Top 10 GPS Watches

One of the coolest accessories has to be a GPS watch, which is perfect for athletes (including but not limited to runners, cyclist and inline skaters). These watches offer the benefits of a GPS in a centralized location...your wrist! Some of them even keep track of things such as calories burned, altitude, and speed. Let's take a closer look at some of the top GPS watches on the market.

Garmin Forerunner 50

The Garmin Forerunner 50 GPS watch is excellent for beginning trainers. It is sleek and lightweight which makes it ideal for running, cycling and other fitness activities. It is available with a wireless heart rate monitor or foot pod or both. It will transmit workouts to your computer so you can analyze and share your results. For around $90, it's a great unit to start with and get comfortable with without spending a whole ton of money.

Garmin Forerunner 101

The Garmin Forerunner 101 GPS Training watch is a basic GPS watch that runs a little over $100. This is a great entry-level training device with GPS features that measure speed, distance, pace and calories burned. It runs on two AAA batteries. It stores lap history for up to 2 years to give a great archive of performance.

Garmin Forerunner 201

The Garmin Forerunner 201 GPS wrist watch offers precise speed, distance, and pace. This option is easy to use straight from the box, and claims to be compact and lightweight. The unit appears to be a bit bulky; larger than a typical wristwatch. You can set training goals through a Virtual Partner on the watch, and it gives you a graphical perspective of your performance. You can look up specific locations and navigate to these spots with the electronic map. At roughly $100, this is a good option if you're not so sure if a GPS watch is for you.

Garmin Forerunner 205

The Garmin Forerunner 205 is sleek and stylish when it comes to GPS watches. It includes a high sensitivity GPS receiver and course features for optimal performance. It continuously monitors you on your workout so that you can train more effectively. Seamlessly transition between sport setting without having to restart the unit. It has a rechargeable internal battery that lasts 10 hours. At 2.72 ounces, this is lightweight and not bulky. The damage? Around $200.

Garmin Forerunner 301

The Garmin Forerunner 301 Heart Rate and Fitness Training GPS watch is another good alternative if you're looking for something on the lower end of the price spectrum. This Runs about $160-$200. A bit bulkier and not like some of the other watches, it is still a great product. It is still compact and lightweight enough to be useful. The battery lasts up to 14 hours and is rechargeable. The unit itself if also waterproof. There is no calibration required...just turn it on and go!

Garmin Forerunner 305

The Garmin Forerunner 305 is another great Garmin product that allows you to compete against your previous workouts by comparing your heart rate and pace. The battery lasts up to 10 hours with typical use and the lap memory holds up to 1000 laps. It is slightly bigger than some of the other models, but still only weighs 2.72 ounces. A great product for around $285.

Garmin Forerunner 405

The Garmin Forerunner 405 GPS enabled sports watch has a high-sensitivity receiver, easy to read display and a comfortable vinyl wristband. It also has a built in heart monitor for those strenuous workouts! The compact design is nice (2.11 ounces)...it doesn't look much bigger than a standard watch. You can transfer workout data to your computer when in range. With an 8 hour battery life (while training) or 2 week life in power save mode, this is quite a watch. Water resistant! This is best for running and cycling. The price? Up to $400.

Navman R300

The Navman R300 GPS Speed and Distance Sport watch is an easy to use option for athletes. This straps to the upper arm and uses satellite technology to measure and display speed, distance, pace, lap history, and calories burned. The battery lasts up to 16 hours and this watch is water resistant. At 120g (including battery and arm strap) this isn't too big. The shape of the watch is a bit different (kind of triangular) but it comes in a nice blue & gray color scheme. At roughly $120, this might be an option for beginning athletes or someone on a budget.

Sunnto X9M/i

The Suunto X9M/i is a military field watch. It looks strikingly like a regular men's sports watch and weights just 2.68 ounces! This GPS watch allows you to plan routes and save them to the watch. With the "find home" feature, it will direct you along the route and give you the distance between your current location and "home". It has a rechargeable battery (up to 500 charges, factory replaced) but you can buy an accessory that allows you to charge it by solar energy! Unfortunately, if you're craving this military accessory, you're looking at roughly $500.

Sunnto X9i

If you love the idea of the Sunnto X9M/i, but don't want to dish out the $500...there is a slightly different alternative that runs around $400. The Sunnto X9i is one of the world's lightest and smallest GPS watches (2.68 ounces). You can upload maps from Google or other mapping software. It stores up to 50 routes and 500 waypoints and also has the "find home" function.

All information and prices found through Yahoo! Shopping.