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Garmin Forerunner
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Garmin Forerunner Review
I'm struggling to hold back and wait to see what those who already have one think of it.
Be strong.......
Be strong.......
Agh...I can't hold it.....my....preshus!!
Ooops, hang on, aren't I the Timex evangelist? Well yes, but...
But seriously, it looks good though I think I'll wait for a few more post-Christmas reviews from Monique et al, then wait to see if I can get it cheap from the US again.
Andy
Disaster!!! Mine might be going back sooner than that Percy!!
Having charged up the battery, I started the set up process indoors (well it was p#ssing down outside).
Garmin gizmo started looking for satellites, couldn't find any obviously, asked me if I was indoors so I replied yes, and then (this was some 3 hours or so ago) the screen froze.
And the unit's still frozen . . doesn't respond to having any buttons pushed. I hope that once the battery charge expires I'll get the opportunity to restart the set up process, but I have e-mailed Garmin of course . . . this situation doesn't appear in their FAQ's.
I don't want this to put anybody off the Forerunner . . it looks like an excellent bit of kit and I really cannot wait to get started with it.
Most things I buy turn out to have been assembled last thing Friday afternoon . . it's called technocrap but is usually operator error and it's probably something I've done wrong or not done correctly.
Will get back once I've resolved this little local difficulty!!
I guess with a new product there's bound to be a few firmware bugs/glitches.
Good luck Richk.
It's not easy guys but I know that with the Forum beside us, me and Garmin gizmo will pull through . .
. . eventually . .
Any offers for a hardly used Timex SDM ? One year old, couldn't stand wearing it.
Alex
Thanks RC, yup been outside, and tried pushing all varieties of combinations buttons!!
To restore factory settings you need to be able to access menu mode, which I can't.
There doesn't seem to be a reset button, and I've looked everywhere . .
Can't find anything else in the manual or on Garmin's website . . and they don't yet have any Forerunner 201 FAQ's coz it's too new.
Their support staff don't work weekends, and they're apparently taking up to 5 working days to respond to e-mails, so Santa may have been and gone before I hear from them.
You won't be surprised that I'm pinning my immediate hopes on being able to start set up again when the battery has lost it's charge and I've charged it up again!
Garmin Gizmo Health Bulletin 21/12/03
First of all many thanks for all your thoughts and good wishes over the past 24 hours!
I have to tell you that after a long period of immobility the battery charge eventually passed away in the early hours of this morning . .
Recharging commenced shortly afterwards and was painless and successful.
This was followed by a satellite search whilst flat on his back in the back garden. Because of my concern for the patient of course I laid the patient close enough to the house for me to be able to see what was going on . . I could see the task bar struggling across the screen.
Also needed to watch out for next door's cats.
Despite being a cloudless day this was taking for ever and so the patient was moved to the centre of the garden . . and full contact was made with outer space within 5 minutes!!
So I'm all set to regain control of my functions . . set the virtual partner to run at 11 minute miling to guarantee me an easy victory first time out . . and away we go!!
Suppose I should admit that the problem was probably of my own making! I assumed Garmin would bypass the satellite search coz I was indoors and that I'd be able to move on, set everything else, and then find the satellites when I first took it outside.
Very naive, as I now realise, and I shall now be following the instructions very carefully!!
Also, I'm very relieved to say that the screenshots didn't lie, the size of the numbers used is nice and large and I don't have to start running with my reading glasses on!
When I get back, I'll be back!! Hope everybody else has more sense than me and does things properly!!
Looking forward to your report and that of the other lucky owners!
Andy
Next time - RTFM!
ROFL
. . it was almost worth the agony to enjoy those laughs . . spose I'd better e-mail the Garmin guys and 'fess up!!
Anyway . . needless to say after such a build up I had a crappy run . . on a beautiful if windy day for running . .
So . . before I ran I set the speed I hoped to run at, set autopause, set it to record mile splits, told it my weight, and configured virtual partner.
Didn't set it so I could SEE the vp however so that was wasted this time but there was still plenty to look at and admire on the way around.
I can now go into history, and see a list of days I've run, the time I set off at and how many laps (ie splits) I ran. Also total elapsed time, distance covered, average speed and calories burnt off.
The next window shows the accrued time after each split, and I can scroll down each lap and I get the time for each split, the distance for each split and the average speed per split . . useful if you're running distances less than a mile during a rep session for example. Also the number of calories burnt off each split.
In this instance the splits were recorded automatically - I'd asked it to record each mile remember.
You can do it manually as well, and I'd probably do that in a race so that I saw a reading each mile, you don't get that in auto mode. If running shorter reps you'd have to do it manually.
It'll be great in a race not to have to depend on mile markers stuck on the most convenient lamp post, as at Dublin for example, to get a really accurate idea of how you're managing your pace. Assuming the satellites can find you of course!
The next window shows a map of where I ran which presumably (hopefully) will transfer onto the Tracklogs map once the Garmin software is available next month. The split points are marked and it shows the distance and time for for each split.
The autopause worked - I had to stop a couple of times before I could cross roads and a window came up to say that autopause was on - as soon as I set off again the unit did too.
And as I said, my run was pretty lousy. I thought I'd told the unit that I'd be running at quite a conservative pace. As it was I struggled to keep ahead of it, and indeed my third lap (of 5) was too slow and I got a warning beep and a window popped up to tell me my pace for that lap.
Can't wait to get out and use it again!!
When I switched the unit on just now to review the info I have, it inevitably started searching for satellites, then asked me if I was indoors and when told yes stopped searching.
When I was first setting it up, having tried to find satellites it asked me if I'd recently moved hundreds of miles. I didn't think the first time (as we know LOL) and said no.
Well of course I haven't, but the unit has, and so the correct answer then is yes!!
This is my first experience of GPS and I have to say that having overcome my teething troubles I'm impressed, and looking forward to having some fun using it.
Hope my experience prevents anybody else from making similar mistakes . . and I hope you all have as much fun with it as I know I'm going to . .
Look forward to reading all about it . .
Hope you both enjoy many happy runs together.
Give in!
Give in!
Give in!
Give in!
Give in!
Give in!
Give in!
Give in!
Give in!
Give in!
Give in!
Give in!
Give in!
Give in!
Higs
Set it up in South Wales, SGN, and when you get home and switch it on if it can't find the satellites it'll ask you the question, you say yes I've moved, and it knows to look for different ones.
It only takes a matter of moments, so don't let a little thing like that spoil your Christmas. Have a good one . .
Percy . .
. . wot Higs said . . !! And thanks, we will!!
I'm already wondering how I ever managed without one!
Like I really need to talk myself into this!
Well I do have an FLM place...
And conveniently not working at the moment...
So what would be a good training partner for the next 3.5 months to help me get as fast as I can possibly get for April 18th...
I can resist anything...apart from temptation!
Prob. order one tomorrow!
What a comprehensive report Rich K - written just how a runner would expect, with the right kind of detail like how clear is the screen on the move etc.
I am eager to get mine now- not long to wait.
Andy