tom.tom runner display screens quotation

It’s been about 50 days since I started testing the TomTom Spark watch (also branded as the Runner 2).  These were TomTom’s new entrant into the market by combining an optical HR sensor with music and GPS tracking capabilities.  In many ways the core of the unit isn’t super different than past GPS watches from the company, yet at the same time it makes those slight but important additions that make it incredibly competitive – especially in the mid-range running watch category.

Next, note there are different sizes, which is just the wrist band.  The pod that goes in the wrist bands are all the same.  And remember, it also could be named differently too (Runner vs Spark).  In any case, the box:

What’s notable here is that all versions of the TomTom Spark are multisport, unlike the past where they had a dedicated runner and a separate multisport version.  Basically, to summarize, you’ve got these core features that you’d pick from/add:

Before we start running, you can slightly configure data screens.  Specifically, you can configure the two metrics along the bottom to stay put with fields of your choice.

Lastly, but most importantly – the optical sensor accuracy.  In my testing I found that it did good, but not great.  Specifically, as the weather cooled in the last few weeks, I saw issues where the first few minutes (usually 3-4, but in one case as long as 9 minutes) the unit struggled to accurately display my HR.  It would always undercut my actual HR in these initial minutes.  Once it locked onto my HR though, it almost always nailed it for the rest of the session – no matter what wonkiness I did running pace-wise. Once past that point, it tracks along with the three other HR sensors I was wearing, no problems.

The TomTom Spark has a basic cycling mode that enables you to support cycling sensors (the speed/cadence sensor), as well as displays your metrics in speed (MPH/KPH) rather than pace.  Further, it helps to automatically identify those activities later when looking at them via the app or website (or to 3rd party sites).

Now frustratingly (more mind-boggling actually), you (still) can’t display yards or meters.  Who on earth shows their swim workouts in miles?  Nobody.  That’s who.  Yes, I know, for metric folks you could see meters.  But I’d bet that TomTom sells more of these watches in the US than Metric countries, so it would seem halfway logical to offer both (like every other swimming watch).

When it comes to the optical sensor, if I were a school teacher, I’d give it about a B+ for running, and about a ‘C’ for cycling.  I recognize that despite its cycling mode, I don’t think it’s that much targeted at cycling as it is running.  After all, its alternate name is the TomTom Runner 2 – not the TomTom Cyclist 2 or the Cardio 2.  On the running front, the only issues I saw were really in the first few minutes of the run, and really only in the last few weeks as the weather got cooler.

Released in April of 2013, the TomTom runner is a digital GPS sports watch for runners who want to keep track of their progress outdoors and indoors throughout their workout. This watch is identifiable by its black and white matte display and the bumps and grooves under the wristband.

The battery lasts up to 8-10 hours. All the running data can be uploaded to the TomTom MySports website and a host of other running websites. The TomTom runner is able to program and record Calories burned, distance traveled, pace, speed, and is able to wirelessly sync with most Apple® iOS and Android devices for simple use. The water resistance of up to 165 feet and light, sleek design allows you to continue to get your results rain or shine throughout the day.

The preloaded "Top Gear" content includes special themed startup and shutdown screens, "Top Gear"-themed car icons and points of interest (POIs), and turn-by-turn directions spoken by none other than Mr. Clarkson himself. Expect your turn-by-turn directions to be a bit long-winded, as Clarkson is wont to be. So in addition to, "Ahead, turn left..." you"ll also get, "...and if you don"t know which side is left, perhaps you shouldn"t be driving."

Alby, who has been in the Glade the longest, shows Thomas the four areas of the Glade: the Gardens, where they grow food; the Blood House, where they raise and slaughter animals; the Homestead, where they live; and the Deadheads forest, which contains their graveyard. Throughout the tour, Thomas experiences moments of recognition and familiarity. Alby takes him to the Deadheads and shows him the South Door. Alby tells Thomas that the walls inside the Maze shift every night, which is why the Gladers haven’t been able to identify a way out (though many boys have died trying). The concrete room where the Runners met the night before is where they work on the Maps. Alby says that the beetle blades are how the Creators watch the boys but doesn’t explain who or what the Creators are. He warns Thomas that only the Maze Runners are allowed to enter the Maze; the penalty for anyone else who enters is death.

