the old rectangle one? I was wondering if the new style worked better clipped to you shorts. The old one really doesn’t work well for me on my shorts. It’s fine on a fuel belt but I don’t wear that all of the time.
Thanks for the info. Does the new watch have a smoothing option like the original one? I keep it turned off but I wonder if that would make a difference on the charting.
Yes the new one has smoothing.I have not used it yet because I am still figuring out the bells and whistles.