Garmin Forerunner 305 - Product Review

[John Minnesota]

I purchased a Garmin Forerunner 305 about two months ago, and while I really liked the idea of having the GPS and HRM and tracking data, my experience with Garmin and this particular product has not been good.

When I first got it, I followed the instructions, got it plugged in and went out for my first ride with it. When I got home and plugged it in to my computer USB bus, the computer froze and required a reset to reboot. Once the computer came up again, the USB bus didn't work. I realized that the likely problem was too much current draw on the USB bus, and was going to need to get a new motherboard Darned disappointing, but being a computer and electronics person, I went and purchased the new motherboard and a powered external USB hub and about 12 hours later I was up and running again.

So, this time I plugged the Garmin Forerunner 305 into the powered USB hub instead of the computer. As soon as I did this, my computer blue screened (crashed) and it did so nearly every time I plugged the Garmin in. At this point I decided it must have been a problem with the Garmin Forerunner and got on their support system. Here is where the real problems happened.

Their support person told me:
1. Check for chipset names that are INTEL, NEC, etc. These are compatible chipsets with our devices.
2. If you have a chipset name that contains SiS, Via, OpenHCD, Ali, or Alr,
these chipsets are not compatible with our devices and may not allow the USB Card Programmer to function.

That wasn't on the package, or in the instructions, but regardless I learned that I had a compatible chipset from the manufacturer. So after letting them know that and that I now expected some compensation for my loss and that something definitely caused my motherboard's USB bus to go bad they asked that I send the unit, cable, charger, etc back to them so they could determine what might have caused the problem, which I did. After a week or so I asked if anything had been determined about what had happened but they didn't have any answers. I told them at this point that I expected some compensation for my damaged motherboard - another unit maybe? Something. They offered to send me a new unit and a cadence unit (for my bike) but I indicated that I already purchased the $60.00 cadence unit and that it didn't work on my bicycle due to the frame/pedal design and that a new unit would help since I really wanted to start using the new toy I bought.

After getting the replacement unit which didn't cause any blue screens (after about a week) and seems to be functioning as well as the rest of them, Garmin refused to compensate me for my motherboard - I offered to accept the unit that I sent in back as payment - Garmin's response:

"Unfortunately, it appears as if we are unable to determine why the failure occurred given the information you provided. Thus we question whether the Forerunner 305 had anything to do with the failure on your PC. The device you provided does meet all specification standards. I apologize we could not provide a more conclusive answer.".

Unfortunately, I had already sent the bad Forerunner 305 back to Garmin along with the crash dump files from my PC and offered to send them the motherboard several times as well - they were never interested in what brand/make/model of motherboard I had - so I was no longer able to determine if a component had failed in the charging circuit of the Garmin and was out of luck.

And that has been my experience with Garmin. Great idea, but a bad company. There are a lot of problems with Garmin's products, unlike many better manufacturers they don't deal with the problems in an equitable manner.

Be ForeWARNED!

 

[carbonguru]

Sounds like you had a rough go...

My Garmin Forerunner 305 has been the best tool I train with. It has never given me a problem whatsoever. Sounds like you just had a bad unit. I recommend this unit to anyone who wants wireless everything with no restrictions. This unit does it all!!! And its benefits surely outweigh any risks mentioned and the software is incredible. I use this one unit for all my bikes and I run with it too when I train for Tri's. It is so versatile.

I purchased a Garmin Forerunner 305 about two months ago, and while I really liked the idea of having the GPS and HRM and tracking data, my experience with Garmin and this particular product has not been good.

When I first got it, I followed the instructions, got it plugged in and went out for my first ride with it. When I got home and plugged it in to my computer USB bus, the computer froze and required a reset to reboot. Once the computer came up again, the USB bus didn't work. I realized that the likely problem was too much current draw on the USB bus, and was going to need to get a new motherboard Darned disappointing, but being a computer and electronics person, I went and purchased the new motherboard and a powered external USB hub and about 12 hours later I was up and running again.

So, this time I plugged the Garmin Forerunner 305 into the powered USB hub instead of the computer. As soon as I did this, my computer blue screened (crashed) and it did so nearly every time I plugged the Garmin in. At this point I decided it must have been a problem with the Garmin Forerunner and got on their support system. Here is where the real problems happened.

Their support person told me:
1. Check for chipset names that are INTEL, NEC, etc. These are compatible chipsets with our devices.
2. If you have a chipset name that contains SiS, Via, OpenHCD, Ali, or Alr,
these chipsets are not compatible with our devices and may not allow the USB Card Programmer to function.

