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Author Topic: Garmin?
Communicat-
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Officer
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Communications Officer
Post Garmin?
on: February 15, 2017, 22:42
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I want to embarrass myself with routegadget and buy a garmin, I went into an undisclosed outdoor shop in town, explained what I needed it for and he tried to sell me €630 worth of Garmin.  I'll be the first to admit I haven't got a clue about such things, but maybe there's a cheaper solution?

All advice and help gladly taken....

Finn
irishoa
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irishoa
Post Re: Garmin?
on: February 15, 2017, 22:49
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Have a look at the Forerunner 230.  You can get it with our without a heart rate strap.  Alternatively, the 235 has a built-in HRM. 

These are the latest models.   You may be able to get older versions (eg. FR 220  ) cheaper.

Martin

MF
Angus
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Post Re: Garmin?
on: February 15, 2017, 23:06
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Wow, you don't need to spend that or even half that.
I use FR220 that Martin mentions and even it probably has features you'll never use.

I suggest hold off till after the next event and ask a few of us who have GPSs
You can see from routegadget who uplaods GPS tracks, the bulk of these would be from Garmin devices, though of course Garmin are not the only player in the market...

Whatever about the embarrassment, RG is a great learning tool. I find it interesting to see route choices, many I never even considered.
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Post Re: Garmin?
on: February 16, 2017, 09:46
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Thanks Guys,

I will search you out at the next event and quiz you.

Finn
Angus
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Post Re: Garmin?
on: February 16, 2017, 10:23
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Finn,
here is a comparison page of the current Garmin Forerunner range
https://garminforerunner.com/garmin-forerunner-comparison-chart/

The FR25 will serve the purpose of recording your route to the same standard as my FR220 and will cost about half that of FR230.

I suggest you budget on a new strap every 2-3 years, recently got new strap for mine.

Other general info
The FR230 is better than both FR220 and FR25 in that it has Glonass which gives improved tracking accuracy and has ability to record every second which makes for better tracking in sprint events. The recording interval on the FR220 is longer to improve battery life.
irishoa
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irishoa
Post Re: Garmin?
on: February 16, 2017, 10:53
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A few things that I forgot to mentions which you might find usefule:

1. Older models usually require that you download your tracks to a PC/MSC using USB.  Newer ones probably support that too but are designed more for use with a phone/tabled over bluetooth.  This may or may not suit you but it can make it a bit fiddly to get a gpx file that you can use with RG.

2. Some older units (e.g FR205/305) can't be used as a general purpose watch due to the battery life.  Newer units can usually be used as a watch.  e.g. I use my FR230 all the time.  It also has fitness tracker features and is a reasonably decent smart watch (in as much as the term 'smart watch' is not an oxymoron).

3. If you only want a unit for use with RG, you may find a simple GPS logger a more cost-effective option.  For example Canmore GT-730FL. There are many other models available.

4. Make sure whatever you buy supports a-gps (assisted GPS).  All newer ones should.  This allows the unit to get a GPS lock MUCH quicker than the older ones without it.

Martin 

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formline
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Post Re: Garmin?
on: February 17, 2017, 15:08
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I use a Forerunner 35, which is the same as the Forerunner 25 but has a heart rate monitor built into the watch.

Have a look at the comparision chart on this webpage: https://explore.garmin.com/en-US/forerunner/

I would be very surpised if any of the features listed as exclusive to the three-digit Forerunners would be of any use in Orienteering. In fact most of the features on the two-digit Forerunners are not needed either.

So unless you have some extra money that you are desperately trying to find a way to get rid of, I would stick to the cheaper 25 & 35 models.
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