Garmin 510 alternative

[Buzzinonbikes]

I have just sent my 510 off to Wiggle for a refund. The reliability of this thing is terrible.

The screen is now unresponsive, only registering that I am clicking in the bottom right corner when I touch anywhere. I tried hard/soft resets, calibrating the screen from boot by holding the lap button, but once in there it is an endless 'touch the dot" loop that never completes!

I was living with the corrupted files and occasional crashes/unresponsiveness but I can't use it in this state.

Yes, it is on the latest firmware.

What do people recommend as a replacement? I could probably get an 800 for the money but is that any better? The only navigation I need is a breadcrumb trail but maps might be nice and I plan on getting a HRM soon.

 

[Rob3rt]

Faulty device, try another.

No company will give better after sales than Garmin on a gps device. Ive got a broken 810 here about to go off to be repaired (it got water or sweat or something inside the SD card and USB area, somehow, it's oxidised and won't function when plugged into a computer), free of charge despite being out of warranty. Previously had a 500 replaced, free of charge, out of warranty when I smashed the 1/4 turn mount off the back. Had 3 x HR monitors replaced, free of charge.

 

[Buzzinonbikes]

Faulty device, try another.

No company will give better after sales than Garmin on a gps device. Ive got a broken 810 here about to go off to be repaired (it got water or sweat or something inside the SD card and USB area, somehow, it's oxidised and won't function when plugged into a computer), free of charge despite being out of warranty. Previously had a 500 replaced, free of charge, out of warranty when I smashed the 1/4 turn mount off the back. Had 3 x HR monitors replaced, free of charge.

Cheers Rob. Yeah I do like Garmin. Just think this 510 is a bit hit and miss. Seem to read a lot about other people's units developing problems too. Might go for an 800 or could even get a 500 with sensors for cheaper.

 

[Rob3rt]

Thing is, Garmin sell a LOT of products. If you sell more product, more won't work right (1% of 1000 is greater than 1% of 100) , which means more reports about malfunctioning units will surface. Given peoples propensity to complain when something goes wrong, but say nothing when something works, you end up with a weighted opinion.

I am not trying to shove Garmin down your throat here, just trying to point out, stuff will fail, Garmin will fix it if it does, often free of charge, regardless of warranty status, that is a brand standing by the product, not many companies will do that these days (half the time you have problems getting companies to honour warranties even). Even if they do charge, it is usually a flat fee of around £55.

They make arguably the best products for the task and I'd feel like I was cutting my nose off to spite my face buying anything else at this point in time.

 

[Buzzinonbikes]

Thing is, Garmin sell a LOT of products. If you sell more product, more won't work right (1% of 1000 is greater than 1% of 100) , which means more reports about malfunctioning units will surface. Given peoples propensity to complain when something goes wrong, but say nothing when something works, you end up with a weighted opinion.

I am not trying to shove Garmin down your throat here, just trying to point out, stuff will fail, Garmin will fix it if it does, often free of charge, regardless of warranty status, that is a brand standing by the product, not many companies will do that these days (half the time you have problems getting companies to honour warranties even). Even if they do charge, it is usually a flat fee of around £55.

They make arguably the best products for the task and I'd feel like I was cutting my nose off to spite my face buying anything else at this point in time.

Ye all fair what you say Rob. See what happens when Wiggle get a look at it as it's still under warranty.