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[zingo]

After some more testing I have some more input on the SW and HW...

GPS, its harder to get a GPS lock and also I sometime loose GPS signal during training, I have not used both watches at the same time so I don't have a route comparisson but as this happends often with gh505 and almost never with my gh615 (625 software) there is a big difference here, I had 1-2 dropped GPS signal in 3 years with my gh615 and had atleast about 4 already with the gh505, GPS locks is where it shows more clearly, I leave my watches on plugged in by my computer (indoor), the gh615 unit has almost (about 95% of the time) a GPS fix when I start a run from that spot, the gh505 on the same place has almost never GPS lock and I have to move it to a window and wait. I would guess the numbers are like 20% GPS fix. I know I have some beta examples probably with the wrong SIRF firmware that was discussed earlier....

I did a 100miles race this weekend and found some smal and one BIG problem.

GYM/Trainer: Max distance is 99km??? to short, I had to break up my 100miles (161km) run in 2 halfs, where I found a few other missbehaviour...

I restarted the watch after a 10h run as the battery when out I didn't have GPS fix but that was not important as the race had good marking of every km As the battery was "flat" and I used my mobile charger. What happened was that I never got a GPS fix when I had the charger plugged in so my guess is that charging might cause GPS signal interference.

After 12h I restarted the time taking (stopped and started a new) to be in sync with the race watch, still no GPS fix (still using the charger) but I didn't need it, I got the question to start anyway and did so. Later when I removed the charger it took about 10 minutes to get a GPS fix, great one would thing but it's NOT as what happends is that time is reseted (this is the BIG problem) I was compleatly out of sync with my running, I just looked at the minutes as was thinking that this was going according to plan but I was NOT I had lost about 2h 20min... I did only look at the minutes so I didn't discover the problem but after 20-30 minutes. A sport watch should never change the time, all other parameters are less important. I know you don't know how to fix this in the data so here is my idea: when you get a GPS fix just put in a the first "time-GPS" entry with the current GPS coordinate but with the starting time, then put in a entry with the came GPS coordinate and the current time. when looking at it it would look like you was super slow between the points but you still get a accurate training time. Pace will be messed up but you would have the same problem if you started with a good signal and lost GPS during the trainging/race.

After a while I just decided to turn GPS of, the watch started to warn me about no GPS fix every about 3min this warning what kind of stupid as the GPS setting was off so I didn't want GPS signal... The same happens when battery is low and the watch ast if you want to turn GPS off it warns that it is off. This was quite annoying as the race was lasting so long so eventually I just turned of time taking and used used it as a watch.

In the end I just needed to charge the watch once during the 28h I was using it, turning off GPS helped a lot to improve battery life, I just indoor mode didn't record every 1s I would have used it but the memory is not enough to last the race so this was not an option this time.

HR - The ANT HR belt is perfect I don't thing I got any strange readings at all, this much better then the gh625 belt I have where I get a strange number now and then. When I need any of the new features in it I use gh625 but every time HR is important I pick the gh505.

Overall I still like it, it took me trough the race, my only big concern is the the time reseting when you start without GPS fix.

[Dardard]

Here are my impression for what I tested until now.

GPS :
Time to get a fix
The first time I switch the watch ON, I got a fix very quickly (less than 1 minute).
But some times, even in open space and sunny sky it takes a long time to fix (with the pop up "reset GPS")
GPS precision
Maybe am I swinging my arms too much when running, but the watch always give me a longer distance than that I used to do.
When I download the trackpoints I see that it did not follow correctly the track. For instance, when I run along a staight raod, I see the trackpoint crossing the road and then back again to the side where I was.
Last time I did a 14k run, and the watch tells me 14,8k.
I did use the heart belt each time, perhaps some interferences with the gps, as some others discovered before ?
It's a shame because the heartbelt works fine.

altitude cumulation
good point, cumul+ and cumul- are virtually identical when running a loop circuit.
bad point, the value computed did not reflect the truth.
It is quite reliable when climbing constantly for kilometers with a clear sky (eg moutain road).
It became worse when running in the wood, with successive uphill, downhill for 200-500m each.
This point was already discussed in the slope algorithm discussion.
Maybe I can test a beta firmware with new slope algorithm if one available ?

Improvement for the VP:
it should be nice if the VP can be add to the custom screens when VP enabled.
Actually, when the VP is activated, you can go back to the custom screen to monitor your run and look at the pop up for the VP when you ear them.
If you switch off the sound of the pop up, it is hard to get the information unless you are all the time looking your watch and not your run.
improvement wish :
when configuring the watch, you could choose to add the VP in the custom screen (when VP is activated), maybe in a 5th screen or even replacing one of the other if the watch can only drive 4 screens.
The VP screen will just have the same message as inside the pop up, at the refresh rate of the pop up. Maybe it can be set on a split screen (2 informations), so that you can see something else with the VP.
The main advantage is that you can look at the VP status (above/behind dist/time) each time you want.

