» GARMIN Forerunner 405 Black GPS Enabled Sports Watch/ HRM

GARMIN Forerunner 405 Black GPS Enabled Sports Watch/ HRM Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: garmin forerunner 405
Comment: this is a fabulous training tool. easy enough to use - even for the computer challenged. tech support is great too. you can use it as simply a watch, a heart monitor,a great pace setter or have all the information scroll continuously thru out your work out. then simply insert the ant stick and study your workout information to better define your next training effort.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Love it, but quirks a plenty
Comment: I recently got into jogging and decided I need a new watch to time how long my laps are taking. Being the nerd I am, I went hog wild and ended up with a full blown HRM, GPS and stop watch. Overkill? Certainly! Do I love it though? Of course! That said, I have a number of reservations that keep me from giving it 5 stars.

The bezel is finicky, requiring very exacting presses. When I'm at rest I don't always get it to behave as I would like. When I'm running or biking, forget about it. How can I be expected to subtlely press the bezel? Some times I'll touch the bezel and nothing will happen, other times it'll take the wrong action. For example, I wear a biking jacket that seems to trigger the watch to think I hit the bezel when I didn't. Work around is to lock out the bezel while riding. UGH! A similar problem with pressing the lap button. I thought the lap button didn't work for the longest time, until I realized I was touching the bezel then the lap button. Silly me. The bezel is a neat idea, but it doesn't work for something you need when exercising. I think Garmin should replace it with a button or two.

Transferring data to the PC is extremely slow too. Data from a 40 minute bike ride took 2 minutes to download. Come on! And where's the Mac support? Having to use boot camp or Parallels/Fusion isn't a real option.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Works grreat, no support for Mac
Comment: I bought the watch on July and although it works great I have experienced software problems such as it freezing up. Garmin told me the problem could be fixed by upgrading the software. They promised to have software available for the Macintosh Computer by this Fall and now say Winter 2009. If you use a Mac DON'T buy the 405 until they have the software for the Mac which might be never. Also if you call Garmin Support plan on being on hold for at least 30 minutes.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Minor tweaks would go a long way
Comment: This product has so much potential. As far as I know, it is the only one with built-in GPS (no extra device required like polar) and HRM and all the stuff you would need. I continue to use it even though there are two pretty major issues that need to be addressed.

1) Battery Life. I do long distance triathlons including ironman and the watch just does not have the battery life to go the distance. It should easily be able to do 12-16 hours and it does not even come close. I have had it die during a sub 5 hour 1/2 ironman which is beyond frustrating.

2) The user interface is horrible. Sure, it is elegant, but it is not usuable. It is very difficult to do the scrolling around and you always accidentally select something. Luckily you dont need that mid-workout, but in order to get battery life you need the GPS off when not using - trying to do that between swim, bike and run (GPS ON, GPS OFF, GPS ON) is impossible. The interface also does not work AT ALL when wet or you fingers are cold and/or sweaty. I dont know why they dont have simple buttons with a little scroll dial.

Too bad since the device is almost perfect.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Nice device! Glad I switched from the 305
Comment: I originally ordered the 305, but it was so big and awkward looking I returned it. Against some of the less than stellar reviews of the 405, I bought it anyhow. I love it. It just looks better, is lighter, and does not feel like a PDA on your wrist. Granted, the touch dial takes some getting used to, but chances are you are a gadget person like I am, and once you get it wired, it's pretty user friendly. I am bummed that the MAC compatibility is not handled yet, and their support team is fairly unresponsive on this point. When I asked about it their website's statement that the mac software would be out in 4th Q 2008, they simply apologized that they did have a firm date for this. When I asked for clarification as to if they would meet the 12/31 deadline, they had no response.

Overall, I'm glad I bought it. I have had no accuracy problems with GPS and the battery life is better than my iPhone. As long as I do not do any 40 hour runs I should be fine, and there is no risk of that happening.

---

More Reviews for GARMIN Forerunner 405 Black GPS Enabled Sports Watch/ HRM