After reading REDCATTOO's and "PASSEDPAST" reviews, and posting at their topics, I thought that posting a specific review for ROWING could come in handy, not only for those in rowing, but also for other people experiencing head-scratching issues with these very useful tools (305, 310, 910)
I have been using the 310 for the past year or so, in ROWING, where the most important functions (the ones you want to know right there and then, on the water, at every single stroke) are, instant speed (the analogy with the automaker and speedometer is very fitting) and average pace (minutes per 500metres). In that sense (and many others) the 310 is THE gadget.
Of course the various other data fields come in handy in so many ways that is almost impossible to make it a concise review.
Now that I bought the 910, I feel that I have to rethink the whole process.
As REDCATTOO said, these gadgets are wonderful but are not failproof: "This watch is a Jack of All Trades, but you do have to remember it is a Master of None." I agree in full.
In traditional rowing, the boat is NOT in constant speed; there's some acceleration after the "catch" towards the "finish" of the stroke, and decceleration during recovery. This is often referred to as "check". The less decceleration, the less check (or rock, or jag, or shag... if you are a Brit or Aussie).
It seems that the 310 would read the "instant speed" after taking into account "a few seconds" of measurements, - I reckon it would process up to 2 or 3 seconds worth of data - and then report it, into the screen (in another words, the delay between real time input and screen output would be anything like 2-3 secs).
The nice thing about this "delay" is that you'd see a "stable" kind of figure, something you can actually "read" in an orderly form. Or in more technical words: - since a person rowing at 30 strokes per minute (which is pretty high!) is taking two seconds to perfect one stroke - this "lap" (of "one stroke") would make it for something within the 310 "reading time window", ... that is, making the readout to be pretty much the "average speed of one cycle or stroke", rather than the instant speed at a "given moment within one cycle".
It would also make for a pacing "readable" number - here's where I think, passedpast and I fully agree, that the 310 pacing and speed numbers seems to be less "quirky", sort of speak ;)
Now with the 910, the whole process seems to be more instantaneous; but rather than just saying it is giving us jumpy numbers, the gadget seems to be really telling us the difference in speed between acceleration and decceleration.
Nice in theory, but it results in what fellow garmin-user PASSEDPAST is telling us he is annoyed with - jumpy numbers.
It took a good while before I'd come to senses, that the GADGET has become "more efficient" - from the point of view of the machine, not of the human trying to make sense of the numbers that jump hi&lo in the screen like a Kangaroo.
I haven't tried the 910 on the bike, but if the theory is right, then it will show a more "instantaneous" acceleration (and decceleration) than the 310, and may not be as jumpy as it is in a rowboat, because bikes are more stable in their movement.
If this is all true, then the only possible way to fix it, would be for garmin to give us control over the algorythm and/or the processing time of the GPS data. Something like a "control over the delay"; perhaps we could have "speed after 1, 2, 3, 4 seconds" of half-clicks (or even finer one-fourths).
The principle, I guess, is something like this:
In the old days of tachymeters, the analog scales around watch dials, we would count now many strokes per minute, counting how many strokes after 10 or 15 seconds. In fact it was a process of "dividing by four or five" so that you could have a quicker result, rather than having to count all the strokes in a 60-sec round count. The fact is, when you are done counting the strokes, be them over a tachymeter-based counting of 10, 15 seconds, or a full 60-seconds, you no longer have "the actual stroke-per-minute" rate; all you have is the past; you know that you have done x strokes per minute; you may now be faster or slower, something you will only know when you finish another count.
A GPS does more or less the same, in a much faster and complex way, but still uses the same principle, of telling the "now" based on the "recent past".
It would be a longer debate, before we would settle on what would be a really "instant" speed (or pacing) method. I guess that the old cable-tied-to-the-wheel, full analog speedometer would be the most "instantaneous" form of reading speed - true in a car, or bike, a barrow, or any wheeled thing - but try to do that on a boat! Some manufacturers tried using propellers (a real nightmare). Here's where some compromise between tech & physics come into play.
So I guess, that users may want to have a control over how "close to now" we want the info to be processed.
