Garmin 705 or SatMap ?

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yello

Guest
I'd find it difficult, personally, to justify the significant price difference between the 305 and 705. I have a 305 and it does everything I want. The 705, at twice the price, doesn't have twice the functionality for my purposes.
 

will

Guest
if you buy a 705 almost certainly hugely cheaper from the USA - the map prce is still pretty sick (hoping my old Garmin maps from Etrex Vista C will be compatible.

Garmin has been skinning europeans for ever. I have three garmin devices all bought on EBAY at savings of hundred of dollars each.
 
OP
OP
itisaboutthebike

itisaboutthebike

Über Member
Oh yes I know - I've just bought a brand new JAMIS Exile 631 singlepeed frame off Ebay from the US - $170 (plus shipiing of course) ! Its fantastic - just what I need for my 8 speed hubb gear commuter bike.

Yes I'll be looking at the US Ebay prices for the 705 when they appear.

Could be some good deals on a 305.

Is it possible to create a route on say tracklogs and download it to a 305 ? Or is this just possible on the newer 605/705 ?
 

yello

Guest
itisaboutthebike said:
Is it possible to create a route on say tracklogs and download it to a 305 ?

In a word, yes.

I use http://www.mapmyride.com/ to create the route, export it as a Edge course file (.crs) and upload it to the Edge.

I reckon you're right; I wouldn't be surprised to see some decent deals on the 305 when the 705 is released.
 

Bollo

Failed Tech Bro
Location
Winch
Yep, had mine for a day or two now with the Topo map of the UK. To do an in-depth review would get me the sack, but first impressions are:


Good
Build quality is great.
Unit is relatively easy to install and use.
Highly configurable
Extensive training info
On-road navigation is good with listed turns and road names (advantage over OS)
Despite the map quality (see below), defined routes are clear enough to be useful.
Interface with Garmin Connect is simple - GC is looking like a tidy tool, although its still early in its development.
Phone Support is good

Indifferent
Screen is a bit too small compared with satmap.
Displayed map quality is very ordinary when compared with OS - I wouldn't like to use it for off-road or hiking.

Bad
Forget auto-routing unless you want to ride your bike on the M3 - not an issue for me as I like to handcraft routes anyway.
Supporting software (MapSource, driver installation etc) is shocking! Get something like Tracklogs (my fav) or Memorymap if you're serious about creating routes.
Manuals - soft and hard copy are equally useless. Expect to become a regular on garmin forums.
Map installation is a pain (but good support solved this)


Also worth mentioning that I had a scare the first time I charged it. The battery indicator only showed the battery as half charged, despite 12hrs of charging. I did a full discharge, followed by a recharge and this seems to have solved the problem.

If anyone has any specific questions, list 'em here or PM me. No promises at the 'mo, but I'll do my best.
 

CopperBrompton

Bicycle: a means of transport between cake-stops
Location
London
What issue do you have with Mapsource? For me, that is one of the greatest strengths of Garmin units - I find the software excellent.

I'm also surprised that the manual is 'useless' - Garmin manuals are usually very good.

Ben
 

Bollo

Failed Tech Bro
Location
Winch
Ben Lovejoy said:
What issue do you have with Mapsource? For me, that is one of the greatest strengths of Garmin units - I find the software excellent.

I'm also surprised that the manual is 'useless' - Garmin manuals are usually very good.

Ben

My real issues are with the map installation and the driver support for transferring data from the unit. I found mapsource functional but clunky when compared with third party mapping software, particularly tracklogs, which is generally very intuitive. I know with these things that you get used to doing things a certain way, so I'm not going to stick the boot right in.

I'll stand by by comments on the manual though. The full owner's manual feels more like the 'getting started' guide. Playing around with the unit, I've found a host of functions not even hinted at in the manual. For example, the whole section on map use covers one and a half A5 pages. There's no mention of the digital compass screen or the route guide screen and only two sentences on the elevation plot, neither of which mention that you can set the horizontal scale using the joystick. The manual appears better when describing the training functionality. I guess this is where they took stuff from the 205/305.
 

CopperBrompton

Bicycle: a means of transport between cake-stops
Location
London
I'm surprised to hear the 705 is light on tracklogging, as you'd think that would be a key training need.

I don't need the fitness stuff, so I have the Vista HCx.
 

Bollo

Failed Tech Bro
Location
Winch
Nope, 705 logs tracks. The format is 'tcx' which Garmin Connect takes as is but you will have to convert to gpx if you want to download to tracklogs. Tracklogs doesn't seem to recognise the 705 as a device.

You can download a route from tracklogs, again as a gpx, but there are problems. Once on the 705, the tracklogs tracks sometimes don't co-locate with the vector roads and paths. This means that the directions are sometimes a bit skitty.

I'm still playing with all of this so there may be better ways of doing things.
 

Bollo

Failed Tech Bro
Location
Winch
skids said:
Hi Bollo,
Any pointers on the digital compass screen or the route guide screen (or maybe a link to a useful forum)?

I'm pretty pleased with mine (but agree some things could be better). I've found http://www.oe-files.de/oefiles/gmaps/tcx_to_kml_html helpful.

Hiya,

Not used the compass screen. The route guide screen is one of the screens that you cycle through using the mode button while you're navigating (set a 'where to'). I've not used it directly, I've just relied on the 705 flipping from one of the 'bike' screens as you approach a junction.

For converting the tcx files, I've used something called 'tcx experience', but I'm buggered if I can find the link!
 

confused

New Member
Location
Islington
Just got myself a garmin 705 and am so far quite happy with its functionality as a cycle computer, HRM, data-logger, GPS recorder etc. (only been out with it twice so far though).

However - I didn't find any web reviews that mention what 'built-in basemap' map the 705 ships with so went ahead and took a gamble on the 705 (over the cheaper 305), and (unless I've missed something on a settings menu) it is pretty poor considering that it is designed for cyclists - so far as I can tell it has only A-Roads, Motorways and railway lines.
 
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