Reviews by User: argv388719 (1)

The documentation is attrocious. Most documentation starts with a quick-start guide that says, "start with charging battery, then set up the system using abc, and then use by doing xyz." Not here: you have to flip all around the manual to figure out how to get things started. And it's totally counter-intuitive; the doc is "technically correct" in how it describes ways to do things, but if you don't know the system yet, it's entirely unclear on just about every level. Once you play with it and figure it out, you go back to the doc and realize that yes, it was correct, but it's awful at "teaching." The main critique I heard about this watch was that you can't just turn it on and use it. You have to set it outside for a while before it gets the satellites. I dismissed this when I first read it because I didn't think it'd be that important... wrong. This is a MAJOR pain in the @#$%. You need to plan ahead of time when you're going to use it, and set it out in the open sky at least five minutes ahead of time (after it's been initially set). Since using the GPS drains the battery faster, you turn it off when you don't need it. But it took me forever to realize that turning off the GPS mode ALSO turns off many other things that relate to the GPS mode. You can't just turn it back on again--you have to go reset all those other options (gpsfix and the activity mode). Again, once you get used to this, it isn't so bad, but it takes a while (and some frustration) to get used to it. The problem is, go a few weeks without using it, and you have to relearn it all over again because it's just too complicated to remember... All this because the entire watch's user interface is so counter-intuitive in ways that it doesn't have to be. Getting from one mode to another is fine, but it doesn't combine modes well enough (I want to see the time along with the distance traveled, etc.) There are many other problems with this thing that I almost would recommend against it... except for the main thing: it works. The simple fact that it's a GPS on a small sized thing that fits on your wrist, and that it accurately reads coordinates, makes it worthwhile. Anyone that does major hiking, cycling, running everyday, would find it better than other GPS options for this type of activity. So, if you want a GPS solely for real-time observations of speed and distance, it's great. I won't even mess with the software or the mapping stuff, as the reports on that are even worse than my review here.