The Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS has been around for a little while but is it still going strong or falling by the wayside?
If you are into cross country running or long distance cylcing the Forerunner 305 is possibly on your wish list. With it's many features it can be an invaluable training aid.
The main focus of these devices is the heart rate and distance travelled monitors which users of the Forerunner report to be very good, however there are some concerns over the accuracy of the point in time measurement.
This reading is supposed to show an instantaneous display of the speed at which you are running but has found to be some way off according to experienced runners.
This may be explained by cross tracking on the satellites as the problem seems to get worse when running through wooded areas.
Another problem or rather complaint, is that the Garmin Forerunner 305 can take some time to actually capture the satellites but once aquired signal drop out seems to be rare.
There are several reports that the Forerunner 305 has simply stopped working within six months to a year but they seem to date back to pre-2008 so perhaps there were a batch of defective ones floating around then, more current reviews seem to indicate that whatever the problem might have been it has been addressed.
OK, so thats a whole lot of bad stuff what about the good points. There are several and I think that they outweigh the negatives.
The screen is clear and readable even whilst running and the displays are customisable so you can easily access the information that you want.
The Li-Ion batteries have a very good life and will recharge really quickly, Li-Ion batteries also do not suffer from 'charge memory' so you do not have to fully discharge them before recharging.
Scott from Buffalo, Ny says, "I've had this(Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS) for two years and it is the perfect model"