Garmin Forerunner 205 Handheld GPS Receiver

I bought my Forerunner 205 about a month ago and have used it many times while running. I have been training for half marathons with the goal of a full one next year to qualify for Boston. I had been frustrated because I never knew exactly how far or how fast I was running. The Forerunner gives an accurate distance and average pace. I set it to automatically record lap stats every mile, so at the end of the run I can review how I did for each phase. Displaying my route on the map (linked to Google Earth) is also useful and entertaining. Now I can run a different route every day and still have accurate stats.

The device appears to be well constructed and this series is much more compact than the previous iterations. I don't feel like I have a laptop computer strapped to my wrist. Satellite acquisition is good and I keep the signal when trail running with heavy tree canopy. I do lose the signal when running under an over pass, but that does not seem to degrade the accuracy overall.

There are some weaknesses. The instantaneous pace readout fluctuates a lot, so it is difficult to use for constantly monitoring your speed. It would be better if they would average over a few seconds of readings. Maybe in a future version. Related to this problem is elevation change information in the data summary. I just did a run along the shore at Grand Cayman. Dead flat. The 205 told me that I had gained and lost over 800 feet in elevation. The problem is that any fluctuations in reading get added up. You can see real trends on the graph when you download to your computer, but it uses the elevation change to calculate calories burned and thus grossly overestimates. If I were eating according to what it tells me I expend calories, I would be very fat!

In choosing the 205 I also looked at the 305. The main difference is that the 305 has a heart rate monitor and can interface with a cadence meter for your bike. I have a heart rate monitor that I rarely use and a computer with cadence on my bike already, so I could not justify the extra cost of the 305. I am happy with my choice.

Overall, I am very happy with the 205. The inaccuracy in instantaneous pace and elevation change are annoying, but I still get accurate overall stats for my run. Being able to download the information to my computer allows me to keep track of my progress.