Garmin Forerunner 405 Wireless GPS-Enabled Sport Watch with USB ANT Stick and Heart Rate Monitor (Black) by Garmin
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Digital camera reviews of Garmin Forerunner 405 Wireless GPS-Enabled Sport Watch with USB ANT Stick and Heart Rate Monitor (Black)
Digital camera Review: Ditch the bevel
Summary: 2 Stars
I had the 305, and despite reading some negative responses here, couldn't wait to get the 405. And, like many of the others writing in, have been very disappointed. The bevel is a frustrating addition - I have spent a lot of time pushing it trying to change the menu. No problems with accuracy, but the battery dies constantly in mid-run.
I hope the 505 goes back to a push-button menu, and that they bring in actual customers for feedback prior to releasing the next generation. This is a step in the wrong direction for Garmin.
Digital camera Review: Does everything I was expecting
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had my 405 for about a week now. It was fairly easy to setup. When you get the unit, you need to charge it up - that takes about 3 hours. Once it has charged, it walks you through the initial configuration. At that point, I put on the HR monitor, it detected the unit, and I was ready for a run.
When I got back from the run, I booted my computer, downloaded the software from the link in the quickstart manual, plugged in the ANT unit. It found the 405 and uploaded my data so that I could look at my stats.
The watch has a virtual running companion that you can enable. I've set this for the pace I want to stay below, so at a glance I can tell how far off I am.
So far, I am very happy with the 405. I am the type of person who likes stats, so the info collected on each run is a good motivator.
Digital camera Review: Doesn't work if you sweat or are in rain
Summary: 2 Stars
After doing over a hundred workouts with this watch, I've decided this is a great watch when it is dry. If you sweat, which I do on all my runs, it will not operate.
If you perspire, it rains, or you drip your drinking water on it, the bezel will spin uncontrollably through the various menus while you're running. Instead of being able to see your heart rate, distance run, or current pace you see... the settings menu. For the entire workout.
To be fair, there is a 'lock bezel' function, but then you cannot scroll through the different screens or change your pace.
If you'd like a GPS watch, buy one of the older models such as the Forerunner 305. I've owned that one and it doesn't suffer from the same problem.
Digital camera Review: Don't Buy it
Summary: 1 Stars
My experience with the 405 is really hard to describe. It is a great product when it works but absolutely frustrating when it does not. Several problems have occurred for me that made me want to post this review. First, no gripes on the bezel, operation, etc. However, the problem with mine is that it has often frozen during runs and needed to be re-booted. The watch continues to track time, but not distance, the pace drops and the satellites are obviously no longer being tracked. The last few re-boots (and yes, there have been many to keep it functioning, during runs, even) have resulted in strange test screens and now the watch is no longer recognized by the ant device and will not pair. So, if you are lucky to get one of the good ones and it functions, then great, but if you are as unfortunate as I am to have gotten a defective product that you are constantly trying to keep working, you will soon be frustrated and wishing that you had just gone for a run and never heard of a forerunner 405. As I write this, I have been trying to get the watch to function properly for longer than the time it takes me to run the ten miles I had planned, prior to my watch failing to transfer data, my fruitless searches through the manual and online and finally my resignation in writing to customer service. I'll see whether Garmin stands behind this watch, but many other reviews don't give me hope on their customer service. I have had it less than a year, but still, I think you are taking your chances when purchasing one and you might want to reconsider. Regardless, if you decide to go forward keep your receipt and if it freezes in the first 30 days - even once - take it back.Digital camera Review: Don't believe all of the bad reviews
Summary: 5 Stars
I researched this watch for a few months before buying it. I am a casual runner, between 3-8 miles on a normal run at school. I am trying to get ready for the St. Patrick's Day Parade Run here in St. Louis, a 5 mile run. I thought this watch would actually get me motivated to get outside and run! Boy does it! I ordered from Niagara Cycle Works and they had it shipped to me in a week (and it was the lowest price I could find for the watch and heart rate monitor together). Here are the pro's and con's of the watch and also a few things that worried me about other reviews that made me hesitate at first but now I'm happy I didn't:
Pro's:
-Keeps elevation, distance, pace, speed, and heart rate with the heart rate monitor all stored in the watch until you download it.
-You never have to plug it into a wire to download the information to your computer.
-Automatically uploads to your garmin account online
-You can share all of that data with friends and family online and even pick up a course from a fellow runner
-Displays everything clearly on the watch for you as your running, automatically scrolls through the screens
-Fairly long battery life (I've charged it twice since I've had it, but recently ran 5 miles on two separate occasions, used the back light for an extended period of time and used the watch for 4 other days and am just now charging it again)
Cons
-The alarm on the watch is stupid (I used it one morning just to see what it was like, never again. It is a very loud, high frequency screeching that you do not want to wake up to)
-Cannot lock the current screen while in scrolling mode
I went and ate breakfast trying to think of anything else that was bad about the watch and couldn't come up with anything. Here are a few of the reviews that scared me before buying the watch:
-The watch takes a long time to find it's position
*If you start the training mode while your stretching (which you should do every time your run) it finds it's position within a minute up to three. The average warm-up/stretching routine lasts about 5 minutes or so.
-The bezel does not work when it gets wet
* I do not know how bad those people sweat while running, but I have never had sweat on my fingertips. I usually use my shirt to dry off my hands or fingers before hand and have never had a problem with changing the screen while running.
-Hard to navigate through the screens while running
* I'm usually trying not to pass out when I'm on a long distance run and not fooling around with adjusting my pace speed or what I want to show up in each screen. ***What I did not see in any of the good reviews and noticed people complaining about was that you were stuck in the same screen while your run. I don't know if they did not take the time to figure out how to get the screens to scroll while you run, or just wanted to complain. I have my scroll set at a medium scroll rate which changes the screen every 5 seconds or so. I have my current run time, distance and heart rate on one, lap time previous lap and calories burned on the next, the virtual partner on the following, and the chart shown in the picture with my heart rate on it on the following. If I am running on a course that I previously ran it also shows me running against my previous pace and how far ahead or behind I am. Like I said before, it scrolls for you and if you need to advance to the next screen you just tap the bezel and it advances.
-The elevation is off
*I found this cool website through facebook called RunSaturday that will take your 405 data and put it on their website. When I was review the data on there it puts it in a more clean, color coordinated fashion that shows you how high or low you are in a course. When you look at the height data on that site it matches up extremely closely. I will admit that the garmin software does not do this information justice.
-The virtual partner is way off
* I haven't had this problem yet. As I stated before, I did not know that I could run against myself from a previous day and it would keep pace with me. I thought that was pretty flippin sweet. It flashes at you if your behind and if your lap pace is behind your previous runs it will flash when it gives your lap time.
I will try to come back and add a few more things in the near future if I find anything wrong or cool about the watch. I have told everyone I know that the watch was well worth it and am trying to get several of my friends to buy the watch so we can all compete against each other. I would recommend this watch for probably the younger generation because it is a tech device that has a lot of bells and whistles that the younger kids tend to enjoy, myself being 23. I think the people that have given bad reviews for this watch are older and not as familiar with tech gadgets like the I-pod or I-touch. If you love those two items you will love this watch!!! Now go run!!