GPS Recommendations
12-26-20, 08:42 PM
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GPS Recommendations
After having my existing Garmin 810 crash more and more during my current riding, I'm starting to accept I need a new computer. The current market availability seems both expensive but also contains so many options it's hard to know where to start.
Many some of you can offer your insight.
I'm interested in a GPS with :
-Decent battery life. Minimum 8 hours
-Ability to send courses from my phone on-the-go, a-la google maps style. For urban commuting type thing, instead of creating a new route in garmin connect every time.
-Ability to incorporate power meter / heart rate monitor data
-A nice UI / bright, detailed, large screen for navigational purposes. This will be a navigational tool primarily, helping me do long-distance endurance rides and tarmac bikepacking (I still prefer my eTrex for offroad touring).
[Bonus points for live segments though I've had **** luck getting my 810 to do that consistently]
Ideas:
-New Garmin 810 / 820 / 830 depending on pricing
-Karoo Hammerhead 1/2?
What else is out there? What are you using that you thoroughly enjoy?
I'm in Australia and would like to keep it under $600. I got my eTrex for $150 CAD, and my Garmin 810 for $200 CAD ... everything on the market right now seems crazy expensive.
Many some of you can offer your insight.
I'm interested in a GPS with :
-Decent battery life. Minimum 8 hours
-Ability to send courses from my phone on-the-go, a-la google maps style. For urban commuting type thing, instead of creating a new route in garmin connect every time.
-Ability to incorporate power meter / heart rate monitor data
-A nice UI / bright, detailed, large screen for navigational purposes. This will be a navigational tool primarily, helping me do long-distance endurance rides and tarmac bikepacking (I still prefer my eTrex for offroad touring).
[Bonus points for live segments though I've had **** luck getting my 810 to do that consistently]
Ideas:
-New Garmin 810 / 820 / 830 depending on pricing
-Karoo Hammerhead 1/2?
What else is out there? What are you using that you thoroughly enjoy?
I'm in Australia and would like to keep it under $600. I got my eTrex for $150 CAD, and my Garmin 810 for $200 CAD ... everything on the market right now seems crazy expensive.
12-26-20, 08:53 PM
#2
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Garmin 1030 or the 1030 Plus, depending on your budget. The 1030 runs 20 hrs., the Plus goes 24 hrs. The older 1030 is just under your budget at $444 U.S dollars on Amazon. The Plus has a faster processor, some software improvements in navigation (re-routing, etc..).
Or the 830, same software, smaller screen, more the size of the 810. The larger screen size is useful when using maps, IMO, I had an 810, now use a 1030. It was worth it,
Or the 830, same software, smaller screen, more the size of the 810. The larger screen size is useful when using maps, IMO, I had an 810, now use a 1030. It was worth it,
12-27-20, 11:06 AM
#3
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Are you certain you have all the firmware and software updates on your Edge 810? If so, then have you tried a device reset?
As for what to get next........... I don't know what do you want? I'm sure they are all good for someone. Whether that's you depends on you. How well do you transition between Windows, MacOS and Linux. When you change to different brands of bike gps you might feel much like changing between those three operating systems which all work well for me, but give some headaches and invoke anger because they don't do things the same way.
I had an Edge 500 for a very long time, never gave me an issue, though several times I found out I was misunderstanding what some of it features were actually offering me. I just got an Edge 530 and it works great, though it's got a lot you need to understand when going through the fairly well designed setup that leads you by the hand while getting it connected to the garmin connect app on your smartphone. So many of the new features that you might want will depend on this setup regardless of what model Garmin you get. Only if you exist in your own little world while cycling and don't want others to know about you or you don't want to know about them or anything else but what is happening between you and your bike will you not want to use the Garmin Connect App.
I will say that the Edge 500 had me convinced buttons where the way to go since they always worked and were easy to get to what you wanted. However so many of the new features require more inputs so I'm a little miffed that I didn't realize that before committing to the Edge 530. My son's 1030 plus works so much faster and he says the touch screen is many times better even when wet or when used with sweaty fingers than the Edge 820 he had previously.
