Rtfm!

I'm sure a lot of confusion, frustration and disappointment could be avoided if people spent a few minutes with the f5 manual (http://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/fenix5/EN-US/GUID-C8E25FD1-3499-4B5C-B45F-C4BF88283284-homepage.html).

This forum's a great place for understanding some of the more intricate workings of the f5, but the quickest, most accurate resource for core functionality is always going to be the manual. I just don't get it when I see people all set to return their f5s simply because they've not bothered to read the instructions. Referring to the manual doesn't make you any less a man (or woman), and has the added bonus you might discover that the f5 can do things you never realised it could!

End of rant - file with "use the search function" ;)

0 Tom Shane over 8 years ago

Maybe my perception of "a lot" is different from yours, but I don't find "a lot" of posts asking something that can be easily found in the manual. It seems to me, majority of the threads are quite out of manual's scope. Are you referring to a particular thread or post?

0 Dr Phil over 8 years ago

Hear, hear!

Would also be good if the admins would clear some of the more futile threads away and give some clarity.

0 HermoT over 8 years ago

My biggest pet peeve is the ongoing and often over-analyzed GPS tests and comments from very upset and disappointed users...often threatening publicly to return the devices.
The drive and demands for perfection and precision is insane...often leading to people missing the point: Be fit, live a healthy life and most importantly...enjoy it!
Instead we have the constant search for the biggest, heaviest watches with the best GPS performance....

I have my faults and have been guilty of this before, but have shifted my mindset towards learning how I can use what is available to better enjoy my sports, instead of needing the perfect GPS route on a map that I probably will check only once after an activity and then never again.

0 chimpware over 8 years ago

Well I guess you can thank the rest of us when your device performs well :rolleyes:

0 NeilJonesOnline over 8 years ago

Maybe my perception of "a lot" is different from yours, but I don't find "a lot" of posts asking something that can be easily found in the manual. It seems to me, majority of the threads are quite out of manual's scope. Are you referring to a particual thread or post?

Well I don't really want to single out and embarrass anyone, but when you get posts expressing - for example - people are very disappointed with their f5s because they've not realised you can adjust the backlight level then that's "a lot" of unnecessary frustration in my book.

0 Tom Shane over 8 years ago

Yup, there always will be posts like these, but I think, for now they are not plenty - surely nothing to be upset about for me. I find majority of information here very interesting and useful, actually.

Thanks early adopters for sharing the experience with us!

0 HermoT over 8 years ago

Well I don't really want to single out and embarrass anyone, but when you get posts expressing people are very disappointed with their f5s because they've not realised you can adjust the backlight level that that's "a lot" of unnecessary frustration.

With back light you have to be careful of exactly which back light those users refer to:
There is the back light that you use when it is dark and you want to light it up to better see what is on the display.

But then there are users who refer to back light as the normal display. The watch cannot be adjusted to display whatever it has in a permanent brighter setting. Is this not what some of those user are referring to and disappointed about?

We all know that Garmin watches don't display as bright as other smart watches like the Gear and Apple watch and the new Casio and Huawei smart watches coming out. So people may have unreasonably high expectations from what they see in marketing media.

0 NeilJonesOnline over 8 years ago

Yup, there always will be posts like these, but I think, for now they are not plenty. I find majority of information here very interesting and useful, actually.

Thanks early adopters for sharing the experience with us!

Agree, these forums are priceless, especially with new devices. I have no issue with people posting any question on here, I just 'don't get' why the manual isn't an obvious first port of call and think sometimes people even forget there is one.

0 jim_m_58 over 8 years ago

I know with GPS, there can be a bit of a perception problem, and in cases, expectations that are a bit high. Remember, these watches don't use military grade GPS, and some variations are to be expected (and maybe even built in, so it's NOT as precise). While Garmin watches don't show it, things the a Oregon actually let you see the current precision of GPS. If you're within 10 feet, you are having a very good GPS day (the right weather, no solar flares, etc). And while I've not opened it and looked, I'm guessing that the Oregon has a bigger/better GPS antenna that would even fit in a watch. (On a Rino, it's actually an antenna that sticks out of the unit, and a second for the radio).

If you have an app that displays lat/lon, you can start up GPS, and while sitting in the same place (in open open sky), you can watch it change a bit without moving at all. And that's every GPS watch I've used.