Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Garmins

Any suggestions on updating my Garmin?

I currently have the 305 model (now discontinued).  Battery life is 10 hours max, which is sub-optimal as I am having to borrow a second Garmin from Gina to bring with me for long races and put one on the bike and one in my run bag.  I thought this was a pretty good plan until one of the Garmin's wouldn't sync up and then stay on the for the run during my last ironman.  So, I am trying to just decrease the hassle from two watches to one.

Morgan has started using the 910xt model and suggested it.  I remember her being able to take the face off of the watch and putting it on her bike, and then pulling it off in transition for the the run.  Battery life is 20 hours, which makes it better for longer racing. 

But, I just had sticker shock when I saw the $400.00 price.  I could buy a bike for the price of this watch.  And, I don't even think it has the mounting gear or bike cadence gear included. 

Does anyone have any feedback on this model?

The other option would be the 310xt- $250 
Looks like this one is also 20 hours batter life and I can use it on the bike and then pull it off to put on my wrist for the run.  Still expensive, though.....

Anyone have these models?  Any feedback?  Or a place to get them at a good price?

6 comments:

Michelle Simmons said...

I have the 310 and got it on ebay for ~$240 I think. It has worked flawlessly for me and it reads power which is why I upgraded. Not sure the 910 extra features would be worth an extra $200 to me?

aly said...

I have the 310xt and the only concern is any time you barely drop it on a hard surface the face will crack. It's $100 to send it back to Garmin for a new face. It's now happened to me twice (I'm also a huge klutz). I think because the screen is not recessed it is susceptible to cracking easily. Just FYI. Other than that I like it and love the long battery.

Jennifer said...

I love my 310XT! The one thing it doesn't have is the ability to wear it while open-water swimming... you have to put it in your cap, which is ok during training but not so ok during a race. I understand the new one is much better for tracking OWS distance (and maybe pool laps too?). But is that really worth the extra $? Prob not. (and I've never had mine crack)

Jeremy said...

I've used my 305 for both my ironmans without any problems! Save the money and use your 305 :-)

James Adams said...

I just got the 910xt. It. is. awesome! Shop around, I ended up getting mine for $300 from a bike shop that had a clearence on it.

GoBigGreen said...

310Xt is fine, as long as you have the latest firmware its just all you need.