Garmin 1030 long in the tooth?
 

I'm interested in getting the rather expensive Garmin 1030, but with my luck they will offer a replacement weeks after I buy it. Any rumors about an updated version? Thanks

Long in tooth? The thing has barely gotten out of Public Beta.

Do you need such a large display?

The Garmin Edge 530 is full of features in a smaller format.

But when the 1040 arrives, the main reasons to buy it will be software features that the '30 won't get. :o

I have and like the Edge 520 but I’m thinking about giving it to my daughter and getting something easier to read with my aging eyes.

830 seems like a better bet to me, except possibly the screen size. But there was a cryptic post here spreading rumors about the release of the 1030 not all that long ago. Has it even been out a year? If the Wahoo Roam had been a better device, you might see a 1040, but now I'm not so sure. OTOH, the 830/530 might be enough to really hurt Wahoo, garmin seems to have taken them a lot more seriously than previous devices.

What features are you most in need of in the 1030 ?. The Edge Explore does most of the functions, mostly skips a lot of the fitness oriented functions. Doesn't have the extended battery capability and run time is shorter (in theory) than a 1030, but you can always adda stick USB battery to it. $250 vs. $550 or so

If you've got regular bifocals, but don't want to spend the extra for bifocal cycling glasses, the 1030 surely is nice. Some of the smaller and more aerodynamic GPS screens are about the size of a small Post-It Note. Rotate the Post-It you just got out to look at and post another one right above it -- that's the 1030 screen.

If there's no other feature you want that the 1030 doesn't have, the only reason to get something else is the Bluetooth phone pairing, which is required for initial set-up. The only way to describe it is, it sucks. I think if Garmin were to fix or update the Bluetooth thing, they could sell boatloads of this new "1040" for years.

Unless there is something it doesn't do that you absolutely must have, I wouldn't think it makes any sense to wait for something that you don't even know what new features it will have.

I still use my almost ten y/o Edge 500. Does everything I want from a bike computer with the exception of controlling my lights.

Not aware that Garmin GPS units that have BT capability require it for setup or use. Wahoo, Yes, you need a smartphone and functioning BT to get the units operational, but every Garmin I've used has been stand-alone and never required BT or a smartphone to make the unit functional. BT is needed if you want to port data up to Garmin Connect or to Strava/RWGPS and don't want to use a WiFi connection (which my 1000 can do), or want to easily get a course loaded onto the unit.

What Garmin that you've used actually requires BT ?.

And as note, I may be an oddity, but have had luck with BT functionality on my 1000, although BT is one of the big complaints about a lot of Garmins.

As noted, the Garmin 1030 requires a smartphone be paired with it for setup.

As NJ states, this is incorrect AFAIK. The 1030 manual is here:

https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webh...07539707D.html

It does tell you how to pair to BT and what features you can use (Live Track, etc...) with these features, but the device can do pretty much all a basic GPS device can do - track a ride, generate position, save a track, generate data such as current speed, avg. speed, time spent on a ride, time of day, etc.... without the need for a smartphone. You can also (on some units) connect via WiFi which will send rides up to Garmin Connect and get Courses from Connect. No need for BT.

At least when I bought mine, I couldn't access anything other than the setup screen until I got it paired with a phone. And that took a bluetooth pairing. Plug it into a computer? It told me to pair it with a smartphone. Turn it on away from the phone and the computer? Pair it with a smartphone. How do you do that? Simply install the Garmin Connect app and turn Bluetooth on on the phone. It finally paired after two weeks, and enough time that I should have got the unit for time wasted.

So exactly what was I doing wrong?

The setup screen asks a few questions (language/sex/age/weight/etc). A phone isn't necessary for that.

I reset the device last week and used it over the weekend. No phone was necessary.

One advantage of the Garmins is that they don't need a phone.

I don't know what went on in your case but there is nothing else that indicates that a smartphone is required.
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Were you able to load a route, for example, onto the GPS? Until I got the smartphone paired, I was unable to mount the GPS as a drive on the computer.

This just isnt the case. Not sure what your problems were, but I suggest not spreading this type of incorrect information. As a 1030 owner I can plainly and matter of factly say you dont need a phone, or a computer, to do the initial setup on this device. Not now, and not ever in the past.

Rather broad brush, stating my experience didn't happen. Were you there when I plugged my 1030 in and didn't see an external drive?

I'm not stating it's your experience, because I don't know what you went through setting yours up. I'm not calling you a liar, but your reported experience certainly didn't jive with mine.

Hiking this weekend, my phone fell out of my pocket. My Garmin watch told me it lost the BT connection as I stated to walk away. That's why I didn't have to buy a new phone.

As a long time follower of the EL&G forum and having read many threads from NJ, I can state that he (and I) follow this forum and have never read nor heard of anyone mentioning the BT setup and issues you are describing.

We are not stating you didn't have these issues but that they seem very atypical.

A requirement to HAVE a BT connection to a smartphone in order to setup and use the 1030, would be such a significant functional change in the way that the Garmin OS works, that it certainly would have been noticed in the review DC Rainmaker does on these products. If you read his review of the 1030, he doesn't mention this type of requirement.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/08/...th-review.html

Thus the only conclusion I can make is that this BT issue you describe is possibly just simply confusion as to what you think the BT connection does and when and how it's needed. User error in other words.

Yes.

Using a USB cable doesn't require any smartphone paring at all. There's no technical reason to require it (it would make things much more complicated for no reason).

It seems that something is very unusual in your case. I'm not sure what that could be.

If your case wasn't unusual, you wouldn't have been the first person to have learned about it from.

Sometimes Garmin's quick start guides encourage you to install software on your computer and phone even though it's not particularly needed. Especially for those that wanted to upload their rides or use Garmin Connect website to make routes got a lot of encouragement to install Garmin Express. As well Garmin Connect used to let you set up HR zones and some of the other device settings such as kph or mph, meters or feet, etc that could be sent to the device.

Don't know if they still do, I quit using Garmin Connect soon after they let go of all the developers of their original Garmin Connect website and started forcing Garmin Express on everyone.

So maybe that's part of some perception that a phone was needed to finish the set up.

The only time I use Express with my Edge 1000 is if I get notice of a device OS upgrade. The Connect Mobile app works to get a finished ride data up to the Connect website and from there RWGPS picks it up.

I keep Express running to enable my Garmin swim watch to do a connection to Connect. When my watch is in proximity to the Express USB wireless gadget, my watch sends workout data right to Connect.

I use Connect as it’s the only fitness tracker I’ve found that can think about a swim workout in yardage/meters instead if miles and 1/10’s. The watch works great.

Garmin has somewhat recently turned off the option to not send your data to Connect. It's been something like two years since I've added a device, but it wouldn't shock me if there was a period when they forced you to connect a phone before proceeding.

I have the Edge Explore. The touchscreen is responsive, the screen is large, the maps have good detail and the navigation functions are excellent. It doesn't have the fitness oriented functions nor Strava segments and I don't miss them. Having said that, there are two issues.

#1 It does not display gradient and the Connect IQ gradient apps that are available work poorly and are a big drain on the battery. - not a big deal but a definite issue.

#2 When my rides upload, the elevation gain is grossly under reported. I correct this by requesting an elevation correction on Strava. An example would be a double century I did in March. Just about every rider had over 8,200 ft elevation gain. Mine showed barely over 5,000. That's just one example. It does this on every ride. The larger the gain, the worse the result.