garmin forerunners vs other less expensive fitness watches?

Garmin all the way.  There will be fans of other brands, but the good ones won't be cheaper.

And the 305 is fairly cheap now - $128 at Amazon.  The newer 310XT is a lot more expensive ($349) and IMHO there is not enough improvement / new capabilities over the 305 to justify the price difference.  That's one reason I haven't upgraded from my 305.

The 305 can work while running or biking.  You can use it as a bike speed / distance computer, and mount it on your bike easily enough.  And you can add a cadence sensor to get that while biking.

There are many threads here about "what's a good tri toy to buy first", and the 305 usually comes out on top. 

thanks for the reply- I was leaning garmin but recently second guessed myself...

Cheaper watches?  I don't know of any. The only other one is the Timex Global Trainer.  It does have some advantages, but it's not exactly cheaper.  It looks cool in the pictures- but it's huge.  I think that would be your only other choice. 

If he has even a little bit of geekdom in him, and would enjoy looking at data- then stay away from the 'simple' garmins, the 110 and 210.  they've got the best packaging, but limited features.

The best 'bang for the buck' is the 305- as previously mentioned.  It will do everything- but it does look like you're wearing a laptop on your wrist. 

Personally-I like my 405- it looks like a watch, rather than a hunk of electronics.  I'm actually wearing it to work today, so it's right there on my wrist when I go for a run later.    But- some people don't like the touch bezel (like an ipod) of the 405, as it does act up in the rain and with sweaty hands.  Not a problem for me (I don't sweat much and live in a dry climate), but they've improved on this in the new 410.  They all work on the bike as well.

The 310xt is probably the best, in that it's waterproof, has a longer battery life (good for ironman distances) and has a multisport mode- but it doesn't really track swimming distance and might be overkill if this is primarily a running device. 

for swimming- About $100 will get you a swimovate pool-mate. 

I recently bought a Garmin 205 off CL's for $75.  Very useful tool and super easy to use.  You can't swim with it, but it's accurate for running and biking.

Garmin 405 CXs are at CostCo now for $220...Regularly $370 I believe.   I think they're also on sale at Amazon.com

I prefer Suunto because I like having the bike, cadence, foot, and HR pods all on one watch. They are a little nicer to look at too. That being said, I do not think their is a better deal going than the FR 305 at Costco. A GPS/HR watch for less than $200... plus you can download it directly to you BT training log. I don't think you will find a better deal than that.

But at least the spammer searched for a relative thread to plug their product in!