GPS tracking watch

Wizard_of_Id

Hi, I am doing a lot more walking than I used to and I was thinking about getting a GPS tracking watch, I have a step counter already but I was thinking about the tracker instead.
Can anyone tell me if it will give a readout of distance covered rather than steps taken?
I am hoping to be able to switch it on at the start of a walk and it would keep track of total distance covered even if I end up finishing where I started.


Sorry if this has been covered on another thread, I had a look but could not see an appropriate answer.

indesisiv

The short answer is yes. They track where you have been using GPS and will easily give total distance, along with many other things.

sam.4000

Have you tried an app on your phone I downloaded one called run keeper but there are several to choice from and they are free.

Wizard_of_Id

indesisiv wrote: »

The short answer is yes. They track where you have been using GPS and will easily give total distance, along with many other things.

Thank you.
I have Argos vouchers so I will have a look and see what they have before deciding which one to get.

Wizard_of_Id

sam.4000 wrote: »

Have you tried an app on your phone I downloaded one called run keeper but there are several to choice from and they are free.

Thanks for that but I am very much a dinosaur and only have a basic payg phone that I carry for emergency contact.
I don't really want to enter the minefield of smartphones for one app.

indesisiv

Wizard_of_Id wrote: »

Thank you.
I have Argos vouchers so I will have a look and see what they have before deciding which one to get.

You can pick older ones up of ebay for about £30.

Wizard_of_Id

indesisiv wrote: »

You can pick older ones up of ebay for about £30.

I've seen those but I think I'd rather have a new one, with the vouchers that I have it will only cost about £30 anyway.
I will probably go with the Tom Tom Runner.

Wizard_of_Id

Well I went out and got one this morning, using all the vouchers I had it only cost me £34.99


There was a charge in the battery so I was able to set it up and use it for the walk home. Very easy to set up and it picked up the satelite almost as soon as I got outside of the shopping centre.

Wizard_of_Id

I am definitely a convert, I used the watch today again and then connected it to the website when I got home to upload today's readings, it was great to see all the different stats and the breakdown for each mile as well.


I am dubious about number of calories burned though, it gave a figure of 1300 calories for just over 7 miles walked.

DUTR

Wizard_of_Id wrote: »

I am definitely a convert, I used the watch today again and then connected it to the website when I got home to upload today's readings, it was great to see all the different stats and the breakdown for each mile as well.


I am dubious about number of calories burned though, it gave a figure of 1300 calories for just over 7 miles walked.

Depends how heavy you are and how quickly you walk, around 100kcals per mile at 3-4mile perhour is near right.
Which watch did you get?

Wizard_of_Id

DUTR wrote: »

Depends how heavy you are and how quickly you walk, around 100kcals per mile at 3-4mile perhour is near right.
Which watch did you get?

I'm a big guy at 114Kg so would expect to burn more calories than average, just not as much as the watch says especially as about a third of the distance covered was at quite a slow pace over rough ground.


It's a Tom Tom Runner watch, I got it mainly to keep track of the distance covered on each walk and really everything else is a bonus