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Garmin Forerunner 50

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

Comments

  • durhamvamdurhamvam Posts: 246
    I just got one of these and it seems to work well, the watch is quite large but at least that means it is easy to see the figures.



    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!

  • husslerhussler Posts: 237
    I had one of these for about 2 months.....



    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:)
  • GHarvGHarv Posts: 456
    Great device - love how it counts the miles and you can watch your pace and also does HR as well.



    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
  • TechboyTechboy Posts: 10
    I had a Polar F6 which was really good as a watch and HRM. Its best features were: [ul][*]You could put it to your chest for a second and it would switch to clock mode[*]It worked with gym equipment (e.g. treadmills)[/ul]However the reason i got rid of it was because the data transfer to the PC was done via a microphone which was very unreliable.



    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
  • jon_gjon_g Posts: 318
    techboy, you do know that you can change the battery yourself in the forerunner 50? the battery costs about £3 (it's the cr232 i think) and all you need is a small screwdriver. i've changed the battery in mine about 4 times (i train about 2 hours a day during the week and more at the weekend-joys of ironman training!) but i have also had it for 2 and a half years. love mine, no problems, i swim with it and cycle and run with it (i've got the cadence/speed bicycle thingy too). imo it cant be beaten for the price. had polar before but i prefer the garmin
  • willieverfinishwillieverfinish Posts: 1,381
    I've just taken delivery of one.. GaryRoberts was the man that helped me choose it.



    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.

  • handangeohandangeo Posts: 32
    Have one of these a few months. Also have the cadence unit for the bike which is great.

    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
  • tomtristomtris Posts: 135
    Thanks for all the comments! seems like it may be a good choice then..
  • PC_67PC_67 Posts: 196
    I was going to buy the Garmin Forerunner 50 but opted for a Timex HRM instead, which I really like. I tried a Polar F6 but hated the display and couldn't figure out the stopwatch function at all. I like the Timex - it's properly waterproof I believe (though on delivery the instructions say not to press the buttons underwater - so, eh, it's not properly waterproof is it?) and the functions are dead easy to use & understand.



    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.



  • brizzichickbrizzichick Posts: 166
    techboy...i've had the polar f70 for about 3 weeks now and love it...i find it easy to use..and whilst the download thing is a tiny bit temperamental, it does work a treat...as you say, not sure about the website tho...annoyingly, you can't get a cycle and run plan put in the calendar together, only one at a time...bit frustrating (i know you can do this with other higher spec models)



    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....

  • gavinrigg06gavinrigg06 Posts: 176
    Tomtris, before you buy, check what accessories they are offering with the watch, as the base level is around the price you stated - This does not always include the foot pod / heartrate monitor / cadence sensor - you usually have to buy at least 2 of these separately.
  • tomtristomtris Posts: 135
    Yeah gavin, I found one for £29.99 and thought WOW, until I read on and it said it didnt come with the hr strap. Further research shows I can get watch and strap for around £45. I will almost certainly by the other accessories at a later date.
  • JonhinioJonhinio Posts: 289
    I've had one for a while and I've found it to be very frustrating. the buttons are so sensitive tha tthey can stop/ start reset etc. My HRM also decided not to work when training today.
  • durhamvamdurhamvam Posts: 246
    I just used my Garmin Forerunner 50 in the pool it still seems to be working fine - I've only used it the once though so far.
  • willieverfinishwillieverfinish Posts: 1,381
    I've swan with mine too. No problems
  • jibby26jibby26 Posts: 261
    I got one for the compatibilty with the speed cadence/sensor for whilst competing (I don't want to leave my Edge in transition) and am really pleased with it. It was great value when I got it, although now of course I want a better model, the ability to download the heart rate data and view it over a whole training session is great, far better than even more expensive polar models. The only drawback is the fact it can only display one data field in addition to the elapsed time.



    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.
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