GPS

Midlifecrisis wrote: Has anyone tried the Suunto Ambit for paddling ?

There was a review in the SA Paddler Vol 9#3. It came out quite well

After my experience with Suunto before getting my Garmin I'll never touch another one, crapped out after two months, ended up being sent to Finland, 3 months later they said the strap was dirty, WTF? It was only used in water and rinsed after every paddle. I demanded and eventually got my money back from the retailer after lots of being mucked around. Wasn't the Ambit, just a HR monitor, but put me off
Suunto for life.

was looking at suunto to replace my now very old 305. the first 2 garmins i owned failed miserably but have had reasonable luck with this last one have had to replace one hr/strap in 2 yrs. Be interested if the consensus is suunto is not quite up to it (like the early garmins)

I have been using a suunto ambit for about 2 months. I use it cycling or paddling most days. I previously had a garmin 305 that filled with water and a 310xt that wouldn't charge after about 2 yrs. I did contact garmin about the 310 but they said it was going to cost me $179 for a refurbished one if I sent it in to them as it was out of warranty.

At the same time as the Garmin died my weekend watch also stopped working so I looked at an Ambit to use as a watch and GPS. I found an aussie online seller selling for $200 off RRP.

The ambit is big but can easily be worn as a watch although i wouldn't wear it to work. It functions well and the HR function is excellent. Setting up the screens and making adjustments is done easily although most settings are changed on the computer. Those settings are then transferred to the unit when it is next connected via a cable. I find the gps functions much more user friendly than the 310xt and it is easy to scroll through different preset fields whilst in use. GPS connections seem quick and accurate and the kids have used it for geocaching successfully.

The firmware is constantly being updated. Currently there is no auto-pause but there is talk about it coming in a future update. The lack of auto-pause and the fact it has a wired connection (and the price difference I guess) are the only downsides that I can see when comparing to the 310XT. Personally I don't find the wired connection a problem as I found the Garmin Ant to be a bit unreliable at times plus both units need to be wired to be charged anyway.

I would recommend it especially if you want to use it as a watch as well. I certainly wouldn't be wearing a 310 as a watch.

As far as bike mounts go I use a cut off piece of a kid's swimming noodle which works fine if the top is flattened off. You can get about 50 bike mounts from a $2 noodle

So I gather it is not waterproof if it requires a cable connection?

Definitely waterproof, the cable connector is a smaller 4 pin version of the 310 style 2 pin connector. The specs say water resistant to 100m.

I have a Nike GPS Sportswatch , water proof rated to 5 atm , most of the others are only IPX7, not really up to being immersed in water.
It has nice big numbers to read and I have it mounted by my feet , software although aimed at runners works fine.
It also is small enough to wear as an ordinary watch, and it only cost $199.
Worth a look.

No heart rate monitor though that I can see? Surely anyone training for ski racing is going to need that function.

Yes it has a heart rate monitor as an option, although I dont use one ,much better to tune into your own body rather than having a machine tell you when to slow up or what ever.

I think I read the Nike uses a polar HRM. I also read it doesn't read in speed in kph only pace ie minutes per k. Has this changed cos at $90 a new HR strap every 12 months with the 310 it is a good option.

You configure the display with your computer I have my main display showing speed in kph.The secondary display can scroll other info such as distance, pace, HR ,time ,calories burnt, basically it can be arranged however you like.
The thing I liked about it was that it has a real waterproof rating unlike some others which are just IPX7 ok for splashes,I suspect that is why I read about all the failures.

Why are you spending $90.00 on a new strap every 12 months Dicko?

A heart rate monitor does not tell you when to slow down Bruce, it tells you when you are in the zone you are trying to optimise your training for specific targets and energy systems ie either endurance training, anerobic threshold training or anerobic capacity, all that can be tailored for what part of the season your in. Without knowing what your heart rate is doing its left up to perceived effort with little useful training information left to review for optimising your training from season to season, so its just a tool, either you use structured training with zones or you don't, each to their own. Otherwise your at risk of training too hard for too long, or not training hard enough when you should be, just on how you feel. You can still be at tune with your body, a heart rate monitor helps you be more in tune with your body, instead of it being subjective.

Well Greg you seem to have some solid ideas on training but it is probably best to start a different thread , it would be a good subject training methods?

HR started crediting me with 30 beats per minute that I am sure i don't possess or deserve. Couldn't find a receipt as bought it at the ironman travelling circus and methinks I didn't get one.

Anyway, it gave up the ghost after 9 months. I tried TonyB's strap and hey presto, everything worked again.....should have stolen his strap cos he uses the Suunto. (he only likes it cos it says he's going faster than me when we're paddling next to each other)

By the time I had sent both units back to garmin, been without them for a month, it was just easier to buy a new strap. Did like the look of the Nike, but DC Rainmakers review said the lack of speed reading was a let down. If the new firmware has fixed this I may give one a go. The fog on the screen of the 310 may mean this is sooner rather than later. I really like the 310 and it does get a hammering, but the price of the Nike is very attractive.

I'm not a particular fan of Nike since they dropped Lance , but it definatly has a speed readout in kph! No if!
Actually I read the review of the Suunto Ambit it looks real good properly waterproof, and has an altimeter (maybe good on a river?) and long battery life which is the only negative with the Nike.

Everything you are looking for I will in consideration a big screen (like Garmin 310XT, Edge 200/800, etc.) if you think to put the unit ahead, after your feet.

Must be another Garmin company I have been dealing with. Did the right thing and bought 310XT from a retail outlet (who then closed), so contacted Garmin per emai when ANT unit ceased to receive data from the unit.

Did not found Garmin Australia very receptive at all. Troubles with my 310 Xt (+\- software). Did the right thing and emailed them several times, waiting at least one full week for reply each time.

Responses headed - "hi, thanks for you email - it is important to us......" responses before recieving advice that was not helpful. No acknowledgement whatsoever of culpability for the device.

I'd think twice before buying Garmin again based on the after sales help I have received

Is there actually a hardware problem or is it a software thing?

That is probably my biggest criticism of the Garmin product, the continual need to either update or re-install the ANT software to keep it downloading new data.
As well as the occasional need to do a reset.

Never seen a hardware failure though.

Kiwibruce,
how's the Nike going. Any problems yet.

No except for misplacing it for the last week and missing logging a 10k PB!
I think it was anyway.
The Nike website seems to have a few issues at work it comes up in Chinnese ?
But that's probably due to us still using windows XP, at home on my Mac it's usually fine.
The unit itself is still good , nice big display for old guys.