GPS Watch Guide

Garmin Forerunner GPS Watches

What is a GPS Watch? GPS Watches are an offshoot of the wildly popular GPS handheld receivers that package GPS functionality with fitness-oriented features in a relatively small package. With the small size comes some limitations - in respect to features and battery life.

Because of the small size of these amazing watches, the generally have a smaller screen and reduced internal storage memory. People who obsess with smaller-sized toys will pay the price for compact, low profile GPS navigation capability.

Why Should I Buy A GPS Watch? If you are a fitness buff or are not interested in carrying a handheld GPS, a GPS watch could be the solution for you.

Who is Using GPS Watches for Sports? Active outdoor enthusiasts as well as serious multisport athletes are using GPS watches to help with their training regimens and to improve their racing experiences.

How to Select the Right GPS Runner’s Watch

Selecting the right GPS watch for your needs and your budget is important. I want to give you a guide to help you get the right functionality without busting the bank! Since most of you are runners, we will talk about the features that are important to runners in the article.

If you are a beginning runner, jogger or “plodder”, as many of us older runners call ourselves, you probably want to start with an inexpensive GPS running watch like the Garmin Forerunner 101 GPS Watch. This is one of the most basic running watches on the market and one of our favorites. Garmin makes excellent products and this is no exception.

We also like the Timex Navman II GPS watch as another good choice with similar functions as the Garmin, but in a different style. You will need to decide which is best for you. See our product reviews for more details.

The list of functionality goes up from here, as well as the price. Garmin leads the way here with the Garmin Forerunner 201, which adds the ability for runners to input new routes into the device, as well as providing heart rate sensors, virtual running partner and speed-distance GPS watch calculations.

The Garmin Forerunner 201 has the ability to review daily or weekly running histories for a period of two years, allowing the progress of the owner of the watch can be accurately followed over time. This kind of tracking can be very important if you are tracking your progress for performance metrics or even for tracking your health as you return from a disease (like I have).

GPS Satellite Navigation

So, what is this GPS phenomenon all about…and more importantly, why should you pay any mind to it at all? It seems that many products have a GPS device built in these days, for better or worse. Before you know it, we will be able to add GPS tracking and receivers to many of our devices. Since you have an interest in GPS watches, this overview will help you make a better purchasing decision.

We would like to give you an overview in easy to understand of what the Global Position System (GPS) Network is and how typical consumers use it in our everyday products in our lives. Knowing what GPS is, how it works to the layman, and how to improve your life with GPS devices is important in the twenty first century. In this article, we will give you a good starting point, so read on!

The GPS satellite network was launched into space in the early 70’s and is composed of a couple of dozen satellites that were positioned strategically in 12 hour orbits around Planet Earth. There are also five ground stations around the world that monitor the satellites continuously.

These navigation satellites have been relaying navigation signals to the surface of the planet, and are used by GPS receivers to determine accurate locations in 3-dimensional space (very accurately). Your state-of-the-art GPS receiver stores this information and runs numerous calculations to accurately determine your location in 3-D space. This is actually how that GPS watches leverage satellite navigation to improve the functions of the product.