Darn! I’m sure there must be a thread about this topic but couldn’t find it so here we go.
I was interested in buying this:
and wondered if anyone has this or an equivalent. What interests me is the price as well as the features. Also I wondered if there were any alternative makes / models anyone can recommend. I am not interested in the more expensive versions, preferring something basic that offers simply speed, distance and time. Am I correct in saying there may be a personal health and safety issue with RF frequency from devices like this?
Don’t know how it compares price-wise but I use the Garmin 405 watch.
I much prefer a GPS watch to a handle bar mounted unit. The watch is with you on whatever uni you’re riding, walking etc, no mounting hassles, less risk of getting wrecked in crashes, it supports wireless heart rate and other stuff, transfers automatically when you get home to your desktop GPS app and online. I use it for work too, to map delivery routes.
The 405 isn’t anywhere near as bulky as earlier wearable GPS, so if needed you can wear it as a day to day watch.
Phone GPS would be cool though as some other guys have posted - having all photos taken with the phone etc automatically placed on your route, that is handy.
I use a slightly-less-fancy Holux M-241 that I bought about 9 months ago after extensive research of different loggers available at the time. It does what I want it to do very well, but each person’s needs may be different. The positives for me are single AA for power, it does logging and USB transfers to computer, connects via bluetooth to tell my Treo680 the current location, it has a small LCD screen for config/distance/speed readouts, and it’s pretty darn cheap especially for the feature list.
I use a free GPS download/processing/converting software called BT747 to do my downloading and processing, and it works like a charm. It can even change settings on the GPS that are inaccessible through the settings menus on the machine itself, such as log intervals of less than 1s, or writing additional info to the internal log.
Also I’ve been uploading most of my recent rides to EveryTrail, a website for sharing your GPS tracks and displaying stats… but various similar sites exist, and some GPSes or phone logging software include memberships to more exclusive (but presumably similar-or-better-featured) exercise tracking sites.
The biggest negative I’ve experienced so far is that the device isn’t fall-on-your-back-and-somersault-over-a-rock-garden-when-the-GPS-is-in-your-outermost-Camelbak-pocket-unpadded–proof. I’m actually on my second of these, now
billnye
John M
P.S., lunicycle:
The photo-to-location or “geotagging” feature is available after-the-fact in software as well, by syncronizing the timestamp on the photo with time/location of the GPS track you’ve recorded. Nifty stuff, but I don’t take much in the way of photography.
I’m using my android phone w/ a google app called My Tracks. I’m pretty sure you can get it for several other platforms as well. On the g1 it seems to be pretty accurate and reliable. You can upload your maps to google, and it will give you tons of ride data and an elevation profile
I used to use a basic GPS receiver and a Windows Mobile phone running Memory Map. That works pretty well, and has the advantage of containing OS maps of where I am.
These days, however, I use the T-Mobile G1 (Android based) mobile phone. It’s got built in GPS, and Google Maps, and, as OneWheeLless says, My Tracks. It really is simple to use, contains loads of data, and can very simply be uploaded and shared if you want. If your mobile contract is due to be renewed in the next few months, I would seriously consider a Google/Android phone.
I joined the GPS crowd with budget purchase of the Holux data logger. Actually its turning out very good 'cos it does what it says on the box and its basic enough (for me) to effectively use. For £50 it seems to represent good value. I found it useful that the mounting straps are wide enough to be placed either side of the T7 handle tubing. So it can be mounted in the middle of the handle as in the photo. Kinda gives it a bit of protection from UPD’s