That night, Thomas can’t sleep, and in the morning, he has a bad headache and heartburn. Nonetheless, Thomas goes with Newt to the Blood House and spends the morning working with the acne-covered Keeper, Winston, taking care of the animals and then butchering a hog. Thomas vows never to eat pork again. As he enters the Glade again, he sees an Asian kid, one of the Runners, coming through the West Door. The Runner is home early, and he collapses on the lawn.

These chapters introduce the theme of a return to home, a concept whose obscurity is used to control the Gladers and keep them focused on their sole purpose of existence in the Glade: solving the Maze. It is unclear to the boys whether or not their previous homes still exist, and since they can’t remember their former lives, the idea of returning home is embraced by some and rejected by others. For most Gladers, the idea of returning home gives them hope and drives them forward in their purpose. At times, however, they display nonchalant acceptance of their destined life in the Glade. When Thomas wonders aloud what evil people have sent them to the Glade, Chuck tells him to stop complaining and just accept it. His statement and attitude suggest that he has no interest in changing their circumstances and finding a way home. Later, when Thomas is attacked by a crazed Ben, the “stung” boy voices an opinion that opposes the Gladers’ purpose: Thomas is bad because he’ll want to take them out of the Maze and back home, and this is a fate worse than death. Though Thomas doesn’t understand yet what it means to be stung by a Griever, he realizes that Ben’s experience has created a fear-based perception of the outside world and has eradicated any desire to return home. With Ben’s deranged revelation, the overall concept of returning home has become even more indistinct.

These chapters introduce more loud, jarring, and repetitive noises as a form of psychological warfare effective in keeping the Gladers in line. The booming alarm that signals the arrival of a newbie in the Box sends all of the Gladers running toward the courtyard, anxious at its unexpected timing. As they wait in silence, the grinds and rattles of the lift make Thomas reflect on his own nightmarish journey the prior day. The metallic scrape of the opening doors sets the stage for the grim discovery of the girl, who appears to be dead. Later, when Thomas follows the clacking sounds of the beetle blades into the woods, his discovery of the ominous message on the grave of the half-corpse in the graveyard has an opposite than intended effect. Thomas snickers rather than recoils, a sign that his rational mind is being affected; he is unable to absorb the gravity of the gruesome deterrent display. The regular aural assault on the Gladers proves effective in controlling their mental state as it begins to afflict Thomas after only one day in the Glade.

Throughout these chapters, Thomas’s obsession with becoming a Runner introduces the theme of bravery. Thomas’s bravery in his quest to become a Runner stems from a compulsion rather than from a basis of lucid reasoning. His bravery temporarily falters when he sees a Griever through a window in the wall. But during the Tour, he longs to see the Maze despite the threat of death that lies within them. To him, the Runners seem to represent freedom. They are the only ones allowed to leave the walls of the Glade and do not adhere to the same social rules imposed upon the rest of the boys. Though it is foolish and hard-headed for a second-day newbie to entertain ideas of holding the most dangerous job in the Glade, Thomas’s strong sense that he is supposed to be a Runner is not easy to ignore or explain. His desire becomes an instinctual basic need as powerful as hunger or thirst. His bravery here is born out of an obsession he doesn’t fully understand.

Despite their flaws, GPS watches are reliable enough to make them very useful tools for runners. I was in love with my Garmin Forerunner 305 for many years and the decision to turn my loyalties elsewhere was hard. What I loved about my Garminwas that it was nearly indestructible and it did one thing well—track my distance. When I began my research for a new watch, I was overwhelmed by all of the bells and whistles that came with each device. I found myself screaming at my computer,

All of the features I didn’t need made the watches too expensive, too full of technical glitches, and wasted too much of my time with unneeded metrics. This is not true with the TomTom Runner GPS Watch. Yes, they have multi-sport and cardio options that will give you as many features you could ever want, but the Runner is focused solely on running.

After dinner, Daisy takes Nick aside and tells him that she has become cynical. Nick asks Daisy about her two-year-old daughter. Daisy doesn’t seem to have any maternal feelings. When she found out that she had given birth to a daughter, Daisy’s first reaction was to cry. She hopes her daughter will grow up to be a “beautiful fool” (1.118). Despite the fact that Daisy seems to be baring her soul to him, Nick thinks this display of misery is some kind of an act.

Nick has dinner with Daisy and Tom. They are rich, and their lives seem totally meaningless. Tom displays his racist ideas and Daisy displays a total lack of maternal feelings.