Garmin Forerunner 310XT GPS Multisport Watch

I bought this item about a month ago. Whilst it is relatively expensive compared to the 305 etc, this is an amazing piece of kit. If you are looking for an item to help motivate you, you really cant get better! I have run in the 2006,2007 and 2009 London Marathons and needed some extra incentive to go training. It acquires satellites very quickly (I have used it in the UK and Greece and it takes no more than 2 minutes to locate your position)... The ANT connection to my IMac was brilliant and easy to install. My 310XT now links with the computer after every run, without any problems. It is great to see your route on Google Earth. I have used it for tennis, running, swimming and canoeing! Running is certainly what this item is best suited to. Battery life is good and whilst the orange colour wouldn't impress everyone, it is completely fine! I really rate this item.... Since I reviewed this item, the back light stopped working. I tried all the reset procedures and the light still would not work. usually I wouldn't mind too much, but since the daylight is drawining in, in the UK, I contacted Garmin. They really could not have been better. Make sure that you call them (you may be kept waiting for a while). The email method of contacting Garmin, gained no response. Despite this minor flaw, I continue to rate this product 5 stars. It is absolutely brilliant and all in all, my experience with Garmin was superb! Make sure that yiou keep the rather large packaging when the item arrives... If you want motivation to train, this is the item, I promise you!!

I bought the 310XT as a replacement of an older Forerunner (which succumbed to water ingress), and the 310XT is a huge improvement. Pros: * The device is waterproof. You can literally go swimming with it (although the GPS won't work well under water, but that's due to physics, and not Garmin's fault), and I took it along several muddy obstacle courses. Afterwards you just rinse it off. * The heart rate monitor strap is washable (and much more comfortable to wear compared to the older models that had quite a wide semi-rigid part), you just detach it from the fastener buttons and reattach it later. * You can configure the information the watch displays very flexibly. It does take some time, but once it's done, you can get all the info you would want during a run. * Much improved battery life. Cons: * You charge the device via a USB-connected claw with two metal teeth (looks a bit like a snake biting the watch). In principle good idea, but a bit fiddly, as the teeth may lose contact if you shift watch or computer around. * Data sync has caused me much misery. The ANT+ stick included has a fantastically small form factor, and in principle you could leave it in the USB slot all the time. At least if you don't have small kids around the home whose tiny fingers are just the right size to pull it out and stuff it in their mouth. Then you need to store it somewhere, and the small form factor is no longer an advantage. * Next, I developed sync issues. Garmin Express, the software that uploads the workouts to Garmin Connect (web based workout manager) would no longer connect to my watch. Suggested solution was to factory-reset the watch, but then you lose all the personalisation stuff. * Finally, after less than two years, the ANT stick just stopped working. As it's out of warranty for Garmin, your only option is to replace it, which will set you back between £26 Garmin ANT CHIP and £41 (manufacturer's RRP) - or you go for a cheaper off-brand version. In conclusion: GPS and fitness monitor functionality is great, but durability and handling of the accessories could be improved.

I bought this item mainly due to running into battery problems with FR405, so I must admit I was a bit under pressure, when doing it, since I wanted a reliable gadget and fast. I read through the forums about the problems (soft HR strap making spikes ir HR measuring, easily breaking glass), but currently have not met those. Although I have used the gadget for a couple of weeks only I can provide short summary of key differences I see vs FR405 I used previously: +Battery life: it is exceptional. During 3 weeks, I have used if for some 10hrs (swithced off when not used), it still shows ~50% charge. To compare - FR405 showed the same result after 3 days and 2hrs usage; +No touch bezel: everyting 'touch' is annoying when you are in action. Nice to have sitting home/configuring stuff, but very annoying during exercise. 310xt is great with buttons. +4 data fields on the screen: I totally like opportunity to have additional info. +Multisport: if you frequently change from running to biking - nice to have special modes for that, do not have to reconfigure fields each time. -design: it is still a bit bulky, and somehow does not sit that comfortable on hand as FR405; -gps track: as I do orienteering with it and afterwards map my track with quickroute - I have noticed that it sometimes draws very strange track, which I know for sure I have not ran. I do not know what kind of error is that, and I do not care that much, but it is still strange. -price: I got it for ~250GBP, which is better than it was priced before I guess, but still, the FR405 bought from USA was half price of this one and probably not half worse. -garmin connect: when I first used it, there was an issue with garmin connect (had to transfer data manually through training center), but later it somehow fixed. -firmware: still going with 3.20, since read a lot of bad stuff in forums about 3.70, waiting for something newer to come out. So overall - if budget/design is not an issue, I believe this is an excellent tool for training and keeping data on your exercise. Regarding the glass - I ordered Zagg invisible shield. Haven't applied it yet, but I believe it should prevent damage to glass reasonably.

