Garmin Forerunner 405CX (GPS receiver)

Please note I don't often write product reviews. Also, I tend to take ratings by other consumers with a grain of salt because the majority of them tend to be thumbs up (5 stars) or thumbs down (1 star) with little comparitive nuance. Having said that, I'm giving 5 stars to the Garmin 405CX, but not because it's an absoultely perfect product with no room for improvement. in fact, it definitely has some flaws (see Cons). Rather, it merits a top rating because for me it provided a revolutionary experience, much like the iPhone 3G did a year ago.
For me it's been rare experience that a an electronic device functions precisely the way it is advertised to. When I'd seen Garmin ads describing how you need only to leave the 405CX near your computer after a workout and presto your full workout stats- pace, heart rate, elevation, calories burned, etc. including split data, and a map of the GPS captured route you took will be waiting for you when you return, I thought "yeah right". Yet it did exactly that- and more. Not enough room here or time to break down all the features, but I will say that logging onto GarminConnect a few minutes after my workout and seeing my route and stats on a Google Map (which can be shared/exported, by the way) it was one of those moments you rarely experience as a consumer. The ease of use and integration of features is extremely impressive. Unlike most devices (some of which I had been considering as an alternative like Suunto, Polar, etc.) the 405CX seems to be more "you" centric rather than you needing to spend days reading a manual to figure out how to make the gadget do what you want- and then falling short of that in the end. For instance, creating your own custom workouts with the downloadable Garmin software is easy and intuitive, and doesn't suffer from being inflexible as I've come to expect from other products. For these reasons, I have a feeling I'll get lots of regular use from this device, instead of it being forgotten in a closet or drawer somewhere after the novelty and has worn off or I can't remember how to use it without a refresher.

I loved the way it worked. I loved geeking out over the data. It was comfortable. The only problem is that the physical design is flawed and if you use is enough it's going to break. In my case (using it almost every day), it broke in just 3 months. Maybe I could send it back to Garmin but what's the point. I'd just get used to it and then it would break again only to repeat the process again. My suggestion, go with Garmin but get a different model that has a more reliable watchcase/band linkage.