Pace drops out and activity stops during run with Instinct

Update:  Two weekends of running since my last post and the drop-outs are back with a vengeance.  I had 7 stored activities on my watch as of last weekend and I had several pace drop-outs for both of my runs that weekend.  Same thing this weekend with 11 stored activities.  I can understand if the watch is full or close to it, but I shouldn't have to dump the activities folder every week to keep the watch working properly.  I e-mailed Garmin with the update last week with no response.  E-mailed them again this morning.  Updated my watch to 10.10 this morning....not sure if that will have any impact.  I will probably keep all the activities until this weekend to see if the software update makes a difference on its own.

No improvement with 10.10.  Dropouts on my last run on Saturday with version 10.10

The pace dropouts are where the GPS loses signal briefly. It's pretty normal.

The Instinct GPS performs well in easy GPS conditions, it performs less well and under records distance in any conditions less than optimal for GPS signal such as tree cover, buildings, valleys etc.

The Instinct when compared to my Ambit3 Peak, under records distance in poor GPS conditions, but in open moorland/fields/countryside where there are no obstructions, it keeps distance as well as the Ambit.

The more time you spend in poor GPS areas, the more the Instinct under-records distance.

The problem is, that this is a navigation watch aimed at the Outdoors market fitted with a GPS antenna and chipset that underperforms compared to other Garmin watches,and other brands. The altimeter is also crippled by bad design placement, so much that unless you wear a sweat band it becomes useless once you start to sweat and the sensor gets clogged.

This review covers the GPS performance issues.

"I found that the Instinct’s GPS performance in that test was mediocre. In easy GPS reception conditions it was good but when buildings or trees were involved the GPS performance slipped notably and the overall score was 65% and a good Garmin on a good day would normally give up to 79%, with other, non-Garmins scoring even higher. So here we are typically talking about positional accuracy often being more than 5m away from where it should be and some times a lot further away. In more day-to-day, ad hoc usage my perception was that the Instinct was generally better than my formal test suggested.

This general level of accuracy is fine for seeing a nice post-hike track of where you have been. However the Garmin Instinct is a navigation device and I certainly noticed that sometimes it didn’t quite recognise that I’d visited Waypoints when a pre-determined course had me set to go to them and when I knew, for sure, I had been to the exact spot. So if you are looking for a precision navigation device then the Instinct is NOT for you. However, it will be ‘broadly alright’ for most people’s casual hiking and adventure needs."

the5krunner.com/.../