I have been extensively using the Garmin Foretrex 201 associated with Anquet digital maps for 18 months and am very happy with the result. Any specific question, just ask, I'll do my best to help.

I'm poised to make a move on one of these devices but really need to know which ones can display your current position as an OS Grif Ref. For our sport it seems difficult choice between the Forerunner 301 and 305. (I guess there'll be a Foretrex 3 series with Sirf ?). Garfield

My Forerunner made the route about 65miles as well. Also when a couple of miles from the finish another walker stated that her GPS was already showing more than 62miles. How far did other people find the route to be?

I made the Dorset Giant just under 65 miles. Usually I find my GPSr gives a lower figure than the official one, so I'm inclined to believe it.

Interesting point, but our wrist GPS showed a total mileage of 40.2 miles when we recently did the Oxon 40 which I thought was very good, and also matched the mileage at different points listed on the route description, however on the Dorset Giant it was showing that the checkpoints were half a mile out - not sure which was correct - the route description or the GPS?

Silly question perhaps, but does the Forerunner 101 give OS Grid Ref display? I could have really done with that on Marshalls 100. I used my GPS12 brick for the night section, but it would have been good to bale to check my position at any time during the event. Garfield

Ah, Rebecca, you've joined the techy walkers' world. But I must agree, a gps is great fun, besides being useful.

Ian
<i>it would depend on things such as strength of signal (accuracy) and how frequently position was recorded as to if this would be affected by arm movement?</i> One would think that accuracy would balance out statistically. Frequency of signal - I think I read somewhere it was every second on my GPSMap 60cx. You could have a dig here:

http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/lofiversion/index.php?f11-900.html
This is the stripped down version: for pretty colours etc click on the title at the top.

It is very interesting but it's easy to get distracted, so don't forget the Giant is on Saturday.

For a definitive answer, I reckon we'll have to wait for John E K to present his empirical evidence.

Elton, this is an interesting point as I wondered if this was the case last year doing the Trailwalker. My etrek showed a total of 67 miles although I was assured that it was only a 62 mile route! As I wanted to keep an eye on the signal strength and battery life I was carrying this in my hand for the majority of the walk. I suppose it would depend on things such as strength of signal (accuracy) and how frequently position was recorded as to if this would be affected by arm movement?

Just an update on the garmin forerunner 101 - brilliant tool and love seeing how far i've gone, but make sure you buy good quality batteries. I bought a load of cheap batteries from our local pound shop and found they barley last 4 hours in the garmin compared to 12 hours life with duracel. Just be warned!!

bear with me elton i will make the comparison

John, I'd be interested how the mileages recorded on the Foretrex and the Etrex compare when you use them on the same walk/run. I did a 20 mile walk last year with someone with a Fortrex, and when my GPSmap was showing 15 miles, his Foretrex was showing 17 miles. When I compare my recorded distances with the distances measured from a map plot, the GPSMap distance is the same to within a few percent. I wonder if the arm motion results in more distance being clocked up on the wrist GPSrs. Surely Garmin would have taken that in account in their software?!

Yep only chargeble but ok for 10 plus hours i have used mine on the fellsman ect but for longer runs/walks i use my etrex venture cx switch it on sling it in the sac switch it off at finish download it to pc, virtually all the info i get from the forerunner + plus the batteries last longer and are replaceable, and should my compass fail i have backup.

Never had an issue with signal loss.

The 201 is only rechargeable.

PDAs have best screen size (unless you carry a laptop), but have robustness, waterproofness and battery life problems.

I would not consider any GPSr without a SiRFStarIII chipset. A GPSr which keeps losing its signal fails in its primary function.

http://gpstracklog.typepad.com/gps_tracklog/2006/03/sirfstariii_why.html

This link also has specs on different GRSrs

But isn't the 201 only rechargeable or does it take batteries. The biggest problem for me is the fact I love my overnight walks so need something where I can change them en route - obviously a rechargable unit would only be good for a 30 - 40 miler max?

For a few more quid the Garmin 201 will enable you to Download your routes, times etc to a pc, and digital mapping on the pc

Thus giving you a permanent record of when, how long and where.

John

Hmmm, been reading all these postings keenly. I have the "black brick" GPS12, which is really good, but a bit old and featureless by modern standards. I'll be doing the Marshall's 100 and aim to print tracklogs maps and use those, putting checkpoints and key navigational spots into my GPS12, but only using it if lost !

I'd be very interested to hear what other 100-entrants are planning to do.

Garfield

I have just sold my garmin etrex and are using a Mio P550 Digiwalker PDA. Bigger Screen and can do far more.
Displays all Memory Map OS Maps available for the whole country on shareware sites FREE!
Sirf III GPS Onboard.
I have an external battery pack 5500 Mah from GPS For Less for longer life when needed.
Just another option!

Elton thanks for the link it is an excellent gear test comparing the two Gps receivers and an amazing comparison between the strengths of signal. I am not doubting that GPS systems have moved on since I bought my etrex about 6 years ago. However without a few hundred quid to spare at the moment, and having to convince my other half that I need a new gadget, I'll have to stick with what I have got for the time being.

But back to the original subject, as a training aid I think the wrist GPS is a very useful bit of kit for the sake of £60.

Gary, the new GPSmaps use a quad helix receiving antenna, which is far more sensitive than the old patch antenna. They pick up a signal indoors, let alone under tree cover. Good review here, carried out with Teutonic thoroughness.

http://patrick-roeder.de/reviews/garmin_gpsmap_60CSx.htm

I agree with what Elton has said, my Garmin etrex shares a lot of these features and they are great at what they do. The main reason for me getting a wrist GPS was that when I have used the etrex for long walks it gets a pain carrying it in your hand for any length of time. If you were to put it in your pocket there's no way of ensuring that it hasn't lost it's signal or batteries have died since the last time you looked at it, therefore going without data. I not saying the etrex is now redundant as it is still a great tool for navigation but the 101 is great as a training aid/pace maker as it is easy to glance at your progress and still having both hands free. Well worth £60!

