Customer Reviews:
 Enter the new world of training February 14, 2008
I absolutely love the Garmin Forerunner. A group of us are starting to train for a mini-marathon this summer and living in the country we were running but had no idea how far or fast we were going. Now we can keep track of our distance, pace, improvement in both and the amount of calories burned!! A brilliant training tool
Ultrarunner loves it! February 9, 2008
I purchased the 201 with a little angst becus of the awkward shape. I took it out for a couple of runs an reall love it. I previoly owned a timex GPS system and the two pieces were quite annoying. I run ultramarathons, triathlons, etc. and keepin tack of mileage is key. The only downfall is the serial port adapter. I am not sure what Garmin was thinking but it is easily taken care of by ordering the KEYSPAN USB to SERIAL ADAPTER.
What a great gadget! February 8, 2008
I have had one of these for about a year now and don't know how I got along without it. I use it for walking and hiking. It has consistently worked well although it took a little time to get use to the settings. I think the calorie estimate is high but that only makes you feel better about your work out. While the mapping feature is primitive, it is fun and it will get you back home. I don't think you can go wrong with this gps. My understanding is that the higher priced model offers no real benefit unless you fell the need for the heart rate monitor.
 Very helpful aid for training February 6, 2008
I've had this for a couple months now and it's been great. Here are my comments.
1) It's a lot lighter than it looks. In fact it's light enough where I don't even notice the weight.
2) Extremely easy to use. I was afraid that I would have to read the manual to figure it out, but it was really easy. Turn it on, allow it to acquire the satellite, then press start and go. It takes a minute or two to acquire the signal, so I usually turn it on, do my stretching, then it's ready to go. It also saves the data from all your runs so you can look back at your previous history.
3) Fairly accurate. I've run several races, and it usually overestimates the distance I've run by 1% or so. For a marathon (26.2 miles on certified course) it read 26.5 at the end. For a 15K (9.3 miles) it read 9.4. I think that sometimes it loses the signal and estimates where you have gone, leading to minor errors. Sometimes the instantaneous pace reads incredibly low (5:00 min/mile when you know you're running 8:00 minutes). I have also seen on training runs where it jumps backwards, from say 9.5 miles run back to 9.3. That being said, for the most part it tracks along consistently and gives you a fairly accurate reading of you distance and pace. It's been great for marathons, especially the beginning where you are fighting to stay at your goal pace but everyone is excited and running faster. At the beginning of races I look down at the pace a lot to ensure I am around where I want to be.
Overall, highly recommended, especially if you run trails or other places where you can't measure the course with an odometer, or if you travel and want to go for a run but can't measure the distance. I've noticed that many of my guesses based on pace were a little too optimistic on some courses I run.
 S'okay... January 24, 2008
Works, I guess. But who uses "serial ports" anymore? Didn't they go out with bellbottom pants? Able to work with a little fussing, but initially had problems because you have to push REALLY hard (really), to get the serial connector to connect to the point where it all works to upload your data to the computer. There's an intermediate insertion point where you think, "Yes, I have it in all the way; it clicked and everything...", but you don't. Push REALLY hard (really) and it clickes in a little further, and then the unit communicates with the computer. YMMV...
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