End of Garmin Forerunner 305

Today, I got all my gear ready to go for a run and found that my trusted Garmin Forerunner 305 failed to turn on. I put it back in the charger and it went from Charging in Progress to Charging Completed. The device turned on when connected to the charger, but when I removed it, it died. So, the battery on it is toast.

My options are:

  1. Get a replacement battery by sending to to Garmin. Cost unknown.
  2. Get a new Forerunner 305
    . About $150 from Amazon.
  3. Get a Forerunner 405
    . About $350 from Amazon (-$50 rebate).
  4. Don't use anything.

My Forerunner 305 lasted almost 4 years, so I'm pretty pleased with how long the battery lasted. While a replacement battery would probably be the cheapest option, I've been having problems with the speaker on it, so I have no idea when that will go out. A replacement is the second, least attractive option. As I've been wanting to get the 405 for a number of reasions, I'm using this as an excuse to upgrade (like I need an excuse)!

Once I get the device and start using it, I'll write a review. I'm sure the review won't be as popular as my Forerunner 305 review that still gets comments almost 4 years later, but I'll write something.

Hey Garmin, if you want to send me something to review, I won't send it back!

Comments

February 8th, 2010
txrunnermom

I found your blog when I was looking up some Garmin info. I had to send my 3 year old Garmin to Garmin Int’l last year for a similar problem. It took 2 tries, but they eventually sent me a brand new Garmin 305 and it’s worked great!

April 5th, 2010
Andrew

what did you ever do w/ the 305? i’ll pay for shipping if you want to give it a good home and I can deal with figuring out the cost to get a new battery.

stumbled onto your blog via the 205/305 review… good stuff!

October 9th, 2011
Forerunner 910xt

Is there no way of replacing the battery? How much would it cost??

October 13th, 2011
Scott Gruby

I no longer use it as I use my iPhone for running these days. I haven’t looked into replacing the battery and think I already disposed of it.