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 - Tighten the chest strapI got a 301 when they first came out. I've used it for hiking, running and bicycling. Most of the time it works great. The heart rate monitor works for me only if the chest strap is really tight. And you must keep checking it every day. It loosens up constantly. It must be slightly uncomfortable to reduce the erratic readings. The pace read out is no good, so I just ignore it. I get better GPS results when I wear the 301 on top of my hat. Then I cannot see the pace number. I just set the unit to beep every mile and look at my stop watch. That's good enough for me. I live in the south SF Bay area and the only place I've been where trees are a problem is Uvas County Park. There are steep canyons there too. I've had great success transferring data to my computer. Nearly everybody says the Garmin Training Center software is unsatisfactory. Well, it's not great, but it works. I started running in 1969 and if I thought then I would have the function this unit provides in the future, my friends would have thought I was crazy. Of course, back then I had no such ridiculous thoughts... Rating:  - My running+biking companionI was looking for a bike monitor that could analyze my speed and distance. Went for a lookout of Polar products but they where just too expensive. Found this alternative with gps tracking that not only gives you speed, distance but also elevation and hear rate monitoring. When I took up running this was it, it has presets for both sports, counts your calories burned based on your age, height and weight profile nd gives you detalied info when you plug it on your PC. ADVICE: If you use a Mac try using TrailRunner, it's a free app thet integrates with Google maps to give you a detail on your routes and keeps a log of your workouts. Rating: - Great Value and Good InformationI purchased this item to get a definitive measure of how fast and how far I was running. It met my expectations and is a pretty neat tool to have as a runner. The downside is that it is a bit bulky being a large display (which is good), and the save functionality is awkward. But if you use the software to track your running, it comes out ok. Great value for the benefit. Rating: - It's Great!After running for the past year, I finally know EXACTLY how FAR I'm running, how FAST and how many CALORIES I've burned!!! This little gizmo really works great and gives me alot of incentive to keep up the good work! Rating: - Solid PerformerThe Garmin Forerunner 301 is not the prettiest girl at the dance but it works. The setup is simple, using the functionality and moving around the screens is intuitive enough. You get over the additional size of this model after about the first mile. More mature runners like myself appreciate the useful size of the display. Overall the Garmin is a great tool to improve your runs, and share other outdoor activities with others via "motionbased.com". Go buy one and go for a run!
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