Garmin 305

Member

I have been an active user of the 201, 301 and now the Garmin 305 series. Each has shown significant improvement over the other but the 305 has really made tremendous strides.

It looks much more like a watch instead of weird oblong thing attached to you. The precision in which it finds satellites is much improved over earlier models. Mine took less than 60 seconds on its first attempt, where my 301 used to take 2-3 minutes on good days, as much as 5 minutes on others to find a satellite.

The 305 handles trees and tall buildings much better than its predecessor. I actually ran on some of the trail's at Stone Mountain Park in addition to my normal trip on the road around the mountain. The signal didn't even get week. It even finds the signal inside my house.

This is the first model I have been able to take to a track and have it accurately measure 440 meters. The others were always short when I did track runs.

Most of the functionality is the same as with the older models. You still have your history logs, interval training, virtual partner and other nice features that solo runners like in a watch. The 305 comes with the HRM whereas the 205 doesn't. The HRM that comes with the 305 is much more sensitive and accurate than the 301 model. My 301 HRM simply bounced around so much on runs I finally just stopped using it entirely.

Pricewise, retail on Garmin and some stores is $349.00. But you can get them on ebay from around $241.00 and up. I got mine including overnight shipping on ebay for $276.00. Brand new, with a 7 day no questions asked return guarantee. If you do use ebay always be aware that each seller is different. Some of them do not offer 7 day returns. The seller I used has the name of rogertrevor. This was my first attempt to purchase anything on ebay and I found it very easy, with the product delivered exactly as the seller said it would be.

I will tell you that if you do a google search on garmin 305's and come across "PhotoNation" or similar stores which advertises them at $259.00, run the other direction. Despite their advertisement the watches are not in stock, they will try to get you to pay shipping and other fees that were expressly waived when you "purchased" the watch from them on their website. They have hundreds of complaints on consumer reports, mostly for cameras, but same scheme.

Member

Thanks for the info on this one. I'm hoping to start my trail running career next Spring and the 305 is my target Christmas present!

Newbie

I purchased a Garmin Forerunner 305 about two months ago, and while I really liked the idea of having the GPS and HRM and tracking data, my experience with Garmin and this particular product has not been good.

When I first got it, I followed the instructions, got it plugged in and went out for my first run with it. When I got home and plugged it in to my computer USB bus, the computer froze and required a reset to reboot. Once the computer came up again, the USB bus didn't work. I realized that the likely problem was too much current draw on the USB bus, and was going to need to get a new motherboard Sad

Darned disappointing, but being a computer and electronics person, I went and purchased the new motherboard and a powered external USB hub and about 12 hours later I was up and running again.

So, this time I plugged the Garmin Forerunner 305 into the powered USB hub instead of the computer. As soon as I did this, my computer blue screened (crashed) and it did so nearly every time I plugged the Garmin in. At this point I decided it must have been a problem with the Garmin Forerunner and got on their support system. Here is where the real problems happened.

Their support person told me:
1. Check for chipset names that are INTEL, NEC, etc. These are compatible chipsets with our devices.
2. If you have a chipset name that contains SiS, Via, OpenHCD, Ali, or Alr,
these chipsets are not compatible with our devices and may not allow the USB Card Programmer to function.

That wasn't on the package, or in the instructions, but regardless I learned that I had a compatible chipset from the manufacturer. So after letting them know that and that I now expected some compensation for my loss and that something definitely caused my motherboard's USB bus to go bad they asked that I send the unit, cable, charger, etc back to them so they could determine what might have caused the problem, which I did. After a week or so I asked if anything had been determined about what had happened but they didn't have any answers. I told them at this point that I expected some compensation for my damaged motherboard - another unit maybe? Something. They offered to send me a new unit and a cadence unit (for my bike) but I indicated that I already purchased the $60.00 cadence unit and that it didn't work on my bicycle due to the frame/pedal design and that a new unit would help since I really wanted to start using the new toy I bought.