Too close to "now" makes the watch render a "jumpy" figure which is difficult to read.
The "old school" way of dealing with such jumps (in analog speedometers tied to a wheel via a cable) would be, to have "springs" attached somehow to the clockwork mechanism... which means, the manufacturer would add some sort of "delay" into the dial-telling system, thus rendering it "not-instantaneous" in the sense we are speaking about speed readouts.
The nice thing is, that (if all this theory is right) a 910xt CAN be even more useful for ROWING !
With some training, one can learn to "read" the instant decceleration - or "check" - in a row boat.
Having said that (and after experimenting it) ... it strikes me that Garmin people did not think of displaying that DATA (which is ALREADY THERE!!!) as a "data field", like "instant check" or average check - they would add up some 5 or 6 customizable "data fields" into the gadget and would at the same time, outsmart some of the rowing-oriented manufacturers in the market.
"si non è vero ... "
;)
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Product information
| Product Dimensions | 0.6 x 2.1 x 2.4 inches |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 6.4 ounces |
| ASIN | B005T0Z9CU |
| Item model number | 010-00741-21 |
| National Stock Number | 6645-01-611-0968 |
| Batteries | 1 Lithium Ion batteries required. (included) |
| Customer Reviews |
4.0 out of 5 stars |
| Best Sellers Rank | #430,273 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics) #473 in Running GPS Units #5,169 in Electronics & Gadgets |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| OS | iOS, Android |
| Connectivity technologies | ANT |
| Special features | GPS, heart_monitor |
| Display size | 9 centimeters |
| Display resolution | 160 x 100 |
| Colours displayed | black |
| Other display features | GPS or Navigation System |
| Human Interface Input | Buttons |
| Color | Black |
| Whats in the box | Garmin GPS, Heart Rate Monitor |
| Department | boys |
| Manufacturer | Garmin |
| Date First Available | October 6, 2011 |
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swiming, biking, running heart rate and performance monitor
Very good, enough lasting battery good. Good site for saving your results and to monitor these results. Everything was ok until one or two months ago. They changed the site and it doesn't support 610, 910 and others new Garmin models. It is inexplicable. Garmin ask you for wait. Sportsmen can't wait to check their results. I'd like to give 5 stars to the device. To Garmin I'd like to give zero, because they don't have respect for the customers. I scored 1 star to draw attention. Update 06/29/2014 By now I can sync my 910 XT but receive this message: "Due to increased popularity, the segment feature is currently down so we can increase capacity. We are sorry for the inconvenience."
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2012
Top reviews from other countries
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Alberto OroReviewed in Spain on July 21, 2013
Muy recomendable. Cumple con lo esperado
- R SmithReviewed in the United Kingdom on June 24, 2013
Excellent Multi-Purpose GPS Watch
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Clemente Miró PonsReviewed in Spain on November 28, 2016
Ideal para entrenar el triatlón
Ideal para entrenar el triatlón. Me acaban de llegar y voy a comentar mi primera impresión. He comprado dos, uno para mi u otro para un amigo ya que me lo habían recomendado. Todos mis compañeros lo tienen dicen que funciona muy bien y es perfecto.Clemente Miró PonsIdeal para entrenar el triatlón
Reviewed in Spain on November 28, 2016
Una vez abierto el paquete y puesto en la muñeca parece bastante grande pero a su vez pesa muy poco y es cómodo de llevar. Viene muy bien embalado y con muchos complementos como adaptadores y sobre todo manuales que hay en todos los idiomas (lástima de papel).
Tiene muchísimas funciones como marcar Km, vibración, etc. Por ejemplo a la hora de utilizarlo el track de natación es perfecto, es decir es muy preciso. Es preciso leerse las instrucciones porque hace más de lo que te piensas.
Por lo demás muy contento y ahora a probarlo en pruebas de triatlón.
Solo comentar que soy premium y tenía que llegar el viernes y me ha llegado el lunes sobre las 11:15 horas.
Images in this review
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Wolfram MitbachReviewed in Germany on May 2, 2013
Tolles Gerät (mit Potential zu Verbesserung) FW Lvl 2.7
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