Garmin Megathread-Ask your questions here-See post 1 on how to search thread

Unknownability

opus wrote: »

I saw this thread on the 945 forum recently, didn't really follow the ins & outs but seems you might be stuck with the region it came with.

How to switch map region in the 945

Thanks that was very helpful, seems you can download maps for new regions either at a charge or for free but they don't seem as good.

Hard to know if the saving is worth it for any potential hassle.

ciara1052

I'm thinking of picking up the garmin 935 - I'm primarily a runner who does a bit of cycling every week. I range from doing 40-80km per week (depending on training).... Is the 935 overkill for someone like me? Would the 245 be ok?

I always bring my phone running so I don't mind not having NFC or Music (it would be handy but seems like I'd have to spend upwards of 450e for those features!). More interested in having something more accurate for logging runs/cycles and wouldn't mind having access to some of the stats/training metrics.

Unknownability

Seems a bit overkill, the features you need could be got on pretty much any garmin.

I'm actually thinking of upgrading myself currently have a Garmin 645 music, that I got in July which I'll be selling if you've any interest.

ciara1052

Unknownability wrote: »

Seems a bit overkill, the features you need could be got on pretty much any garmin.

I'm actually thinking of upgrading myself currently have a Garmin 645 music, that I got in July which I'll be selling if you've any interest.

Thanks for the input. One of the reasons I considered the 935 was the battery life. The 245/45 both seem to last a week, while for an extra 50/60e you get two weeks on the 935. But the other specs are probably overkill for me.

Unknownability

ciara1052 wrote: »

Thanks for the input. One of the reasons I considered the 935 was the battery life. The 245/45 both seem to last a week, while for an extra 50/60e you get two weeks on the 935. But the other specs are probably overkill for me.

Battery life is better, but that wouldn't be a major selling point for me. I've never had the battery run out on any Garmin that I own, I keep the charger plugged into my work laptop and every few days just pop that keeps it charged.

If you're buying new keep an eye on Argos or Wiggle they do good deals every so often, if going second hand adverts is good.

cullenswood

Unknownability wrote: »

Seems a bit overkill, the features you need could be got on pretty much any garmin.

I'm actually thinking of upgrading myself currently have a Garmin 645 music, that I got in July which I'll be selling if you've any interest.

Why are you thinking of upgrading if you don't mind me asking?

Was thinking of getting one of these (the 645) but am interested in what features you think it is lacking?

Unknownability

cullenswood wrote: »

Why are you thinking of upgrading if you don't mind me asking?

Was thinking of getting one of these (the 645) but am interested in what features you think it is lacking?

It's honestly not lacking any features, it's a solid watch and I've not found any faults with it. I've had three prior garmins and the 645 is an improvement on them all, in particular picking up GPS in seconds. Where past Garmins might have had a 20 - 30 second lag.

I'm upgrading to a Fenix 6 X, I had a trip planned for next month which will most likely be cancelled so treated myself and splurged.

Im expecting the Fenix to arrive tomorrow or Tuesday and if I'm happy will place 645 for sale at around the €215/220 mark.

Unthought Known

Unknownability wrote: »

It's honestly not lacking any features, it's a solid watch and I've not found any faults with it. I've had three prior garmins and the 645 is an improvement on them all, in particular picking up GPS in seconds. Where past Garmins might have had a 20 - 30 second lag.

I'm upgrading to a Fenix 6 X, I had a trip planned for next month which will most likely be cancelled so treated myself and splurged.

Im expecting the Fenix to arrive tomorrow or Tuesday and if I'm happy will place 645 for sale at around the €215/220 mark.

Must be a lockdown thing I'm planning on doing the same, have a 645 music that's great (having Garmin Pay is a game changer by the way), but I'm planning on the Fenix 6 pro. No reason to change other than treating myself to a new watch.

opus

I did similar, a friend works for a company that get a very tasty employee discount from Garmin so they got me a 945 before xmas & I flogged my 645. Main reason I went for it was my motivation was flagging after lockdown #3 was announced so figured a new toy might help which definitely turned out to be the case.

