Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver With Heart Rate Monitor (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

I'm a 31 year-old runner and have gotten this item as a birthday gift from my wife. I have previously been using my Blackberry Storm app called, "RoadrunnerGPS" and it seemed fine until I started adding sprints to my regimen. Darn thing couldn't keep up with me so I was on the lookout for a GPS trainer watch that could measure distance, pace, and time. I didn't care for a heart rate monitor but I found this watch that came with one (awesome), so I had to give it a shot. Being that this watch is the #7 most bought electronic item on Amazon and the most highly rated GPS trainer, I just had to see what the hype was all about.When I received it, I thought it was a hefty looking thing, alot bigger than most watches I've worn. It wasn't heavy for its size and it just fit perfectly on my wrist. After reading the manual THOROUGHLY and setting it up THOROUGHLY, I went for a 10.5 mile maiden run with both the watch and my phone. As I ran, it first kinda felt awkward but after a mile, it just felt like disappeared. It was easy to see all 4 displays at once and all the auto features just made it so convenient. I forgot to say that the satellite loads were pretty quick for me as it was done by the time I warmed up for a minute (not too long as most have said). Looking at both phone and watch results as I loaded it up on Garmin Connect, the 305 had a more accurate reading between the two. I had the GPS set up for "every second" (sensitive, but only records for 3.5 hrs) to get the best detailed results of my time, pace, and distance. The heart rate monitor readings were dead-on since I customized my zones specifically to my own actual heart rate. The GPS never lost its signal even in the city, between buildings, and the skies were overcast. My pace read pretty accurate during the run with the exception of a fraction of a second lag from the satellites, of course that's inevitable. I was also happy to have my results shared on Facebook from the Garmin Connect site, which is another plus.Next was sprints. It caught my pace and time exactly on the map where I start my sprints on the track and on the hills. I even use light poles as markers to see it on the map and it actually caught it, good stuff. My phone app could never do that, it would read initial bursts, then drop and stay at 9:30 min/mile pace. wtf, who sprints that slow? The virtual runner feature is awesome as I raced myself on previous runs on the same location as well as the easy-to-set-up quick workouts for interval runs and such.Overall, it's the best thing I've invested in running next to my best running shoes. To those who complain about inaccuracy, read the manual VERY THOROUGHLY, that's why it's there and you shouldn't run into problems. I haven't used all of the features yet as I am still playing with it, but I've put in over 30 miles already and so far it's doing great. I'd like to say thanks to my wife for getting me such a wonderful gift, Amazon.com for such great service, and Garmin for making an excellent product in helping me achieve maximum performance.Joe

I have owned the Forerunner 305 for about 3 weeks. Mine has performed exactly as advertised. The GPS rapidly acquires satellites and I have not had a problem with it losing connection. I live in Hawaii and the GPS had no problem finding satellites (updating the Almanac data) and providing a fix while I sat in my living room on the initial start. Since then it occasionally seems to take longer to find satellites, but while I input my planned workout it continues to find the satellites and by the time I am done, it is ready to track my progress. The heart rate monitor has worked perfectly. It has not once failed to immediately display my HR. So far it has worked better than my Polar dedicated HR monitors. The display feature allows you to customize different displays with up to four attributes each out of a list over twenty different parameters. For example, if you want to know how long you have left, how far you have gone, your current heart rate, and sunset while you are exercising you can make a display just for that! The display illuminates well at night. I have found the pace information to be very useful and not at all jerky. Since GPS does not provide speed directly, the 305 like any other receiver calculates speed based on measured position changes over time. Since those calculations tend to provide pace information that is naturally jerky, the 305 allows you to smooth the data to varying degrees. It records the raw speed information, but the pace it displays with "high" smoothing is very steady and useful. I have not tried other pace settings because I am getting useful information. Bottom line, pace information is useful, but may require you to adjust the settings to your personal preference. The best part of the 305 is how it effortlessly provides useful summaries of your workouts, tracks lap to lap performance, and allows you to transfer information to a computer. I did update the software for the watch (firmware), the USB connection, and the computer program so I may have avoided problems that plagued earlier versions. I was very impressed how fast and easy moving training plans and routes to the watch and historical workout from the watch to the computer. The entire process took no more than 3 minutes and didn't require any complex setup. Once your training records are on the computer, they can be displayed on the Garmin software or a number of different third party web based software solutions that provide different analysis tools, workout plans, and trails to explore. Most of the features available online are free. Even if you don't use a computer, the watch stores a long history of previous workouts and displays your previous workouts with useful summaries. In summary, the 305 is a great tool for runners who want to monitor their workouts or keep an accurate record of their training with very little effort!

Worked very well

This is an excellent piece of kit. I had one for something like 5 years but, eventually, it packed up (not sure why). Because I already had the software on my laptop I wanted to get another forerunner. Had a job finding one - then I saw it on Amazon - instant purchase and it works fine with the original software.

Ce vendeur a été très patient à mon égard. J'ai passé du temps à poser beaucoup de question et il a passé du temps à répondre à ces questions et très rapidement. C'est important.Ce garmin était pour mon frère et apparemment au déballage il était très satisfait. Je ne l'ai pas revu depuis donc je ne sais pas s'il a déjà testé le produit.Encore merci.

prodotto conforme alla caratteristiche descritte. Il pacchetto è pervenuto integro e ben confezionato. Mi ritengo soddisfatto dell'acquisto e mi servirò nuovamente. Peccato per le lungaggini delle poste italiane

Size and jokes about getting an arm workout while running aside. This watch is by far the best bang for your buck. I have friends who had bought smaller or "prettier" GPS watches. But, then they are all jealous at the price I paid with all the features this watch has.