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GPS watch for ultra
Chris Truman
✭✭
in Gear
I recently ran an ultra and found that my tom tom runner didn't have the battery life to last the distance. any suggestions on good alternatives?
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Or you could stop doing longer and longer races and try to get faster at shorter distances which is just as much fun and doesn't take all day
How long does the battery need to last? But yeah DC rainmaker is a good bet, only one I have experience with is the epson 510 which claims 30 hour battery life on gps, which might be worth a look (I charged it when I got it about a week and a half ago, and its still showing 2 bars out of 3 battery, with about 70km logged and numerous bluetooth uploads)
I was looking for something that would cover 10 hours - the Tom Tom (which I've really loved using) only goes for circa 6 hours
http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2015/03/garmin-fenix3-detailed-review.html#deciding-between-the-fenix3-fr920xt
Not cheap but looks pretty.
Think theres quite a few garmins which should do that amount of life, Then its just about price and features you want.
Think aldi had one a few weeks back with over 10 hours life and I think theres a couple of the same time from unknown(to me) brands which are cheap with this. The cheapest epson is £100 I believe with 30 hr life. And as price goes up theres quite a few with good battery life.
It is an old model but it just works. Can be had for about ??100 mist of the time.
................or buy a portable recharger, and try recharging on the move- just check first, as some Garmins continue to record whilst recharging, and others don't, I don't know about Tom tom's, but DC rainmaker probably has a list for that too.
VDOT..... smart recording mode...need to look at that as I wondering how to get the two 310xt's to last 40 hours
I have a suunto ambit 2R. you can customize it so it searches for a gps signal at different speeds (1sec for max accuracy, 60 secs for max battery life) I have mine set for 5secs and used it at last weekends ultra 12/50 at beale park. I did the 50 miles in 9hrs 39mins and still had 37% battery life left at the finish, and the distance was spot on too so no problems with accuracy. I'm a fairly recent convert from garmin and would never go back, the suunto picks up a signal significantly quicker than my mates garmin as well !!
Garmin 310xt has done me fine for constant use of over 13 hours. Would consider moving to something else if wanting 20-hours plus.