Soy un corredor y nadador por cuenta propia, llevo unos 5 años en esto, hoy en día me doy cuenta que podría mejorar un poco más y me he decantado por una herramienta indispensable, creo yo, el reloj GPS. Evidentemente como no compito con nadie, ni pertenezco a un equipo profesional, he elegido un presupuesto hasta 200€, pero que sea fiable, que sea para múltiples deportes, que sea de marca, que tenga una buena valoración de usuarios, y que tenga una gran batería. Estuve 4 o 5 dias buscando y buscando... y me di cuenta que pocos relojes tenían esas características exigentes que yo buscaba para tal reducido presupuesto. Hasta que llegué a interesarme más sobre este aparato. Lo he llevado intensamente 2 días (sin tener idea de usar estos relojes) he probado casi todo, menos hacer un trayecto entero y "volver a inicio" y "Metas". Os pongo lo que me ha gustado y lo que no. Además después del uso que le he dado, me queda 45% de batería. -Cosas que me han gustado: ·Es muy robusto, tiene pinta de durar años (la batería en teoría no se puede cambiar). ·El menú es muy sencillo, da un estilo retro agradable, a mi me gusta. Los botones son robustos también. ·Estéticamente impone profesionalidad. Es decir, lo ven terceros y directamente se dan cuenta que no es un reloj convencional. ·Es totalmente hermético. ·Puedes tener 4 pantallas de datos y además de estas, puedes meter como otras 4 pantallas con otros datos diferentes en segundo plano que podrás desplazar con las flechas, como pestañas de navegador web. Además de esto, puedes poner el Virtual Partner (otra pestaña más), también el "mapa"(que consiste únicamente en una flecha que te posiciona en el centro y si estás cerca de algún punto o el perfil del terreno si vas a hacer una ruta o trayecto - además si pulsamos "mode" te sale una brújula que te indica la dirección el camino (esta se refresca al avanzar, cambiando de dirección si vas mal. ·La cobertura: lo mejor me ha dado es más-menos 3 metros de precisión, que creo que esta muy bien. La grabación de datos puedes ponerla por segundo (recomendable si vas a nadar en mar abierto). ·Puedes modificar una ubicación y por ejemplo introducir unas coordenadas específicas que hayas encontrado en google maps y llegar hasta ellas, eso sí, la brújula sólo muestra una flecha, km restantes y tiempo hasta llegar, no te dice por dónde girar, pero aún así lo veo muy interesante para explorar sitios cerca de tu ciudad o casa... ·Te puedes hacer un entrenamiento desde garmin connect y enviarlo mediante la antena usb al reloj así como trayectos de otras personas. ·El reloj también sirve para hacer paseos prácticamente guiados, te bajas algún trayecto de alguien y lo sigues. Yo he probado bajarlos desde WikiLoc y subirlos a Garmin Connect, desde allí a "más detalles" y enviar a dispositivo. Lo bueno es eso que dura 20 horas, más que suficiente. ·Para mi es un buen sustituto al móvil y las típicas aplicaciones que son de pago para más datos. Es una herramienta profesional. ·Tiene luz que se pone al llegar la noche, la intensidad puede iluminar en plena oscuridad como a 20 cm de la pantalla, como una "mini linterna". -Cosas que no: ·Es un poco grande para llevarlo día a día. Pero se puede... os tenés que acostumbrar a intentar no golpearlo contra esquinas. ·No muestra la fecha, no tiene calendario, por ejemplo si he hecho algo anteayer me pone el día real, por ejemplo viernes con la hora a la que se hizo y ya. sí muestra la hora, y puedes hacerla en pantalla completa, pero en media pantalla es mejor porque salen los segundos. ·No me gusta que no salga la opción de natación, pero si hacemos la salida en modo correr, tampoco pasa nada, ya que desde la página garmin connect puedes modificar la actividad. ·El autoPause en zona boscosa tarda en desactivarse (mejor quitarlo) que que no puesta nada pulsar el botón stop. (que es pausa). - PD: Observaciones Me vino exactamente el día previsto a la hora prevista, un agradecimiento s SEUR. Con un guía de inicio rápido en español y pulsómetro ya con batería puesta. El aparato me vino perfectamente en la caja, estaba actualizado 4.50. La última. El aparato viene totalmente descargado. Cargadlo al máximo antes de usar. El copyright es del 2008 Los datos en que te mide de serie son "Estaturo" es decir millas por hora, recordad cambiarlo desde opciones. Un aparato muy robusto y profesional, aún después de 8 años de modelo existente, sigue dando mucho...

