Dead out of the box, and doesn't appear to charge...

Read the manual because one of the first things it will say is to fully charge it before use.

There was no manual. It came with a quick start guide (in three languages) that indicated nothing about charging before first use and nothing else.

But, I'll look for one online. They really should provide a paper copy.

Most stuff you buy these days come with electronic manuals. Something to do with saving the environment.

Agreed, there needs to be more of a statement about charging before use:

Going for a Run
The first fitness activity you record on your device can be a run, ride, or any outdoor activity. You may need to charge the device (Charging the Device, page 10) before starting the activity.

Just one of those things these days that if you buy something rechargeable, generally the first thing you have to do is to fully charge it before use.

Try resetting your watch

From the manual to "reset" the watch you need to turn it OFF and back ON. To turn off the device press and HOLD the top left button for 15 seconds. To turn the device on press and hold the top left button for 1 second.

Note the difference in time required for holding the top left button. The reason for the longer hold to turn the watch off is so that people who hold the power button down for 5-10 seconds to illuminate and read the watch won't turn the watch off without meaning to. I'll also tell you that when you go to turn the watch on the Garmin symbol will come up and after a time where you start to wonder if the watch is dead the watch face will finally appear. Basically, it takes longer that expected for the watch to re-start.

I'll also note that I haven't tried doing a re-start with the watch connected for charging so you may need to remove the charging cable to reset the watch. Since I am curious about doing a reset with the watch connected for charging I say go ahead and try doing a reset with it connected and report what happens. I will also tell you that when I first got my 235 it took at least 2 hours for it to fully charge up, so your problem with a "dead" watch may simply be that it needs more charging.

Some tips. First, the watch is designed to sync up with the time signal for the GPS Satellite system, so unless you specifically set it to Manual Time Setting all you have to do to "set" the time is walk outside and start the Run application until you see the GPS ready notice. I'll also recommend that you go into Settings and enable the use of the Russian GLONAS system in addition to GPS, doing so will really speed up getting a GPS lock. With my old forerunner 15 I sometimes had to wait as long as 10 or 15 minutes to get a GPS lock and with both GPS and GLONAS enabled on my 235 I usually have a lock before I can get the door to my house locked.

I'll also tell you that an old fashioned chest band is much more accurate than the wrist monitor for any activity involving a lot of arm motion. If you want to use the wrist monitor make sure you have the watch band tight enough that the watch won't move at all on your wrist and be aware that when you start the Run activity you need to wait until the heart symbol stops blinking (that could take 2 to 5 minutes) before proceeding to the start screen for the Run app and starting that app. If you don't do that it may take as long as 15 minutes or more for the watch to get a "lock" on your heart rate. I'll also note that the wrist monitor is not kept on 100% of the time, it cycles on and off depending on activity detected by the step counter when a fitness app isn't operating and turns on for much more frequent checks (every second ??) when you have a fitness app operating.

PS: you can download a PDF file for the 230/235 Manual from the Garmin web site.

Thanks all for the feedback. I solved the problem, but I had to clean the connectors with rubbing alcohol (a solution I found out online), because the watch came dead and wasn't charging at all. You can't restart a watch with no power.

I'm coming from a polar m400, which I loved, but I got tired of the chest strap for my heart rate. I've bought both the 235 and the vivoactive HR, and I'm debating which one I keep and which one goes back to the store. I'm not sure if the 235 will be too much watch for me.

Thanks again!

Exactly this happened to me too last week when I purchased it. It arrived with an empty battery so it wouldn't start. I connected it to a usb port on my computer and Garmin appeared on the watch but no charging indication and Windows did not recognise the device. I let it like that for 10 minutes then I unplugged it and turned it off with the 15 sec press. After I turned it back on, it booted normally and the connection with garmin express worked as expected.

Exactly this happened to me too last week when I purchased it. It arrived with an empty battery so it wouldn't start. I connected it to a usb port on my computer and Garmin appeared on the watch but no charging indication and Windows did not recognise the device. I let it like that for 10 minutes then I unplugged it and turned it off with the 15 sec press. After I turned it back on, it booted normally and the connection with garmin express worked as expected.

Thanks for this....very helpful.

I have a brand-new 235, and I've had it plugged into the charger for over 2 hours, and . . . nothing. No logo, completely blank screen. Pushing power or any other button does nothing.

Might be a stupid question but have you read the posts above and tried their recommendations?

Yes, those posts describe getting a Garmin logo or name, or some sort of response, and recommend rebooting as a solution. I get nothing.