This product is also available trough the Athlosoft Online Shop, prices starting from 99€. For runners there is a package containing the Athlosoft Software (I tried and it seems very reliable), a arm strap and the Zephyr Heart Rate Monitor (all for 139€). For 299€ you get a bundle also containing the software, a bike mount (instead of the armbelt), and the athlosoft ERGOCAD Sensor (measures cadence, speed, etc, without using the gps port).
For now I've order only the Zephyr HxM, wich I'll use with the Run.GPS (because of the online maps feature!)
also another point I forgot, is that garmin 305/405 is limited to 3.5 hours of recording when set to record every seconds.
that's aslo one the big reason why I went the "run.gps" route.
there is also the smart recording but still....
indeed I would have prefered a price around 50-70 euros max, but it might comes down the line, in 2-3 years as the Zephyr is quite new and the likes of garmin are already well established.
in my case I don't use the portal, I prefer to analyse my data on my PC with "sporttracks" (free), and actually in that case you can have a separate cheap watch which record your hrm during the training while "run.gps" monitor the path.
later on, you can merge the hrm file and gpx or csv file from "run.gps" into Sporttracks. Sporttracks allows you to do that. So for people having ,for instance, already a polar watch, using "Sporttracks" , you can merge both data for analysis. But I don't think that there is cheap watch which record the hrm, usually the cheaper one only display on the fly values and store the average.
Ofcourse, it all depends on the usage, but for me, and probably a lot of others, it's about having a training buddy keeping track of distance and speed in known training areas, where no map is needed. I am aware that Run.GPS could be a lot more, but I only use the functions mentioned, plus gps-sport.net which is also great, and for the price it's really good. The only thing I miss is the HRM function, and that's what pushes the price up in the GPS watch area and makes the choice harder. If there was a reasonably priced HRM available with Run.GPS, this solution would be -the- choice for anyone with a Windows based phone or PDA, independent on how much functionality you'd need over speed/distance/HR.
I understand but Run-gps+HRM must be compared to GARMIN 705
you are not wrong, lately the GARMIN 305 price has dropped and indeed the combo RUN.GPS+HRM is quite close in price. If indeed the functionality of the 305 is enough for you then go for it.
Although given the mapping capabilities of "Run.GPS", I believe it should be more compared to the Garmin 705. Also personally I prefer the flexibility of "Run.Gps". But if you don't care much about those aspects then go for the garmin 305 edge (or forerunner).
06.03.2009 07:48:35 UTCgeändert am 06.03.2009 07:59:33 UTC
I have no idea if it stores every second and I frankly don't care if it does or not, the main thing is that it does exactly what I need, for just about the same as the HxM with shipping, and with less weight and size compared to my phone. The Garmin 305s with HRM band range from about $150 to $190 including shipping on Ebay. Or the Globalsat 615 with HRM band for about $130. The 615 stores 60.000 tracking points, and you configure how often it stores data, which means you can probably store every second (if thats important to you) for at least 16 hours.
When taking the Run.GPS software cost as well into account (I have no complaints on the software price!), the complete package costs more because of the high price on the Zephyr. Also taking into account the lower size and weight of a watch compared to a phone or PDA, I unfortunately can't see any reason to choose the Run.GPS-Zephyr solution compared to a watch solution.
I am not saying this because there's a lot of difference, but the price does matter when you aren't quite sure what solution to get. I have already bought the Run.GPS software (which is really good), but I regret it because of the high price to get the HRM option.