donhaller 

I have owned a Garmin Edge 800 since its inception many years ago. It sill works fine on most outings but will die after about 6 hours of runtime. Looking for something connected that will last longer and does all the great things my 800 does and more.

gauvins

Garmin watches are (IMHO) excellent alternatives. They'll capture all the metrics of computer heads and provide an easy 20h+ with GPS, and twice that in ultratrac mode. I've recently purchased a refurbished F5 ($300) and rely on the watch for metrics (speed/cadence/power, etc.) and most navigation, sometimes assisted by a smartphone because the F5 doesn't have mapping capability. If money is no object (lucky you) F6 has even better autonomy.

Watches can be mounted on the handlebars (I have an out-front mount from raceware). Some keep them on their wrist -- not clear to me how they switch screens, though. Newer watches have a reasonably large display. No need to upgrade your glasses.

And you can run with them, or keep track of your heart rate all day.

And know what time it is .

terrymorse 

I upgraded from a Garmin Edge 810 to an 830, I like it much more.

noglider 

You could keep your 800 and put an external battery in your tool bag. Run a USB cable to the computer. I'm assuming the computer will run while being charged. The Anker E1 Astro works well. I've owned a few.

Seattle Forrest

Garmin Fenix 6. The non-solar one gets something like 60 hours of GPS time per charge. And is vastly more useful.

I used to have an 800 too. 🙂

Steve B.

If you don’t need a Di2 connection, or have a need for multiple activity profiles, the Garmin Edge Explore is a very reliable unit, big enough to have a decent display of the maps. It’s bigger than the 830 at the same price ($250), runs about 15 hrs. for basic tracking, 12 or so if navigating a few hours.

tunavic

The Garmin 830 is the newest unit available. I'm very happy with mine.

@Steve B. I don't think the Garmin Edge Explore and Edge 830 are the same price.

Riveting

The touch screen on my 800 stopped working after a few years, I'm guessing from riding below in some wet winter conditions, that dropped below freezing during the ride, causing the water/ice to expand and crack the seals on the display. I replaced it with a 520 and never had an issue in the same conditions. Plus, in the winter with insulated gloves on, I like the tactile buttons much better than the touch screen.

Steve B.

Correct, I mis-spoke, was thinking of the 520.

520 is $249
Edge Explore is $249
530 is $299
830 is $385

njkayaker

The 530 is worth the extra $50 over the 520.

I'd like to try the Explore. It's too bad that doesn't have IQ 3.

Steve B.

The Explore does support Connect iQ, curious as to what does version 3 add ?.

And a bit of research shows that the basic Explore (as opposed to the Edge Explore 820 and 1000) does not support the RWGPS iQ app. That sucks.

njkayaker

All of the newer units support some form of IQ (2 or better) starting with the 520.

IQ 3 gives you a better menu to use in apps.

The Explore is newer than the 1000 and the 1000 Explore.

It doesn't make sense that the RWGPS app doesn't support the Explore. I suspect it's something RWGPS overlooked.

If the older 1000 and the 1000 Explore can use an app, the newer Explore should be able to run the same app.

Steve B.

When I was recommending the Explore, I went to the Garmin site for iQ apps and was surprised that the list of devices for which RWGPS is available does not include the Explore. Seems like an error , but who knows.

https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/7...7-e13ffd064d54

Seattle Forrest

That doesn't necessarily mean it won't work, it could just mean they haven't tested it.

njkayaker

That’s a possible reason. But it would be kind of odd for them to have the others but not this one.

Anyway...

It’s almost a certainty that most (by a large majority) app developers don’t have all the physical devices their app support.

Garmin realizes that wouldn’t be practical and set things up so that wouldn’t be required.

The IQ development environment has a simulator. It’s not perfect but it lets you try any of the devices.

The developer picks the devices to support but Garmin can even automatically migrate your app to new devices that are similar. That lets users buy an upgraded device and use an app without waiting for the developer to compile a new version.

The RWGPS app isn’t so complicated that they couldn’t do that too.

njkayaker

Somebody asked about the Explore in July.

RWGPS replied 9/10/2019 saying they were looking into adding more device compatibility in future releases.

In another RWGPS reply, they indicate they buy actual devices to test on.

The Explore is old enough that it’s odd they haven’t done that already.

Seattle Forrest

It's also old enough that they might not find it relevant anymore. It might have been supported previously, but new code may not have been tested on it. I've spent my entire career writing code commercially, mostly for small companies. This is entirely plausible. I can see several of the PMs I've worked with making the decision to pull it off the list without much thought. I'm not saying this is what happened, I'm saying if you have the device and want to use the software, it's worth trying. I've run CIQ stuff on my Garmin watch that it wasn't specifically listed as compatible with.
@njkayaker - For what it's worth, I've seen a number of complaints that people tested a watch face in the simulator tool and it looked and worked fine, but not on the device. Garmin made the simulator and, rightly or wrongly, their software isn't held in high regard among their user base.

This is one of those "a good test is worth a thousand expert opinions" situations.

njkayaker

As I said earlier, RWGPS implied they would support the Explore but that they would need to buy one first.

The RWGPS app runs on the older 520. It supports the older Explore 1000.

The UI and display for watches can be much more fussy, especially for something complicated. And many of them are different in small but important ways.

The RWGPS app has a very minimal UI.

Supporting the Explore is no more work than supporting the older 1000.

Based on actual experience writing IQ apps.

rifraf

Why not instead invest your bucks towards a dynohub and E-werk charging system which will keep your Edge 800 charged on the bike?
I use this system and only upgraded to an Edge 1030 due to my ageing eyesight needing a bigger screen.

njkayaker

About $300-600.

An external battery charger is $20.

rifraf

One would assume OP has an external charger for his Edge 800 so I'm unclear as to your point.

Considering there can be days in between towns whilst on tour, I'm unsure what good an external charger would be, hence my investing in my dynohub charging system which not only keeps my Edge charged but also my lights, camera etc.

Liked my system so much, I also ended up buying the same system for my bike trailer.

OP's was considering buying a newer Garmin Edge due to his 800 unit only holding a charge in use for 6 hours.

I was offering a potential solution enhancing his bikes utility for less investment.

njkayaker

If he had a charger, he wouldn’t be complaining about a 6 hour runtime.

He talked about 6 hours being too short. We don’t really know anything else.

He can also replace the battery for $30 (or less).