Garmin Forerunner

[Father Christmas]

It has been brought to my attention here at the North Pole, that there might be a number of young orienteers who would be glad to receive a Garmin Forerunner in their Christmas stocking. Indeed it has been reported to me that various orienteering coaches have recommended these youngsters to lobby very strongly for the acquisition of one of these desirable devices and that, unable to wait for Christmas, some M/W 14-16s have already received such an item for their birthday.

Clearly it takes the elves quite a long time to make sure that everything is ready for the evening of December 24th so I am beginning my research early. Would those of you who have experience of young orienteers be able to advise whether the Garmin Forerunner 305 is likely to be an acceptable present or whether it would just be a pale shadow of the present that the 405 or 405 XC would have been?

[Silva Surfer]

Dear Father Christmas,

I can thoroughly recommend the Forerunner 405. From what I can tell it has the "wow" factor over the more cumbersome 305. The only advantage ( at a hefty price ) of the 405 CX over the plain old 405 is an improved algorithm for calculating calories burned.
I would say - go for the 405 with Heart Rate monitor - should be at a reasonable price now if you ask around some of your elvish friends.
P.S. could I please have for Christmas - a nice, fast runnable forest ( say 4 or 5 sq km's? ), undulating rather than hilly, with a few area's containing some squiggly contour detail. Prefer pine forest with good visibility, NO undergrowth please.
Thanks!
Colon,Dash,Close Bracket

[redkite]

FC
agree with Silva Surfa. go for the 405 as more street cred.

Make sure sportstracks and quickroute are on computer and off you go.

For me, i could do with a new left knee as my current one is aging quicker than rest of body. blame it on rugby and nasty surgens 30 years ago.

p.s. hope you get plenty of snow this year for landing sledge.

[Gross]

P.S. could I please have for Christmas - a nice, fast runnable forest ( say 4 or 5 sq km's? ), undulating rather than hilly, with a few area's containing some squiggly contour detail. Prefer pine forest with good visibility, NO undergrowth please.

Move to Vilnius.... any number of sq/km like that

[mappingmum]

Dear Santa,

I thoroughly recommend the 405. From what I've read it's much quicker to lock onto the satellites than the 305. My only thought is that it's too good for M/W 14s!

It is very chunky though. You will probably find that the strap curvature has a greater diameter than the 14s wrists - I do and I'm a wee bit older than 14. I'd chuck in a new wrist sweat band to solve the problem.

Look forward to meeting you in Lapland on the 20th.

[Paul Frost]

There are subtle differences between them so it's worth comparing the 305, 405 & 310, them to check which has the things you want/need.
The deal breaker for me on the 405 is that the display is smaller, so not so much info viewable on the same screen. The 305 can show up to 5 different fields, so speed, avg speed, HR, distance & time can be all at the same screen.

I have read of people that find the 405 bezel controls too sensitive and being activated by accident.

I am more tempted to upgrade my 305 with a 310.

I was told by Garmin that it is the same SiRFStarIII chip in all 3 that speeds up the satellite lock.

[Father Christmas]

Ah, so a larger screen gives improved functionality but less street cred. Who can tell which is preferable to the the teenage mind?

Perhaps it is safest to stick with some socks and a Cadbury's selection box for all.

[Silva Surfer]

The deal breaker for me on the 405 is that the display is smaller, so not so much info viewable on the same screen. The 305 can show up to 5 different fields, so speed, avg speed, HR, distance & time can be all at the same screen.

There are 3 available ( seperate ) screens on the 405 - you tap the bezel to change between screens, each screen can display up to 3 variable bits of info. As well as this, if you opt for the HR option, these are displayed on a 4th screen. You can set the watch to auto-scroll through the screens if you so desire.

I have read of people that find the 405 bezel controls too sensitive and being activated by accident.

If you can manage with only one viewable screen while running you can lock the bezel so that you cannot accidentally scroll through the data fields.......
on second thoughts

Perhaps it is safest to stick with some socks and a Cadbury's selection box for all.

you may be right - but don't tell them you thought about getting them a Garmin!!

[Father Christmas]

Any further thoughts at all? I was really hoping to hear from the youngsters themselves, or their parents. I would not want to fill slip a 305 into a stocking on Christmas Eve only to see a very sad face on Christmas Day when her friends (or his friends) have received a 405. But with so many letters from teenagers arriving at the North Pole, budgetary constraints are inclining me towards the 305.

[Becks]

If you have useful contacts, the 405 is under £100 on Amazon in the States. They won't ship it overseas though, so you can get it sent to a friend and ask them to send it on for you.

[Paul Frost]

Take care when ordering, some companies are supplying them without the heartrate belt and selling it as an optional extra. So make sure you campare like with like.

[graeme]

and if you're tempted to buy from bitesizedeals.co.uk, which pops up at a a cheap rate on Amazon, look them up on google first.

[MAPS]

Dear Father Christmas,

I have already asked for a Garmin 405 (HR) for christmas because there is hardly any difference as far as I can see between the 405, 310, and 305 other than price and street cred out of those 3 the 405 and 305 can be found cheapest and the 405 (to me- an M15) is the most desired so that is why I have asked for it.

PS I could really do with a good training wood near by with all sorts of terrain =)

[mappingmum]

Santa,

Got mine from http://www.pentagongps.co.uk. Highly recommended purchasing experience. Don't risk the 305 - get the latest version.

Cheers.

[DavidJ]

Got mine from http://www.pentagongps.co.uk. Highly recommended purchasing experience. Don't risk the 305 - get the latest version.

Just curious - why do you think they are selling the green 405 at £25 less than the black?