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DiscountDelight - Garmin Forerunner 205 Wrist-Mounted GPS Personal Training Device
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List Price: $267.99
Our Price: $204.50
Your Save: $ 63.49 ( 24% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Garmin
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Batteries Included: 1
Binding: Electronics
Brand: Garmin
Color: Blue
Connectivity: USB
EAN: 0753759051907
Feature: Sleek wrist-mounted sports performance monitor with high-sensitivity GPS receiver and training software
Is Autographed: 0
Is Memorabilia: 0
Label: Garmin
Manufacturer: Garmin
Model: 010-00466-00
Publisher: Garmin
Special Features: Speed
Studio: Garmin
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Features
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Sleek wrist-mounted sports performance monitor with high-sensitivity GPS receiver and training software
Monitors speed, distance, pace, and calories burned for smarter, more effective conditioning
Powerful GPS navigator provides faster acquisition times and improves tracking under trees and near buildings
Delivers detailed post-workout analysis on bundled Training Center PC software (connects to PC via USB)
Includes rechargeable lithium-ion battery; measures 2.1 x 0.7 x 2.7 inches (W x H x D); 1-year warranty
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: pleasantly surprised
Comment: I have been so happy about my Forerunner. I am not a person that typically likes to track my training and am not good about keeping a log. This watch is great! It keeps my log for me and calculates my results in ways I didn't even know I could.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Much Improved
Comment: A big improvement over my previous 201.
Pros -
Satellite tracking is much improved
More & Better functions (like Auto Pause, Auto Start)
USB interface automatically transfers data
More custom data displayed
Cons -
Seems heavier than 201 and not as comfortable
Sometimes takes a LONG time to find satellites at startup
Customer Rating: 
Summary: not living up to its standard
Comment: I really thought that this was a good product. But upon receiving the 205 I saw a warning that states there is a chance that you could get cancer from wearing it! So that was a huge turn off for me. I mean who wants to wear something that gives them cancer. Its stupid! Besides that point the product is really good... but i think sticking with a old fashion stop watch isnt that bad of an idea especially since you can calculate ur distance using sites like http://www.favoriterun.com/home/welcome. And you're really getting the same result and saving a lot of money... It took me a while to realize that...but hey if u like to spend tons of money by all means go ahead.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Quality issues
Comment: I had the 201 for a while, and love it; but I lost the charger, so I thought this would be a good time to upgrade, and get better reception in the trees. In my limited trials, it delivers as promised, and I have never lost signal. It is a great device except... I received the 205 and charged it up; then went through the set-up, and lost power a few times. By working with it, I found that it had a loose connection; by twisting it, or pressing the mode button it would power off. After a long wait time on hold with the customer support line, I was able to return and replace the device. They over-nighted the new 205, and that one worked for a few hours, but only when plugged into the charger (which makes it difficult to run very far). I still can't connect to the customer support line to get this one replaced.
In summary, this is a great device, but very poorly manufactured, and their customer support is to overwhelmed to handle their issues. I would wait for them to work out the manufacturing issues (as of June '06).
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Comment: I purchased the 205 to mainly get an idea as to how far I was running. This is my first training GPS device. I figured the circuit I ran was about 5k. To my pleasant surprise the 205 told me I was doing 3k more than I estimated so that was great news to me! But the 205 did not stop there. Read on....
If you are anything like me the runs I do at 5:30a on the weekdays are not as strong as the ones I do at 8a on the weekend. A couple hours of extra sleep seems to make a lot of difference. On Saturday I ran my 8k circuit at 8a and came in at a good time (for me). I saved the 8k circuit as a "course" in the 205. The Training Center software that comes with the 205 allows for fairly easy editing of the course adding in markers on when to turn, valleys/summits and saving the course back to the 205. This morning (5:30a) I started the 8k "course" in the 205. Straight away I could go to the navigation page and with the "virtual partner" function turned on there I was racing my(virtual)self! What fun! As expected I could not keep up with my(virtual)self and based on when my(virtual)self would start to break away I knew I had to put on more power. Without a doubt the virtual partner function is going to help me improve my early morning weekday runs. While I intellectually understood the benefit of the virtual partner function until I actually used it I didn't appreciate what difference this function will have on my training.
I find the 205 to have fairly good ability to get satellite signal. I can turn it on in our house (2 story with me on the ground floor) and get a signal. But overhead tree cover does seem to affect the current pace accuracy (see my nits below).
The integration with Google Earth and Maps is incredible. I can save the images as JPGs and post them to my blog so every one can see where I've been. Tres cool!
As I mentioned earlier the Training Center software that comes on the CD with the 205 is good. However, I would recommend going to Motion Based whose URL is provided in a flier that is packaged in the 205. I really like MB and you can check out other people's GPS data/times.
Now that I covered what was important to me there do seem to be some minor nits with the device that I noticed and I see other people have already commented on. The nits I would like to see corrected:
- the extensive menu navigation. There has to be a way to simplify the menu depth and make it a little more intuitive.
- current pace is negatively affected by overhead obstructions. On my 15k I run down a trail that has intermittent clearings and tree cover. Every time I ran into the tree cover and lost signal strength on the satellites the current pace dropped even though I'm fairly sure I was keeping an even pace with the music I was listening to. The 205 has a "pace alert" function that can alert you to when you slow down. Not very useful when every time I ran into tree cover the alert would sound. I eventually had to turn the pace alerts off as it was too inaccurate to be of any use. The overall average pace seems to be accurate.
Overall, if you are on the fence about a GPS training device (as I was) then jump down and join the rest of us that are reaping the significant benefits of owning one. And the 205 works really well so I highly recommend it!
Oh, the reason I did not get the 305/HRM combo is because I get heat rash from wearing an HRM.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Package Includes: Forerunner 205, docking cradle, expander strap, AC charger, PC/USB interface cable, Quick start guide, Garmin Training Center CD & owner's manual With the Garmin Forerunner 205, form meets function with a sleek and stylish personal trainer. Designed for athletes of all levels, this running partner and personal trainer tracks your every move with a super-sensitive GPS. The GPS tool even works on tree-covered trails and near tall buildings. It continuously monitors your speed, distance, pace and calories burned so you can train smarter, more effectively. Don't let their good looks fool you -- these taskmasters will continually push you to do your personal best. Virtual Partner lets you train against a digital person at specified time, distance or pace goals AutoScroll cycles through data pages during a workout Auto Pause pauses and resumes training timer based on a specified speed Easy to use - No calibration required, just turn it on and go Multi-sport capability lets you transition between sports without resetting -- you can use it for running, biking, and more Customizable screens let you view up to 12 data fields on 3 data screens for immediate feedback Lap Memory - 1,000 laps Rechargeable internal lithium ion battery - life of 10 hours (typical use) Waterproof - Submersible in one meter of water for up to 30 mins. Transfer data from Forerunner to your PC for a detailed analysis of your workout Create, schedule and download workouts to your Forerunner View data for each workout, including your heart rate, time, distance, speed, pat Display Size(WxH) - 1.3 x 0.8 (33 x 20.3 mm) Physical Size(WxHxD) - 2.1 x. 7 x 2.7 (53.3 x 17.8 x 68.6 mm) Weight - 2.72 oz. (77 g)
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