Improvement that could be fun and not so complicated to add:
adding fitness test like Cooper test or half Cooper.
Of course you can programm the watch to do it for you, but if you set this function apart in a special submenu in Activity for instance, you can store the results and show a progress curve or calculate speed index and so on.

Regards

Dardard

[AndersBrontosaurus]

Ok. Finally here it is. Sorry for the long time it took. Lost my notes twice and then the longer time it took the better I felt I had to do but now I can't wait any longer.  Since I have a 615 from before I have been running with the two of them at the same time and comparisons will inevitably come up.

Package:
Is ok but I missed the adapter from 615 which makes it possible to charge from walls and cigaretteoutput in the car. The biemountthing worked fine and mounted easy. Haven't tried it in action on my 2-geared racer though. The 615 contained a spare wristband which the 505 doesn't. Not sure if it's important since I haven't worn mine out at all but it seemed like a good thing...

The outside of the 505:
The chargingclip is for me too clumsy and looks breakable compared to ”the hole” in the 615. I realize it's needed to be waterproof but I prefferred ”the hole”.
Buttons: I like the frontmounted buttons but would prefer 1 instead of 2 to prevent the risk of missklicking. All buttons have a very plastic, un-solid low quality-feeling that I don't really like. They work fine so far but pressing them gives me a feeling of glapp and short life.
Display: Size could and should be bigger. Works ok in daytime but not as good for eveningruns. Backlight in 615 is better than 505.

Navigation:
Is still quite hard since it 's similar to the 615/625 since you have to press the pagebutton so many times. Zingo's idea might be good. I've suggested an alternative in another thread but apparently this demanded too much memory. I do however suggest that some things get moved around a little since the watch is primarly designed for workout. When I get home from running I switch the gps off to save battery. Then the watch automatially goes into indoor traing mode. Sooner or later I switch the watch off completely. Next time I go out to run the gps is automatically on but it's still indoormode so when you start the cronograph the gps isn't logging. Very annoying and it took me a good while to figure out why and still it's as timeconsuming to find my way into where you change indoor to everysecond everytime. Please change this. 

Exercising:
The 505 coldstarts up to a minute slower than the 615. Don't know why. It's the same chip inside. Are there different antennas or what? Have not seen the loss of contact with satellites that others have described though. I really like the quad-view. Quadview is for me probably the main reason for sticking to the 505 instead of the 615. I also like that you have named the workoutpages to custom 1-4 which makes it much easier for me to find my way around when I'm running. However as someone else have mentioned it would be better if the daily time wasn't placed between custom 4 and custom 1. Rather put the possibility of placing daily time in one of he fields in custompages.
Laps: I like the sound from the 615 better since it's clearer and easier to hear. I also dislike that there is a delay on half a second from pressing the button to getting the lapsound. It might not sound as a big thing but when I press to make a lap i there'sno point in having to spend extra time waiting for the confirmationbeep.


Comfort:
First times I used the 505 I thought it felt strange but now I've gotten used to it and have nothing to say about it. The pulseband is also as good as the 615. Not better, not worse.


The manual:
Is good! All info can be found easily. It's much better than the one for 615 which was really bad.

Connect to PC:
Good that you can set more things on the watch in the computer. Could be even better.

Small extra things:
The analog clock could look much better.
Better information about that the watch can be upgraded!
Like Dardard: Add coopertest and beeptest as templates to the virtual trainer.
If there's a timelimit set to how long the watch stays on without being touched it can switch off during upload data to computer. Had to restart sportstraining gym and the watch.

Last words: I might sond very negative and maybe it's because I have  focused on what doesn't work good enough. The watch works fine but gives a very low quality impression on first glance. If I had come across the 505 in a shop and knew nothing about it I would probably never have bought it.

I feel that I haven't really finished this review and will update it soon but feel the urge to post it now...


Keep up the good work!

Best regards
Anders

[AndersBrontosaurus]

Would like to add that I now think clip is good for charging since at least i with my thin wrists can wear the clip on while running. Much more comfortable than the usb-plug for 625. If the clip was as big as the back of the watch it would be even better. Maybe an extensionwristband could be enclosed for strong folks with big wrists.

The watch has behaved strange, resetting itself when losing contact with satellites. This has never happened with the 625, then again with the 625 I have never lost contact. i run with both watches on and when signal drops on 505 it doesn't on 625.
The 505 now also need up to 3 minutes more to fix on coldstarts.

best regards
Anders