The 405 is a wrist worn GPS device, adapted for running/cycling, with the prime aim of tracking pace, distance etc to create a record of runs and allow a runner to check progress

It is my wifes birthday coming up soon and since she took up with running some six months ago and admired another runners Garmin 305, I started looking around for something similar for her birthday.

I was happy with this review and eventually bought a 405. This is my review of that product

Basic operation. For once I actually read the manual prior to using the device. Not being familiar with this family of devices I found the two buttons on the watch minimal, to say the least. Additionally it is touch sensitive around the bezel, providing four additional 'buttons' (N S E and W edges) as well as a (not very good) scroll type of function to select from a list by running your finger round the bezel. As with most touch sensitive devices, I find it necessary to wet my finger a little before it works. Overloading means you need to be aware that a button has both press and hold and press, each being a different command. Then one command, at the end of a run, requires the 'hold' to be about 4 seconds. Not a good combination for an intuitive man machine interface. Eventually I started to get the hang of it, although the manual is anything but well written and certainly not comprehensive.

My first time out (on the bike) I started the device, acquired a fix - far quicker than I expected, it's very sensitive, and off we go. Keep your fingers off the device once moving or the touch sensitive bezel starts to mess with your head. It is possible to lock the bezel (press both buttons together) which is possibly good advice prior to setting off. At the end of the ride I realised I didn't have the right command to stop it. It auto-pauses when you stop running to keep pace information correct (good point) so needs telling that you really have finished. That means pressing the start/stop button (press, not hold), then pressing.... and holding, the reset button for more than three seconds! That seems to store the track and wrap it all up. Whilst running (riding in my case) the display offers a couple of options, I wanted time/pace and distance which seems to be the default. The pace information is too small for me to read without peering, black marks Garmin. Again a bit of an MMI failure, the dial real estate isn't used very well IMHO. Apart from that it worked well doing it's main job, tracking pace and position. AFAIK it never lost its fix once.

Getting the PC (Windows only) based software to work was much more like hassle. Worth it? A tentative yes. The basics are that a USB IR/Wifi device plugs into the PC (called a pen for some reason) and talks to the 405, downloading tracks to the PC. It uses one of Windows oddities as a server, presumably with the 405 as the client. Either way, my firewall software objected, I refused to let it talk and hence had no communications. No info on this in the manual. Eventually even I twigged what was happening and things started to happen. First things first though. The manual does tell you to download the driver for the USB device from the Garmin website. No problem... except the Garmin site is crap to navigate. All it seems to want to do is shove you over to the sales bit and presumably get you to buy more stuff from them. The driver installed OK and dropped an icon in the system tray. This tried, and failed, to talk to the 405 until I allowed this server service to run. Still no upload though. No idea what was happening. A mix of finger trouble on the 405 and incorrectly setup software on the PC? Eventually I realised I had to acknowledge the connection on the 405 at the same time the PC was trying to connect. Once I did this, the tracks on the 405 were uploaded.

Summary of setup? Be patient. Or wait till Garmin realise their manual is crap and do something about it.

Another piece of software is available as a service from Garmin. It lets you upload to the Garmin site and plot your runs on a Google map, along with stats of the run. Quite neat and does provide a record for those interested. But... It requires Flash to be installed. It also requires a browser plug-in to let the browser talk to your 405. Again no mention of this in the manual. Eventually I got this side working (yes, you have to register your product with Garmin to set up the account). I'll let you know if I start getting spam from them. Once all this rubbish was installed, the software automatically uploaded a new run from the 405 to the PC, then offered to upload it to the Garmin site, all automatically. I can see lots of people not getting this far, having given up in disgust. Once there the map is presented along with minimal stats on the run and an opportunity to mark the track as a bike run rather than me running! I actually did like this side of it. Even shows altitude changes, if you have flash installed.

So far so good. I'll come back and update this blog with any more information. Final point, Googling for a price I was led to Handtech. Just note they are ex VAT, not incl. How to get a good price comparison? Also the rip-off. Note how the green strap is twenty quid cheaper than the black one?

One more. There is the ability to update the software on the device. I was prompted with such an update once I had all the active-X extensions in the browser, since it can talk to the device directly. I took a chance and accepted it. NINE minutes download later and it was installed and working! That worked well.

Overall impression? Garmin know how to make GPS kit. It's a chunky watch size and hence wearable. It does the job. The software setup on the PC leaves a lot to be desired. Still 7/10 though. YMMV