There are plenty of other brands I'm sure are good. DC Rainmaker has a lot of reviews that to me give some useful awareness. If nothing else, just read the summary at the end of his very lengthy reviews.
As for what to get next........... I don't know what do you want? I'm sure they are all good for someone. Whether that's you depends on you. How well do you transition between Windows, MacOS and Linux. When you change to different brands of bike gps you might feel much like changing between those three operating systems which all work well for me, but give some headaches and invoke anger because they don't do things the same way.
I had an Edge 500 for a very long time, never gave me an issue, though several times I found out I was misunderstanding what some of it features were actually offering me. I just got an Edge 530 and it works great, though it's got a lot you need to understand when going through the fairly well designed setup that leads you by the hand while getting it connected to the garmin connect app on your smartphone. So many of the new features that you might want will depend on this setup regardless of what model Garmin you get. Only if you exist in your own little world while cycling and don't want others to know about you or you don't want to know about them or anything else but what is happening between you and your bike will you not want to use the Garmin Connect App.
I will say that the Edge 500 had me convinced buttons where the way to go since they always worked and were easy to get to what you wanted. However so many of the new features require more inputs so I'm a little miffed that I didn't realize that before committing to the Edge 530. My son's 1030 plus works so much faster and he says the touch screen is many times better even when wet or when used with sweaty fingers than the Edge 820 he had previously.
There are plenty of other brands I'm sure are good. DC Rainmaker has a lot of reviews that to me give some useful awareness. If nothing else, just read the summary at the end of his very lengthy reviews.
12-27-20, 07:38 PM
#4
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Are you certain you have all the firmware and software updates on your Edge 810? If so, then have you tried a device reset?
As for what to get next........... I don't know what do you want? I'm sure they are all good for someone. Whether that's you depends on you. How well do you transition between Windows, MacOS and Linux. When you change to different brands of bike gps you might feel much like changing between those three operating systems which all work well for me, but give some headaches and invoke anger because they don't do things the same way.
I had an Edge 500 for a very long time, never gave me an issue, though several times I found out I was misunderstanding what some of it features were actually offering me. I just got an Edge 530 and it works great, though it's got a lot you need to understand when going through the fairly well designed setup that leads you by the hand while getting it connected to the garmin connect app on your smartphone. So many of the new features that you might want will depend on this setup regardless of what model Garmin you get. Only if you exist in your own little world while cycling and don't want others to know about you or you don't want to know about them or anything else but what is happening between you and your bike will you not want to use the Garmin Connect App.
I will say that the Edge 500 had me convinced buttons where the way to go since they always worked and were easy to get to what you wanted. However so many of the new features require more inputs so I'm a little miffed that I didn't realize that before committing to the Edge 530. My son's 1030 plus works so much faster and he says the touch screen is many times better even when wet or when used with sweaty fingers than the Edge 820 he had previously.
There are plenty of other brands I'm sure are good. DC Rainmaker has a lot of reviews that to me give some useful awareness. If nothing else, just read the summary at the end of his very lengthy reviews.
As for what to get next........... I don't know what do you want? I'm sure they are all good for someone. Whether that's you depends on you. How well do you transition between Windows, MacOS and Linux. When you change to different brands of bike gps you might feel much like changing between those three operating systems which all work well for me, but give some headaches and invoke anger because they don't do things the same way.
I had an Edge 500 for a very long time, never gave me an issue, though several times I found out I was misunderstanding what some of it features were actually offering me. I just got an Edge 530 and it works great, though it's got a lot you need to understand when going through the fairly well designed setup that leads you by the hand while getting it connected to the garmin connect app on your smartphone. So many of the new features that you might want will depend on this setup regardless of what model Garmin you get. Only if you exist in your own little world while cycling and don't want others to know about you or you don't want to know about them or anything else but what is happening between you and your bike will you not want to use the Garmin Connect App.