Dopo aver tribolato un po con la scarsa precisione dello smartphone usato con le varie app per tracciare le mie corse, mi sono convinto ad acquistare uno di questi dispositivi GPS. Leggendo un po di opinioni e approfittando di un'offerta che ho reputato ottima ho deciso di acquistare questo prodotto. Oramai l'ho usato molte volte, e mi sono sempre trovato benissimo. Molto più preciso dello smartphone, sui percorsi visualizzati su Garmin Connect o su Endomondo (o su qualsiasi altro metodo di visualizzazione) la traccia è molto più aderente allo stesso percorso rispetto a quanto avveniva con le registrazioni dello smartphone. Ovviamente la precisione è quella di un GPS, perciò è preciso ma non precisissimo, ma un certo scarto è normale (e anche in questo non c'è paragone con lo smartphone!). Riesce a tenere molto bene il segnale satellitare anche in posti in cui questo risulta molto difficoltoso (tra palazzi alti, in metto a boschi con alberi alti e fitti, ecc, ecc). Anche la perdita del segnale in giornate in cui questo può avere dei problemi è sempre enormemente minore rispetto agli smartphone (confrontato non solo col mio di smartphone). L'unica cosa in cui viene battuto dallo smartphone è il fix dei satelliti. Nel caso del 310XT si tratta di GPS mentre gli smartphone usano l'AGPS, ovvero il GPS Assistito. Questo vuol dire che la posizione dei satelliti viene passata tramite la rete, mentre il Garmin deve cercarsela. Ma questo non è assolutamente da considerare un difetto. La fascia cardio la uso poco, ma in quelle poche volte l'ho trovato piuttosto preciso anche in questa funzione. Oltre alla precisione e alla tenuta del segnale, devo dire che questo dispositivo è un aiuto enorme per l'allenamento (e che non ne ho ancora sfruttato tutte le potenzialità). Ad esempio ho impostato diversi allenamenti personalizzati, direttamente dal dispositivo. Nel caso dei riscaldamenti per la corsa ho impostato vari modelli, basati su tempi, distanza, allunghi, ecc. Oppure in occasioni di ripetute o similari si è dimostrato eccezionale. Sino ad ora l'ho usato solo per la corsa, ma essendo concepito per il triathlon, in futuro potrei anche usarlo per la bici e per il nuoto. L'unica cosa che mi sento di dire su questo dispositivo è che non è di certo pesante ma non è nemmeno dei più leggeri, e perciò non è indicato per usarlo come orologio. In una delle schermate impostabili io ho settato l'ora, ma è una cosa che faccio temporaneamente per sapere l'ora durante gare e allenamenti e strettamente nei periodi prima o dopo. Ma anche questo per me non è un difetto, se voglio usare un orologio... uso un orologio e non il 310XT! Una nota invece ad Amazon. Sugli acquisti che ho fatto mi sono sempre trovato bene a livello di servizio, ma non in questo caso. Io abito in Piemonte, alla fine del Lago Maggiore, e Amazon ha spedito il pacco in Sardegna. L'operatore, pur molto gentile, non ha potuto fare niente. I tempi di consegna si sono dilatati di molto, per altre cose non sarebbe stato un problema, ma questo lo avevo preso con un certo anticipo per usarlo in occasione di un evento, evento dove non sono riuscito ad usarlo. L'operatore per porre rimedio al disservizio mi ha dato un mese gratis del servizio Prime, cosa di cui però non me ne sono fatto niente in quanto pur continuando ad acquistare da Amazon, non è che potevo farlo quel mese apposta, visto che in quel mese non mi serviva niente. Ho dato 5 stelle al prodotto, e a mio avviso se le merita, ma in questo caso al servizio Amazon avrei dovuto dare 1 (una) stella ad essere generoso!

