Garmin Forerunner 405CX - GPS receiver

• Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 7 reviews
• My rating: 0 stars

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• 10 stars

  I LOVE THIS GADGET

  by on June 7, 2009

  Pros: * GPS / route recording is superb
  * HR monitoring and stat tracking are superb
  * Bezel interface is easy to use, intuitive and well integrated

  Cons: A minor complaint, but probably specific to me is that alerts are hard to read on the screen during a workout. Also, while the touch operated bezel sets this device apart from its competiition, it is sometimes oversensitive during a workout.

  Summary: Please note I don't often write product reviews. Also, I tend to take ratings by other consumers with a grain of salt because the majority of them tend to ...

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  Summary: Please note I don't often write product reviews. Also, I tend to take ratings by other consumers with a grain of salt because the majority of them tend to be thumbs up (5 stars) or thumbs down (1 star) with little comparitive nuance. Having said that, I'm giving 5 stars to the Garmin 405CX, but not because it's an absoultely perfect product with no room for improvement. in fact, it definitely has some flaws (see Cons). Rather, it merits a top rating because for me it provided a revolutionary experience, much like the iPhone 3G did a year ago.
  For me it's been rare experience that a an electronic device functions precisely the way it is advertised to. When I'd seen Garmin ads describing how you need only to leave the 405CX near your computer after a workout and presto your full workout stats- pace, heart rate, elevation, calories burned, etc. including split data, and a map of the GPS captured route you took will be waiting for you when you return, I thought "yeah right". Yet it did exactly that- and more. Not enough room here or time to break down all the features, but I will say that logging onto GarminConnect a few minutes after my workout and seeing my route and stats on a Google Map (which can be shared/exported, by the way) it was one of those moments you rarely experience as a consumer. The ease of use and integration of features is extremely impressive. Unlike most devices (some of which I had been considering as an alternative like Suunto, Polar, etc.) the 405CX seems to be more "you" centric rather than you needing to spend days reading a manual to figure out how to make the gadget do what you want- and then falling short of that in the end. For instance, creating your own custom workouts with the downloadable Garmin software is easy and intuitive, and doesn't suffer from being inflexible as I've come to expect from other products. For these reasons, I have a feeling I'll get lots of regular use from this device, instead of it being forgotten in a closet or drawer somewhere after the novelty and has worn off or I can't remember how to use it without a refresher.

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  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 2 stars

  Loved the Watch to DEATH

  by societor on August 9, 2011

  Pros: The biggest pro is Garmin Connect, the portal that lets you geek out over the workout data. It's quite addictive if you like to see how your body (heart rate) responds over time, distance, and elevation. I found it light for it's size and relatively eas

  Cons: Made cheap. Upon purchasing, I used it for about 70 days over a 3 month period - basically every day. One day I put it on and the band snapped off. Worst part was that it snapped off at the pin. The pin slot broke off the watch itself so I could just u

  Summary: I loved the way it worked. I loved geeking out over the data. It was comfortable. The only problem is that the physical design is flawed and if you use ...

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  Summary: I loved the way it worked. I loved geeking out over the data. It was comfortable. The only problem is that the physical design is flawed and if you use is enough it's going to break. In my case (using it almost every day), it broke in just 3 months. Maybe I could send it back to Garmin but what's the point. I'd just get used to it and then it would break again only to repeat the process again. My suggestion, go with Garmin but get a different model that has a more reliable watchcase/band linkage.

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• 2 stars

  Dissapointed

  by sparkycolts91 on March 17, 2011

  Pros: Great size, nice features. Great customer service, and friendly and helpful staff. Reps were upfornt that if the current watch didnt work with the newest update, then returning it for another one wouldn't resolve the issues.

  Cons: The GPS was never correct. It was always .10 off. It worked best when I was in wide open spaces, but running about a housing development it continues to be off.

  Summary: I am really dissapointed with the inability for it to be more prescise.

  Summary: I am really dissapointed with the inability for it to be more prescise.

• 9 stars

  Awesome watch, really sensitive GPS!

  by jjyorko on January 2, 2011

  Pros: Sensitive GPS
  More data than I will ever use
  Easy to use
  Extremely quick HR monitor pairing
  Garmin Training Center computer software easy to use
  Virtual Partner is cool!

  Cons: Can't set up pace alerts without Garmin Training Center Advanced Workout upload to watch
  Too computer dependent

  Summary: This is a great watch. I had enough satellites for 25% GPS accuracy within a minute WHILE I WAS STILL INSIDE. I haven't tried it yet, but I could ...

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  Summary: This is a great watch. I had enough satellites for 25% GPS accuracy within a minute WHILE I WAS STILL INSIDE. I haven't tried it yet, but I could probably use the GPS on the indoor track at the Y. I've got a Nuvi 750 for the car, and this this is definitely more sensitive.
  
  The heart rate training is great, and the Virtual Partner makes it really easy to stay on pace.

