Garmin Forerunner: A Newbie's Review

[+eff-J]

Hello all,

 

I haven't seen anyone post about this yet, so I thought I'd give it a go. I'm brand-new to both geocaching and GPS receivers, so take that into consideration.

 

I've been into distance running for the past few years, so I gave myself a late Christmas present of a Garmin Forerunner 201. Previously I had been using the Fitsense system to track my pace and distance, but had gotten fed up with having to constantly calibrate the device (it uses an accelerometer pod on your foot to measure stride velocity). So a GPS-based solution seemed like a great idea, and since I didn't really want to wear a pack on my arm, like the Timex unit, the Forerunner seemed like the way to go. Plus, it's cheaper than any other speed/distance gizmo out there.

 

And so far, it seems to work. I tried it out on a 5K race on New Year's Day, and it performed admirably. I lost signal only once (and this was an urban race, going past buildings and such). I used the "virtual training partner" feature to help pace myself, and wound up just ten seconds slower than my goal.

 

Ah, but how does it work for geocaching? As it turns out, not bad. It's certainly not a "real" GPSr, so you have to work around a few limitations. But since this is the only GPSr I've ever owned, I don't know any better.

 

While you can't enter waypoints in directly, you can do it in a roundabout fashion by marking your current position (or calling up a previously-marked location), then editing the coordinates to whatever you want. It does come with a serial cable, so you might be able to send waypoints over from your computer--I haven't tried that yet.

 

Once your waypoint is stored as a location, the "Go To" command will place you and the waypoint on a small, scalable, onscreen map, and display the distance and a directional arrow. It also shows the time-to-waypoint, based on your current speed. No degrees-type headings or bearings are ever displayed, nor can you view your current lat/long as it changes. And, of course, you can't set up a chain of waypoints to navigate a set course, as far as I know.

 

I've found 11 caches so far, and the accuracy has varied from spot-on to 50 feet off. The device seems to take into account altitude (determined via GPS, since there's obviously no barometric altimeter in the thing) when calculating distance to the waypoint, and setting the waypoint's altitude correctly seems to help. Or I could be imaging things.

 

All in all, a cool little device that does the trick for simple, basic geocaching. If you're not a runner and/or a bicyclist, the smaller size and gee-whiz factor may not offset the higher price and more limited features, compared to a good, basic handheld. Still, it really is nice having the thing on your wrist, especially when there are geomuggles about and you're trying to not call attention to yourself.

 

- Jeff

[+CoasterManiacs]

Jeff -

 

Thanks for the report. I also will be getting a forerunner within the next week or two and plan to use it for both running (training for my first marathon) and geocaching. As with you, this will be my first experience with geocaching.

 

Anyway.. this is my first visit to these forums and came to your review after doing a search for forerunner, and was glad to see your report, and that I'll be able to use it for geocaching as well.

 

Burt

[+Stunod]

While you can't enter waypoints in directly, you can do it in a roundabout fashion by marking your current position (or calling up a previously-marked location), then editing the coordinates to whatever you want.

Actually, that is how most "real" GPS units work, too!

Edited January 7, 2004 by Stunod

[+Criminal]

Thanks for the report, I had wondered about these and how well they would perform. I’ve used my Garmin V on my bike, and pack strap while skating, and thought about how great it would be to have a smaller unit such as that.

 

While you can't enter waypoints in directly, you can do it in a roundabout fashion by marking your current position (or calling up a previously-marked location), then editing the coordinates to whatever you want. It does come with a serial cable, so you might be able to send waypoints over from your computer--I haven't tried that yet.

 

Believe it or not, that’s the same way you do it using a handheld, like the V. With the computer cable though, it’s a bit faster to enter multiple waypoints.

 

All in all, a cool little device that does the trick for simple, basic geocaching. If you're not a runner and/or a bicyclist, the smaller size and gee-whiz factor may not offset the higher price and more limited features, compared to a good, basic handheld.

 

I have to say, however, the GPS V looks so cool on the handlebars of my bike with the headlight, heart-rate monitor, and bell. I even had to add a secondary attachment to get all the goodies to fit.

[+eff-J]

Wow. I'm amazed to discover that even "real" GPS receivers make you enter waypoints that way. Seems a little counter-intuitive to me.

 

Anyway, just to update, I got myself a serial-to-USB cable a couple of days ago and downloaded MacSimpleGPS. I was able to transfer waypoints from the Forerunner to my computer, and send waypoints (via LOC files downloaded from here) from my computer to the Forerunner. So it obviously uses the standard Garmin protocols just like the Big Boys. Very cool!

 

- Jeff