Anyone have the Forerunner 910xt?

[salsabike]

And if so, do you like it?

[GLC1968]

Yes, and yes.

My sneaky husband ordered one last October as a Christmas present for me. When we found out they'd be delayed, I told him to get it for me as a birthday present instead (in Feb). When I asked if he'd actually placed an order, he said 'no, why?', so I assumed I wouldn't see one until I ordered it myself once they caught up with all the orders.

He surprised me on my birthday. He HAD ordered it last fall and it arrived in January!

Anyway, for running, it's very similar to my old Forerunner 305 except that it's smaller on my wrist and it picks up the satellites much faster. Buttons are in the same place and data is similar. I do like the the vibration feature for laps though - as I often can't hear the beep due to traffic.

For swimming, it totally rocks. I just slapped it on, told it I was swimming in a yard pool and then hit the lap button after each 'set'. It knew how long each set was (100y, 500y etc), it got my stroke count right and total lap count was spot on. When I downloaded the data, I was stunned at how much information it had collected! I cannot wait to try it in open water. I also liked that the display was large enough for me to read it (without my reading glasses). My timex display was too small for that and my pool does not have a big clock.

I haven't used it biking yet because my plan was to use it with the power tap I bought but that particular wheel still needs a tire. Unfortunately, I broke my foot two days ago, so it may be a long while before I get to give it a shot on the bike!

Oh, and I haven't even used the HR strap with it either as I tend to not look at HR data much these days.

[salsabike]

You broke your foot! I am so sorry. You mean, like a stress fracture, or more than that? Bleah.

Thanks for the info. My 305 is starting to poop out and I've been pondering. The 910xt sounds like fun. I often can't hear the lap beep either so would like to have the vibration, and the swim info sounds cool.

[GLC1968]

You broke your foot! I am so sorry. You mean, like a stress fracture, or more than that? Bleah.

Thanks for the info. My 305 is starting to poop out and I've been pondering. The 910xt sounds like fun. I often can't hear the lap beep either so would like to have the vibration, and the swim info sounds cool.

Unfortunately, a true break! I'm hoping I heal quickly...but I'm not as young as I used to be so we'll see. ;)

[OakLeaf]

If you do a lot of pool swimming and/or you really want the barometric altimeter, the 910XT is a great choice.

But if neither of the above, you ought to be able to pick up a NOS 310XT relatively cheaply.

[salsabike]

Thanks, you two. I do do a lot of pool swimming and I do want the barometric altimeter. I back ordered it from REI. Just couldn't resist.

GLC, I wish for you to heal well.

[hulagirl]

Note that the pace for run is NOT accurate and very broken. They have issued a software update about 2 weeks ago that was supposed to address it, but it did not. They say to just use "average pace" and well, yeah...no.

There are still issues with some auto shut-offs in bike mode and power meter drop outs.

It's a $500 swim watch for me right now. Sigh. I use my 310 for the bike and run and the 910 for the swim. Super bummed that it was rushed to market.

An example of the pace issue is that every second the pace will jump anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. If I do a workout with a target pace the watch will yell at me nonstop to speed up, slowdown, speed up, slow down. I am never in the target zone due to the jumpiness of the watch. If I wear my 310 and 910 the 910 will jump from 10:30, 11:20, 8:47, 9:50, 9:00, 13:10, 11:10, 9:20 (every second!!!!). And my 310 will just show 11:10, 11:11, 11:09, 11:10. It's horribly frustrating.

[OakLeaf]

Real time GPS speed/pace is never going to be that accurate with any computer. The best they can do is improve the algorithm. Just like a bike computer needs a wheel sensor to give accurate speed, a running computer needs a footpod.

But, given the difference with your 310, is it possible the 910 is accidentally set to the wrong source?

[GLC1968]

Oak - it's a known problem with the 910 specifically. Mine does the same thing. My husband and I would run together, me wearing my 910 and him wearing the 305 and his pace was reading steady (reasonably) and mine would jump around wildly even though we were side by side.

I hope they resolve it, but I've been using avg lap pace for my own needs right now. Well, before I stopped being able to run at all, anyway. ;)

[Susan Otcenas]

I have the 910 and generally like it. I too have noticed that the pace jumps around wildly. But the average pace data at the end seems accurate. Right now, I'm doing my training by heartrate and not pace, so it's not as critical for me that the instantaneous read of pace be accurate. I'll care more about that later when race season starts, so I hope there's a firmware update soon.

Otherwise, I love the 910. The swim data is unfrickin' believable. The only thing it *doesn't* know is your pace/distance on kick sets indoors, since you aren't moving your arms. Other than that, I've only had it lose 25 yards once or twice on an interval. I think it uses an accelerometer of some sort to figure out when you've turned, and since my turns totally suck, it probably didn't sense it. ;)

Unfortunately, the Garmin Connect website does not allow you to edit the workout info, so the history on the website is wrong. I suppose one could download the file to .csv, edit and then re-upload, but that would be a PITA. I download the file as a .tcx and upload it into the coaching software my coach uses. That software lets me edit the file for distance, etc, though it doesn't use all the cool data like the swolf scores, etc.

I'm really looking forward to using the unit for open water swim training. I probably don't go nearly as far as I think I do when I'm out at the lake... It will also be interesting to see how crookedly I swim in open water!

[salsabike]

Swim data sounds COOL. And I think I will try a foot pod, since I DO like to use pace to try to do certain things ("do this halfmile at x pace, then drop that pace by 15-30 secs.", etc.).

Thanks for all the info, folks.

[GLC1968]

I also have a foot pod, but I haven't paired it with my 910xt yet. It worked great with my 305 though. Provided fun data and I loved using it to gauge how far off my treadmill was, too. ;)

[Susan Otcenas]

BTW - I discovered that there was a firmware update at the end of Feb. If your 910XT isn't running version 2.4, you should go to Garmin and download it. I just did this yesterday. Today's my rest day, so I'll test update tomorrow.

[Susan Otcenas]

Did 8.3 miles this morning with the new firmware update. The crazy gyrations of the pace calculation seems to be significantly reduced.