8,101
edits
Changes
From Fellrnr.com, Running tips
no edit summary
* Like many recent Garmin running watches, the Epix can display the [[Firstbeat| Firstbeat Training Effect]], an indicator of how hard a training session is. While I find this useful, it's important to remember that the Training Effect is strongly biased towards intensity rather than duration. (Training Effect requires a heart rate monitor.)
* There is also support for the [[Firstbeat| Firstbeat Estimate of Recovery Time]] before the next workout, which I also like, though you have to take this with a large pinch of salt.
* The Epix will cache the GPS satellite locations for the next few days to reduce startup time. This is particularly useful when travelling to a new location as older devices can take minutes to get a fix when travelling. I hate standing around on a street corner in the cold, dark, early hours of the morning waiting for my watch to tell me I can start running. In my testing the satellite acquisition was always generally very rapid, and the Epix is sensitive enough to get a fix inside my house. However, I have had issues with the Epix acquiring a signal near tall buildings, more so than other devices I've tested.
* There are five real buttons as well as a touchscreen on the Epix, which is a great combination. The touchscreen allows you to press and hold on a displayed value to change it while you're running, something I've really liked.
* The prediction of your [[VO2max|V̇O<sub>2</sub>max]] worked well for me, but I would not rely on its accuracy.
|[[File:Leikr 1-top.JPG|none|thumb|150px|Leikr 1 top]]
|[[File:Leikr 1-side.JPG|none|thumb|150px|Leikr 1 side]]
|}
=GPS Accuracy =
The Garmin Epix has rather poor [[GPS Accuracy]], which is a shame in an otherwise excellent device.
* Under the bridge the Epix errors even out so the Trueness is quite good, but the precision is poor.
* On the out-and-back turnaround the Epix is poor, but no worse than you'd expect from its overall rating.
* Running in a straight line is a fairly easy task for most GPS watches, but while the Epix does better here than elsewhere, it actually has the worst trueness in a straight line of any watch.
* I not had any issues with the Epix maintaining the GPS signal, though I have had occasional times when it's struggled to acquire an initial signal (Time To First Fix).
{| class="wikitable"
|- valign="top"
|[[File:BridgeGarmin Epix.jpg|none|thumb|x300px| You can see the Epix sometimes does okay under the bridge and at other times struggles. It does particularly badly on the twisty section, cutting the corners. It does better, but still not great, with the sharp turn seen on the right side of the diagram. You can see the Epix occasionally having more significant problems, but most of the time the accuracy is merely poor. (This diagram has tracks color coded with green indicating good accuracy through to read indicating poor accuracy, and the lap markers as blue dots.)]]
|[[File:BridgeGarmin Epix with GLONAS+WAAS.jpg|none|thumb|x300px| With GLONAS and WAAS enabled, you can see the tracks are much closer together, as are the blue lap markers. The twisty section is actually slightly worse accuracy, suggesting rather more smoothing. (This diagram has tracks color coded with green indicating good accuracy through to read indicating poor accuracy, and the lap markers as blue dots.)]]
|- valign="top"
|[[File:AccuracyGarmin Epix.jpg|none|thumb|x300px| This close up section of a zigzag shows the problems the Epix has tracking the course. There is poor alignment between the tracks and the change in direction of the course, and the lap markers are widely spaced. (This diagram has tracks color coded with green indicating good accuracy through to read indicating poor accuracy, and the lap markers as blue dots.)]]
|[[File:AccuracyGarmin Epix with GLONAS+WAAS.jpg|none|thumb|x300px|Here you can see how GLONAS and WAAS have tightened the tracks and reduced the errors. The tracks are tighter and they follow the course much better .(This diagram has tracks color coded with green indicating good accuracy through to read indicating poor accuracy, and the lap markers as blue dots.)]]
|- valign="top"
|[[File:ZigZagGarmin Epix.jpg|none|thumb|x300px| Here the Epix does not display the typical GPS behavior of having the tracks that have the green lines shifted slightly down and to the left, blue up and to the right. The errors with the Epix seem more random and diffuse, thought the lap markers are offset, with the blue and green clustered separately. (This image has the tracks color-coded for direction, with green coming from the right, blue from the left.)]]
|[[File:ZigZagGarmin Epix with GLONAS+WAAS.jpg|none|thumb|x300px|GLONAS and WAS improve the accuracy, but the pattern does not have the coherence of other watches, though the lap markers are still offset, and maybe a little further apart. (This image has the tracks color-coded for direction, with green coming from the right, blue from the left.)]]
|}
=Support This Site=
