Garmin Forerunner 50
tomtris
Posts: 135
in General Chat
Looking at getting the Garmin Forerunner 50 as an entry level hr monitor and stopwatch as my 'trusty' old stopwatch failed on me at the weekend during my first tri. (why on earth did it know to stop working then?!)
Im on a budget and the Garmin 50 seems to be coming in around £40-50 which is around my price.
Does anyone have this one and any comments? Thanks
Im on a budget and the Garmin 50 seems to be coming in around £40-50 which is around my price.
Does anyone have this one and any comments? Thanks
0
Comments
I haven't got much experience with heart monitors so I can't really compare it with any others but I find the chest strap comfortable. I've got a mac at home and I haven't yet been brave enough or had time to investigate the automatic data download. I got it for the same reasons at you and I liked the fact that it is possible to upgrade it to include a foot pod and speed/cadence sensor for the bike.
I hope this is some help but I'm not sure it is!
Great little watch has the basic functions to get things done etc
However.......
I found the buttons awkward to find in a hurry, ie pressing the lap button and actually having it record that I had pressed it.
I mainly used it for swimming though during sets where I was recording splits during a long swim etc for that reason I sold it and bought a Timex Ironman watch which is loads better but hasn't got the HR function.... which I dont use anyway as I have a Garmin Forerunner 305 for that part:)
If you want you can even get the cadence for the bike.
They're cheaper at the moment as tey are brining out a replacement in the FR60 i believe.
Had mine since xmas for te price - hard to beat me thinks.
G
So I bought the Garmin 50 watch - and was disappointed. It isn't as nice to use at the Polar, you have to manually cycle through the modes in order to view the clock and it doesn't work with gym equipment. However the Blluetooth interface with the PC is very good.
The PC and website side software for both the Garmin and the Polar are both rubbish.
I also have a Garmin 305 (which I use for outdoor activities) and unfortunatly you can't corrolate the results from the 50 and the 305.
The Garmin 50 battery lasted me 6 months and it was £20 to replace at a watch shop (and they took it away for a few days).
I find the Garmin 50 okay for monitoring my heart rate at the gym, but I never look at the stats online (because the online interface is so slow and poor).
I haven't looked recently, but if there is now an equivellant of the Polar F6 that has a better PC interface, I would get that
I've not used it yet but I've got the watch, foot pod, HRM monitor and the USB wireless gtransfer thing - £75.
Bargain.
I'll give you some feedback when I use it briefly this weekend.
I use the software aswell which is an interesting feature.
one drawback is that there is no lock on the buttons after you start the stopwatch as
I have frequently hit the button off my wrist and stopped the clock by accident
I had heard conflicting reports about the Garmin's waterproofness so I rang Garmin customer services. They told me under no circumstances should I use it in a pool or in a triathlon. He said it was splashproof but no more. This really surprised me.
The mistrusting side of me says that maybe he was just trying to flog me the new & more expensive waterproof version that was due out shortly after I rang.
chest band is good and you can detach the monitor bit so you can wash the strap...i find it very comfortable....
haven't tried the garmin so can't compare...one thing i think the polar has over the garmin is key lock but that's a minor thing....
As for being waterproof, the specification says waterproof to 30m, I don't like diving so it will only ever get to arms length depth. In the unlikely event it fails due to water ingress Garmin should replace it, otherwise i'll be pointing out the samll matter of the Trade Descriptions Act to them.