I don’t know about you guys, but I’m sick of having to straighten people out who think the Garmin Forerunner 205 doesn’t tell time. It does. I own 2 of them, I should know. At the start of the Bolder Boulder 10K we overheard someone ask the lady next to us for the time. She pointed to her Forerunner 205 and said “Oh this doesn’t tell time, it does all kinds of other wonderful things but would you believe it doesn’t tell the time?”I wanted to grab her by the collar and yell “You stupid, stupid, ignorant, vapid harpy,” punctuating each word with a stinging backhand. But I didn’t. Because I’m a nice guy, and also because it occurred to me that maybe she just didn’t want to tell the stranger what the time was. Who among us hasn’t feigned a broken watch to avoid sharing the time with strangers?
Anyway, this wasn’t the first time that I’d heard someone say that the Garmin Forerunner 205 doesn’t tell the time, and I just wanted to set the record straight. I’m really not sure why it bothers me so much (or why I seem to have violent tendencies before a race), but it does. I suppose that some of the confusion comes from Garmin themselves, take a look at this comparison table of the 205, 305 and 405. At the bottom of the page under the Sport Watch category it says “yes” under the 405 and “no” under the other two. I can only assume that this is because the earlier models have a 10 hour battery life which makes using them strictly as a watch more cumbersome than the Zack Morris cell phone. The 405 on the other hand, has a power save mode that allows you to use only the watch feature, at least I think that’s how it works. I won’t know for sure until someone from Garmin steps up and sends me a free one in exchange for a review. Seriously, how many hints do I have to drop? I’ve already got a glowing review written up and ready to go all I need is the watch, is anybody listening to me?
For those of you who are reading this and sheepishly wanting to ask how to get your Garmin to display the time but are worried that you’ll have to endure our collective scorn, allow me to save you the trouble. From the main menu: Settings – General – Data Fields – Main 1, enter the number of data fields you wish to display and then you will be presented with a menu of options. One of those options is Time of Day, and here’s where it’s going to get complicated. Selecting the “Time of Day” option will display... wait for it... the Time of Day! Hey presto! All of a sudden your friends will think you’re a gadgetical wizard when you impress them by telling them what time it is!
wow, back to back moron posts. an extra special treat!
ReplyDeletehave a good weekend.
oh, and happy father's day. I hope your kids get you something good and then leave you alone to enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteI'm so anti-technology due to users like that I'm suprised I'm not holed up in an electric free cabin somewhere in the mountains.
ReplyDeleteUsers are evil.,
This is why I dont buy fancy gadgets. I can barely use the TV remote.
ReplyDeletei've had the 301 for a few years now and, if you can believe it, it does indeed tell the time.
ReplyDeletei can't believe someone would think that a gps device wouldn't include a standard watch. it'd be like a computer that didn't include a calculator just because it's got the internet.
It might tell the time, but clearly it doesn't tell the CORRECT time! Right now it's 11:57 AM, and the picture says 7:27 PM.
ReplyDeleteSome watch.
And if you don't want to take up one of your displays you can just hit the mode button once and the time will be on the bottom (very small) then just hit mode again and you will be back to your settings.
ReplyDeleteThis works for the 305, I assume it works for the 205 as well.
Aw shucks, Dan. I was just going to post that, but you beat me to it.
ReplyDeleteZach Morris Phone!!! Ah Kelly Ka-Pow!ski. The memories. I was just told yesterday by a Realtor about his bag phone back in the day. Speaking of phones I was told that the clock/calculator I keep in my pocket can also be used to make calls.
ReplyDeleteWhat will they think of next. How about a music player that doesn't need cd's or tapes and can do lap times and record your pulse. I love my lyra.
Who needs the time on race day? It's zeroes until the gun goes off then the time goes up until you cross the finish (or pass out bumping the Stop button on the pavement). If you need to know when the race starts do what I do, listen for annoucements from the guy with the megaphone.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the iPhone: when it came out the biggest critique was that it was a crappy phone.
ReplyDeletePerhaps this is pathetic, but I'm looking forward to going home so I can set up my Garmin to tell time. I really had no idea, and I'm sure I RTFM'd when I got the thing.
ReplyDeleteand to think I'd crossed this garmin off my list because it didn't tell time...what would I do with out you! hahahaha
ReplyDelete~K
Wow!! it is a watch too, i routinely just wear the garmin so other people think i am a "real" runner.
ReplyDelete"more cumbersome than the Zack Morris cell phone" --awesome reference
Wow!! it is a watch too, i routinely just wear the garmin so other people think i am a "real" runner.
ReplyDelete"more cumbersome than the Zack Morris cell phone" --awesome reference
That used to be a huge joke at our house. That the Garmin could tell you how far above sea level you were, how fast, how far, but not if it was 5pm. I always knew it could tell time, but I didn't want to use up one of my 4 precious squares with something so trivial.
ReplyDeleteIf only it could tell me how fast I run during a given mile.....
ReplyDeleteor if it had a backlight......
or it would let me know how long I've been running....
that'd be a sweet watch.
Thanks I thought I had learned something great learning to do track intervals, but time. I can finally leave my 2nd watch at home when wearing the Garmin.
ReplyDeleteYou know what I WISH my Garmin would do? Tell me the temperature. (It doesn't do that, does it??) On a really hot or cold day, I want to know if I'm gutting it out in 90 degrees or 20 degrees.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a little sensor on the top would do the trick and body temperature wouldn't interfere with it. Just an idea..... Maybe you can make some calls!
While you wait for Garmin to send you a 405 to review you can read about my wonderful Father's Day Gift.
ReplyDeletehttp://ehlersism.blogspot.com/2008/06/35-miles-and-7-days-with-forerunner-405.html
By the way, with my 305, I had the "Other" Multi Sport screen set to Time and Date. That way you could use it before a race as a watch and not mess up all of your running displays.
Quite honestly, if you understand how GPS works, "does it tell time?" is a redundant question. GPS works by telling time off of several geo-synchronous satellites then interpreting the small difference between them to locate you on the earth. Each GPS satellite has an atomic clock, so not only does the watch tell time, it is more accurate than any other watch out there.
ReplyDeletePut that in you pipe and smoke it.