The price continues to drop on this excellent watch – it is now $110 for a refurbished edition. I have zero problems with purchasing a refurb from a company like Garmin and would recommend it, especially with these savings. This package does not come with the heart rate monitor, but you might already have one or can pick one up for cheap on eBay or Amazon.
Garmin Forerunner 310XT for $110
The Garmin Forerunner 310XT is an excellent running watch. In fact, it is an excellent biking and swimming watch as well! It has incredible battery life (20+ hours) and is a favorite amongst triathletes, ultramarathoners, and runners of all sorts.
This is the best deal that I remember seeing on this very popular watch. In fact, it is at the price point that it would make a nice backup watch for some athletes (especially if you are like me and have something like the 620 but need the longer battery life for ultras). It would also serve in those cases where you need to return to start and need the mapping function…
Here is the link for the watch – ebay
Here is the review from dc rainmaker
Here is my post about gps watches
Here is the information from Garmin:
Multisport GPS for Land and Water
- GPS-enabled training device for multisport athletes
- Tracks time, distance, pace and heart rate on land
- Times your swim and estimates distance and average speed
- Water resistant to 50 meters
- 20-hour battery life
- Wirelessly transfers data to Garmin Connect™ for analysis and sharing
Finally, a GPS-enabled training device that isn’t afraid of the water. The rugged Forerunner 310XT is the triathlete’s indispensable training tool — a GPS-enabled trainer that is water-resistant to 164 ft (50 m), tracks data in multiple sport modes and sends it wirelessly to your computer. This multisport device has up to 20 hours of battery life, tracks distance, pace and heart rate¹ on land, and goes from wrist to bike in seconds.
That’s a good price. The cheapest price at the garmin factory outlet is $164 with the monitor. I do trust Garmin refurb’s but I would not trust a 3rd party refurb however.
This one does say it is a manufacturer refurbished model, so it should be fine. I agree with you about other refurbs.