Garmin Forerunner 405 review

I've been using a Garmin Forerunner 405 for about 18 months for trail running and other activities. It's not perfect, but I've been satisfied overall. I recently posted a review on the website of the Adirondack Explorer newsmagazine. Click the link below to read it. I'd like to know if others share my experiences/opinions.

http://adirondackexplorer.org/out-takes/2010/12/22/gear-review-garmin-forerunner-405/

A year ago I bought the Garmin 310XT. It's similar to the 405 - worn like a watch on the wrist but square-ish shaped. I LOVE it -- so much so that I ended up getting another one so my wife and I could have our own. I found elevation stats to be accurate enough for my purposes. Knowing my current pace, distance covered, approximate elevation gain, etc, at a glance while I'm running is very valuable in learning how to pace myself on trails or in a race. Equally good is having the ability to upload the route to Garmin.com and overlay the route on top of a topgraphic map and analyze stats and see exactly where my route goes. I've always loved topo maps so a GPS tool like this is a dream.

I could be wrong, but it seems like the Garmin watch-style products have similar functionality at the core. The thing that sold me on the 310XT is the *battery life* -- it lasts 20 hours! The others typically have an 8 hour active battery life. That's a big consideration for longer training runs or hikes (or if you tend to forget to recharge on occasion - the battery will likely still have enough juice for an average run). Also it is waterproof to 50m. "Water resistant" just doesn't cut it in my opinion, for an expensive gadget like this used outdoors. It also has a slightly larger display. And I like using buttons instead of a touch-bezel (on some models) that can be hard or impossible to operate with wet fingers or gloves.

Thanks for the reviews guys, I was torn between the Garmin and the Timex Global Trainer. I ended up buying the Timex and while I have no regrets the one thing it lacks in is battery oomph (about 15hrs compared to the Garmin's 20hrs). Gotta work out how I can get around that problem for my first 100 miler ?! Another point to consider is the size - it's quite literally HUGE. Probably comes down to cost, functions and ease of use.