Garmin Forerunner 305 Handheld GPS Receiver

Where did you get this handy gadget?
Having done plenty of sports in my life, I've always treated running as a necessary evil. In order to play soccer or basketball, you have to be able to run a fair amount. In order to have a lot of stamina for hockey, you're best off doing some cardio conditioning like running. Even volleyball for a middle school or low-level high school team had running drills as part of practice a couple days a week. So when I decided to do a Couch-to-5K challenge last spring, my family and friends were a bit surprised that I was choosing to run for the sake of running--to say the least.

I decided to keep on running a few times a week after the 5K because it did make the other sports I am active in easier. In an effort to encourage me on this path, a long-time friend of mine who is an avid runner gave me a Forerunner 305 for my birthday last fall. Because it was a gift, I'm not sure exactly how much she paid for it.

What sorts of features does this gadget have?
The 305 has all sorts of bells and whistles. It is, of course, a GPS unit which features a stop watch that's got text practically large enough to be an arena scoreboard. There is an output on the screen for your pulse. Because of the GPS and stop watch, it can calculate your pace as you go and it displays this as well. It has the ability to count laps & show you information about each individual lap once you are finished moving; I'm not sure if you can set it to display that info while you're using it or not. The unit features a 'virtual partner' which I haven't played with in any great detail. It is possible to set up an interval workout where the unit will beep to keep track of your times as well as displaying how many repetitions are left. There is also the ability to light the display up, should you be running before sunrise/after sunset. A lot of this information can be found on Garmin's 305 feature list: https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=349#specsTab

The unit came with the cable to synch up to my computer, a cradle for charging it either via the wall outlet or my USB port on my computer, a heart rate monitor, and a copy of their Training Center software. Garmin's full description of what comes in the box for the 305 unit can be found here: https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=349#inTheBoxTab

How well do the features work?
The GPS is sometimes more stubborn about finding the satellites and actually communicating with them than a toddler can be about keeping clothes on in public. I do not feel that I should need to beg, plead, and cajole a GPS into communicating with satellites since that is its entire purpose in life. I have had to start, restart, and sometimes re-restart my 305 to get it to find all of the satellites so it can begin calculating my pace. This is when I am standing in as flat and wide-open a space as I can find near my house.

I have never in my life run at a 5-minute mile pace. The only time I would conceivably do so is if I were trying to outrun a zombie horde and my life depended on it or if I needed to chase down the last ice cream truck on earth which was nearly out of chocolate chip cookie dough. I run through parks in my city; parks which are fairly 'flat' places (this is the Midwest, after all) that are about a half-mile or more from the nearest skyscraper, and I will get pace readings of 5-6 minute mile-speeds. This suggests to me that the GPS part is still miscommunicating with the satellites, causing it to miscalculate my speed. And heaven help you if you choose to run on streets that go between skyscrapers; I don't know that my 305 would ever sync up let alone calculate a pace if I took it to New York City, for example.

My 305 hasn't read my pulse since the third or fourth time I wore it. I miss that feature, but I will also admit that I have not dug through the owners manual to sort out if there is a way to make that start working again. All I know is that I used to just put it on and it would read my pulse; now it does not.

The heart rate monitor is functional with the 305, but can sometimes be awkward to situate appropriately relative to my anatomy. I'm sure other women and other heart rate monitors have similar issues. The band that comes with the unit has plastic components to it which can sometimes cause chaffing on bare skin; I'm not sure how they could have designed around that problem, though. Also, I have used the heart rate monitor on while a treadmill several times. My monitor displayed my heart rate on the treadmill about 4-5 times when I first got it but it does not do so any longer. I know other heart rate monitors on the market will do that, as I've had my treadmill display the heart rate of the person on the machine next to me before, yet it can't pick up the signal from my own monitor.

Training Center can be one of the more frustrating pieces of software to use. Sometimes I will barely have touched my 305 to the cradle before the software comes up and wants to sync up with it. Sometimes, I have to unplug and re-plug the USB cable and the unit itself into the cradle a half-dozen times before Training Center will acknowledge there is a Garmin attached to the computer and will then only find it when I tell it to look for a GPS 2-3 times. This is the case for all the computers I have used it with, so I don't believe it's the 'fault' of the individual computer.

And about the durability?
My particular 305 has not had any issues which have required tech support or any real "problems" requiring repair. Sometimes it is slow on picking up the satellite signal, but it will eventually do so. The heart rate monitor works with the 305 though not necessarily with other exercise equipment. My battery actually seems to last longer than 10 hours before it actually runs all the way down--it can go through several weeks of various types/lengths of workouts before I have to recharge. No complaints about the quality of workmanship, though. I have worn it 3-5 days a week for about 8 months and it has held up wonderfully well through all of the abuse I've put it through--hot & humid Southern springs, cold & dry Midwestern winters, cold & damp ice arena climates.

What would you change about it, if you could?
Mainly, I would ask Garmin to improve the satellite communication. I'm sure it's difficult to make a GPS that is lightweight enough to wear on the wrist that's also got stellar reception, but I know that the GPS in a car has to work in downtown settings with lots of tall buildings around. I don't see why my Garmin should be any different if I'm running on those same streets as the cars.

I would also improve their list of sports that the Garmin can calculate calories for; hockey, for example (or even just a basic 'skating' calculation in general). I realize the niche market for this unit is probably triathletes, but that doesn't make me stop wanting calculations relevant to all the things I do. Having the ability to download something like that to use under the "other" activity category would be an after-market fix that people could customize once they purchased the unit.

So your overall opinion is positive?
Yes. Garmin has a nice product here and in future generations, the few quibbles I have with it will probably be addressed and ironed out. The durability of my 305 and its relative ease of use make it a product I'd recommend to others. And based on this, my first experience with Garmin products, I would be willing to buy something from them again.