Dr Gadget - Gadget Shop - Garmin Forerunner 305 Wrist Worn GPS Personal Training Device (With Heart Rate Monitor)

	List Price: Our Price: £136.95 Your Save: £ ( % ) Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Manufacturer: Garmin
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Batteries Included: 0 Binding: Electronics Brand: Garmin EAN: 0753759051952 Is Autographed: 0 Is Fragile: 0 Is Memorabilia: 0 Label: Garmin Manufacturer: Garmin Model: Forerunner 305 (With Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Garmin Release Date: 2006-05-05 Studio: Garmin
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Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Just about the best gadget I own !! Comment: I do not own many gadgets (the ones I do own usually live in the kitchen !) and I was not into fitness until I started following a rowing programme on a Concept 2 Rowing Machine (also brilliant). I had no idea if I was training in the right zone to burn calories efficiently. My partner (a very gadgety person) has had his Forerunner 305 for a few months so I knew about it and a friend who does a lot of long distance running also raved about hers. So I read a few other reviews and decided to treat myself (best price by far was here on Amazon). Well it is brilliant. I have been using it for monitoring my rowing (set to "other" sport) and for power walking. I even started to jog the other day :-) and know this is going to help me to build my fitness and lose some more weight (nearly 3 stones off and about 10lbs from target !) I can thoroughly recommend it - even the downloading to the computer (we also have a Mac) is easy and has been trouble free. Customer Rating: Summary: Very satisfied customer Comment: I had this up and running in no time at all. The GPS reception is great and I would recommend going for the 305 over the 205 for the heartrate monitor. The software out of the bag is barely sufficient but there are lots of high quality alternatives available out there (freeware or shareware). Great for interval training or racing against your previous best. It is light and fits around your wrist well - not too big. Customer Rating: Summary: Seriously good gadget for serious athletes Comment: OK, first looks - you are thinking to yourself "But what if someone tries to land a helicopter on it's enormous surface while I am out running?!" Well, don't worry about it. Yes it looks bulky but when you are out running you never notice the size and it's easy to appreciate the highly configurable and easy to read display. This device is all about options. I choose to run with the four following items all simultaneously displayed: Heart Rate, Elapsed running time, Average pace in km/h and Total Distance I can of course choose to see other bits of information and have the screens changing at intervals I determine but part of the joy of running is getting away from it all and looking where you are going! The device just works, capturing all that lovely information about your heart, what kinds of slopes you are running on, how far you are travelling. I once got lost in some big woods near where I live, then I simply turned the watch into navigation mode and was able to trace my way back through the forest to where I started from - absolutely brilliant gadget. The real fun with the Forerunner comes when you get to analyze the data. The software provided with the watch is very basic. Most people I know download the excellent Sport Tracks software which is freeware from Zone 5 Software. To use this software you also need to have installed on your Windows PC a version of .NET from Microsoft (this is just some extra software for the Operating System to allow programs written in a certain way to run - again, it's a free download from Microsoft). Now you can amaze your friends and family about how far you run, how fast you go, how big the hills are you are running up, amaze them with how many calories you've burnt off. All in lovely printed graphical format. But whatever you do, don't wear your watch out when you go down to the pub - for one, the battery (rechargeable from your PC) only lasts for 10 hours, but you might just have someone trying to land a helicopter on it!! This watch is cool for running, but nothing else. These sorts of gadgets used to sell in Europe for about 400 but now that Garmin have brought out a new model with a fancy iPod wannabee interface (who cares - I never really touch the thing when I am out running, apart from the start/stop button), the price has dropped dramatically. For those of you like me who live in mainland Europe, the power supply has got switchable components so you can use the plug in different sockets. These days, I consider it to be essential training eqpt and I never run or cycle without it. Customer Rating: Summary: What an amazing piece of kit! Comment: I have had my 305 for 2 weeks and what can I write that hasn't already been written? It is my first GPS, and the only one I have tried, but it has already changed the way I plan my training, and how I plan to run races. I received it for my Birthday two days before a 10k race, and was desperate to try it out on the day. I thought that I would need to train with it first, but the 305 was so easy to set up that I just went for it. I easily configured it up to 'autolap' at every Kilometer, I knew the race I was running wouldn't have markers, and I already had a pace in my mind. It beeped at every k, and I was able to see exactly how I was doing, and how I would most likely finish - just the motivation I needed to up my game for the second half! Plug it in to your PC/Mac when you get home, and make sure you have the latest Garmin Training Centre software downloaded from their site (the version I got in the box had quite a few bugs). There is also other great free software available to overlay the route you took onto Google maps, so you can marvel at the distance you travelled, at what point you were fastest/slowest, was it on the hill, or on the flat. Basically every single fact about your run is recorded on the 305. The accuracy was just about spot on. It has really inspired me to vary my training, and push myself harder. The heart rate monitor is also proving to be a useful tool, and the pre-set advanced workouts are great fun (sometimes painful)to try. I am always showing off to my running mates when I work out something else it can do or tell me, (which is probably a bit annoying) because there is so many different features for use in training and racing. Basically, I can't recommend this highly enough. Customer Rating: Summary: awesome device Comment: I use this device for all my runs. It finds the satellites very quickly and never loses reception. The description of the item on Amazon says that it is not MAC compatible, which is not true. You can download the Training Center software for MAC - their latest release is currently March 2008. I also have Training Center on my PC and I can't really tell the difference between the two! The Garmin is fully compatible with my MAC and I've never had a problem with it! The training center software is great - you can create your own workouts and load them onto your Garmin. You can specify goals, e.g. run 2km and keep heartrate in Zone 2. When that stage of the workout is finished, the device beeps and you go on to the next stage of your workout (whatever you specified after that). The Garmin measures everything I can imagine being measured during a run - even elevation, which is quite interesting when you do hill training. This device really keeps you motivated - you can load up your own training schedules and keep a history of all your runs! I can really recommend it!! Oh, and your run is mapped against a map in the training center software, so you know where you have been running.... you can even take one of your old routes and then run against yourself... so much fun!! More Reviews
Editorial Reviews: Don't let their good looks fool you. These taskmasters will continually push you to do your personal best. The Forerunner 305 combines all of the popular features found in the 301 along with a high-sensitivity GPS receiver, new courses feature, and robust ANT wireless heart rate monitor for optimal performance. Designed for athletes of all levels, this running partner and personal trainer has one goal in mind ? a better you. It continuously monitors your heart rate, speed, distance, pace and calories burned so you can train smarter, more effectively. It tracks your every move with a super-sensitive GPS that even works on tree-covered trails and near tall buildings.The Forerunner 305 keeps you on track with innovative features including: New! Sleek, stylish, lightweight design that "wraps" the GPS antenna around part of the wrist for a better view of the sky, improving reception during training New! High-sensitivity GPS receiver provides faster acquisition times and improves tracking under trees and near tall buildings New! Robust ANT wireless heart rate monitor with softer, more comfortable chest strap and superior battery life eliminates cross-talk with other devices to reliably measure and send heart rate data, and helps you train in your zone New! Customizable screens let you view up to 12 data fields on 3 data screens for immediate feedback on the information you need most when training Multi-sport? capability lets you seamlessly transition between sports without resetting the unit, so you can use it for running, biking, and more Easy to use ? no calibration required. Just turn it on and go. Customize your Forerunner 305 to get the most out of your training. To help you achieve your personal best, the Forerunner 305 includes the following smart features: New! Courses feature lets you download recorded courses and compete against previous workouts Auto Pause® pauses and resumes training timer based on a specified speed so you never have t