Gadgetry...

I spent most of this morning researching GPS watches and then, this afternoon, went out and bought a Nike+ Sportwatch GPS. I was initially drawn to the Garmin Forerunner 610 but it's a bit pricey and I don't think I need all the features it boasts.

The man at Run and Become in Cardiff, in explaining the Garmin to me, ended up talking me out of the sale: he claimed that the Garmin comes with a pedometer whereas it doesn't (the pedometer will cost you another £60) and he didn't really seem to know much about the features of this watch and, instead of explaining them, kept trying to get me to watch a YouTube video about it. The thing that clinched it for me, however, was his assertion that the Garmin Forerunner 610 was the most advanced watch on the market and could do everything that other GPS watches could do and more. I didn't doubt this assertion but it set the cogs in my mind whirring.

I left the shop a little confused; I'd entered the shop hoping to part with my money and leave with an impressive piece of gadgetry. Instead, I hadn't spent a thing and there was no impressive kit in my bag for me to race home and play with. I said that I'd watch the videos and maybe call back later. After watching a few of the videos about the Garmin on an iPad at the Apple Store, I couldn't help but agree that it probably was the most advanced watch on the market but, "Did I really need to spend just short of £400 for a watch and pedometer when I wouldn't use half of its features?"

The Nike shop in Cardiff isn't far from the Apple Store and so I strolled over to get a closer look at the Nike+ Sportwatch. One of the main things that attracted me to the Nike+ watch was it's design; both the physical design of the watch and the way that its navigation is laid out. It didn't disappoint up close. I don't want a watch that's endlessly configurable but where I have to carry the manual about with me to make it work. I don't want a watch that I have to squint at to see how I'm doing. Undoubtedly the Garmin Forerunner 610 is a great GPS watch but its a bit too feature rich for me. No, the Nike+ has advantages over the Garmin because of its cool styling, its elegant simplicity, the clear and easily legible face and the fact that it comes with a Nike+ pedometer.

When I got home I took it for a test run. It locked onto the Nike+ pedometer easily enough and within 15 seconds had locked on to the GPS satellites. A press of the main button and I was off. I could easily read the face and I was able to navigate through the various displays whilst running. The backlight worked well and the strap was a comfortable fit. I did 3.03 km in 15'21" at an average pace of 5'04"/km. It mapped the run accurately and there were no wild veerings off into the Taff. It felt simple and easy to operate and it uploaded the results to the Nike+ website effortlessly and without some of the niggles reported by some other users. Well... that last point isn't strictly true. When I first connected it to the computer after my run, it wouldn't respond at all but after 10 minutes of cursing I realised that I had the USB plugged in the the wrong way round. Panic over. Duh!