gps watch for running

[killo2208]

Good day Broad Banders!!

Im needing some advice on a gps watch. I have had a look at the new tom tom nike sport gps watch... its going for R1200 at dion wired. does anyone own of these? I am a beginner runner and im looking for a watch. nothing fancy though.

I don't need the heart rate monitors etc. just my distance and time basically.

Anyone have any ideas on good watches for beginners.

Alternatively I could look at using a app on my phone.. if anyone has any suggestions on that.

Thanks

 

[goswald]

The Nike watch is a nice beginner watch. The last time I used it the web client was also nice.

 

[craiglotter]

Runkeeper is great for this as a phone app - but running with your phone isn't nearly as great as running with a watch in terms of comfort.

 

[killo2208]

Thanks for the reply.. would I need any internet connection to use this watch or sync any data?

 

[Goobie]

A watch with wifi is nice. I have the older Garmin Forerunner and I need to plug it into a pc to sync data, wifi would be much less of a schlep

 

[Rocket-Boy]

Good day Broad Banders!!

Im needing some advice on a gps watch. I have had a look at the new tom tom nike sport gps watch... its going for R1200 at dion wired. does anyone own of these? I am a beginner runner and im looking for a watch. nothing fancy though.

I don't need the heart rate monitors etc. just my distance and time basically.

Anyone have any ideas on good watches for beginners.

Alternatively I could look at using a app on my phone.. if anyone has any suggestions on that.

Thanks

That watch is far from new. Tomtom eventually broke away and released their own units.
Having said that its a great watch, I had one for about a year and it worked really well.
The GPS lock is quite slow but its not a big thing. Dont use a phone app, it means lugging your phone around everywhere and the nike+ has a better battery life than your phone does.

The web interface is pretty good, it also integrates into vitality for points if you are on it.

 

[Rocket-Boy]

Thanks for the reply.. would I need any internet connection to use this watch or sync any data?

You can look at summaries on the watch but wont get a details breakdown.
Its best used with a pc, it has a built in USB connector which is also used to charge it. Just plug in and it charges and syncs at the same time. Its very minimal bandwidth required to sync.

 

[FAQIR]

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/

you can use endomondo app on phone.

 

[mak2000]

Rather use your phone. I gave mine away as it becomes a chore to manage the watch. You have to make sure its is charged before your run, then after the run you have to synchronise it with your PC.

If you use one of the running apps then all that is already taken care of, and on the plus side you have your phone with you (for emergencies or to order Pizza on your way back from long run ). I also use it to play music and you can set the app to report your progress at set intervals e.g. every Km it will feedback through your headphone the distance and pace.

 

[goswald]

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/

Great site for this kind if stuff.

 

[MagicDude4Eva]

The Nike is a great entry length watch and also supports a heart strap. An alternative might be the Garmin fr220. The Nike is slow with GPS, but has great battery live

 

[themba990]

I use the garmin forerunner 110. I don't use my phone because I don't like carrying things while I run and because I'm not trying to get mugged. The watch is great because it's light and packed with running specific features like virtual pacer. On one full charge I can get in about 6 30 minute sessions so the battery life is not too bad. Gps lock is fairly quick. The watch has storage so you don't have to sync it everyday. I do weekly syncs. You can also view a history of your runs on the watch itself but obviously you don't get the pretty graphs that you get on the software.