Motorola MOTOACTV GPS Fitness Monitor and Smart Music Player - 8GB

Comments about Motorola MOTOACTV GPS Fitness Monitor and Smart Music Player - 8GB:

Having progressed from the original Timex Ironman GPS to the Garmin 301 to the Nike/Tom Tom GPS watch I considered the Motoactv to be my dream product . . . superior GPS with bluetooth (wireless) music. My first month with the product was very favorable. I run 40 plus miles per week and the Motoactv worked relatively flawlessly. Battery life isn't what advertised to be when GPS and bluetooth are both being used, but several hours of continuous use could be had. Overall, I love the product . . . that is WHEN it works.

My first Motoactv developed a 5mm x 5mm dead spot on the screen. I called Motorola warranty service as having a dead spot on the LED screen (for no reason) was unacceptable. Warranty service at Motorola can best be described as AWFUL. I expected an Apple-like experience (i.e. overnight a replacement, put the broken product in the replacement box, no cost, no hassle). Motorola does NOT work this way! I was transferred between three or more customer service reps. It took over 48 hours to process the mailing slip to return the product. Moto must inspect the product before it returns it. So (no kidding here) two hours on the phone (out of country call center) and an 8-day delay without having the product.

Received the replacement on August 28th, 2012. The replacement device (probably a rehabbed watch) went completely dead on September 20th, 2012! This left me without the GPS for my marathon and back to Moto's warranty service. Same deal . . . call . . . on hold. Describe problem in detail to rep. . . . that rep. forwards me to another rep to start over. That rep informs me an different rep will call me within 48 "business" hours. Friday call, so it could be Tuesday before the repair process moves forward.

Unfortunately, I bought wireless headphones and the heart rate strap for my Motoactv. But for the dollars in, I'd scrap the product. Based on warranty service alone, I will NEVER buy another Motorola product. I wish Apple has come put with a GPS enabled Nano! Apple service a 10 of 10 . . . Motorola service a 1 of 10!

Comments about Motorola MOTOACTV GPS Fitness Monitor and Smart Music Player - 8GB:

I got this as a father's day gift back in June and loved it from the moment I got it. I was, and still am training for a half marathon so the Motoactv was instrumental in tracking my progress. It only took a few minutes to set up and worked flawlessly during the first workout. It was excellent being able to see my current pace, average pace, etc. while I was running. The customization on the unit is excellent.

The problem came about two months in. I had been religious about keeping the rubber grommets in place, but somehow I must have gotten sweat into one of the connections. I fired it up one morning and a workout would stop after a few seconds and the screen would just keep scrolling. Did a factory reset on the unit and it didn't fix it. Luckily REI has a spectacular return policy and took it back, no questions asked. Now I just have to figure out which Garmin to buy.

I don't like to have my ears plugged up when I run outside, so I tend not to use the MP3 player, but it worked great when needed. The tracking on a treadmill worked okay, but it probably would have worked better had I calibrated it again.

Overall, I really liked the unit while it worked, but it just isn't robust enough. When Motorola introduced the Motoactv they said it was going to reinvent the genre. I think they are right, but they just need to make it in a more robust package.

Comments about Motorola MOTOACTV GPS Fitness Monitor and Smart Music Player - 8GB:

What a bitter disappointment! I first saw the Motoactv last fall while shopping for Christmas presents. It looked like everything I would need as a multi-sport endurance athlete. GPS, run mode, cycling mode and even a GOLF interface! Sweet!

The Motoactv quickly lost it's shine after only a week's use. I had to be very careful which 'button' I was pushing when starting a work-out as how it records differs between the indoor and outdoor mode. Later I found that the Motoactv would default to 'indoor' mode if it did not acquire a GPS satellite in time!

During the second week of ownership, I got caught in the rain while riding a metric century. I was using the Motoactv as a cycling computer and it was attached to my handlebar using the $30 Motoactv strap. During the rain storm, water got into the unit and it shut down completely. That was when I learned the Motorola will NOT repair the unit if it has been water damaged!!!

I put the Motoactv in a bag with a dessicant pack and got it dried out enough to turn on. That was when I found that the volume controls no longer work.

A week later, I was doing a trail run, when I slipped on a wet root and fell against a tree. The Motoactv hit the tree a glancing blow, but it was enough of a hit to crack the touch screen!

Today, I took it on a mountain bike ride (as a cycling computer again) and it got hit by a branch, finally shattering the touch screen.

I will be returning it to REI under the 100% satisfaction program and replacing it with a Garmin Forerunner!

Unless you are an indoor athlete who never strays from the stair master or the tread mill, save your money! The Motoactv is the biggest disappointment I have ever come across. It is NOT designed or built for the every-day use that an endurance athlete would put it through!

Comments about Motorola MOTOACTV GPS Fitness Monitor and Smart Music Player - 8GB:

I bought this product along with the bicycle mount, because I was hoping to use it for my road cycling and mountain bike rides.

The MOTOACTV seemed to be of decent quality and the bike mount was versatile and fit both of my bikes well.

I used it a few times while walking my dog. The music feature was nice, and I liked having the option of wearing it as a watch or clipping it onto my clothing. It seemed to underestimate my mileage, though, compared to my phone app.

When trying to use it on bike rides, however, the MOTOACTV had serious limitations. Most importantly, it didn't record total elevation gain & loss. Also, it appeared to underestimate the mileage. My riding buddies, who used Garmins or Strava, would have matching mileage and all kinds of elevation data at the end of the ride.

The "auto pause" feature never worked right. If I stopped riding for a few minutes, it would pause, but I almost always had to restart it manually when I started riding again. It was supposed to start again automatically.

