Ultrasport GPS NavRun 500 Heart Rate Computer

I did a fair bit of research on GPS watches before making a purchase. In short I wanted something I could transfer the data from to a computer, had a heart rate monitor and was an all round good piece of kit, and based on previous reviews opted for the Navrun 500. My alternatives were a way more expensive Garmin, or a Bluetooth HRM for my nexus phone, which was about the same price as the Navrun. I went for the watch instead of the phone as I didn't want to run down the battery on the phone on a training run, feel happier with a watch in the rain than trying to ensure a phone remains dry, and its easier to glance at a watch for distance/speed info rather than something strapped to your arm. However, this review isn't supposed to justify a watch over a phone!I've had this Navrun for about 7 months and its on my wrist throughout the day. Its not too heavy to wear as a wristwatch, even if it is a little on the thick side. When the GPS is not active the battery lasts for ages.Initially the watch language is set to German, and it took a bit of remembering German from school and a bit of guesswork to get through the menus to change it to English. The menu system, once you are familiar with it, is easy to navigate, and switching the GPS/HRM on is a doddle. I love the way you can configure the 3 screens of 3 items of information - great being able to see average speed and distance at a glance.The connection to the PC (AFAIK its Windows only, haven't seen a Mac or Linux version - Update - 29th July, apparently there is a Mac version available) is a bit hit and miss - I usually have to quit the GPS Master software, then attach the cable to the watch via its crocodile clip at the watch and USB to the PC. Sometimes it says that it cannot read from the watch, but usually disconnecting and reconnecting it sorts it out. If it was much more reliable in this respect I'd have no hesitation in giving it 5 stars. I did have to return the first watch as it looked like the contacts at the back (where the pins on the clip connect to) had worn away (after 3 months) and the watch couldn't be charged, rendering it useless. Amazon replaced it straight away and the current one has (touch wood) been fine.Update - 18th March 2014 - with the Wilmslow half marathon a few days away, I wanted to charge it up and get the AGPS data downloaded to enable a quick GPS fix and be ready for the race. Have just spent nearly 45 minutes trying to get the watch to play ball with the PC. Half of the time the watch doesn't show any connection, and then when it did, and the GPS Master software was launched, I was getting 'Error communicating with the watch' dialogs when trying to download the data from the watch. This is starting to get really annoying and is taking me back to before xmas when I had problems with the watch. Finally I got the damned thing to connect and downloaded the data/uploaded AGPS data, but I don't want to be faffing about for an hour each week hoping that I'll get a connection. I may have to try with another PC, but if that doesn't work and I still have problems, it will be going back to Amazon for a refund. I don't know if its the cable or the watch contacts that are dodgy, but it is seriously frustrating. USB has been around for donkeys years, this feels like a bad trip back to the time when USB first appeared and software/drivers weren't that good.Update - 29th July 2014. After a few weeks worth of runs stored I wanted to upload them and try importing them into Endomondo. So I was back to trying to get it to connect for a few minutes, and then looked at the back of the watch, and the contacts looked quite dull. So I got a pin and carefully used it to 'clean' each of the contacts (a 2 minute job, if that). After doing this the watch connected first time and data transfer worked straight away :-D I am guessing sweat/dead skin etc builds up in the contacts over time, meaning the pins of the cable don't have any metal contact, resulting in more miss than hit when connecting. So I am happy once more with the watch.Once finally connected to the PC, transferring the data from the watch is quick, and no problems with writing the configuration/updating the firmware. One really good thing is the AGPS feature which downloads data to the watch and makes the watch acquire a GPS fix really quickly. The data only lasts for a week though so it does mean a weekly connection to keep it updated. However, I'm usually running 3 times a week so used to hooking it up to charge weekly.The HRM seems to work ok. It did fail to connect once, but just needed pairing with the watch again and it was fine. I haven't compared it to another HRM so can't comment on its accuracy, but the rates it reports look to be sensible. A plus point is it being powered by a CR2032 battery. I have to agree with other reviewers that its not easy to attach/detach from the chest - surely there are easier ways to attach it.On most runs I found the watch to be accurate and maintained the GPS fix throughout. A couple of times it kept losing and gaining the GPS fix resulting in rubbish data, but that could be explained by the battery level being low and not using the AGPS feature. In the last 3 months I haven't had this happen. In terms of altitude recording, on my last run I added up about 400m of incline from the graph, but when plotting the route with ridewithgps.com it actually came out to be 700ft, so don't think I'll be relying on the Navrun for altitude. Update - July 2014 - there have been a couple of occasions when I the AGPS data has expired, and I didn't get a GPS fix at all - I think that was down to me not being fairly stationary whilst it tried to acquire GPS, and being between two 6 storey buildings - it does take a minute or two to get a fix sometimes, so factor that waiting time into your run!Overall I'm very happy with the watch itself in normal operation.I originally gave the watch 2 stars because of the woeful PC connection. I think a lot of that boils down to the contacts getting clogged up with dried up sweat and dead skin - something to watch out for; once cleaned the connection was good, and given I can rely on it pretty much every time I go out for a run, I'm upping it to 5*.I bought it when it was £90 and thought it was great value. At the time of review it is £74 and that is a complete steal, compared to the equivalent Garmins, which looking at their reviews are far from perfect.

