I love it!

I bought my Garmin Forerunner 201 for two reasons: first,I needed help with my pacing (I've run nearly 60 races at distances from 5K through marathon). I also wanted to know how far I've traveled on unmarked roads and trails, and in races. I was less interested in the software and records that it keeps (these can be uploaded to the computer using free software from the Garmin website), although I plan to use those capabilities in the future.

I've set a PR both in the 10K and half-marathon in the last two months because I was able to pace myself accurately during the early going and maintain an even pace. It also helps that I don't have to guess how fast and far I'm going on training runs.

The major downside is that it can only be used outdoors for those purposes. (It will function as a stopwatch indoors.) It takes a minute or so to search for the satellites before I can get started, but this has not been a problem for me. It's been very accurate when I've used it on certified courses. It also records altitude, but I haven't checked that part out.

I would recommend buying the version with the charger, rather than the version that runs on batteries. It holds a charge for more than 13 hours (the book says 15 hours), which is more than adequate.

It has many more features that I enjoy: constant backlight option, water resistant, etc., etc.