MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Hi, i need some input. A friend has a garmin 310xt watch and he is able to plots waypoints from routes on the internet then when out on the trails he follows a breadcrumb trail. I have a battered old garmin 405 and this has a 'back to start ' function. But i dont believe i can plot detailed routes in advance.
SO ive been looking at the Garmin range and the suunto x10 which seems a really nice piece of kit and more daily wearable than the 310xt.
DO i need a watch with the most waypoints for more accurate route plotting? Is the breadcrumb trail just the way you follow plotted routes on the watch screen? Any experience with Suunto, good or bad?
I want a watch, with route plotting capabilities what can you reccomend? Any info you can give me greatly recieved.
We will have back up map and compass. we have also recced areas were planning on running. This just seems a good back up option for low cloud poor visibility situations.
Waypoints are individual discrete points on a map, a route is something you create in a digital mapping program to follow (and the watch will tell you which way to go to a certain extent) and a track is a route that you actually follow, created by the gps.
the amount of waypoints or points per track a gps produces should be user amendable.
Garmin watches have better gps recievers than the Suunto's from what I have heard.
the GPS pod for the Suunto T6 I've got takes exactly the same amount of time to register a signal as the Garmin 705 I've got. Not sure what the one in the X10 is like but can't say I've noticed any differences between the two - I've also run them both side-by-side a couple of times on a ride and they register the same distances pretty much exactly (0.2 of a mile out over 40 miles, I guess that allows for one being arm mounted, the other on the bars)...
Haven't got a Garmin watch to compare it with but the Suunto is perfectly nice as a daily wear watch. Not too large and very legible - it has a number of display options so doesn't try to jam too much information into one screen but you toggle through 3 separate displays when using it (all configurable).
That said, I've never used the Suunto for route plotting so don't know whether you can on a T6. I think some of the more 'technical' Garmins have this capability.
For decent reviews of the Garmin range : check out [url= http://www.dcrainmaker.com/p/product-reviews.html ]DC Rainmaker[/url] - he's a bit of a GPS (and running) geek by all accounts and his reviews are pretty indepth
Hi guys, ive been looking at Dc Rainmaker today, pretty In depth is quite an understatement! he is obsessed! Good info though.
My understanding is garmin 310xt can be programmed to 100 waymarks to produce a track or breadcrumb trail.
The suunto x10 has 500 waymarks so more accurate breadcrumb trail following [if plotted well]. Its a shame the new 610 garmin doesnt have this feature. All the other forerunner seem to point you in the direction ofa waymark but its as the bird flies not as a series of dots.
I like garmin connect, but not the Garmin 310xt its quite old and numb looking now imo. Anyone used the timex ironman gps?
no personal experience but a colleague had the Timex and got rid of it as the GPS signal wasn't up to much - admittedly he ran a lot in London so lots of tall building etc but he said the signal would drop out / fail to pick up all the time...
You can navigate routes on a Foreunner 405 by converting them to crs or tcx files and uploading them from training center.
This website http://www.gpsies.com/convert.do allows you to convert GPX files to crs or tcx files. You can plot the GPX files on Where's the path http://wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepath.htm (and others)
I've recently had a play with a Suunto X10 and whilst its an excellent bit of kit, its not as user friendly as the Garmin stuff and the software for route planning is not great.
Hi,I believe you can plot waymarks on the 405 but the direction arrow just points to the next mark rather than help direct you around a course. [I think anyway but may be wrong.]
Anyway ive ordered the Garmin 310 xt as im familiar with garmin connect software and i know the 310 does what i want as my mate got the same watch.
Thanks for the input.
Hi,I believe you can plot waymarks on the 405 but the direction arrow just points to the next mark rather than help direct you around a course. [I think anyway but may be wrong.]
That's one of the reasons you convert them to courses - so you don't have that issue.
The 310 is a good piece of kit though.
Oh ok. So how do the converted course look on the 405?
Its a bit over my head, sorry. 😳
405 is the one with the smaller, basic screen right?
Can do that stuff on the 205/305, the former is about £85 on amazon and it's fine for sticking a route on and following a black line.
Oh ok. So how do the converted course look on the 405?
They look like a breadcrumb trail, depending on the number of points used to make the course. The more points the better the detail.
Ahh. Think i am going to have to play my old watch tonight.
Thanks Guys.
Purely for having the bigger screen it is worth using the 205/305/310 for following courses.
Here is a handy guide for the Garmins that do support courses etc.
http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2010/03/how-to-create-mapscourses-for-your.html