Polar to Garmin, I decided to migrate
After over 2 years of being a happy user of a Polar RS800SD (then upgraded to RS800CX) I decided that was time to change! So yesterday I sold the Polar and today I’m looking for a Garmin 405! Nice watch, GPS integrated, optional heart rate (that I will buy cause I really use it a lot to train properly). I’m just looking for an ebay auction, online you can actually save a good amount of money. I was in a shop and the Garmin 405 with HR was a very high 360 euro. Now I’m 50minutes from the end of an Auction, and it is still 112 euro. Obviously it will grow up, it is the version without HR (that I can buy separate later) but I hope I can win the auction with less than 200 euro. Finger crossed, I hope I can have the Garmin pretty soon!
update: Finally bought, 168 (euro) with delivery, 405 with HR monitor. Looks like a very good price for a new model (not a second hand). I hope it is coming pretty soon.
update 2: The ebay user did steal somebody else account, trying to sell stuff to get payments by Money Transfer, that cannot be recovered. Fortunately I paid with paypal in relation to the ebay auction, so the guy (ndr: bastard) could not get the payment and the transaction was quickly cancelled once ebay understood it was a stolen account. So, I just lost a bit of time, have to hunt again for the Garmin I want!!!
nice one even though the colour is not my favourite one. good luck with the auction!
wow! It’s fantastic … do you win the auction? And … How much ?
Guys, auction went fine, I won it with 162 euro, 6 euro delivery, I’m the happy owner of a Garmin 405!!!
WELL DONE babe!! 160 is a fantastic price! how much will the HR cost??
I must ring a negative bell: the 405 is probably the worst electronic device I have ever owned.
I received it as a gift 1 year ago and I use it for training, etc…
Well, it is really crap:
A. The watch simply stops working when is wet (for a runner, means always). The system with the bezel is very “cool” when u play with it at home, same as ipod, but is practically unusable in the real world, because while running is not easy to make short tap, long tap, swirl, etc, etc
The new 310xt is waterproof and gave up on the bezel because Garmin must have realized the screw up.
So once you are at home, is a real great object…but not in practical use.
B. The SW does not give the same level of analysis than the PPT5.. Sporttrack (freeware) is better, but not anyway like the Polar PPT5 for analyzing workout.
The Garmin connect web-based log is good only for sharing with friends the route…
C. The battery life is few hours, so never forget to carry the recharges with u. In theory should be 8 hours, but the GPS sucks also when not in active use and even uploading the dat to the PC will suck 10% of battery life.
So it might not even enough for the Passatore unless u are Calcaterra and u have recharged the watch on the same day
So, I own both a Polar Rs800 and the Garmin 405, but for serious running training I will never use the 405. The 405 is good because u have a small object and do not need a separate unit/pod..
Simone, how the hell did you manage to get it just for 160 €? It seems you are really smart in saving money! Well done!
But, just one more question. Why did you decide to change to Garmin? Since you wrote “happy user of a Polar”
Daniele: that is the wonder of the Internet market. If you spend well 20 minutes on ebay you can be surprised of what you can get. Same as I did when I bought the Polar, a good 100 euro less than in shops.
Roberto: that sounds bad, but on the other side I have some nice feedback from people running a lot and using the Garmin. I hope for my need that all will be good. Anyway I will report about it here, I guess I can learn to use the Garmin enough to enjoy it. If it really hangs too easily because of wetness I think I will sell it soon or try something with Garmin, but I hope that is not the case.
In general once I get intertime and hear rate that is all I really need to see if my session went ok.
GPS is a nice plus, extra feature as well.
ps: Daniele I managed to change for two main reason. First the integrate GPS in a reasonably small device (Garmin 305 was big, Polar 800 was small but GPS was an extra piece).
So the 405 is the minimum hardware, 1 piece for speed and intertimes, 2 pieces if you want hear rate.
Second the software, Polar never did the software for Mac (I’m a Mac user) so I had to use a Windows XP virtual machine just to download data from the Polar. Third extra reason, willingness to change. Polar was great, a lot of extra features and as Roberto write a lot of extra data to analyze your trainings. But with the time I was not using them any more, so now what I need is speed, laps and heart rate. Anyway I will know soon how the watch work!
Monica: the HR officially is about 40/50 euro, but I’m sure can be found for less. I sent an email to the auction owner, asking a quote to add the HR as well, if available, I hope I can have that with both under 200 euro. Anyway, another auction, from the same ebay user, finished at only 168 euro, with HR included. Is a matter of finding the proper auctions and put a bit of time to do an offer at the last second.
Simone, I’ve to confess that when I bought my Garmin 305.. I did it on Ebay…
Now I don’t remember how much I paid but for sure I saved a lot of money too…
non volevo essere troppo negativo con il mio commento, ma per me il 405 e’ stato un vero bidone… (per fortuna che mi e’ stato regalato…)
posso capire che non tutti apprezzino la marea di dati che offre il Polar e che il Garmin 405 e’ molto piu’ semplice, ma poi all’uso pratico il prodotto e’ un disastro, soprattutto perche’ il sistema con il Bezel e’ proprio inadatto all’uso sportivo.
L’unica “tips” per minimizzare i difetti e’ di impostare l’autoscroll tra le varie schermate (vai in setting, etc) e poi bloccare il bezel (schiacciando i 2 pulsanti). Cosi’ l’orologio non si congela…
Pero’ che delusione…
E non dimenticarti mai il cavo di alimentazione… se la batteria segna meno di 30% non basta nemmeno per una corsetta attorno al palazzo
Roberto: grazie per le dritte, anche se ancora non ho pagato l’asta, il tizio seppure con tutte le referenze ebay a posto accetta solo Money Trasnfer e non paypal, e sinceramente non mi fido. Quindi se mi fa pagare con paypal procedero (fra l’altro ho scoperto che con 162 euro e’ compreso anche l’HR monitor) altrimenti andro’ a caccia di un’altra asta.
Per i problemi del 405, spero proprio di trovare il giusto equilibrio per avere quello che mi serve senza dover impazzire. Peccato pero, pensavo fosse un prodotto migliore!!!
Roberto: vedo che ora la Garmin ha anche il 405CX, ti risulta sia un upgrade per migliorare alcuni dei problemi che menzionavi?
Ita: pagato con paypal (facendo le cose per bene con i codici ebay del prodotto), 168euro con spedizione e cardio compreso. Ora lo attendo con trepidazione.
Eng: Finally bought, i just paid with paypal the ebay item, 168 euro for the 405 with HR monitor. Now it’s time to wait for it
No, I’ll 405CX ha solo I’ll calcolo delle calorie in piu’. I’ll modello migliore adesso dovrebbe essere I’ll 310XT (che pero’ e’ basato sulla forma del 305)
Roberto: ok, grazie ancora dei commenti, ho deciso di buttarmi sul 405, in fondo quello che spero di avere dal 405 é stato l’unico motivo per cambiare dal polar, spero di adattarmi ai difetti e di godermi i pregi