Garmin is about to release the Garmin Forerunner 205, part of the third generation of its GPS-enabled fitness computers. I've owned a Garmin Forerunner 201 for a long time and I love it. It's part of my cycling dashboard and I used it to map the course of the 2004 Tour of Hope DC Fundraising Ride, so I'm definitely going to recommend that you check it out.

The key features of the Forerunner 205 that are huge improvements over the 201 are:

• More compact, watch-like design,
• More sensitive GPS receiver,
• USB interface,
• Customizable screens.

I prefer the Forerunner 200-series (GPS-enabled fitness gadgets without heart rate monitor capabilities) because I also swear by my Polar S625x Heart Rate Monitor. As I said in the article Why Training Log Software is One of The Most Important Features of a Fitness Gadget, Polar Precision Performance software is just outstanding. Polar Electro keeps upgrading it and adding features. The Garmin software called Training Center has also improved a lot, but has not yet passed Precision Performance in my opinion. That's why the Polar S625x and the Garmin Forerunner 201 often ride together on my handle bars.

Technorati Tags: Garmin Forerunner 205, Garmin Forerunner 201, Polar S625x, gadgets, fitness gadgets, heart rate monitors, GPS

[ via Machine Culture ]