Garmin Forerunner 405CX GPS Sport Watch with Heart Rate Monitor (Blue) by Garmin
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Digital camera reviews of Garmin Forerunner 405CX GPS Sport Watch with Heart Rate Monitor (Blue)
Digital camera Review: Awesome running companion
Summary: 5 Stars
I've taken this watch with me on two runs so far, and it will definately be a part of my runs from now on. I mainly use the watch for analyzing my runs afterwards. I like the ability to watch my heart rate and chart my runs/distances. I live in an area with tall building and I am still able to get GPS reception, which was my primary concern before purchasing. Although it takes some time to initially get a GPS lock, afterwards it keeps tracking consistently during my entire workout.
The touch bezel isn't my favorite thing, but I don't mess with the watch while I'm running, only before and after, so I don't find it to be difficult to work with, although if I were a designer, I would tend to prefer buttons over touch technology, not a big deal for me at all though. The touch does work fine and I have no issues with the functionality of it, but can't comment on the sweat and touch bezel interference part.
Heart rate monitor is flawless.
My only gripe about the entire system is Garmin's lack of including the software with the watch. They only include a CD version of the owner's manual. You have to download the software (free) from their website. Not a big deal, but could have saved the 100+ MB of download by just including it on the CD with the owner's manual.
ANT+ technology works great too. It automatically syncs from the watch to the computer. I think you are also able to sync stuff from the computer to the watch, but haven't gotten that far with it yet.
Overall, I think this is a great tool for running. I like the ability to plan my routes and save them on my computer to track my run times, heart rate and pace to see if I'm improving, and where I need to improve.
Digital camera Review: BAD BATTERY -- VERY DISAPPOINTING
Summary: 1 Stars
I have had my 405 for more than a year now. Suddenly, the battery will only last for 4 hours. I discovered this during a marathon (!!), and it has't lived beyond 4 hours since. Unfortunately, I can't finish a full marathon under 4 hours.... so looks like I will get a new watch. I had the 205 and the 305 with great results. I was looking forward to this watch -- it does have a better weight (the 305 made my hand go numb after long distances)and I don't even mind the bezel too much. However, I do very much mind the fact that it only lasts 4 hours after an initial year of use. Could be because you can't turn the @!!** thing off, so the battery is constantly in use --- also, you can't fully drain the battery to recharge because you can't go out for a long run with just a partial charge. Really bad product... for the money I expected much more. Stay away!!Digital camera Review: Battery Life
Summary: 4 Stars
For the futures models of this Garmin, must check it the battery life, the battery doesn't support 6 days per week of hard training...I understand that the watch combines many variables but I will like more lasting battery before being charged again.
Thanks
Andres.
Digital camera Review: Battery issue unacceptable
Summary: 1 Stars
I got it in late April, and it started having batter issues a few months later. It's advertised to have 8 hr work out time. I would usually get low battery warning after ~4-5 hours, and the unit will turn off. This last weekend I fully charged it, ran for 3.5 hrs on Sat, then ran for 1 mile on Mon evening, and it's dead. At this point I'm not confident I can use it for a full marathon. Edit: it got worse, this past weekend I ran for 8.6 miles, rested a day, kep the GPS off, then went for another run, the battery showed 67% before I started, but it died 2 miles into the run.
I've tried suggestion from Garmin online forum, hard reset the unit, completely drain the battery then charge to 100%, nothing solved this issue. Many users on Garmin's forum had this issue, and all Garmin does is to ask you to contact support, which then requires you to pay to ship the unit back to get it fixed/replaced. It's unacceptable for such a wide-spread issue that is not caused by any user mis-use. If it's a software issue, fix it. If it's bad hardware, do a recall. I've been a happy Garmin Forerunner user with 2 previous usits (301 and 205), but really disappointed with the 405CX.
I will for sure not purchase another Garmin GPS from Amazon since Amazon's return policy will run out before you run into these issues.
Digital camera Review: Battery life a pleasant surprise
Summary: 5 Stars
Using it for inline skating and running for a few weeks now. Product works as expected. Only way it could be improved is shorten the time to first fix when training starts, but it's very acceptable as it is. Having a great time using this product and tracking my progress using the map/google-earth. Bezel takes a few minutes to get used to and has been working satisfactorily since. Battery life is pretty good, several hours of training time can be had between charges, easily lasts a week with my current training regime. Would recommend it, though I can't tell how accurate the "improved" calorie algorithm actually is. Overall, very satisfied with the purchase.