Garmin Forerunner 910XT GPS Fitness Monitor

Comments about Garmin Forerunner 910XT GPS Fitness Monitor:

What a shock when I got home and realized my new wrist computer was not a watch! More on that later.
This gem has 4 sport modes and the ability to set up 4 screens in each mode, each screen can measure up to 4 different parameters. Are yo starting to get a feel of how much data one can monitor on oneself while working out. The list of measurable parameters is incredible. Too long to list here but go to the garmin website and you will be totally impressed.
Being a 52 year old all weather athlete with failing eyes this is the only wrist computer that I can read in the dark and the rain. It was pouring this morning and through a water covered screen in the dark with the world's largest back light and numbers I could easily see all the parameters on the screen. Same thing trying to read the screen through my foggy swim goggles in the pool. I just cann't see numbers getting any larger or brighter. Way to go Garmin.
The battery truly last 21 hours if not more. Now I don't have to carry a battery charger with me if I am going to do a morning and evening workout.

As for not being a watch. No, there is no watch mode per say. It appears to always be in a sport mode. One can however set the time of day as one of the parameters to measure in any or all sports modes and just leave the device on that screen during the day. Awesome.
The expandable wrist attachment has got to be the cat's meow for putting the device on the outside of one's sleeve during winter sports. No more having to pull off your glove and roll up the sleeve in order to see the screen. Brilliant.

Garmin, you have surpassed all expectations this time. Thank yhou

Comments about Garmin Forerunner 910XT GPS Fitness Monitor:

I bought this hoping it would help me log my training, particularly swimming. The swim log is amazing. It records your laps and sets and is able to distinguish between different stroke types. I doubted that it would be accurate for indoor lap swimming, but it is. It's nice to come home and comparing different workouts or the same workout to see how I'm progressing from set to set. When doing long sets I sometime space out and forget how many laps I've done. The watch easy easy to read even under water on a flip turn to see how far you've gone.

I added the bike speed cadence sensor and really only use it to log my workouts. I still rely on my bike computer during training rides. Both the Garmin and my bike computer are very close with their data, so it is nice to come home and know my log is up to date.

On running I upgraded from my Garmin 305. I've added the foot pod for treadmill workouts and it to is very accurate. The only negative I've found is that the pace appears a bit off while running, but ends up being correct when it shows my mile splits.

The watch is smaller than the 305 and has a good battery life. I'm very happy with it mainly that I know spend less time trying to keep a log.

Comments about Garmin Forerunner 910XT GPS Fitness Monitor:

The major advantage of the 910XT over the 310XT is the swimming features. Since I have trouble counting strokes, laps and elapsed time whilst pool swimming I decided to upgrade. The 910XT is a decent swim watch. I am still in the process of learning the swimming features.

Overall I love this watch! Garmin usability is great, especially compared to Sports Watches from Finland. I love the customized displays.
It has some nice usability improvements over the 310XT, namely only 3 vs 11 button presses if you want to turn off the GPS for treadmill running. Switching displays is more predictable since it always takes 1 press to switch. These features could be added to the 310XT in a future software update though.

Unfortunately there are a couple of minuses. I am using the older HRM fabric strap and I have noticed that the HRM is erratic with the 910XT. Sometimes the HRM goes to greater than 100% of my max HRM. I have to temporarily remove the strap to reset. Then it is OK. I never noticed this on the 310XT.
Also whilst running I noticed that the GPS is a little slower than the 310XT. Measured distances are slightly longer over the same course. I think that the 910XT uses different smoothing algorithms. GPS measured speed is never perfect I just think that the 310XT was a little better. These are things that Garmin will most likely fix in future software updates.

Overall I would recommend this watch to Multisport Atheletes as there is no other swim watch that also has GPS.

Comments about Garmin Forerunner 910XT GPS Fitness Monitor:

I am very happy with this watch! I bought it to upgrade from the forerunner 305 because it had the long battery life and is waterproof so I can take it into the pool or a lake! I am currently training for a half marathon and this watch tracks everthing for me! (Distance, pace, cadence, heart rate, and intervals) It uploads everything onto my computer for me when I walk in range of my computer and keeps track of goals that I set in my training too! I couldn't be happier with it!

