difference between 310xt and 910xt?

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/

Ray has done some amazing work.  Everything you could possibly want to know about these devices.  Good luck!

X2 on Rainmaker. 

Highlevel summary:

1. 910 is upgrade from 310
2. 910 has some enhanced power / virtual user features.
3. 910 can be used as a lap watch in the pool and can auto count based on flip or open turns
4. 310 can be ordered right now.  910 maybe delayed/backordered till 1st quarter depending on who you believe and who you order from
5. As far as I know the watches do everything the bike computer can do, but the screen is smaller.

just keeping it simple the 910xt has swim features that the 310 does not have so its like combining the 310 with a finis swimsense..... ...I just bought the 310 because I really couldnt justify the price, but if money is no object and you are thinking of buying a swim watch/computer get the 910, if not you will be perfectly happy with the 310....the 31o just a couple months ago was the premier watch until the 910 came out...good luck

by the way dc rainmaker is really not thorough enough on his reviews, I would ask the teenage Best Buy person at the store

Ya I just figured if i'm going to spend the $ I might as well get the 910. I hate buying something and then see something better for just a little more. (Kind of like buying a new computer and its outdated the next day). Hate that!

Does the 910 show everything a bike computer would as well?

I struggled with the decision to get the 910 as well. I did end up ordering one and I am waiting for it to arrive just like everyone else. I currently have a Garmin 305 and an Edge 500. I wanted something to record swim data and almost bought the Swimsense. I decided against it because I didn't want to add yet another sports watch to my growing pile of Tri stuff. Instead I want one device to do it all. Another selling point on the 910 was the ability to record workouts in the pool AND open water. The Swimsense watch doesn't record an open water swim since it is not a GPS device. 

To answer your question. The 910 will do everything that you could possibly need on the bike including Power Meter support. There are a few small differences but nothing that seemed like a show stopper to me.  

Like everyone else has said. www.dcrainmaker.com is the best place to go to get all the scoop on this and any other GPS watch.    

My understanding is the 910xt will pair with multiple bikes. 

Rather than directly compare the feature list between the two units I'll offer some insights from my experience with consumer personal electronic ownership patterns.

- Most consumers tend to over-buy features, purchasing features they may never even learn to use or access on their electronic training devices.

- The data (and the device) are only as good as your implementation of the information provided into your training.

- Since many modern training devices use some type of online data storage/analysis client (Training Peaks, Garmin Connect, etc.) the real feature set does not come from the device, from the online client used to interpret, store and process the training data. Be sure to include an analysis of the best data client for you in your buying decision.

- For some reason, consumer interest in data training tools seems to be more perishable the more complex and data rich the device is. In other words, more data is not better in most cases. Also, buyers of basic data collection units tend to use them longer and more consistently, whereas the upper end, data rich device buyers do tend to enjoy changing devices pretty regularly.

Definetly do the swim cap.  The distance/accuracy will be right on.  Dcrainmaker.com has a post on that too.

I never tried it but I thought the whole reason for bike 1/bike 2 was to have different sensors.  It really doesn't take long to pair though.

But yes, if you have the 500 might as well use it.

Gotta recommend SportTracks here.  This software is amazing - endless reporting options here.  Currently, it does not support the new swim metrics of the 910xt but DCRainmaker has mentioned that they are currently working on it.  He is also a big proponent of this software.  I also like having all of my data local.

I've read DCRainmaker's post on this.  I understand the desire to get more accurate swim path data, but is there no concern about having it kicked off your head in the middle of a mass swim start?  For a $400 watch (the 910xt) I just can't see being comfortable putting it anywhere but securely on my wrist.

No concern at all.

I've done it in several races and never come close to dropping it.  It feels very secure in there.  If the cap started to come loose (I've had this happen on other swims) I always know well in advance.

In fact, if you do have the quick release, I'd be more concerned with it coming off on the wrist.

That said, you could use the quick release on the goggle strap and put that under the swim cap.

It's just one part, from one supplier, that is holding everything else up. Firmware was done over two weeks ago, and the harware has been otherwise finalized.