Garmin 010-00679-05 Forerunner 50 Sports Watch

• The Affordable Forerunner 50 Provides You With Instant Workout Data Including Training Time, Pace, etc.
• Records Both Lap And Detailed Data
• Forerunner 50 Comes Bundled With Different Accessories To Help You Track Your Progress
• The Included Digital Heart Rate Monitor Continuously Tracks Heart Beats Per Minute
• Even Train In A Certain Heart Rate Zone To Improve Your Fitness Level

I already own the Forerunner 305 and love it except for the large size of the watch when I am running. I considered getting the new 405, but since I already owned the foot pod and I actually like the larger unit (read as "larger screen")of the 305 while on the bike, I decided to just add to my current system with the Garmin 50. The GPS function of the 305 is nice, but while I tend to explore on the road bike I also tend to travel the same routes over and over while running, so the GPS functions are not really necessary. The Garmin 50 is super light and perfect for running. Via the ANT stick it will update Garmin Connect (the on-line training record) and Garmin Training Center automatically, so they are always synched. The display is small and only displays two pieces of info at on time, such as heart rate and distance or distance and pace, but I find that''s all I usually need and I can check the rest of the info at the end of the workout. I tested the foot pod distance readings against a known distance and the 305''s GPS reading, and it was accurate out of the box and did not require calibration.

The only problems I have had are that the date that the watch records for workouts is 7 days off and, according to Garmin, cannot be corrected. The date on the Time Display is correct, though, so it''s still accurate as a watch, and the date shows up correctly when you upload the workout to Garmin Training Center. I''m sure they will fix this glitch in the future, but it''s a minor irritation. This is a great unit.

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I''ve used cheaper Heart Rate monitors (mostly from Polar) and despite some of my complaints below, I''m pleased with the Garmin Forerunner 50 after using it over the past 3 months.

Pros:

* User replaceable heart rate monitor strap battery

* Heart Rate Graphs that can be analyzed (the .tcx format is in XML)

* Wireless transfer to the PC with a supplied USB stick (I couldn''t find other units that could do this at this price point)

* Heart rate picks up pretty quickly if the strap is a little wet, except on the first time I used the device

* Customizable displays for Heart Rate and split or overall time data

* Can share data with friends using Garmin Connect (so your exercise buddies know you worked out good for accountability)

Cons:

* Wristwatch software menus are somewhat unintuitive, others are a bit cumbersome. For example, why would you want to have two separate times with different a different date, hours, minutes, or seconds? I can see having different time zones, but the rest doesn''t make sense.

* Some customizable displays are useless. Why would I want to display Heart Rate on top (as the large easy to read number) and Heart rate on the bottom (smaller to read number)? The split data also displays this way.

* Wish there was an autosave feature. You have to press the "stop/start" button to stop the workout, then hold the "view" button to save, then press the "view" button again to confirm the save. I lost a two hour workout once, but now I remember the key sequence.

* Cannot easily determine calories burned. Even the online app (Garmin Connect) didn''t calculate this information for me, because the XML file just stores a zero instead of taking the information from the average and the weight that you input into the device. It''s possible to manually calculate this from the data, but it may be annoying to users that use the default software.

* USB stick has a key ring area which is flimsy. I had it attached to a metal keyring and it broke in two weeks.

Some other things worth mentioning:

* I had to return one unit to Garmin since the Heart Rate Alarms would not work, but it was covered under warranty. I had to pay for return shipping and the new unit works just fine. Tech support was decent and prompt I didn''t experience the hold music that other reviewers had reported.

* I''m using Garmin Training Center v3.4.3 and wrist watch software 1.1d which appears to be the latest at the time of this writing. While the wrist watch software cannot be updated by the end user, I hope that Garmin Training Center and/or the Garmin Connect (the online equivalent) will improve and perhaps one of these programs

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This is a great product. Fits nicely on the wrist (male, average, 180cm, 80kg).

* Data transfers easily to the PC (a little testy at times, but the job gets done).

* You don''t even know you have the footpod on. It covers about 3 4 lace overlaps on my shoe, and incredibly light. Footpod was out 4 metres on a measured 878 metre track.

* HRM takes a little getting used to because the front part (the sensor) is plastic (though fairly bendy).

The bad:

* Absolutely terrible user manual. What were they thinking? Slightly better than no user manual at all. Would have been just as useful written in Russian.

* Difficult (at least for me) to tell the difference between the various alerts (am I running too slow, too fast, heart rate is too low or too high, did I just complete a lap?).

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The Garmin forerunner is a great product, on an overall level. It will only track your HR when you exercise, though, no other metrics. It will NOT track calorie output or anything else unless you have the foot pod attachment, and then it will only track it when running. I was looking for a hrm to track hr, calories, and stay within target zones but the Garmin isn''t equipped to do that. If you just need a hrm, this Garmin is great, easy to use, and the chest sensor is comfortable and fits well.

I have been using this Garmin 50 for about a year. I really like the wireless transfer of information plus how the Garmin calendar highlights dates of activity. I have no problems with contact for the chest strap. I just wet my chest with a little water and fasten the strap. I am purchasing another one for a friend to use because of my good overall experience.