Review on Garmin Forerunner 235: Black/Gray GPS Running Watch - Ultimate Fitness Companion by Tyler Dorsey

It's surprising that many of the reviews of the 235 here were written by people who wanted a 'fitness tracker' for themselves. I always have the Forerunner as a tool considered for runners so I just find it odd that so many people would want to use it as their everyday watch. Nothing wrong with that except that their ratings are meaningless to the serious runner. To set the context, here's an overview from perspective from someone who runs a lot and is quite competitive at an age group level.I have been using Garmin Forerunners from 205 to 305 to 310XT for 6-7 years.I was pleased with the 235 not so much for the HRM without a chest strap but for the simplicity Form factors made me dizzy at the thought that I would finally have a Forerunner that didn't feel like a brick on my wrist feels. I was also excited at the prospect of having a device that didn't take a full minute and a half to acquire satellites at the beginning of a launch. I'm definitely happy with the form factor --- compared to my 310XT. , the 235 is remarkably light and unobtrusive. And it catches satellites really, really fast. More than that. I'm not satisfied. My biggest gripe (which I'm surprised there are so few complaints about on various online forums) is the Current Tempo feature. In the 235 it's bloody horrible - terribly inaccurate and slow adjustment! Based on my experience with previous Forerunner models where this feature all seemed to be frozen, I had no reason to expect such bad things. Why did Garmin take back this opportunity? -Marathons with the occasional full marathon thrown in from time to time I need a fairly basic set of features from my running GPS: time, distance, current pace, average pace and lap skills. That's all I'm asking --- but these functions should work perfectly. It seems to me that Garmin has compromised the Forerunner's key features in order to cram all sorts of ridiculous, useless bells and whistles into the 235 (and other high-end models). You need to go back to basics and create a model that caters to serious runners. To hell with Bluetooth pairing, step counting, calories burned, "Your phone is ringing!" notifications, etc. etc. I need a running tool, not a PDA! Current pace is absolutely essential for any serious runner trying to hit a specific race time. You should be able to set and maintain a fairly steady pace to reach your desired finish time, and adjust that pace as circumstances warrant. I find 235 unreliable for this purpose. It shows a tempo that I know is inaccurate and takes too long to set. It's also preprogrammed to only display the tempo in 5-second increments, and seems to insist on "pressing" each of those increments in the process of adjusting the displayed tempo. For example, if I suddenly increase my pace from, say, 8:30 a mile to 8:00 a mile, the pace reading doesn't change directly from "8:30" to "8:00". he will work hard from 8:30 to 8:25, then from 8:20 to 8:15, then from 8:10 to 8:05, before finally reaching 8:00 after 25 seconds of running. USELESS! That said, the wrist-based HRM, while a little entertaining, is also unreliable. I had no false expectations of the accuracy of this relatively new technology, and figured that as long as it's accurate, it really doesn't matter. However, if HRM just decides to quit running altogether like they did last weekend, how useful is that? This seemed completely random when HRM subsequently decided to go back to work for the next run. But if you can't count on it, what's the point? Another annoyance: it seems impossible to view the current data when the activity is paused; You get stuck on a screen asking if you want to "continue" or "save" the action. If I get stuck at a traffic light while jogging, I want to be able to pause the device and then check the current data. That's not an option here. annoyed! All in all, 235 just made me grumpy. Now I'm seriously considering replacing it with the new old standard 910XT now that they're cheaper. Of course, I'll fall behind in terms of clunkiness and also completely lose the convenience of an HRM on my wrist, but none of those things mean half as much to me as the Precise Current Pace feature. Garmin please Build a model that eliminates the silly tech bells and whistles and focuses on perfecting the basics for runners.