GPS works well, lots of functions a bit slow to lock onto signal. screen is clear and highly customizable. The big problem i have with this watch is the time. If you are not in the UK the correct time is not synchronized with the gps location and so not displayed correctly. It can be very confusing if you go for a long hike, cycle, run and the timezone is automatically but incorrectly adjusted, despite setting the correct timezone initially. Ive learnt not to trust the time on this watch be very careful

I have bought the Ultrasport off Amazon a few months ago and I am really impressed with it (though I am only a beginner). It does GPS, HRM and Navigation (if you really want).The watch with GPS switched off lasts for weeks and you can change the 9 fields of information available to you when on a run amongst a whole range of options including distance travelled, lap distance travelled, current HR, Average HR, current speed, average speed, calories burnt, altitude etc etc. With audible warnings on HR based on the 'zone' that you are looking to train in.Compatability wise it has it's own software which maps your route, altitude, pace, speed and heart rate, gives lap times ad keeps a calendar of your runs and data. There is also the opportunity to split the data between different users and activities. It links into Google Maps / Earth and you can even export into Garmin Connect if you want to share with Garmin folk.Only negative is that the altitude recording is a bit hit and miss but this is the case with Garmin devices as well in my experience (the Garmin Connect website seems to correct altitude data when it is uploaded).I would thoroughly recommend.

I had huge hopes for this GPS watch and in itself it looks a nice bit of kit. After using a Garmin Forerunner for many years the NavRun 500 is much more like a watch. It seems to fix onto satellites quickly and you can play around with view fields to get the data you want. All of that looks really good. I would love to have given this a 5* review.But oh dear ... disaster on the software front. If you have any intentions of using this on a computer be aware 1. it only comes with a mini disc and 2. much more seriously as far as I can see it's only set up for Windows PC. This is like stepping back to the 1990's. I mean, much of the world has moved on to Apple Mac now, and if they haven't any manufacturer with pretensions of serious marketability cannot afford to be that lax. Is German manufacturing really this antediluvian?I really want to be able to upload my data, and it doesn't look like I can.Oh by the way, if you're an Apple user and / or can't install the software because of the above then good luck re-setting the watch to English settings. Someone's posted a comment to a review on how to do it. But this is the kind of information that should be shipped with the watch.So I'm afraid I'll be sending it back. To any users out there on Apple computers, I wouldn't bother with this.Edit. The manufacturers have been in touch to confirm there is NO Apple Mac software for this device. I have however managed to set up Runtastic to operate from it, even though in the installation it will tell you the watch isn't compatible. Press on and it does work, or at least has with mine. Still shocked by Ultrasport's slack approach to this issue.Edit 2 Oct 13. The more I have to use this the worse it gets. Difficult to know where to start. Everything from the stupid decision to make lots of key data fields inaccessible to the main number size (and thus illegible), to the worst heart rate monitor ever: inaccurate and temperamental, to very dodgy pace stats make this something I have come to hate.DO NOT BUY THIS if you are a serious runner. It's rubbish. There are much better bits of kit out there. I curse my stupidity.