Garmin Unveils Low-Cost, GPS Fitness Product — the Forerunner

Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd., today introduced the Forerunner 101, an entry-level personal training device enabled with Global Positioning System technology. This wrist-top fitness product offers athletes the same features as the Forerunner 201, but operates on two AAA batteries.

Now health-conscious consumers and serious athletes alike can add the precision fitness technology of the Forerunner 101 to their training regimen for about the price of a quality pair of running shoes, said Gary Kelley, Garmin’s director of marketing. The GPS-enabled Forerunner 101 automatically calculates a runner’s most necessary information like speed, pace, and distance, and automatically stores the data so you can see improvement in your performance.

The Forerunner 101 features an integrated GPS sensor that accurately measures time, speed, distance, and pace information and presents this data digitally on the unit’s display. This sensor also calculates calories burned — based on the user’s body weight and the workout distance, duration and slope changes. The unit automatically records lap data and pauses the lap timer when the user’s pace falls below a configured range using the AutoLap and AutoPause features, respectively. Further, athletes can adhere to performance goals by using Garmin’s unique Virtual Partner function on the Forerunner series. This feature allows the user to specify the ideal workout duration, pace or distance and keep in step with the digital pacesetter to achieve training goals.

Designed to be a self-contained personal training system, the Forerunner 101 does not have PC interface capabilities, but rather stores 5,000 laps — enough memory to store up to two years worth of data based on typical usage. Users can retrieve lap data for previous workouts by date, week, month, or over a specific time interval.

The Forerunner 101 also provides basic navigation capabilities. After marking a starting point, users can start their workout, monitor their progress on the plotter display, and conclude their training session by following the electronic breadcrumb trail back to their point of origin.

Other specifications of the Forerunner 101:

* GPS: 12 parallel channel GPS receiver with 99 percent distance

* Training features: Time, pace, distance, lap time, lap pace, lap distance

* Navigation features: 100 waypoints; 3,000 trackpoints using TracBack feature

* Lightweight: 2.6 oz.

* Physical size: 3.3 x 1.7 x 0.9

* Display: 1.5 x 0.9; 100 x 64 pixels on FSTN display with LCD backlighting

* Battery life: Up to 15 hours on 2 AAA batteries

* Waterproof: IEC 60529 IPX7 standards (submersible depth: one meter; up to 30 minutes) For more information, on the latest GPS News see hand held gps.

Author Notes:

Ross Barns contributes and publishes news editorial to http://www.handheld-gps-reviews.com.  A wealth of information about Global Positioning Systems for commercial or personal use.