Tomtom or Garmin for running?

[Todayissunny]

I know this has been done before, but.....

I would like GPS, to be able to set up intervals, km splits and heart rate monitor.
I'm thinking about the new Tomtom Cardio runner 3 cardio music.
Otherwise a Garmin, but which one?
Would you choose or avoid either?

Hi!

I was in a recent thread if this sort, where and finally I succumbed! My choice was between TomTom3 and (basic) Garmin 35. I went for the Garmin, and have been getting on very well with it.

When you say splits, do you want something that'll tell you want you've done (and/or buzz every km)? Or something that'll boss you into a particular time per km? I know Garmin does the former, but I don't know about the latter.

I have a Garmin 235 which is fantastic

thanks for replies.
Splits - i mean a record of what time I did for each KM - Its hilly here so I like to compare what I did on each part of runs that I repeat - but I would assume that would be a standard feature ???? Also to be able to see split time for KM so I know if I need to speed up/slow down during a 'race' .

Why did you choose Garmin over Tomtom?

I like my TomTom. HR seems reliable as far as I could compare manually, GPS and battery life good. Didn't bother with music as usually have phone somewhere.

Has the ability to pre programme a route to follow which is very handy with my sense of direction.

TomTom was substantially cheaper than Garmin for the same features.

Garmin certainly do that. I preferred the watch, knew the interface and app where easy to use ans liked the features for the price

The Garmin I have looks as if it has similar features to the TomTom Cardio 3, but was cheaper (last month)

Also, I borrowed on for two days, to check I liked it and could work out how to fiddle with it IYSWIM (my main desire was for easy to read display of pace during runs - comparison split info can be had from a free app like RunKeeper or Strava if you keep your phone with you when you run).

Final reason was that it was the one the bloke in the running shop (who I know and whose advice I rate) recommended it, including its idiot-proofness.

I’m on my 2nd Garmin. I love it. My new one has heart rate monitor on the wrist which is surprisingly accurate, can do intervals etc and it locks onto GPS instantly, lots of data etc. I went for Garmin in the 1st place as that’s what most people in my club had, and they have a reputation for being reliable and accurate. I had my 1st for 4 years, it survived being put through the washing machine accidentally and I bought it 2nd hand. I only replaced it as I wanted more features.

So, for anyone interested I ended up getting the TomTom Runner 3, music, cardio.... because Garmin has so many to choose from that I didn't know which one to get and they seem to be a lot more expensive than the Tomtom.
It arrived yesterday.
It took me a while to set it up (my last watch was a polar (bought about 17 years ago) and it was very intuitive and really great) but now I am getting into it it is not as complicated as I first thought.
Bit surprised because I wanted a runners/sports watch and not fitness watch IYKWIM, but it seems to have all features of a fitness watch (at least the app. does) which I find a bit distracting and don't think I will use.
Great is that data synchronises automatically with Strava and other apps.
Its lovely and comfortable to wear.
First run today and I set up a 5 min warm up with 3 x 20 mins running with 1 minute rest, 5 minute warm donw. I was only interested in the running time and distance but it counted in the distance for the warm up as well which I don't seem to be able to remove.
The whole route planner thing - although takes a bit of time to set up the routes - is also great if you want to know how far a route is before you run.
No headphones yet for the music.