Garmin Frustration

[LightDark]

I bougt a Garmin last week!

I was very excited and checking my emails by the minute to see when it had been delivered to the Amazon locker.

I know its really expensive, but I was getting so annoyed with my phone (this is a theme!) that I decided it would almost be money-saving = if I don't throw my smartphone out the window that's got to be good!

I''ve been working with maymyrun on my iphone, and its temperamentability was really getting to me. It was adding up to half a mile to every run, although some would be better. A parkrun I did was perfect, and some runs in the countryside were spot on too - but whenever I run at home, in Urban West London, I'd have to dig out gmap-pedometer and re plot my route - hoping that i'd done the at least the 5k that MMR said I'd done much more than!

So I convinced myself that a Garmin was the way forward. Amazing satellites and all - would solve all my problems and give me access to a whole world of data too! Whoop!

I unpackaged last night, andhopefully set it by the window to "acquire satellites" As advised on here! Which it failed to do for 45 mins.

I took it on a walk, in a attempt to find some more open ground for it to see the sky - but still no joy. So I went home pretty deflated, and feeling like I've just spent a ton of money on something that I can't use.

Does anyone have any advice? I'd be gutted if I had to send it back although I obviously won't keep it if it doesn't work. Maye I just got a duff one?

[Rockette]

I don't know all that much about them , but I have never had a problem with mine , it's the 110 & picks up satellite signal quite quickly . I wonder if it's faulty ? Someone on here may be more knowledgable about them , I've heard mention about doing resets on them & all sorts but I'm sorry I can't be any help to you other than that .

[LightDark Graduate in reply to Rockette]

Thanks for the reply. Are you in an urban area? I will give it another go with the advice from others, but worth knowing - thanks :)

[Rockette in reply to LightDark]

Yes I live in a urban area

[notbad Graduate]

I was the person who passed on the windowsill tip, sorry it didn't work for you. One thing you have got to watch is that it doesn't go into power save mode, which it does after a few minutes, then it won't pick up a satellite. Other than that I don't know, is there a customer service helpline/email you can contact?

[LightDark Graduate in reply to notbad]

Do you know I think I knew it would be an issue before I bought it! It's always good to be prepared lol

I'll watch out for the power save, as well as the other things mentioned here which are worth a shot too!

I really want it to work!

[Rockette in reply to notbad]

Yes mine works on window sill

[Magnetix101 Graduate]

With mine I often can not get it to connect from inside by a window and have to stand with it outside to get a connection. It also often does not establish the initial connection if I am moving around - I have to stand in one place for a while (and once it has found the satellites, it will stay connected while moving of course, which is the whole point!) The amount of time I have to wait can vary a bit - sometimes it is very quick, sometimes it takes several minutes, but I have the feeling that it takes longer to connect when I run in a new place and less time if I always run in the same place.

[LightDark Graduate in reply to Magnetix101]

I was walking at a fair pace- I'll try iot in one spot for a bit like you say. IT seemed to be getting some of the way and then resetting back to the start, so maybe a bit of still ness it will do better and behave a bit.

Need to give it a chance!

[Oldgirl Graduate]

My FR 110 was a bit slow picking up the signal to begin with. Take it outside and stand still until it homes in on a sat signal, once its found it the first time its often quicker on the up take, bit like us humans really

[LightDark Graduate in reply to Oldgirl]

This made me laugh! my whole day has been like this! Not very fast on the uptake! I'll give it another go and sit about for a bit to give it a chance to dwell on those pesky satellites.

Far too impatient me!

[LightDark Graduate]

Still reckon I'd be better off with it in the country though!

[pudnpie]

Some days mine seems not to want to latch on. I find turning GPS off and on in the settings helps

[Zizzy Graduate]

The windowsill didn't work for my Forerunner 210. I put on a bird table in my garden and kept going out in the freezing cold to check on it (this was January). It worked and since then, it locks onto the satellites pretty quickly (max 2 minutes, - usually less than 20 seconds) but only once I'm outside. I live in town but my close isn't massively built up. When I first got my Garmin, this issue and the inadequate instructions annoyed me a bit, but now I am a complete convert. I did rely on reviews and google results on the internet to help me get the hang of it though.

[andi22 Graduate]

If you need to phone Garmin they are brilliant. Their place is in Southampton and lovely, friendly, helpful, English people speak to you.