UKH

After just under a year of use my Garmin 245 has developed a screen fault (almost circular area of dead pixels, a common issue with 245s apparently). It's going back to wiggle for a refund (they no longer sell them).

Any recommendations for a replacement? I liked the 245 a lot, but now slightly wary of getting another one. Mainly running, walking and a bit of Bit of bike riding. Must have a way of displaying OS Grid ref, as have found that a useful back up when running on the fells in bad visibility.

Probably looking at £250 max, not interested in second hand in case the battery is going.

Thanks in advance.

Only here to say don't get the Forerunner 45, it doesn't allow you to put the OS Grid ref on it as I've unfortunately found out (although the 45 is probably a bit more basic than you're after)

I use a 645 and cant fault it. I think these can be had for that money now.

Thanks both.

Argos have the 645 Music for £199. I've been impressed - my first Garmin.

So your options are :-

45 - can't add the OS Grid Ref

245 - was it just a bad manufacturing batch, and fixed now ?

645 - would fit the bill

735 - slightly older generation triathlon watch, but a solid reliable performer

935/945 - too expensive

Instinct - might fit the bill, a bit "old school, ie Casio" looking, but good reviews

Vivoactive 4 - touchscreen, uuurrrggghhh..........

Would a barometric altimeter sway it one way or the other for hill runs ?

The 645 and Instinct has one, the 245 and 735 does not

I've had the 735XT for nearly 3 years and I'd never be without one again, absolutely love it and never had any problems.

Thanks for the helpful comments. Not sure about the screen issue. Looking at the Garmin forums it may well be a bad batch that had a lot of quick failures about a year ago (when I bought mine) and the rest of the batch are now giving up the ghost.

https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/running-multisport/f/forerunner-24...

I did a fair bit of nav practice checking the 235 grid ref and elevation against a map and was surprised how accurate the GPS elevation was. Barometric would be nice though.

Only issue is the battery life on the 645 (14hrs on GPS) compared to the 245 (20+ hours on GPS). Seems odd the higher spec watch has significantly less battery life.

Thanks for the tip on the 735, will have a look.

The 645 is older tech than the 245 - basically inferior to the 245 apart from the bezel materials and barometric altimeter. 

You've now got me worried about my 245 which has been great so far...

Yikes... I've got a 245. I bought it this summer after the GPS had gone seemingly permanently awol on the 230 I had before, following a couple of years of good service. 

So far I really like it. I haven't cross-referenced it, but the heart rate monitor in particular seems credible during both exercise and rest.

I wonder if a year or two of these gadgets is all we can expect, given the rain and sweat we subject them to. OK, with the 230 I had also cracked the screen after an ill-advised climb on granite, but I am not going to do that with the 245.

My garmin 310xt is 8 years old and going strong (on it's second strap though). I want a new one, as I'm fed up with a chest strap hr monitor, but it just won't die.