Garmin 305 v. 405

Does a lot of sweat screw up the 305?

Sweat is fine on the 305.

It's the 405 that blows when it gets moist at all. I love my 405 in many regards, but have to lock the bezel during a workout and that makes me lose all of the frills the watch should be providing.

Actually, a lot of sweat (or rain) WILL screw up the 305. I have had several and the best thing you can do is to 1) not use it in the rain 2) put a piece of scotch tape on the underside of the watch to cover the speaker holes. This will prevent sweat from going into the watch that way. Sodium is the enemy of all electronic devices.

I use the 305 for specific workouts when I'm not at a track. Very useful for this. I rarely use the HRM.

i have the 305. It is good when going but may take 25 minutes searching for satellites when it is started in an area with high buildings (inner city)

does anyone else have ths problem? any way to overcome it?

thanks

The 305 finds satellites faster when the battery is fully charged. There is also a 310XT which is the 305 but is totally waterproof. I prefer that to the 405. I have trouble with the bezel on the 405. Plus, the 305 or 310XT seems a bit better of hills. I have found the 405 very off on hills.

Always lay the watch onto a solid surface (ground, car dash, etc) for fastest satellite lock. In a city, do this at an intersection to minimize buildings. I notice that finding satellites is slower on the hood of my car and wonder if the metal affects this. Even in downtowns (Boston, Seattle) it should take only a minute to find satellites.

thanksi will try that. cant for a week or so but will report back how it went

middle professor wrote:

Always lay the watch onto a solid surface (ground, car dash, etc) for fastest satellite lock. In a city, do this at an intersection to minimize buildings. I notice that finding satellites is slower on the hood of my car and wonder if the metal affects this. Even in downtowns (Boston, Seattle) it should take only a minute to find satellites.

Michael Scott wrote:

It's the 405 that blows when it gets moist at all. I love my 405 in many regards, but have to lock the bezel during a workout and that makes me lose all of the frills the watch should be providing.

Why should you lose the frill? Once you lock it, you can still stop it if you had to and turning back on doesn't take too long either. I think I only had it stop on me once during the summer when I was sweating otherwise it worked fine.

Also, If you know it is going to rain that day, just lock the bezel beforehand and you won't have any problems. I just did this recently while it rained during the last couple miles into my run and the Garmin worked fine.

I like my 405, very light and picks up the connection quickly, no matter where I go--including different cities. The best feature is using the ANT after a workout and seeing your results.

Michael Scott wrote:

It's the 405 that blows when it gets moist at all. I love my 405 in many regards, but have to lock the bezel during a workout and that makes me lose all of the frills the watch should be providing.

Why should you lose the frill? Once you lock it, you can still stop it if you had to and turning back on doesn't take too long either. I think I only had it stop on me once during the summer when I was sweating otherwise it worked fine.

Also, If you know it is going to rain that day, just lock the bezel beforehand and you won't have any problems. I just did this recently while it rained during the last couple miles into my run and the Garmin worked fine.

I like my 405, very light and picks up the connection quickly, no matter where I go--including different cities. The best feature is using the ANT after a workout and seeing your results.

Never used one before, but I'm thinking of buying the 305.

To those who've used it, does it take time to get used to wearing it. Does it seem huge at first?

jhggj wrote:

To those who've used it, does it take time to get used to wearing it. Does it seem huge at first?

No. Felt great from the start and I have a very thin wrist.

Someone else said to avoid wearing this watch in rain. The 305 is minimally water resistant but should be able to resist rain and I've never let massive deluges stop me from wearing the watch. But II will say that sweat can corrode the metal leads on the back of the watch and wearing a sweat band between the skin and watch or swapping out the strap for one that covers the leads works well. If you swap out the strap then you just have to pull on the strap to set the watch into the cradle to download data.

Thanks much I appreciate it.

I never owned one but am buying one this week from REI. I looked up reviews after seeing this post and am going with the 110. It does plenty for me and there is no bezel issue. The person at the store said they are getting 405's coming back constantly but the 110's are selling like hotcakes. I went from thinking about a 305 to a 310 (orange one) to a 305 to a 405 and then just heard about the 410. Crazy, but true. Now I am getting the 110 because it's plenty for running and you can you still use the Garmin Connect site with it. If you look up reviews, so many people had problems returning their watch if it had a problem, but this place called REI is pretty liberal if you are a member. I didn't know what the place was till I looked it up and now I know if my 110 is a lemon, I won't be stuck with a $249 watch, which is the horror story I have heard about with the 405. Seriously, that has to suck to have a problem out of warranty after paying that much.

So, that's my story:)

I never have had anything else but a 110 w/ HRM. The thing is heavenly, it's pretty small too. I love the thing. So simple. Does exactly what I need it to do, don't know what you guys need as far as functions. All I really use the HRM and pace functions, and uploading with a USB cable to Garmin Connect. IMHO go with the 110, I would never consider running with the 205 or 305 or 405 or 410 or whatever.

What about putting a small piece of duct tape to keep the sweat out? Good idea?