Garmin ForeRunner 305
11 January 2008I got a fancy new GPS-enabled heart rate monitor for Christmas/as a birthday present ("Garmin Forerunner 305"). The device itself is nice (very lightweight/compact/lots of features) although i am not really satisfied with the time needed to pick up the satellites. For me it takes around 5 to 7 minutes even though the GPS chip is a SIRFStarIII. Unfortunately my flat is surrounded by high buildings so putting to device onto the sill for a few minutes before starting to run isn’t helping it.
The downside with the ForeRunner is the included desktop software. It is called "Garmin Training Center".
- It is XP/MacOSX only.
- The version shipping with the device aborts with a "Runtime error" every time (a more stable version can be found on the web).
- It allows you to install to any path (like "C:\Programme\Garmin") but puts most of its files to the default location anyways ("C:\Garmin").
- It uses some strange non-native UI-widgets.
- It may pack the needed functionality but it is plain ugly and has no UI concept what so ever.
- It provides only very basic vector maps. More detailed maps have to be bought optionally (199€ for Germany). This is not really a show stopper but i am spoiled by the quality and details other mapping applications are providing nowadays.
To sum it up. The Forerunner is a very nice device accompanied by some piece of software which is to some extent ruining the party.