Comments about Garmin Forerunner 910XT GPS Fitness Monitor:

Great upgrade from the 405. Even though the face is a little bit larger,it has a flatter,less bulky screen. Adding the water resistance and all the swim training features is a huge +. Tons of options of info while training. So much stuff, still trying to figure out how i can utilize all of it. My HR monitor tends to pick up better and more accurately with this model. Only downside so far as been the pace time during running. Its a little bit jumpy, but i only have had it a couple weeks. I am hoping the satellites will pick it up better more times i am out.

Overall, best piece of tri training gear i have purchased. Downloading all your data on to Garmin Connect is a great bonus to track your workouts.

Long live IRONMAN!

Comments about Garmin Forerunner 910XT GPS Fitness Monitor:

I bought this to replace my 310xt, which was stolen in a car break-in (bummer). It is essentially the same watch, but with a slimmer form factor and barometric altimeter, both of which are important to me. I was a little hesitant to buy this one as reviews out on the net identify a number of performance and reliability problems. Plus I could have gotten the 310xt for fairly cheap at this point. However, I took comfort in REIs 100% guarantee. I am glad I did. I haven't had any performance problems and the new features are worth it. In particular, it is less of a brick on the wrist. One of the default fields on Screen 1 for running workouts is current pace, which is not accurate (and is likely the source of many poor reviews out there). I changed it to lap pace, as it was on the 310xt by default. This is a much more useful and accurate field in my opinion. All other data are accurate, current pace is just kind of an impossibility in a GPS based system.

Comments about Garmin Forerunner 910XT GPS Fitness Monitor:

Getting the advertised duration. Works pretty darn well in the pool. I love it. The one thing they can do is update the Training Center software. It has not yet been updated to do swimming. It will, however, use the online element Garmin connect.

Comments about Garmin Forerunner 910XT GPS Fitness Monitor:

I purchased this watch to help monitor my progress during training for an Ironman event. The watch us much sleeker then the old 310 model. It has a huge display which makes it very easy to read when cycling. Downloading the information is easy and garminconnect.com is very easy to navigate and view all of the information the watch collects. The only thing that I don't like about the watch is that you need to use the Garmin heart rate strap. I have a heart rate strap from Bontrager that is ANT+ and it did not work with the watch. However, all of the other ANT+ components work just fine with it from my speed and cadence. Best training tool I have. Love the watch.

Comments about Garmin Forerunner 910XT GPS Fitness Monitor:

Ok, so I know the unit is designed for triathletes but my intention is to use the gps for hiking. I own the following Garmin devices, and have been using them for years:
Garmin Rhino 530hcx - Outdoor/trail
Garmin Edge 500 - cycling
Garmin 705 - cycling
Garmin Nuvi - car navi
I was particularly interested in this device because its the first Garmin wrist unit with a barometric altimeter. I did a hike where I knew the ascent was approx 4300ft, the device recorded nearly 6000ft ascending and continued added feet even when purely descending. Total recorded was 7150ft. When I downloaded the data, the elevation profile appeared accurate so don't know how this is messing up so badly. Garmin connect has elevation corrections where it uses survey data to calculate an elevation profile - now ascent is 33,000ft!
I've been recording calories with Garmin and Polar devices for years. The 910xt calculated 2050 calories for a 6 hour fast paced hike with 4300ft of ascent, over rough terrain carrying a 20lb pack. I had my fr60 watch with me and that calculated 3200 calories which I believe to be more accurate.

Drawing of breadcrumb trail is painfully slow. The screen comes up blank and gradually the trail starts to appear dot by dot. It can take several minutes to finish drawing and then when you zoom in - starts all over again.

Went to Garmin who have acknowledged the ascent issues have been resolved in latest firmware update. I did the firmware update and tested again. Hiking 3000ft down into Grand Canyon the watch recorded 4600ft descent with 1600ft ascent. Hiking same route back out recorded 6000ft ascent with 2200ft descent. Apparently burned only 800 calories carrying a 45lb pack up 3000ft.

This one is going back to REI.

Comments about Garmin Forerunner 910XT GPS Fitness Monitor:

Order twice, both times faulty. The first time the scroll botton didnt work right. Second time got in the pool for a swim, got water inside and doesnt work anymore. Worst Quality