What do people use their VA3s for? Genuinely interested

calories are calculated off the heart rate, so while it may be a little over... it is still far more accurate than something say a fitbit would calculate.

intensity minutes, i believe the manual explains it.

sleep, the only logical answer i can think of is that u lie on the wrist it's on... which then throws off the readings due to the hrm perhaps losing contact with the wrist.

I use mine mainly for gym (time, heart rate, sometimes stopwatch), running and cycling (time, laps, heart rate, gps). I also do some hiking (gps, time, heart rate, dwMAP). I'm not to type of person who likes to wear accessories when at home so no sleep or activity tracking here. I do have a leather band for those occasions I might venture out in public and don't want to wear my dress watch.

@LarsTheBear: As the user, you simply cannot know how accurate the HR readings, VO[sub]2[/sub]max estimates, and recorded values of energy burnt, et cetera are, because there is no authoritative source of truth against which you can check. Even with something like the step counter feature, is anyone seriously going to use a manual tally counter (to record his/her own reckoning of the number of steps taken) and walk thousands of steps at a go, just to evaluate the feature's accuracy on his/her Garmin device, and do it on multiple occasions to get some level of confidence in the accuracy assessment?

I don't have a VA3, but we have a FR235 and a FR630 in my household. Let's just say I wear my Garmin Forerunner primarily for entertainment value; any ‘encouragement’ or supposed insight, derived from whatever the watch and/or Garmin Connect reports, is only really fuelled by my own imagination. That said, being able to answer or reject phone calls while I run, without pulling out my mobile handset from my running belt or rucksack, is pretty handy, although theoretically I could do that just by using a connected Bluetooth headset with AVRCP controls instead of using a ‘smart-watch’.

As the user, you simply cannot know how accurate the HR readings, VO[sub]2[/sub]max estimates, and recorded values of energy burnt, et cetera are, because there is no authoritative source of truth against which you can check.

Well, I think I can get a reasonable idea of my heart rate from a stopwatch and a finger against my pulse. I've also checked the VA3 against other gym equipment, and there seems to be good agreement. Of course, that doesn't rule out the possibility that all are wrong together :)

Calories is a bigger problem. It's possible to measure Calorie consumption given the right lab equipment and, when such measurements are compared with values derived from heart rate alone, the heart rate values overestimate the true Calorie consumption by 30%-100%. There's a persistent rumour that fitness trackers overestimate Calorie consumption on purpose, to make their owners feel good. Probably the good feeling only lasts until your clothes stop fitting, but I guess it's always possible to shift the blame somewhere else.

I would expect gym equipment that actually measures power output to give a better indication of Calorie consumption than heart rate, but perhaps I'm fooling myself there as well. At any rate, the VA3 gives a Calorie value about 60% higher than the stationary rowing machines and exercise bikes at my gym, for the same exercise. That's OK -- I just reduce the Calories by 60%.

But I think it's as you say -- to some extent these devices are really aimed at entertainment and inspiration, rather than serious exercise tracking.

I use mine to compete with friends that got the same device as me a few years ago...we not differ on the device, but we all use Garmin.
I also like to keep track of Gym Workouts (which could be improved), Treadmill runs, and outside runs.
I also like the ability to quantify my sleep

notifications, calories, treadmill running primarily

Mainly golf, running (distance, pace, heart rate), notifications, steps

Nothing anymore.

I use mine to pull women, they are always asking me to show them my garmin ;)