Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Overall, I like this GPS watch. I'm a petite frame of 5' but I am muscular so although the watch is bulky, it's not so colossal that it exceeds the big bulky trend of watches right now, although it is larger than I would prefer... but then again, all GPS watches that have the functions I want are much larger in general. After looking at several brands such as Soleus (which is much more affordable but basic) or Nike (which has a nicer look, more mainstream and trendy, but didn't have the options I wanted), I settled on a couple different models of Garmin because I preferred because of the display of my pace and the options of different information displayed. I was drawn to the Garrmin 110 because of it's sleeker dismensions but upon doing some research I found in reviews that that it did not do well with water... I'm a swimmer by trader, so that left me with the Garmin 10 vs. the 15. Both had heart monitor capabilities, but the deciding factor was that the 15 has an activity monitor built into it (like the fitbit or jaws) and I'm a tech geek by nature. After it arrived, I charged it with the cradle it it snaps into (and plugs to my computer) and it was pretty intuitive. It starts with a few personal questions and the rest I customized later after I did my first run and played with the Garmin online "Connect" which let me review my information. General Information: - Main screen with display time and then across the bottom you can scroll through: Date/ month, (and if you put the fitness tracker on) steps, goal (which changes depending on your general activity level), miles, and calories -can scroll through and look at history, set your run options and personal settings Pros: - comfortable and I like the teal option (however note that I'm biased because it's my favorite color) -relatively small face (well... compared to other GPS watches) with the display options I wanted (Options include: pace/ distance, pace/ calories, distance/ calories, time/distance, time/pace, time/ calories) -water resistant up to 50 m ( took my kids to Soak city all day and showered in it- no problem) -Longer battery time-8 hours training on garmin 15 versus the 5 hours on the Garmin 10, but will go around 8 weeks in fitness tracker mode. (This was one of the bigger reasons I leaned toward Garmin 15) -backlight available -If you've been sitting/not moving for an extending period of time it will beep and give a "move!" prompt- For someone looking for a fitness tracker it might be desirable trait. -has a run/walk options so if your training include a timed pace of running and then walking, you can pre-set these onto your watch and an alarm will sound during these pacing intervals. -has a virtual pacer which you can set to help maintain a certain run pace -compatible with a food pod (Garmin 10 does not have this capability) -has autopause (which is important to me since I get stuck at lights... often :) -you can set maximum and minimum heart alarms although I have not ventured to use my heart monitor with this yet -will notify of every mile (calls it a lap) -Garmin 15 will sync with the popular app "My fitness pal" on the online interface "Connect" Cons: -Still bigger than some of the other models out there, but I couldn't find a GPS watch with the display options I wanted that were any smaller. The closest I found want watch that linked to the GPS of my phone (which is why I wanted a watch in the first place because 15 mi. plus my phone is basically dead). It makes sense why those watches could be so much smaller- blue tooth linke to the GPS on the smartphone. - There is a timer option that appears but I found it by accident (admittedly I don't pour through the manuals so it is probably in there but I did notice it in my brief skim through). If your press the GPS button, and choose the button/option to not use it- then the timer will appear -battery is rechargable but you have connect the cradle which is not always feasible. I would not be able to use this in a long camping trip unless I bought some sort of solar recharging device. -the "Connect" online interface with Garmin is interesting but not terribly user friendly. Also, I found that when I attempted to sign on with my ipad that I cannot sign onto mygarmin.com and see the "dashboard" which is the section that contains all my information and splits. It states that it does not supports the Garmin communicator plugin on my tablet (ipad) I would have to be on my desktop in order for me to view my information. -If you work in a professional setting with a particular dress code, you may not be able to get away with wearing this more cumbersome watch... hence the vivofit, fitbit, or jaws would be more discreet. -Does not monitor sleep patterns The price is the same just about everywhere, and I would have bought my Garmin 15 from Amazon because their customer service is spectacular but I decided to purchase it for the same price at REI ( I bought the bundle which means it includes the heart rate monitor strap) which my dividend. Also, I added a photo of the watch on my wrist so you could see how large it is. Update: I've had this watch for several weeks now and I definitely love it. It is much more accurate than mapmyrun (which is great because my phone doesn't drain on my long runs now) and the automatic pause feature is amazing as my long runs are more accurately tracked through many stop lights amd child drama (I run with kids in a bob). The thing I most wanted to update (which I found purely but accident as I happened to log in food to myfitness pal) is there is an interactive app for Garmin direct! I followed the link from my fitness pal and was able to download the app and access my run information on my app. What's even better is that intially in my first two weeks of having the app, for what ever reason myfitnesspal wasn't syncing with my dashboard (Garmin connect on my computer) but now that I have the app on my phone and ipad it, my runs show up on myfitness pal and whatever cross training I enter as well as my calories entered now actually show up on my dashboard and calculate correctly. It's awesome! I now appreciate the online Garmin so much more because I can track approximate calories (I don't wear the heart monitor so it's all approximate), as well as calories exerted while running and crosstraining :) Also, the app allows me to customize my dashboard and the features I wanted present (just like online). The only drawback is the I still have to snap my watch into the cradle to download, but I am aware that some of the higher models of Garmin do have a bluetooth syncing function... Happy with mine, I can deal with down loading every day/few days.