Ironhorse2022

Hello,
I just purchased a Garmin refurbished 1030 (not a plus) from GPSCity with a 2 yr warranty from Garmin. Considering that the 1030 was released in 2017 and has just been discontinued, I’m having second thoughts about the wisdom of this purchase. I expect there may be 1 more sw release for this unit but probably no more after that. Other than the maps eventually going out of date a bit, are there any other reasons I should be concerned keeping this unit ? I have 30 days to return it. Thanks.

Atlas Shrugged

I highly doubt they will not be updating 1030 as required to keep them functioning and I am optimistic that the maps will still be upgraded as they are OSM Maps as used throughout their line. I still use my 1030 regularly. Chances are there will be a generous upgrade program should your 1030 ever fail.

Steve B.

It's a reasonably reliable unit. Only issue I get on occasion is failure to power down even after I power down. My unit has gone to 1% battery this way. I never had tracking issue, navigation issues or connection issues. It's too bad Garmin did not add some of the features for nav. they added to the Plus, oh well, it's a good reliable unit. After many years of use, my battery still gives me 20 hrs of life. The 1030 Plus is selling for around $450, so if you paid $350 or so I'd say worth it.

Steve B.

I doubt they will do "upgrades" to the OS. Maybe bug fixes, likely map updates. The changes they wanted the 1030 to have from 1030 Plus were done already, if any.

Iride01 

If it does everything you wanted it for, then another newer model is not going to do those same thing significantly better if any better at all.

If you look at the new features that every new model brings with them and want those features, then you'll never be satisfied with what you currently have.

Seattle Forrest

The maps are updated forever, and you don't need Garmin to update them.

It's extremely unlikely the 1030 will get any new features. It's two generations out of date! It's also not very likely there are terrible bugs left, they've been improving the 1030 for years now. But it will almost certainly continue getting patches to fix minor issues. It will also likely work for a great many years, probably more than you want.

​​​​​​The question is how much the money is worth to you and how much a head unit improves your experience of cycling. I think Edge units are a waste of money and space on the bike, but a lot of people like having them.

Ironhorse2022

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated. Your comments are what I hoped to hear. I think this computer will greatly exceed my needed functionality and I don’t foresee needing any of the newer bells and whistles (ignorance is bliss). I paid 249 for it which is 200 less than the 1030 plus is going for. Again, thanks for the quick feedback.

pdlamb

You're riding a bike? When affordable cars have been out for over 100 years?? The cars nowadays have windshield washers that (usually) work, and heating, and air conditioning, and much more comfortable seats, and not just radios, but Sound Systems, etc. etc.

That 1030 is a solid unit, most of the bugs have been worked out. While it may not last another 100 years, it'll give you years of working. Since you're still riding that ancient two-wheeler, the 1030 will work fine for you.

Seattle Forrest

You got a good deal.

Your 1030 has so many bells and whistles they're kind of running out of new things to be added, and the stuff you say "ignorance is bliss" about is mostly so esoteric you wouldn't care if you knew.

Only thing left at this point is to ride it like you stole it.

Steve B.

Decent price.

wayold

The 1030 for $250 is still a very capable bike computer and does most of what the 1030 Plus and 1040 do. If they hadn't been blowing out all those 1030 Plus bundles a few weeks ago I'd have probably gotten one of the 1030s and been happy.

PS. Consumer electronics is always a moving target. You can pay top dollar to be on the bleeding or stay a generation or two back and keep almost everything (except bragging rights).

Ironhorse2022

Agree on all points 😁. Now it’s time to ride my antique like I stole it. Cold here in Michigan but sunny so will squeeze in a shake down ride. Envy you southerners right now.

Atlas Shrugged

Just updated my 1030 yesterday and installed new firmware as well as a fresh set of maps. Good for another couple of years, at least. As I mentioned earlier Garmin gets very generous on their upgrade options when a product is no longer supported. A button failed on my 830 and when I sent it to Garmin for a repair, they sent me a 1030 for the same repair amount.

NoWhammies

Not completely related to your question but...I bought the 1030+ last summer when it was on sale. The 1040 was about to be released so Garmin was blowing out the 1030+ before the release of the 1040. For me, the savings outweighed the purchase price of the new 1040. The 1030+ has good reviews and after getting some feedback from the people here on the forum, I thought that purchasing the 1030+ was a good idea. After a summer of riding with it, I have no complaints. Would the 1040 have been nice? You bet. But the 1030+ does all that I need. And I suspect while the OS won't get any new features, I think bug fixes and maps will continue to be updated. I think you will be happy with your 1030.

Ironhorse2022

Atlas - is your new sw level 13.73 ? I think I’ve updated it properly thru Wi-Fi but I’m not positive. Also, how did you force the map updates ? Thanks

Steve B.

Garmin recommends using their Express software on a PC for map updates. They are painfully slow. I often skip as they are rarely anything that affects me.

thin_concrete

My 1000 is still going strong. It doesn’t have the features of the newer units, but I still get 15-20hrs on a charge and it does what I bought it for. I want to upgrade, but it doesn’t make sense when this one still works as the day I bought it. I think you’ll find your 1030 in the same boat.

njkayaker

It’s a bit slow. So, you plug it in and leave it alone for a while. It’s not like it’s something that is updated frequently (once or twice a year). It doesn’t really matter that it’s slow. I’ve never timed it (and I have two devices) but it doesn’t seem longer than an hour. (How long it takes is such a nonissue that it isn’t worth the effort to time it.)

If you don’t care about the update, don’t update (nothing wrong with that).

But if it’s “painful”, you have a very low pain threshold.

(I make changes to OSM maps. So, the updates matter to me.)

Steve B.

Well I get to use "painful" as I've done map updates on maybe 6 or more Garmin devices over many years. But I do it like you, I start and walk away. Its just weird as the map data is not a lot of data and they just like send it of a Win 3 server or something. No need to take hours, really.

njkayaker

You owned 6 Garmin devices at the same time?

I just did the update on a 1030+. It updated 4 maps. (The 1030 generally has one map to update.) That's on a 200MB internet connection (on a PC with an SSD). Garmin estimated it could take 2.5 h.

It took 27 minutes.

The total size for the update on the 1030+ was about 10 GB.

I've never see it take "hours".

Steve B.

Well, I've owned an Edge 810 and 1000, both sold. Currently have an Instinct watch but can't count that as you don't download maps to it, have a 1040 and a 1030 I intend to sell, a really old Etrex, plus a Nuvi car unit and a really old car unit from 20 years ago. So yes, I own 6 different Garmin units.

njkayaker

You didn't answer the question I asked.

You did not own 6 Garmin devices at the same time.

Only three of these (the 1040, 1030. and the Nuvi) devices typically use the map update process that causes you so much pain.

You are updating maps for one (maybe, two) devices (it appears).

Steve B.

2 Garmin car units, 1 Instinct, 1 1030, 1 1040, 1 Etrex. Thats "6 Garmin devices at the same time". Do I own 6 Garmin cycling devices, no. I do own 3 devices that do get map updates when suggested, but I stated the Instinct does not get a map update. I no longer update the maps on the Etrex or 15 year old car unit, not sure there are map updates for those, no longer in use, so dont care. Not unusual for the message from Garmin about the time frame for a map update to state more than an hour. Close enough to hours as far as I care, but I'm certain you will (as typical) feel the need to argue that.

Iride01 

Since Garmin added Wifi to most all their devices, updates of any sort have become pretty much trouble free. Or at least not a PIA that they once were when you had to go through the Garmin Express application on your PC or Mac.

njkayaker

The map updates don't use WiFI.