Quote Originally Posted by e.e.cummings View Post
I am getting a lot of feedback about the Garmin from friends who love them. Regarding the on/off, my friend has the 305 Forerunner and says that they 405 has an auto on/off, that it only captures data when you are moving. I am just learning about all of these things now, I don't have enough knowledge to argue him on this (but I bet all of you do!) Right now I am on a very steep learning curve.

Also, do you think it is okay to order these on-line? I am having a challenge finding local bike shops that are carrying a decent selection right now. Have taken to calling ahead because it can be a long way to drive only to find out that they only have the basic computer that he already has or nothing at all.
Garmin always captures heart rate, even when you are standing still. The Auto-pause feature is so that the Garmin doesn't calculate in extremely low/no speeds into your average mph. For example, if you walk your bike across some sort of obstacle at 1 mph, if you have Auto-pause set at 1 mph, the Garmin will stop calculating during that time. But it will still show your heart rate.