J'ai acheté ce GPS pour dépasser la limite souvent imposé par les classiques qui est d'environ 8h d'autonomie pour pouvoir attaquer les "longues sorties " et distances . j'avais un autre GPs d'une autre marque qui me convenait totalement mais voilà , en augmentant mes temps de courses et mes distances je risquais la panne de batterie. La prise en main et un peu complexe mais avec la notice en ligne sur le site garmin on a toutes les infos et on peut démarrer assez rapidement . On peut choisir jusqu'à afficher 16 paramétres différents pendant la course dans une liste assez importante (vitesse, dénivelé calories ,distance ,pulsation,etc...) Mais son plus reste pour moi la grande autonomie : 20h en course et a ce prix il n'y a rien de comparable !! , l'equivalent tournant aux alentours de 350 euros mini ! le gps est précis et très fiable et capte rapidement la position au démarrage . Le logiciel pour suivre l'évolution de ses courses est complet même si je préfére transferer mes données sur celui de mon ancien gps (habitude). On peut également éditer des parcours et utiliser le Gps comme une boussole pour retrouver son point de départ mais je n'utilise pas ces fonctions là ainsi que les fonctions pour triathlon me contentant de l'exploiter au minimum pour des trails et avoir simplement mes données de courses. la ceinture cardio apporte un plus pour suivre l'intensité de son effort et les fractionnés. Ma plus grande utilisation a été sur un 50km et 6h37 en tout . Il arrive de lui même a déterminer les temps de courses et les temps de pauses etc ... Bref largement plus que je lui en demande . je dirais que son seul défaut c'est qu'il ne fait pas le café !! Bref un achat que j'ai hésité a faire vu que mon précédent GPs me convenait encore et le prix de 169 euros avec rien d'équivalent a fini de me décider pour les 12h d'autonomie en plus ! et je ne regrette pas du tout !!! . On peut enregistrer également jusqu'à 1000 sorties dessus avant de vider la mémoire et revoir les cartes et données. Un gps au top !

I've had my Garmin FR 305 for 6 years and still going strong. So why did I see a need to go further? It was prompted by my getting into interval training (run/walk, run/walk, etc.) I could not hear the transition points with the somewhat muted tone of the 305. So I figured there was some other way to get the transition message, maybe bluetooth. I didn't even think about vibration. In my search, I happened upon this Garmin FR 310XT for around $200. There was an even later release of the 910 for around $450, but that would be overkill for my purposes (I'm not into decathlon-type activities). My primary motivator for the purchase of the 310 was the ability to feel the vibration at the transition points. Perfect. I can be running and walking along, listening to my music through earphones, and know exactly when to do the next leg of the workout. OK. That said, it was worth every bit the price just for the vibration. But I discovered that almost everything about the 310XT was an improvement over the 305. Where do I begin? The chest strap for heart-rate monitoring is vastly improved from a comfort standpoint. Setting values, such as setting the intervals, is so much easier than it was in the 305. Many of the other improvements are covered by many other reviews, such as longer battery life and the ability to see remaining battery life (after two days of workouts, I was at 97% capacity remaining), quicker connection to satellites (never was a big deal with 305, but nice to get the connection quicker in order to get going), slightly smaller footprint without sacrificing the 4-readings per page capability, waterproof (not that I will swim with it, but comforting to know that getting stuck in the rain will not harm the watch), etc. It retains all the great features that are present in the 305, so nothing is sacrificed. One more key point to make about the vibration. Without vibration, for intervals I was needing to watch the screen count down as it got closer to the transition. With the vibration, I can be viewing other screens if I want to see other indicators like avg speed, heart rate, etc., and the vibration will let me know it's time. Or if you want, you can do the entire workout without ever having to look at the GPS watch. I have yet to try it when bicycling. I know that I'm going to want to do interval training with the bicycle, which would have been difficult without the vibration. Net, net, a must have.

My son and me raise, train and race sled dogs. We find that the Garmin 310xt is an excellent tool for tracking our MPH, time and distance.