Thanks for the info Elton, I think what I am going to have to do is buy 2 - a wrist variety for when I run (I'm a runner as well) and maybe the handheld variety for walking.there doesn't appear to be the perfect GPS out there that is good for both running and with the detail needed for walking.

I have decided to follow advice and buy a 101 for distance recording as the batteries can be changed, and I'll look at the hand held you've suggested as well. Good job I'm doing all this overtime at work!

Hi Rebecca
<i>with only a 10 hour battery life, this would be no good for the 100 unless i am feeling particularly zippy</i> Quite!

I use a Garmin GPSMap60Cx, a handheld GPSr. I’ve seen wrist GPSrs, but the screens are much smaller, and you can’t download maps for use on the walk. I think a handheld is better and more fun for walkers, as you can download maps and the screen is bigger. It weights just over 200g, less that 3 1:50K OS maps. Details here:

http://www.garmin.com/outdoor/products.html

The GPSMap60 range has a 38 x 56mm screen, with 5 basic pages (and more if you want them). The satellite page, showing the satellites the GPSr is picking up and their signal strengths; the map page for maps you have downloaded onto your removable micro SD card (I have most of Britain on a 1gB card); a trip computer page for displaying, well just about everything: current speed, moving average speed, overall average speed, maximum speed, odometer, stopped time, total time, time of day, sunrise, sunset, time to destination, just about anything you could think of (and most of it irrelevant for walking); compass page (I prefer to trust my Silva); then a main menu page with icons: setup (units, map datum etc): tracks (on or off, track setup, percentage track memory used); sun/moon (sun rise, sunset, moon rise, moon set), and many others. Like most of these high tech gadgets, only 5% of the facilities is used, but that 5% is very useful. You can display the maps in a range of scales from about 1:1000, to the whole of Europe on the screen.

I have Mapsource TopoGB loaded, which is equivalent to the OS 1:50K maps, though not as detailed (doesn’t show all the paths the OS maps show) in some ways, but more in others (street names). It is also routable so you can use it in the car.

Before an event, I plot the route on OS maps (Anquet or Memorymap), then download the route to the GPSr. (Note that you cannot download Anquet or Memorymap maps to the GPSr. The only maps it will take are Garmin (Mapsource) maps.) I find that having the route on the GPSr doesn’t stop me getting lost (it is still just a map, though with bells and whistles, and the written route description is still the definitive guide), but it does show me if I have missed a turn or taken a wrong one.

It takes 2 AA batteries and they last about 18 hours on battery saver mode. If you are recording a track as you walk, you don't lose it if you have to change batteries halfway through an event. I use AA batteries in my headlamp, so my spare batteries are interchangeable.

Thanks - yes, let me know what happens - if it stores the info during a battery change then thats just what I'm looking for.

The 101 takes 2 x AAA batteries so no problem carrying spares. I've read that batteries last anything between 10 and 15 hours. I was also wondering the same thing, whether it continues where you left off when you change batteries. I would imagine that it does as it stores all the data automatically when you complete a training session, I'll find out on mine and let you know.

how long do the batteries last on the 101 - I know they are rechargeable but presumably you could have a spare battery for the longer walks but would it then lose the info as regards to how far you have got? i am also in the market to buy a GPS and would prefer the wrist variety and have been tempted by the 205, but with only a 10 hour battery life, this would be no good for the 100 unless i am feeling particularly zippy, and as you have to plud the whole watch in to recharge it there doesn't appear to be the option of carrying a spare battery. Any suggestions?

Have gone for the Forerunner 101 (Amazon £60) as didn't have the "few more pennies" lying around for the Forerunner 205 for £150 - thats £90 worth of pennies! Tried it out on a couple of walks/runs at the weekend and found it to be brilliant. Just set the virtual partner at the pace and distance that you want to achieve and you can follow your progress at any time. No more estimating times and distances, and calculating on the move. Didn't lose signal once but early days.

Also collects all the data together to see total distances, times, average pace etc etc.

This will be perfect for the 100 - set it at 100 miles and your target time and chase the little virtual bloke!!

Much, much better than the garmin software is SportsTracks - free and legal from

http://www.zonefivesoftware.com/SportTracks/

Map, splits, pace, elevation etc, etc.

Can export the *.gpx file to MayMyRun (share from there) and upload to Google Earth for a 3D view of where you have been, fantastic.

Have a look at http://www.mapmyrun.com/user_routes.php?u=712775bacd00b61567ca8eeb605853c8

Once the route is loaded look for the 3D view button and send the route to Google Earth

If you are considering getting one as a training/running aid, spend a few more pennies and get the Forerunner 205.

I have been using this for the last 6 weeks and is an excellent piece of kit. What makes it better than the Forerunner 101 is the 'Sirf III' chipset which is very sensitive and will not lose it's satellite fix, even under heavy tree cover. This has been a particulat gripe with the 101.

Coupled with the Garmin Training Centre software, you can easily see hor far and how fast you have been - or not, as the case may be.

hi
i have the forerunner 101 and the foretrex 201. the forerunner is fine for judging pace with an alarm every mile telling you how fast you have gone (usually not fast enough!)

the foretrex is excellent too with a good battery and interface with memory map is a great nav aid.

between the two there is every thing i need.

I have a Garmin eTrek GPS which is very useful for navigation but am considering buying a Garmin Forerunner 101 as a training aid/pacemaker. I have read a few mixed reviews on this item so far but would like some more feedback from anyone who has used one of these.