BKWDR

Have a Vivoactive 3 and am split mind between the 245 music and the 645 music. I just want to be phone free and to have contactless and an upgrade on the data i have with the Vivo3

245 has some pace data and ox pulse measure (is this just a bit of a gimmick? i dont hike or altitude).

The only thing i see is the 245 doesnt have garmin pay which is a a bit crap.
TBH they are neck and neck in my mind, although the 645 has an altomoter which is best and garmin pay and still some of the main training load data which i want but no Body Battery (is that another faddy thing i wont use?)

Any feedback?

DeepBlue

On the Garmin 645 is it possible to turn off alerts for workouts?
E.g. you set up a workout to run within a heart rate band. The watch gives a beep if you fall above or below that band and another beep when you're back in the desired zone. Is it possible to turn off those beeps?

Unknownability

BKWDR wrote: »

Have a Vivoactive 3 and am split mind between the 245 music and the 645 music. I just want to be phone free and to have contactless and an upgrade on the data i have with the Vivo3

245 has some pace data and ox pulse measure (is this just a bit of a gimmick? i dont hike or altitude).

The only thing i see is the 245 doesnt have garmin pay which is a a bit crap.
TBH they are neck and neck in my mind, although the 645 has an altomoter which is best and garmin pay and still some of the main training load data which i want but no Body Battery (is that another faddy thing i wont use?)

Any feedback?

I had the 645 Music and it was great, for me I don't use half the features on them.

The main things I focus on are available on pretty much all Garmins, the Garmin Pay and Muisce features are very handy. There are a few available on adverts at the moment.

Unknownability

DeepBlue wrote: »

On the Garmin 645 is it possible to turn off alerts for workouts?
E.g. you set up a workout to run within a heart rate band. The watch gives a beep if you fall above or below that band and another beep when you're back in the desired zone. Is it possible to turn off those beeps?

I believe so, it's under settings and alerts.

DeepBlue

Unknownability wrote: »

I believe so, it's under settings and alerts.

It must be possible. I've been through pretty much all the settings and anywhere I've seen audio or alerts I've set them to off. Still get the beeps though

BKWDR

Unknownability wrote: »

I had the 645 Music and it was great, for me I don't use half the features on them.

The main things I focus on are available on pretty much all Garmins, the Garmin Pay and Muisce features are very handy. There are a few available on adverts at the moment.

Only seeing 2 645's on adverts, and one is a refurb with no music...am i searching the wrong thing??

opus

BKWDR wrote: »

Only seeing 2 645's on adverts, and one is a refurb with no music...am i searching the wrong thing??

Argos are selling the 645M new for €240. Link is here.

Unknownability

DeepBlue wrote: »

It must be possible. I've been through pretty much all the settings and anywhere I've seen audio or alerts I've set them to off. Still get the beeps though

Try when you're actually in the activity and see if there is an option.

Unknownability

Does anyone know how you can tell if an external heart rate monitor is connected when you're running? I know at the very beginning it pops up saying connected but I'm wondering during an activity.

DeepBlue

BKWDR wrote: »

Only seeing 2 645's on adverts, and one is a refurb with no music...am i searching the wrong thing??

There is two versions of the 645 - one with music and one without. I think the 245 also has a non music version but I could be wrong about that.

Slideways

Unknownability wrote: »

Does anyone know how you can tell if an external heart rate monitor is connected when you're running? I know at the very beginning it pops up saying connected but I'm wondering during an activity.

You can check if you are connected in settings but not something you would be doing while running. It shouldn’t drop connection once it gets initial.

You set up a data field or screen where you have Left/right balance. This is only available if you have HR strap connection for a Garmin strap at least

Unknownability

BKWDR wrote: »

Only seeing 2 645's on adverts, and one is a refurb with no music...am i searching the wrong thing??

http://www.adverts.ie/22996606

Unknownability

Slideways wrote: »

You can check if you are connected in settings but not something you would be doing while running. It shouldn’t drop connection once it gets initial.

You set up a data field or screen where you have Left/right balance. This is only available if you have HR strap connection for a Garmin strap at least

Thanks, it's just something I've noticed since I got the strap last week, I wear it for a few minutes around the house to get it warmed up and the my first few minutes of the run are off the charts and then it settles down. Like it could show 175 and then drop down to 100 during warmup.

