I have owned a Garmin Forerunner 405 GPS watch since December 2009. The long and the short is that I have had nothing but misery from it - I replaced it several times when it was under warranty, and every replacement has had the same reliability issues as its predecessors. I simply have no faith that the Garmin will work when I take it out for a run. I wanted to replace it for a long time, but did not want to give Garmin any more money after the last lemon I purchased from them.
Recently Nike came out with its Nike+ GPS watch, powered by TomTom. I didn't really NEED a new GPS watch - it's not like I'm still in marathon training - but I do like being able to run with one when I am shooting for specific mileage but don't want to be tied to a specific course. Thus, I splurged, and bought myself an early birthday present.
The Nike+ arrived yesterday, and I ran with it for the first time today. It took a little while to find its satellite on this cloudy morning, but that's an issue I'd have with the Garmin or any other GPS watch. Once I got going, it kept an accurate distance read on a known course. It is easy to wear, and its buttons are much easier to use than the Forerunner's bevels.
Will this be the perfect GPS watch? Only time will tell. But considering my feelings about the Garmin, my thought is that I can only be happier with this in comparison.
Well it sounds like you've had your share of bad GPS watches...hope that this one does the work and you don't have to replace it! I am going to try to start running on Monday...wish me luck!
Thanks Kerri :)
Best of luck Isis!
We're in a good neighborhood for running :)