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 enlarge | Brand: Garmin
Category: CE
List Price: $267.99
Buy New: $139.89 (On sale from $149.89)
You Save: $10.00 (7%)
New (76) Used (3) from $124.99
Rating:  387 reviews
Sales Rank: 158
Color: Blue
Media: Electronics
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: Yes
Native Resolution: 160x100
Display Size: 1.52
Includes MP3 Player: 0
Size: Garmin Part #010-00466-00
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5.4 x 5.2
Speed
Distance
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: 010-00466-00
Model: 010-00466-00
UPC: 753759051907
EAN: 0753759051907
ASIN: B000CSQJ8C
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Much Improved June 25, 2006
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
A big improvement over my previous 201.
Pros -
Satellite tracking is much improved
More & Better functions (like Auto Pause, Auto Start)
USB interface automatically transfers data
More custom data displayed
Cons -
Seems heavier than 201 and not as comfortable
Sometimes takes a LONG time to find satellites at startup
 not living up to its standard June 24, 2006
7 out of 22 found this review helpful
I really thought that this was a good product. But upon receiving the 205 I saw a warning that states there is a chance that you could get cancer from wearing it! So that was a huge turn off for me. I mean who wants to wear something that gives them cancer. Its stupid! Besides that point the product is really good... but i think sticking with a old fashion stop watch isnt that bad of an idea especially since you can calculate ur distance using sites like http://www.favoriterun.com/home/welcome. And you're really getting the same result and saving a lot of money... It took me a while to realize that...but hey if u like to spend tons of money by all means go ahead.
 Quality issues June 21, 2006
42 out of 50 found this review helpful
I had the 201 for a while, and love it; but I lost the charger, so I thought this would be a good time to upgrade, and get better reception in the trees. In my limited trials, it delivers as promised, and I have never lost signal. It is a great device except... I received the 205 and charged it up; then went through the set-up, and lost power a few times. By working with it, I found that it had a loose connection; by twisting it, or pressing the mode button it would power off. After a long wait time on hold with the customer support line, I was able to return and replace the device. They over-nighted the new 205, and that one worked for a few hours, but only when plugged into the charger (which makes it difficult to run very far). I still can't connect to the customer support line to get this one replaced.
In summary, this is a great device, but very poorly manufactured, and their customer support is to overwhelmed to handle their issues. I would wait for them to work out the manufacturing issues (as of June '06).
Fantastic! June 13, 2006
54 out of 55 found this review helpful
I purchased the 205 to mainly get an idea as to how far I was running. This is my first training GPS device. I figured the circuit I ran was about 5k. To my pleasant surprise the 205 told me I was doing 3k more than I estimated so that was great news to me! But the 205 did not stop there. Read on....
If you are anything like me the runs I do at 5:30a on the weekdays are not as strong as the ones I do at 8a on the weekend. A couple hours of extra sleep seems to make a lot of difference. On Saturday I ran my 8k circuit at 8a and came in at a good time (for me). I saved the 8k circuit as a "course" in the 205. The Training Center software that comes with the 205 allows for fairly easy editing of the course adding in markers on when to turn, valleys/summits and saving the course back to the 205. This morning (5:30a) I started the 8k "course" in the 205. Straight away I could go to the navigation page and with the "virtual partner" function turned on there I was racing my(virtual)self! What fun! As expected I could not keep up with my(virtual)self and based on when my(virtual)self would start to break away I knew I had to put on more power. Without a doubt the virtual partner function is going to help me improve my early morning weekday runs. While I intellectually understood the benefit of the virtual partner function until I actually used it I didn't appreciate what difference this function will have on my training.
[Update Dec 2006: The virtual partner function has indeed improved my training. I have shaved 6 minutes off my 8k run since I bought the 205. Each time I make a new PR I save that as the course and work against that on subsequent runs. At worst I try and keep pace with myself. At best I beat myself!]
I find the 205 to have fairly good ability to get satellite signal. I can turn it on in our house (2 story with me on the ground floor) and get a signal. But overhead tree cover does seem to affect the current pace accuracy (see my nits below).
The integration with Google Earth and Maps is incredible. I can save the images as JPGs and post them to my blog so every one can see where I've been. Tres cool!
As I mentioned earlier the Training Center software that comes on the CD with the 205 is good. However, I would recommend going to Motion Based whose URL is provided in a flier that is packaged in the 205. I really like MB and you can check out other people's GPS data/times.
Now that I covered what was important to me there do seem to be some minor nits with the device that I noticed and I see other people have already commented on. The nits I would like to see corrected:
- the extensive menu navigation. There has to be a way to simplify the menu depth and make it a little more intuitive.
- current pace is negatively affected by overhead obstructions. On my 15k I run down a trail that has intermittent clearings and tree cover. Every time I ran into the tree cover and lost signal strength on the satellites the current pace dropped even though I'm fairly sure I was keeping an even pace with the music I was listening to. The 205 has a "pace alert" function that can alert you to when you slow down. Not very useful when every time I ran into tree cover the alert would sound. I eventually had to turn the pace alerts off as it was too inaccurate to be of any use. The overall average pace seems to be accurate.
[Update Dec 2006: As I travel a lot the only comment I have here is when I start up the 205 in a "new" city it takes a long time to lock into the satellites. Subsequent startups are fast so there must be some initialization process that is skipped on subsequent runs. I have run in San Francisco without GPS issues so not sure why others are having problems. ]
Overall, if you are on the fence about a GPS training device (as I was) then jump down and join the rest of us that are reaping the significant benefits of owning one. And the 205 works really well so I highly recommend it!
Oh, the reason I did not get the 305/HRM combo is because I get heat rash from wearing an HRM.
a BIG improvement over the 201 June 10, 2006
17 out of 18 found this review helpful
I just bought this yesterday and used it for walking and driving. The device can lock on inside building as long as there are no floors above you or you are near a window. The 201 had no chance of locking on indoor. I walked to the store and the path was near 3-4 story buildings and never lost the signal. The 201 couldn't handle that either. The USB is HUGE improvement to the serial port (what were they thinking!). The design is much more comfortable and looks more watchlike and can easily worn all day without discomfort. The software is a HUGE improvement over the last. It will also work with Google Earth and works well! I walked around INSIDE a mall in San Francisco (Stonestown) and kept the signal except on the ground floor inside a store. It would lock back on immediately when walking back into the walking area of the mall. The SIRFstarIII is amazing. Highly recommended for ANYONE who does anykind of activity. Its fun, informative and just plain a great GARMIN product. KUDOS, GARMIN.
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