So I was thinking that it could be a situation where it's not fully connected.

BKWDR

DeepBlue wrote: »

There is two versions of the 645 - one with music and one without. I think the 245 also has a non music version but I could be wrong about that.

Yeah main reason for getting either 645 or 245 is for the music element so I don't need my phone.
Only negative to the 245 is the lack of NFC / Garmin pay

Might veer towards the 245 music as its just the newer model and the 645 is a 2018 model

PCX

Unknownability wrote: »

Thanks, it's just something I've noticed since I got the strap last week, I wear it for a few minutes around the house to get it warmed up and the my first few minutes of the run are off the charts and then it settles down. Like it could show 175 and then drop down to 100 during warmup.

So I was thinking that it could be a situation where it's not fully connected.

I had a very similar problem recently with a polar heart rate strap connected to my Garmin watch. I was getting really high heart rate readings at the start of some runs. I was getting reading in the 180s at the start of runs which would settle back to 140s after after a few minutes. I think once it went up to 225 bpm which is far higher than my Max. I also found sections of my run had no heart rate recording.

I stopped wearing it for a while but eventually got around to changing the battery and tried again. Its working perfectly now so I think the battery was the problem (of course I could be mistaking correlation for causation!)

Another thing which will give a better reading from the heart rate strap is to make sure you moisten the sensor area of the strap before you head out for the run. It takes a while at the start of a session for enough sweat to build up under the strap to give a good connection.

On knowing whether the strap is connected during the run - when the watch is showing a heart rate lift the watch away from your wrist slightly and look down between the back of the watch and your wrist. If there is no light coming from the sensor then the reading is coming from the strap.

Unknownability

PCX wrote: »

I had a very similar problem recently with a polar heart rate strap connected to my Garmin watch. I was getting really high heart rate readings at the start of some runs. I was getting reading in the 180s at the start of runs which would settle back to 140s after after a few minutes. I think once it went up to 225 bpm which is far higher than my Max. I also found sections of my run had no heart rate recording.

I stopped wearing it for a while but eventually got around to changing the battery and tried again. Its working perfectly now so I think the battery was the problem (of course I could be mistaking correlation for causation!)

Another thing which will give a better reading from the heart rate strap is to make sure you moisten the sensor area of the strap before you head out for the run. It takes a while at the start of a session for enough sweat to build up under the strap to give a good connection.

On knowing whether the strap is connected during the run - when the watch is showing a heart rate lift the watch away from your wrist slightly and look down between the back of the watch and your wrist. If there is no light coming from the sensor then the reading is coming from the strap.

Would you believe, I got the low battery warning for the heart rate monitor this afternoon?

I'm going to replace the battery now and thank you for the other tips, wetting it is something that I do at the moment but thanks for the tip on the flashing lights. It'd be so handy if they had an icon on one of the data screens.

Thanks.

PCX

Unknownability wrote: »

Would you believe, I got the low battery warning for the heart rate monitor this afternoon?

I'm going to replace the battery now and thank you for the other tips, wetting it is something that I do at the moment but thanks for the tip on the flashing lights. It'd be so handy if they had an icon on one of the data screens.

Thanks.

Hopefully the battery change will fix the issue.

I totally agree that it'd be great if there was an icon to show the belt was connected.

I have found the chest belt way more accurate than the optical sensor. Looking back at the data from runs without a separate hrm I used to get cadance lock regularly.

skyblue46

I simply switch off wrist heart rate sensor before each run and turn it back on when I take the chest strap off...

Unknownability

skyblue46 wrote: »

I simply switch off wrist heart rate sensor before each run and turn it back on when I take the chest strap off...

Doesn't that affect Garmin Pay?

skyblue46

Unknownability wrote: »

Doesn't that affect Garmin Pay?

I honestly don't know. I don't use Garmin Pay at all, sorry.

Unknownability

skyblue46 wrote: »

I honestly don't know. I don't use Garmin Pay at all, sorry.

That's what I initially tried but then whbe it asks you to confirm it mentions something about Garmin Pay.

I'm off for a run now so will find out if the battery was the issue, fingers crossed.