Does this exist?

[CollaterlieSistersSister]

My head is a bit scrambled by too much choice, and a woeful lack of understanding of the tech jargon.

I want to buy my DF a watch for Christmas. He’s a fairly dedicated runner, but uses his old analogue watch to gauge how long he’s out for.

He doesn’t do smartphones, but does have a decent desktop computer.

So is there a watch that can time him, maybe with heart rate monitor and maybe track him - but using only a computer rather than needing a smartphone??

Any help much appreciated.

Have a look at Garmin or TomTom watches.
Huge range for both brands which give loads of information on pace, distance, time, calories etc. And download to computer and can be shared online in sites such as Strava.

www.tomtom.com/en_gb/sports/running-watches/

buy.garmin.com/en-GB/GB/sports-recreation/running/cIntoSports-cRunning-p1.html

If he's not had one before you could buy an older model cheaper. They do the basics just as well.

Garmin watches can be synced straight to the computer.

Garmin 235 has an integrated heart rate monitor and is very simple to use.

I’ve got a TomTom one, you run a cable between the detachable bit of the watch and the USB port of the computer and your most recent run(s) are downloaded to the computer while charging the watch. You do have to do a little setting up of the account, but that’s it.

Thank you all, so it seems completely possible to bypass the smartphone. That’s great to know.

Still a huge choice, I’m looking for something fairly basic as I’m not sure he’ll be too fussed beyond time, pace, route and maybe heart rate. Will plough on.

If you want basic (pace, time, cadence, heart-rate, elevation) then it's hard to beat the Garmin 35 - old and trusty version, dead easy to use.

I synch to app on phone, and the downloaded version shows the route there (assume it's same if you do straight to computer). I don't know which model you'd need if you want it wristborn during the run

Thanks Auntie will have a look.

I got a TomTom last year from their “outlet” store online and older model but fine for what I wanted worth a look if you don’t want the latest thing. There’s a few on the run mummy run second hand page on face book.