Sunday, 26 May 2013

Three of Garmin's Offerings For Outdoor Sports

By Nathir Sufyan


First up is the Garmin Forerunner 410 GPS-Enabled Sports Watch. It uses a touch sensitive bezel to manage various functions. As a sports watch, most people will be happy with the weight. At just 4.8 ounces, it is not going to be a burden for anybody. It is designed to be a useful training aid as well as a tool to provide all kinds of monitoring while out running. Owners have the option to set up their training or running plan online, and then download the details to the watch.

The speed at which the watch establishes a connection with the GPS satellites is one of the main plus points of this device. The connection is almost instant, and competitive athletes will find this especially useful. If there is a negative aspect to the watch, it is the sensitivity of the bezel. It can be quite tricky to master this, and even harder when out running and wearing gloves.

The Garmin Forerunner 910XT GPS-Enabled Sports Watch is the second watch reviewed. Triathletes in particular will find this watch very helpful. It can track multi sport events simultaneously, and is water resistant up to 50m. It supports online communications.

One of its main plus points is the availability of an optional quick release kit, again aimed especially at triathletes. A quick twist of the mechanism and the watch is off. It can then be connected directly to the bike mount. Transferring from bike to wrist is equally fast. The biggest problem for the 910 is that it is quite a bulky wristwatch, and will not be very comfortable for people with small wrists.

The final product we looked at was the Garmin Edge 510 GPS Bike Computer. As with the previous two products, the 510 can be used for navigating or for analyzing completed trips. Various trip data can be downloaded to the device via your computer. There are lots of positives to this product. The quality of the display is excellent, with first class backlighting making it easy to read in all kinds of light conditions. It also makes full use of touchscreen technology, making it easy to use the device even when cycling at speed.

The 510 ships with Bluetooth connectivity, so you can keep in contact via your cell phone interface if you are out on a lonely training or competition ride. It also lets you move trip data between the 510 and Garmin's site without requiring a computer.

The only downside is the learning curve required to get the most out of it. There are so many features included with the 510 that nobody coming new to this product is going to get the hang of it in just a few hours.



Each of the devices reviewed will prove popular with the vast majority of those who buy them. All three devices are well equipped with impressive features. Each device comes at an attractive price considering the features, and none of them has any major problem that is likely to deter buyers.




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