That wasn't on the package, or in the instructions, but regardless I learned that I had a compatible chipset from the manufacturer. So after letting them know that and that I now expected some compensation for my loss and that something definitely caused my motherboard's USB bus to go bad they asked that I send the unit, cable, charger, etc back to them so they could determine what might have caused the problem, which I did. After a week or so I asked if anything had been determined about what had happened but they didn't have any answers. I told them at this point that I expected some compensation for my damaged motherboard - another unit maybe? Something. They offered to send me a new unit and a cadence unit (for my bike) but I indicated that I already purchased the $60.00 cadence unit and that it didn't work on my bicycle due to the frame/pedal design and that a new unit would help since I really wanted to start using the new toy I bought.

After getting the replacement unit which didn't cause any blue screens (after about a week) and seems to be functioning as well as the rest of them, Garmin refused to compensate me for my motherboard - I offered to accept the unit that I sent in back as payment - Garmin's response:

"Unfortunately, it appears as if we are unable to determine why the failure occurred given the information you provided. Thus we question whether the Forerunner 305 had anything to do with the failure on your PC. The device you provided does meet all specification standards. I apologize we could not provide a more conclusive answer.".

Unfortunately, I had already sent the bad Forerunner 305 back to Garmin along with the crash dump files from my PC and offered to send them the motherboard several times as well - they were never interested in what brand/make/model of motherboard I had - so I was no longer able to determine if a component had failed in the charging circuit of the Garmin and was out of luck.

And that has been my experience with Garmin. Great idea, but a bad company. There are a lot of problems with Garmin's products, unlike many better manufacturers they don't deal with the problems in an equitable manner.

Be ForeWARNED!

 

[Dietmar]

When I first got it, I followed the instructions, got it plugged in and went out for my first ride with it. When I got home and plugged it in to my computer USB bus, the computer froze and required a reset to reboot. Once the computer came up again, the USB bus didn't work. I realized that the likely problem was too much current draw on the USB bus, !

I am sorry, but that is nonsense. It is physically impossible to damage a USB bus (at least one that was good before) by a device at the voltage that the Edge supplies. For any decent USB implementation the power to the USB bus is current limited and overload protected so that defective devices won't damage it. I have seen cases where people plugged in too many devices, or too power-hungry devices into old USB 1.1 buses, but in that situation all that happens is Windows giving you a message alerting you to the incompatibility.

Thus, I would agree with the Garmin people that in all likelihood, it was your computer that was the problem, and not the Garmin device. In my opinion, them replacing your Garmin unit was all you could expect. They could have argued that it was at least as likely that your bum computer had damaged the Edge unit. Of course, that would have been really bad policy, and lousy treatment of a customer. I notice that Garmin support did not take that route.

On the other hand, yes, their tech support is not that great, just like with just about any other company in this country, I might add, but I digress...

In any case, I always plug my Edge directly into my laptop, and never had any issue whatsoever.

 

[Felt_Rider]

On the other hand, yes, their tech support is not that great, just like with just about any other company in this country, I might add, but I digress...

In any case, I always plug my Edge directly into my laptop, and never had any issue whatsoever.

I had an initial problem with my Edge 305 after uploading data, the gps seemed to lockup (no effect on my PC), after I research the Motion Based forum I found that by simultaneously pressing a couple of buttons the gps will reset itself. I then uploaded the new software from Garmin and I am still loving the Edge.

When the problem first occured I immediately tried to contact Garmin and they finally got back to me a week after I learned how to reset the gps by my own research. Several in my club have had some minor issues with the Edge, but everyone that is using one really seem to like it.

 

[John Minnesota]

I am sorry, but that is nonsense. It is physically impossible to damage a USB bus (at least one that was good before) by a device at the voltage that the Edge supplies. For any decent USB implementation the power to the USB bus is current limited and overload protected so that defective devices won't damage it. I have seen cases where people plugged in too many devices, or too power-hungry devices into old USB 1.1 buses, but in that situation all that happens is Windows giving you a message alerting you to the incompatibility.

Well, it wasn't nonsense when my USB bus failed, and subsequently blue screened from the Forerunner 305. I'd never had a problem before Garmin's product, but I am sure more careful now. And no, it isn't physically impossible. The Forerunner charges off the USB bus and if the current limiting isn't working, a low/dead battery would cause what appeared to be a short circuit for a time until it started to charge. This would pull the bus down and cause the system to blue screen or freeze. It happened. My biggest complaint is that Garmin made no attempt to investigate it. Yes, they sent another unit after I requested my original back (it was all set up and had my tracking information in it), but they wouldn't send me the original unit back - they sent me a brand new one... that would imply that the one I sent in was faulty would it not?

 

[Dietmar]

The Forerunner charges off the USB bus and if the current limiting isn't working, a low/dead battery would cause what appeared to be a short circuit for a time until it started to charge. This would pull the bus down and cause the system to blue screen or freeze.

Any USB host designed according to spec limits the current appropriately. That includes the USB bus in your PC. So, no, assuming your USB bus is working according to spec, what you described cannot happen, even if you simply short out your USB cable. Feel free to give this a try...

