What is the cheapest reliable GPS watch on the market?

Soleus 1.0 or Garmin 10

You asked for a GPS watch but for what you say you need it for, I would instead get a footpod device like the Garmin FR60. I bought one for $107 back in February although now the Amazon price has jumped to $170(strange games they play -- you'd think we were talking about some commodity). FR60 is accurate and is much better at monitoring your pace than a GPS, in my experience. And when you start running, it starts working; with a GPS watch, you can be standing around for 5 or 10 minutes waiting for it to lock onto satellites. Also, the GPS will give you wild or no results around trees, buildings, tunnels. The FR60 automatically synchs to your computer. All you'll be missing is a route map and an unreliable elevation profile. Pay attention to the "package" offer for the watch; make sure you get the footpod. I have no idea who would want this watch without the footpod, but that is part of the game they play on pricing. I have never used the HRM strap that came with my "package" and never will.

Don't buy a 405. The bezel is a nightmare unless you lock it. Sweat, rain, drinks during a race make it virtually useless. I am amazed they produced this version, given the target purchaser, who will obviously sweat, get rained upn, and drink fluids while using.

The bezel feaks out and switches back and forth between functions when wet (if not locked). I have also looked down on a long run and seen the mode has just changed, on its own, causing me to spend futile amounts of effort to get back to the training mode, which is almost impossible given the above issues of not moisture friendly. If you lock it, you can avoid, but then can't use all the functions it was created to perform.

Battery issues too, crap out too early in life, do an online search.

405 not good wrote:

Don't buy a 405.

Agreed. Don't buy a 610 either. When you're running fast, you don't want to use a touchscreen, you need physical buttons.

Garmin 110 or 210 or if you don't mind it being bulky the 205.

The Nike Sportswatch for 149 is also pretty decent IMHO.

Can't say anything about the Soleus or Timex. Those are some other options.

I have the Garmin 610 and really like it. Very easy to use and can customize the screens to show just about anything you want. No problems with the touch screen at all, so to disagree with the previous poster, very easy to use when doing fast work (and i use the physical buttons---that's how you start/stop/split it!!!)

I have and am happy with the 210. But I am interested in the Soleus watches.

OP can ALWAYS GO HERE!!!

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/p/product-reviews.html

Sometimes I wish LRC had a Links page that listed useful research sites.

Best deal is the 410 w/ HR strap from costco.com - $199 shipped.

610 is good, but expensive. It has buttons for lap & stop. Touch screen is only used to change display screens on the run (which you may not ever do anyway).

I paid $113 for my FR60 a few months ago... now it's up to $166. It does all you want. The knock on it is that the band breaks if you aren't careful putting it on and taking it off. Make sure you get the bundle (includes the foot pod). You might have to wait until closer to Christmas to get the good price again.

I had a cheap knockoff with a footpod. It was good at measuring distance at the pace I calibrated it for but the pace it read as I went faster and slower say on a track could be way off. Can the FR60 measure 4:00 to 9:00 from the same calibration?

A footpod is a pedometer. You have to recalibrate it for it to work at a different pace. Worthless.

fisky wrote:

I paid $113 for my FR60 a few months ago... now it's up to $166. It does all you want. The knock on it is that the band breaks if you aren't careful putting it on and taking it off. Make sure you get the bundle (includes the foot pod).

The FR70 is the replacement for the FR60 and solves the fragile band problem. It no longer comes with a bundled footpod option, so that has to be bought separately. You can get the two for around $150, which fits the OP's price range.

Dan

redux wrote:

A footpod is a pedometer. You have to recalibrate it for it to work at a different pace. Worthless.

It's a lot more advanced than that. I haven't precisely tested mine at each pace, but it appears to track fairly accurately at sub-5:00 pace all the way up to the 9:00 range. Of course, it's going to be more accurate close to the pace it was calibrated at, but so what? The only time I really care about its accuracy is in races or race pace workouts.

Dan

A footpod on the FR60 is an accelerometer, not a pedometer. Completely different.

Really? Ok. Thanks.

jogz wrote:

Soleus 1.0

Very interested in this. In the dc rainmaker review it said you can use the lap function for fartlek intervals. Can you also get pace for shorter intervals based on time, not distance (Like alternating 1 min fast/1 min easy over a few miles)? If it can also do that, I am just about sold.

I have seen Garmin 610s that friends have. If I had the money, I would get it. But, it is just way out of my price range.

Frank Shorter never needed no gosh darned GPS watch, or whatever you call those new fangled devices. Oh yeah, by the way, he was purdy good.

What watch is Frank wearing in this pic?

http://www.exposay.com/celebrity-photos/frank-shorter-2012-xsport-fitness-rock-n-roll-ke5V6d.jpg

Another thing to factor in is that the Garmin footpod watches use a standard button battery that lasts a year or so, such that you don't have to mess with charging and you aren't likely to have the battery die on a run. However, there are memory limits -- around 20 hours for the FR60. Even though the watch will stop storing your data once memory capacity is reached, it will continue to show pace, time, and miles. I'm not sure what the memory limits are on my GPS, but probably not an issue since the battery would not last long enough. Finally, the FR60 is relatively small compared to my GPS watch and doesn't dig into my wrist like the 205 does (I had blood running down my hand during one long run with my 205). You can wear it as a regular watch.

No idea. I couldn't tell you a Garmin from a whatever other brands there are out there. Even if he wears a GPS watch now, he certainly didn't use when in 1972 when he brought home the gold and glory.