I will say that the Edge 500 had me convinced buttons where the way to go since they always worked and were easy to get to what you wanted. However so many of the new features require more inputs so I'm a little miffed that I didn't realize that before committing to the Edge 530. My son's 1030 plus works so much faster and he says the touch screen is many times better even when wet or when used with sweaty fingers than the Edge 820 he had previously.
There are plenty of other brands I'm sure are good. DC Rainmaker has a lot of reviews that to me give some useful awareness. If nothing else, just read the summary at the end of his very lengthy reviews.
I just did a device reset on my 810, and had it connected to Garmin Express yesterday. It should be all up to date, though I'm still not sure if the crashing is a hardware issue or a software one. I'll take it out for another spin tomorrow and see how it goes.
Garmin 1030 or the 1030 Plus, depending on your budget. The 1030 runs 20 hrs., the Plus goes 24 hrs. The older 1030 is just under your budget at $444 U.S dollars on Amazon. The Plus has a faster processor, some software improvements in navigation (re-routing, etc..).
Or the 830, same software, smaller screen, more the size of the 810. The larger screen size is useful when using maps, IMO, I had an 810, now use a 1030. It was worth it,
Or the 830, same software, smaller screen, more the size of the 810. The larger screen size is useful when using maps, IMO, I had an 810, now use a 1030. It was worth it,
12-27-20, 08:11 PM
#6
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The 810 was a flaky unit from the start and never got better. Mine had issues early, is why I sold it and got a Bolt, then disliked that and found a deal on a 1030. Love that unit, very reliable.
12-28-20, 10:17 AM
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Make sure you are aware of the differences between a 1030 and a 1030 plus if you are remotely thinking about one. It's not much, but the plus is generally the same price. It's newer and though you might not want the other features now, you might in six years or so.
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/cata...Product=567991
Also, I tend to think when Garmin issues these newer versions of the same product that its not only that they have a different feature set, but that they also use somewhat newer and better hardware inside. Sort of like the difference between this years new computer motherboard offering from Gigabyte or ASUS, and the same line of motherboard from a few years back. And hopefully, the processor on the thing with be a faster one too.
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/cata...Product=567991
Also, I tend to think when Garmin issues these newer versions of the same product that its not only that they have a different feature set, but that they also use somewhat newer and better hardware inside. Sort of like the difference between this years new computer motherboard offering from Gigabyte or ASUS, and the same line of motherboard from a few years back. And hopefully, the processor on the thing with be a faster one too.
12-28-20, 01:37 PM
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I like the idea of a Garmin or Wahoo GPS/Computer but my wireless Sigma computer and my old iPhone 5s did the job well enough. Now that I have an iPhone 8SE I have even less incentive to buy a fully fledged bike specific GPS.
12-28-20, 01:55 PM
#9
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Make sure you are aware of the differences between a 1030 and a 1030 plus if you are remotely thinking about one. It's not much, but the plus is generally the same price. It's newer and though you might not want the other features now, you might in six years or so.
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/cata...Product=567991
Also, I tend to think when Garmin issues these newer versions of the same product that its not only that they have a different feature set, but that they also use somewhat newer and better hardware inside. Sort of like the difference between this years new computer motherboard offering from Gigabyte or ASUS, and the same line of motherboard from a few years back. And hopefully, the processor on the thing with be a faster one too.
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/cata...Product=567991
Also, I tend to think when Garmin issues these newer versions of the same product that its not only that they have a different feature set, but that they also use somewhat newer and better hardware inside. Sort of like the difference between this years new computer motherboard offering from Gigabyte or ASUS, and the same line of motherboard from a few years back. And hopefully, the processor on the thing with be a faster one too.
12-28-20, 04:51 PM
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If it's significantly more than about $100 difference, the 1030 over the 1030+ is probably worth it. Much less than that, is might be overly cheap to save $50 for something you will have for a while.
The 1030+:
The 1030+:
- Is a bit faster.
- Has better battery life.
- Improvements in navigation behaviour (Garmin said they would give the 1030 the same features but who knows when that will be).
- World wide maps (basically).
- A real compass.
Last edited by njkayaker; 12-28-20 at 04:55 PM.