A low battery in any device that is charged through the USB bus, including the Garmin Edge, will never cause a properly implemented bus to sustain hardware damage. That kind of scenario would be ridiculous on the face of it, too, if you think about it: So, if your Edge (or cell phone, or camera or whatever) has run out of battery, you cannot charge it on the USB port anymore for fear of damaging your motherboard?

It happened.

Maybe so, maybe not; but if that was the case, it still means that it was your computer's fault. I repeat: No properly implemented USB bus would allow such a thing to happen.

My biggest complaint is that Garmin made no attempt to investigate it.

You are not being realistic here. Why would Garmin waste any time=money investigating such a matter? How many engineer-hours do you think it would take them to figure out exactly what happened? How do you think the cost of that time compares to the cost of an Edge? What would they gain by doing that?

Yes, they sent another unit after I requested my original back (it was all set up and had my tracking information in it), but they wouldn't send me the original unit back - they sent me a brand new one... that would imply that the one I sent in was faulty would it not?

Maybe, maybe not. As I said above, if it was faulty, who says it wasn't you (meaning your computer) who caused the damage?

But again, I think you misunderstand how such companies operate (all of them, not just Garmin). In a case such as yours, at some point a decision is made that "Yes, this customer has a valid complaint.->Invoke exchange procedure" What then happens is they request your old unit back (to guard against customers calling in with a complaint in order to get "two for the price of one"...), and send you a new one. The old unit will probably (hopefully) sent to recycling, or (hopefully not) simply be dumped. Most likely nobody will even take so much as a look at the unit you sent in.

 

[John Minnesota]

The computer froze when I plugged the Garmin Forerunner 305 into the USB port. After I started it back up my USB bus was dead.

I put in a new motherboard and a powered USB hub to isolate the Garmin Forerunner from the new motherboard, and it caused blue screens.

There was something dead wrong with their equipment, and they replaced it and told me to shove off - which I've done. And as for not having the resources to research problems like this - I guess I need to make my purchases from those who actually *do* test their products thoroughly... and I hope that this thread will help others do that too.

Have a great day!
John

 

[vascdoc]

The computer froze when I plugged the Garmin Forerunner 305 into the USB port. After I started it back up my USB bus was dead.

I put in a new motherboard and a powered USB hub to isolate the Garmin Forerunner from the new motherboard, and it caused blue screens.

There was something dead wrong with their equipment, and they replaced it and told me to shove off - which I've done. And as for not having the resources to research problems like this - I guess I need to make my purchases from those who actually *do* test their products thoroughly... and I hope that this thread will help others do that too.

Have a great day!
John

I own an Edge 305 and two additional people on my block own one as well. I exclusively charge my unit with the USB cable. I have used the unit until it is almost completely discharged on many occasions and then connected it to my USB cable without a problem.

I also owned the HAC 4 and went through two with major problems. Now there is a device that is a hack! Not the Garmin unit. If you look at this web forum or other ones, very few complaints have been reported. Of those reported the majority have been fixed since the original release.

 

[Steve Holloway]

I own an Edge 305 and two additional people on my block own one as well. I exclusively charge my unit with the USB cable. I have used the unit until it is almost completely discharged on many occasions and then connected it to my USB cable without a problem.

I also owned the HAC 4 and went through two with major problems. Now there is a device that is a hack! Not the Garmin unit. If you look at this web forum or other ones, very few complaints have been reported. Of those reported the majority have been fixed since the original release.

I've had good and bad with my Edge 305. All of my problems have come from it's accessories, the cadance module and the heart rate strap. Both have been replaced due to failures. But garmin did send replacements (free) out red label both times after I was finally able to get through to them via phone (30 min. wait).

I to always seem to charge mine off the USB with no problems... So I guess maybe you just have had bad luck with yours, personally I like mine. The only problem I have ever had with the GPS unit was the barometer screwed up once, showed I climded 44590 vertical feet! But the unit itself downloaded the correct elevation gain later, so...

 

[sogood]

Static, static, blame that damned static whenever the motherboard/chips die by a zap!

Seriously, Garmin's CS is pretty good by a great majority of users' experiences including mine. I'd be surprised if Garmin was unreasonable.

 

[blkhotrod]

Static, static, blame that damned static whenever the motherboard/chips die by a zap!

Seriously, Garmin's CS is pretty good by a great majority of users' experiences including mine. I'd be surprised if Garmin was unreasonable.

This is like saying the nurses are pretty good at not dropping any of the new babies in the hospital. You guys paid through the nose for these 305's, and to put up with any half ass customer support or faulty accessories is simply sending the message to garmin that bikers are a bunch of suckers for beta version products. You can sell those bikers anything that is half cooked. All the info from the 305 will not help you beat anybody in a race.