Garmin Edge 1000 and Garmin Varia Radar and Garmin Varia Vision questions

[dim]

I will be buying a Garmin Edge 1000 bundle at the end of October. A few quick questions to people who have these:

1. Battery life seems to be a problem (from what I've read, but many of the comments are old comments ) .... How long does the battery keep charge? (I'm planning on doing some longer rides in Spring next year ... i.e. 200km which I'm hoping to do in approx 8-10hrs (depending on wind and hills) .... I will not have my phone connected to the Garmin, but will have the cadence, speed and heart rate monitor connected

2. Frozen screen.... I've read that sometimes the Edge 1000 freezes during a ride (has this been fixed with the latest software updates?)

3. Any other problems with the Garmin Edge 1000 that existing users are finding?

4. I'm also seriously thinking of getting the Garmin Varia Radar aswell.... any comments from existing users, or is it just an expensive gimmic?

5. I may also get the Garmin Varia Vision gadget in December, but I will need to demo one first as I'm not sure if I will be comfortable with it connected to my sunglasses..... anyone on this forum using one?

 

[HLaB]

I turn off Glas Nos (or whatever its called), wifi and Bluetooth and the 1000 last 200k for me no problem. I did a couple of 300+km (about 14hours) rides in the summer and used a portable USB charger and the 1000 battery lasted fine. The manual says the battery last 12hours that agrees with my experience.

Never had a frozen screen my self.

Only criticism of the 1000 for me is its touchscreen is a little too sensitive and a blob of sweat/ rain can activate it.

Don't know much about the Varia myself other than I cant see it being vital.

 

[jay clock]

around 9 hrs for me following a GPX route... An Anker 500 mah battery pack works a treat

 

[Cuchilo]

My 1000 froze a few times when it was brand new . I took it back to the shop and gave them the chance to sort the problem out . It froze once after that but nothing since so i assume updates have sorted the problem .

 

[JtB]

My 1000 used to freeze occasionally and I had a Bluetooth connectivity problem which prevented my rides from being uploaded via my mobile phone. However I've not seen either of these problems for quite a while now so I presume they have been fixed by an update. There were also a few annoyances with the way the 1000 operated (e.g. having to manually disable GPS every time I used my Turbo Trainer) that have also been fixed by updates. I agree with disabling BT/WiFi on long rides, but I don't believe GLONASS makes much difference to the battery life so I always leave that enabled. At the moment I don't have any issues with my 1000.

 

[MistaDee]

My Garmin edge 1000 has dire battery life when used with the varia, its also been back to garmin multiple times & although the mapping works only for exceptionally short distances & the device thinks I push out 903 w/k Garmin inform me nothing is wrong with it.
Garmin have told me to purchase the latest 820 though as apparently this does not have the same quirks as the 1000 as with the latest firmwear mine still freezes

 

[dim]

2 quick questions as regards the Garmin Edge 1000

1.) How do you download someone else's route/course from Strava on Garmin Connect (then I will edit the start/end point), then re-save to my Garmin?

2.) How do you download a course from Ride with GPS or similar onto Garmin Connect (then I will edit the start and end points and re-save to my Garmin)?