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Recently, I have spent some time playing with two flavors
of Speed and Distance Monitors.
Both are new, innovative products by reputable companies.
One we have decided to carry on our store, the other, we're
undecided on. (We still need to research it a bit more.)
I have had a chance to evaluate, side by side, the Timex
Speed+Distance and the Nike SDM. I can honestly say side-by-side,
because they don't interfere with each other, and I did
a lot of runs with both of them on my wrist.
Here's what I have learned so far, that may be useful to
you if you are interested in this new product category.
And here's why we have already decided to carry the Timex.
I know that future products from both companies will be
better. But these are both good solid products. The products
have wonderful fit and finish, and reasonable usability.
You won't be disappointed by either product, as long as
you are aware of their features and limitations before you
buy.
They are very different products. The Timex is a GPS-based
technology; while the Nike uses small accelerometers and
a lot of math. The Timex GPS receiver is worn on the arm
or waist ( or hat, I suppose - it must 'see the sky' ) and
transmits to a 100-Lap Ironman style wrist watch. The Nike
foot pod is mounted on your shoe, and transmits to a wrist
watch that looks a lot like the Nike sports watch.
A couple of considerations that became obvious pretty quickly:
The Nike SDM is for RUNNING ONLY. It is not for cycling,
kayaking, skiing, hiking, or even power walking. It becomes
inaccurate to the point of useless if you walk very much
(if calibrated while running).
The Timex Speed+Distance is going to tell you exactly how
far and how fast regardless of what you are doing.
The Timex is also very, very ACCURATE, whether you run,
walk, ride, skate, or slide. And - it doesn't require any
calibration before use. Because of its amazing accuracy
over a wide variety of uses, it was clear to us after only
a couple of months of use that this is a viable product
many of our customers will want to own. Anyone interested
in speed and distance for more sports than just running
will choose the Timex over the Nike. For those only interested
in running, we feel that the Timex is also the right choice
for many of them, but not all. Hence more playing (I mean
research) is required.
More about Timex Speed+Distance
The boys at Timex state that this uses the most accurate
GPS receiver Garvin has ever made. It has a display that
shows your distance to an accuracy of thousandths of a mile.
(Three places to the right of the decimal: .001 Miles).
As a rule cycle computers, including my favorite Polar S710,
only show two decimal places. One .001 mile translates to
5.28 feet, while the GPS system it is based on is only accurate
(at its best) to about 16 feet. But if the display only
showed two decimal places, it would not be able to display
all of the accuracy the GPS system is capable of. That is
just one example of the careful engineering that went into
this first-ever GPS application. If you are like me, just
the engineering accomplishment here has a certain beauty
and appeal. I like owning this little marvel.
The GPS receiver is a little heavier than an MP3 player,
which many people wear similarly on their arm. Timex definitely
could have done better with the elastic strap. I found the
waist mounting to be less obtrusive. Since it is on the
arm or trunk, a little extra weight is not as critical as
it would be on the shoe. It rides on a water bottle carrier
very well. Leave your water bottle only three-fourths full
and you've made up the weight difference.
The wrist receiver is classic Timex Ironman with a rugged-modern
flair. It's really hard to find anything to complain about
there. It is nice to feel that you already know how to operate
it right off.
If I felt that it was perhaps just a bit cumbersome sometimes,
reality quickly overcame that objection. After several times
around the same route, it was clear that it was going to
be that distance (very PRECISELY that distance) every time.
So, once you know the distances to various points in your
familiar routes, don't wear it every day.
One caveat: if you do your running or whatever deep in
the woods, don't go for the Timex. Once the trees are thick
enough, it simply states 'weak GPS signal' and goes into
'guess mode' in which it assumes you are traveling in a
straight line from the last signal it got until the next
time it sees the sky. I took it to Coach Benson's running
camp in Asheville NC, (A great time, by the way. You should
go next year) where we ran along the densely wooded trails
for a week. I was about to drop the Timex in the trash by
the end of it. It was not until I got home to Boulder and
a more open sky that I began to see the beauty of this little
gem. Running the trails around Boulder, there are plenty
of trees but the unit worked just fine. It's the solid wall
of 100' tall trees like you find in Asheville and the Brazilian
rain forest that foils the GPS.
More about Nike SDM
Nike has made a tremendous effort here. Usability is really
nice once you get used to its human interface. If you forget
to turn off the transmitter (foot pod) it turns itself off
after a period of no motion, so the batteries are still
with you next day. Some runners claim to feel the extra
2.2 ounces on one shoe, but it never bothered me with my
size 11s.
The one concern here is, what counts as accurate. If I
go out for a daily slog at my standard pace, the SDM, when
calibrated at about that pace, appears to give a distance
that is within 5% plus or minus. That can be valuable information,
and acceptable accuracy. I have seen the error become greater,
however, when the pace is 2:00 or 3:00 slower or faster
than that used during calibration. All bets are really off
when you switch from running to walking.
The calibration process was easy ( just go to the track
) and it may just be that the technology used here will
ultimately require multiple calibrations, at several speeds.
I don't want to dismiss the Nike SDM until I find out more
about it, and learn the reasonable limits of its use. But
we also are not ready to carry the product in our store
just yet. So, if you'll excuse me, I'll strap on my running shoes and do
a little more research. Look for more details on the Nike SDM and other technology
products in future PC Coach Newsletters.
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