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• 9 stars

  Great watch
  Great watch! Data is great for training

  by ajohn118 on August 28, 2010

  Pros: I've had this watch for the last few months and absolutely love it. The end result is better training, fewer injuries, and more fun. The software that comes with it is amazing and provides every detail imaginable about your run.

  Cons: Expensive. The calorie calculator seems a bit off (on the high side). Read the instruction manual as you go or your will probably be lost. More features make it lessintuitive to use, so you need to read the instruction manual

  Summary: This is a really good watch. If you run more than once a week (or want to) you should pick this up if you can afford it. Before buying this ...

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  Summary: This is a really good watch. If you run more than once a week (or want to) you should pick this up if you can afford it. Before buying this watch a ran a couple times a week for a couple miles per run. With it, I can monitor my heart rate and pace in real-time making it easier to tell how hard I am working so that I can increase my speed and distance while avoiding injuries. I have chronic shin splints and am now training for my first half marathon and using this watch I have been able to train up from 3 mile runs to 10 mile runs without getting hurt. If you want to have more fun running and have better training results, this is the watch for you.

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• 9 stars

  Amazing piece of technology any runner should have!

  by jrock83 on July 14, 2010

  Pros: Data gathered is outstanding, form factor is excellent, sensitivity of gps is great, acquires satellites quickly, touch bezel is neat, wireless updates to computer works well

  Cons: Push buttons are a little under sensitive for my taste, had to replace plastic strap with adjustable and that was slightly challenging

  Summary: This product is a seriously amazing work-out technology any runner should invest in. I have had it for approximately 2 weeks now and am still learning all of the features ...

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  Summary: This product is a seriously amazing work-out technology any runner should invest in. I have had it for approximately 2 weeks now and am still learning all of the features but so far, I've found it to be nothing short of amazing. For one, the gps satellites it uses to track your speed, pace, elevation (!), etc. are all acquired easily and in a short amount of time. It took me about 1 minute to acquire enough satellites to get 28ft precision. That's pretty reasonable IMO. The touch bezel, while seemingly somewhat of a novelty idea, actually works out pretty well. I've seen other reviews stating that the touch bezel is too sensitive but I've had just the opposite experience: I cranked UP the sensitivitity as I found that I wasn't getting responses to the "tap" feature. To move through screens you roll your finger around the bezel much like an ipod interface and for the most part I find it works pretty well. When I'm out on a run though I lock the bezel by holding lap/rest and clicking the other button (start/stop). Note also that in the settings I made the data fields auto scroll so that it continuously rolls through the 9 data metrics I've chosen. Oh and that's right: you have about 30 things you can choose yourself to be displayed such as speed, pace, distance, average heart rate, cadence (for you cyclers), and more. I even put sunset as one since I jog at dusk frequently. You can customize up to 9 data fields and they are displayed easily on your screeen and you get 3 more when you use the heart monitor (which I've found also works just fine). I've also read that sweaty fingers are a problem but again, DURING a run I just let the display auto scroll through the information I want to see and this works out great: no clicking on the bezel needed. Lastly, and this is the best point about this watch IMO, is the fantastic software you can make use of called garmin connect. Using the included ANT stick, you can use the ANT agent software which will look for new data on your watch and automatically upload it to garmin connect. Connect shows you (on a google map no less) the route you ran and automatically displays your pace/speed, elevation, and heart rate (if you are wearing the monitor), as a function of the distance you ran. This is GREAT because you can see exactly where your strong and weak points are and it DOES IT FOR YOU! I can't stress how wonderful it is to be able to see the pace and especially heart rate I get during a run. Also, you can upload the info via email, twitter, facebook, etc. (pretty much anything!) to show to others if you'd like. The watch itself is great and isn't much bigger than a men's digital watch so I actually use mine as a daily wearer (GPS turned off though - if you don't turn off the gps you'll only get about 6-8 hours of battery life). With GPS turned off I can get through a whole day and still be at 92% battery or so. So based on that the watch should last about 2 weeks without charging once if you have GPS turned off. The workouts you can do can be "simple", "advanced", or "interval" (check the online manual on garmin's site for more info on those). Lastly, the regular plastic strap that comes installed on the watch wasn't really working for me since I was kind of between 2 loop hole adjustment locations. So, I consulted the garmin site again and watched a helpful video on how to change to a velcro strap which is included. The process takes the guy in the video about 5 minutes but it took me about 25. It was more challenging than I thought it would be but now that I know what I'm doing, I could probably do it in 5 like he does. The difficulty is just in setting the spring bars properly and that can be a pain if you don't have another set of hands helping you out. Overall though, this is a FANTASTIC piece of technolgy and I think EVERY runner should have one!

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• 7 stars

  Very nice GPS!

  by magussike on December 14, 2009

  Pros: Garmin customer support

  Cons: Lot's of software bugs, bluetooth not stable

  Summary: I have been surfing the net for almost five hours. I am looking for the watch the will going to fit my everyday routine and I think I found it. ...

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  Summary: I have been surfing the net for almost five hours. I am looking for the watch the will going to fit my everyday routine and I think I found it. The Forerunner 405CX is one I?ve been looking for. http://www.gadgettalks.com

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