Timex Ironman Global Trainer GPS

Price: $249.99

Timex Ironman Global Trainer GPS With HRM

Price: $299.99

In recent years, Timex have not offered any GPS watches that featured a self-contained GPS aerial. While the company offer watches that are GPS-capable, the Timex Bodylink watches for instance, these watches require you to attach a seperate GPS device to your arm. Timex do not currently offer a one-piece watch piece that is fully equipped with a GPS aerial. But that’s about to change. Timex have a new GPS watch in the works, the Ironman Global Trainer GPS Watch. It looks a bit like a Garmin, but will it perform as well as the popular Garmin Forerunner GPS watch? Time will tell. The watch has not yet been released. Lets look at a few of the features promised in this new Timex GPS Watch.

The new Timex Global Trainer watch is the next generation in the Timex Bodylink series. Timex’s most sophisticated athletics watches. The current Bodylink watches are sold as a tri-bundle that includes wrist-watch, heart rate monitor chest strap and GPS device. The new Golbal Training Bodylink watch looks like it will mount the GPS aerial inside the wristwatch itself, offering a watch that is similar to a Garmin.

Its GPS features are driven by a SiRFstarIII GPS chipset, the same type that the Forerunner and other leading GPS watch manufacturers use. The SiRFstarIII ensure the watch will maintain a reliable signal that, once calibrated, will acquire satellite signals faster and lose the connection less frequently than watches with older chipsets like the Forerunner 101, 201 and 301. SiRFstarIII is now a somewhat standard GPS chipset in modern timepieces, which will ensure that the Global Trainer watch’s signal is about the same as other GPS watches. The new Timex watch has the ability to calculate speed, pace and distance in real time as well as measure altitude ascent and descent rates and distances.

The new watch has a screen that is split into four quadrants in a very similar layout to the Forerunner watches and presumably will offer similar display something similar in terms of screen customization. There is no information about the full range of data fields that can be displayed. Knowing Timex, they will deliver something that will keep athletes well and truely satisfied.

The Global Trainer also offers better navigation than Timex’s current navigation watch, the Bodylink Trailrunner watch, with the ability to store up to 100 waypoints with track back feature and 50 custom routes.

The performance features of this watch are impressive too and are well suited to runners, cyclists and triathletes, but could just as easily be used by any athlete in any sport on dry land, that is based on movement. The new watches maintains a 20 workout history log with the capacity to store up to 1000 lap times. Some of the existing Timex Ironman features are included including 100 hour Chronograph, Interval Timer and Countdown Timers. This Timex watch loses none of it’s Ironman charm. It also offers a performance pacer that helps you judge your finish time, calorie calculation, hands free GPS operation – it essentially starts and stops the stopwatch based on your movement – no buttons required! There is also a multisport event mode which allegedly records, activates and transitions in one sequence.

Like recent innovations in the Timex Race Trainer watch, the new Timex Global Trainer GPS Watch allows you to transfer your performance data to personal computer (PC or Mac) where you can import your performance and route data to Timex’s Online Training Software, powered by the Training Peaks platform. Here you’ll be able to share your experiences with a community of active and like-minded people. The software provided with the Timex GPS Global Trainer Watch also allows you to configure your watch via computer. The USB connector recharges the watch battery, although there is currently no word on how much battery liive this watch will offer. The watch can be used with all Timex heart rate monitor chest straps and bike senors as well as ANT+ third party bike power sensors.

I have to admit, the prospect of this new Timex Ironman GPS Global Trainer hitting the market has got me a wee bit excited! Will this new Timex Ironman GPS watch rival the wildly successful Garmin Forerunner watches? Time will tell. There seems to be no reliable release date on the new Global GPS Trainer, but look out for it’s release on Amazon and other watch stores soon.