After getting the replacement unit which didn't cause any blue screens (after about a week) and seems to be functioning as well as the rest of them, Garmin refused to compensate me for my motherboard - I offered to accept the unit that I sent in back as payment - Garmin's response:

"Unfortunately, it appears as if we are unable to determine why the failure occurred given the information you provided. Thus we question whether the Forerunner 305 had anything to do with the failure on your PC. The device you provided does meet all specification standards. I apologize we could not provide a more conclusive answer.".

Unfortunately, I had already sent the bad Forerunner 305 back to Garmin along with the crash dump files from my PC and offered to send them the motherboard several times as well - they were never interested in what brand/make/model of motherboard I had - so I was no longer able to determine if a component had failed in the charging circuit of the Garmin and was out of luck.

And that has been my experience with Garmin. Great idea, but a bad company. There are a lot of problems with Garmin's products, unlike many better manufacturers like Canon and Apple computer, they don't deal with the problems in an equitable manner.

Be ForeWARNED!

Guest

I've used the Forerunner 201 and really liked it. I'm considering the 305. This was very helpful.

Member

I've had no problems with my Garmin 305 even running on tree trails out at Stone Mountain Park. Garmin's customer support has always been great although you may have to hold for a few minutes. I've also found the garmin forums on very helpful the few times I've needed any assistance.

As for as the motherboard, your expectations are somewhat unreasonable. I don't know of any software or product company that is going to accept responsibility for your motherboard. That's always a risk you take when you add/download new software and/or products. Sorry for your bad experience but I've had nothing but excellent results with the software and hardware from Garmin. And I've had their 201, 301 and now the 305, each performing as they said it would.

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Newbie

Newbie

i hear the garmin 405 is going to be unbelievable!! Looking forward buying it soon!

Newbie

Garmin's heart rate monitors are of outstanding quality. I have personally owned a 305 for the past 2 years and have had no problems. The device is a lot sturdier and rugged than many of the Polar and Suunto competitors.

The Forerunner 305 and 405 have much the same functionality, however the Forerunner 405 is a lot more compact, features a touch wheel (like the ipod) and looks a lot more attractive. Read a review of the Garmin Forerunner 305 or the Garmin Forerunner 405.

If you're looking to compare prices of all heart rate monitors from Garmin, Suunto and Polar have a look at the Heart Rate Monitor Fitness Online Store.

Member

What a great review of all those heart rate monitors. I have yet to cave in to finally buy one, but I will definitely consider everyone's comments when deciding on which one to get.

Trail Running Blog

Newbie

I got the 305; I love it. It's size is actually just right for me, it's very easy to view all the data at once (pace, distance, time) and press buttons for laps or menu changes while going as fast as a 1/2 mile pace.
although the HR is harder to see, but it's all recorded anyway and I prefer to only pay attention to it afterward most times. I like running trails and hiking so I assumed the bigger size gave it a better signal in trees and such - so far it's been great for signal and acuracy.
I'm also surprised how extensive the navigational functions are; I thought the GPS on this watch was only to measure speed and distance, but it works as a fully functional navigation system where you can mark spots, view latitude/longitude, see your path and relation to other points. In other words its fun for hiking and trail runs and there is a service (Motion Based) that will show your path taken on a visual of Google Earth (I just realized I sound like a big kid now).

BTW I'm a big believer in going on a run once a week without paying any attention to how long or far your going or caring what your HR is. Just have fun.

Newbie

There is some other stuff for measuring your running activities....for example gps phones. Last year I was running with my watch, mp player and mobile phone.....this year I'm running just with my phone.

There was some diffrent app, Nokia has it and iphone3g also has it....

you can also consider sportypal, they have it on almost all mobile phones with gps, and thay have great web site where you can see your workouts, stats for them and also your daily and montly results....

It is working for running, cycling, trekking....

This link is from my last cycling Very Happy

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Newbie

I haven't tried using Garmin's stuff for anything yet. I tried the Nike+ for a few weeks but it was dissapointing. Looks like I'm going to have to try a Garmin - lots of sweet info you can get from them.

Garmin 305

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