Although I think this product can work well for people walking/running/hiking, it's not very useful for cyclists.

Comments about Motorola MOTOACTV GPS Fitness Monitor and Smart Music Player - 8GB:

My opinion of this slowly, but consistently dropped over the 5 months I used it. The disappointments that are immeadiately apparent are largely small annoyances. The music output is fairly soft, because the unit is flat, it doesn't fit comfortably on smaller wrists, the arm band's elastic is poorly designed not to flex, so it tends to either be too tight or slip down your arm and, of course, the lack of export capabilities in standardized formats. After using it more you'll discover that the battery life limits you to about 4-5 hours workouts (6-8 if you leave the screen off), that drips of sweat can fool the touch ui into changing screens, that the unit often took several full minutes to locate the GPS signal, and crashed on me 3 times in 5 months. Finally (and most important to me), the unit "connects" with the wrist and arm band, and the bike mount by a indentation which slips into the band, which has ridges. Perhaps nice in concept, but both of the bands are plastic and flex enough for the unit to pop out of the ridges. Mine was finally knocked out of the wrist band by a fairly soft knock on handlebars. Unfortunately for me, it was in the middle of a tri and I was doing 25 mph on the bike at the time, so I watched helplessly as [$] unit went flying into the middle of Highway. Bottom Line: Not an aweful product, but there are better options, even at lower price points.

Comments about Motorola MOTOACTV GPS Fitness Monitor and Smart Music Player - 8GB:

This watch was way too complicated with way too many options. Won't downlaod the data and if you just slightly touch it with a side of your finger the screen switches. It has to be cahrged every night because the battery won't last. Did my firs 8 mile trail run with it, GPS was cool once you spent the 4 mins waiting for the watch to find you, then took too long to stop gps. THANK GOODNESS for REI's retrun policy, retuned 4 days later and so ahd the guy at the ehck out taking my return who works for REI! Now that's a sign!

Comments about Motorola MOTOACTV GPS Fitness Monitor and Smart Music Player - 8GB:

I run with this watch and my bluetooth ear buds.
Battery life is short. Everything on it will last two hours no problem. Lots of functions; The elevation is not correct. I will have to call about an adjustment. Distance is off .18 in ten miles, which is not much. Holds a good signal.
FM radio & MP3 work great. Having a good time with
it.

Comments about Motorola MOTOACTV GPS Fitness Monitor and Smart Music Player - 8GB:

Probably not quite as polished as the Forerunner series but you get much more function for your dollar. Probably one of the best features is the bluetooth pairing capability. When I'm on a long bike ride, I don't have to constantly stop and look at my phone to make sure i'm not missing calls. They've issued several software updates and the battery life has increase substantially. I wear the ACTV all day and workout for at least an hour each day and can go at least 2-3 days without charging (probably longer, that's just as long as i've gone). Wireless sync is very easy, as well.

Kind of disappointed REI doesn't sell the motorola heart rate strap or cadence sensor, I had to go elsewhere for that. But the ACTV does have ANT+ technology so if you have previous heart rate straps you can use that.

Set up has been pretty smooth although I kind of wish the MotoACTV website guided you through all the features a bit more thoroughly. There is so much packed in there that it takes awhile to customize the whole system exactly as you want it. Also, some of the menus can be a bit cavernous. While the touch screen is much more responsive than other devices, making a trip through the menus quick, it'd be nice if they streamlined some of the in-unit features and left some of the more complicated items to the MotoACTV website. The GPS receiver can be spotty in urban areas but if you can see a decent amount of sky, you're going to get an accurate, quick fix.

Other than that, if you're looking for an all-in-one fitness device, this is it.

Comments about Motorola MOTOACTV GPS Fitness Monitor and Smart Music Player - 8GB:

I use the MOTOACTV 8GB practically every day and I love it! I've never had a GPS Heart Rate Monitor before, but this little device has really motivated me to be more consistent at working out and I love being able to see my progress. I used to hate running - now I have started running fairly consistently and it is great to have a little device that can help measure my progress. The MP3 player is very handy - only one device needed for music and tracking. It is very easy to use, and I even got a heart rate monitor for it, which connected with no problem. When I get home from my run, it syncs on my network automatically before I even get showered up! I've run with it in pouring rain and it seems to hold up fine in it. The only thing I didn't like about the device at first was the fact it only came with the little clip when I bought it. The newer models come with a wrist strap, so that's nice. I called up Motorola and asked if they could send me a strap and they not only sent me a strap but some new grommets as well. Great product and great customer service! I admit I'm a bit of a newbie both to running and to GPS devices, but I am really enjoying using this little machine. Looking forward to using it even more on some good bikes and hikes!! :)

Service and delivery comments:

I thought Motorola Customer Service did an outstanding job. I had to go through a few different reps to get to the right person, but when I did they were very helpful. The reason I contacted Motorola was that when I bought my Motoactv it didn't come with a wrist strap or anything. The clip works fine when clipped onto a wrist sweat-band or on your shirt, but I would prefer a strap that's actually built for it. When I went back to REI the fella there advised that the MOTOACTV now comes with a wrist strap. I contacted Motorola about it and they agreed to send me a strap free of charge. And they threw in some new style grommets to help keep it more moisture resistant. Thank you Motorola!

Comments about Motorola MOTOACTV GPS Fitness Monitor and Smart Music Player - 8GB:

I got a garmin gps watch but i have to returned because it was way complicated for me to understand it. The MOTOACTVS GPS is so easy to use it..storing music in the same watch is amazing...I recomended a 100% to buy it.