After finding out that my trusty Garmin eTrex is no longer supported by Garmin, has no Mac drivers, can’t connect to Basecamp, etc… I’m now on the lookout for another GPS that is small, light and has battery life approaching 24 hours.

Every “watch” type GPS that I have found on the web seems to have a good battery life when used in watch mode, but then falls to about four hours when the GPS kicks in. Since this is going to be used for training for my 69 mile thingy, and I plan to be out for a damn sight more than that without charging facilities, I need something that will last a lot longer (probably up to 24 hours) or lasts a lot longer and runs on replaceable batteries (like my eTrex) so that I can swap them out for fresh.

So far, the only wearable option seems to be the Foretrex 301/401 (do I want to sacrifice an hour of battery for a digital compass/barometer?). Does anyone have any other suggestions?

A Forerunner 10 on each arm – seriously.

http://www.handtec.co.uk/product.php/7680/garmin-forerunner-10-green-white–010-01039-04–

Another eTrex – in your pocket?

I’m stunned you lot haven’t recommend installing a windows 95 machine on a PC old enough to have a proper serial port yet…

A Forerunner 10 on each arm, whilst no doubt stylish, is probably overkill. And expensive.

Forerunner 305 has a function that records data when a parameter changes, I can’t remember the exact details but there are setting for recording all data every second or when it changes.

By changing mine to the later mode the battery life is days, I’ve never found out how long but it lasted well over 75 miles recently including stops.

A 305 [or similar]with an external battery pack will do what you want, really not suitable for wrist wearing though

I’ve had 10 hrs+ out of this set up

http://runtrails.net/garmin305.html

A Garmin 800 lasts for 15 hours. Can’t you just run a bit faster ?

http://www8.garmin.com/manuals/984_OwnersManual.pdf

Page 47. Data Recording. Standard mode 3.5 hours.
Smart Recording as far as I’ve tested it > 8.0 hours.

Graham, I’ll have to see how the training goes. If I think I can go that fast, I’ll be a happy man.

I’m currently considering a Suunto Ambit

Looks like a nice watch from the marketing material but it’s pretty bulky when on the wrist and I think it’s side profile could have been designed better. Although apparently it’s GPS fix is better than the Garmin Fenix due to the external antenna, so perhaps the rounded design of the underside of the watch is intentional.

Take a look at this review…dcrainmaker review

Regarding battery life, in the marketing material Suunto state;

15 hours with 1 second GPS fix
60 hours with 60 second GPS fix
30 days without GPS switched on.

Oh, and it charges with a USB charger, so you could get a mobile charger pack to boost it half way (if you wanted to use the 1 sec fix.

How about a Garmin 450T runs on AA batteries, rechargable or Alkaline. Will do all you need it to including HRM and Cadence if you buy the sensors

Sneaky Craig, sneaky!

McHamish, Yeah, a lot of people I know use the Ambit or a Foretrex because of the battery life. That site is a good one though and I’ve just spent the last 30 minutes reading that and browsing the rest of the site. I’ve just found his Fenix review, so that should keep me quiet for a bit!

I do like the customisation capability, but the initial outlay is frightening.