Garmin thingy

[rich p]

I don't want one for touring and pre-loading routes, I like maps and changing course on a whim.
I do a few short trips each year where a few mates and I pretend to be fit, young things and tackle some mountain routes in the Alps etc. I'd quite like a gadget that will just record the route, altitudes and profiles. Is there such a thing?

 

[gaz]

Those garmin thingy's you speak of can do that, you just plug it in the other end and it shows you your route and shows you some fancy figures.

 

[GrasB]

The Garmin Edge 205, 305 & 500 fit that bill & the Polar CS6000X.

 

[Auntie Helen]

I'm having for Christmas the Garmin Oregon 300 which looks like a cracking bit of kit. It's a tad larger than some of the cycle-specific devices but has very good maps etc.

 

[Crackle]

Some of them have proper barometric sensors for altitude. If ascent calculations need to be accurate I'd consider tha,t otherwise you'll be relying on the inflated values of mapping software.

 

[amaferanga]

I think its an Edge 205 you want and I just so happens that I'm selling an Edge 205 here

£90 or make me an offer....

 

[Auntie Helen]

Blimey, I bought my Garmin 205 for £60 off Stevevw here in February

 

[arallsopp]

AH: Would you be a darling and let me know how you get on with the Oregon's screen?

 

[Auntie Helen]

Will do When I'm allowed to open it, which isn't until Christmas Day

 

[rich p]

Some of them have proper barometric sensors for altitude. If ascent calculations need to be accurate I'd consider tha,t otherwise you'll be relying on the inflated values of mapping software.

So do I need to buy mapping software too, whatever it is?

 

[Auntie Helen]

The Garmin Oregon needs maps but I can use the maps on my old in-car Garmin for it. I'm going to also load the Open Streetmaps as it can have more than one map set, to see which I like best.

 

[arallsopp]

In my experience, the units tend to ship with only a very simplified 'base' map. Pretty much any road thats on it would be one you want to avoid, and it may not be 'routable' (as in, you can't use it to calculate a route between two points).

There is an 'open street map' free set of maps that work pretty well, and you can get a long way with google earth and exports.


-edit: pipped to the post by AH.

 

[rich p]

What about the Garmin edge in Europe? I'm really pretty clueless about this sort of thing!

 

[arallsopp]

City Navigator 2010 NT comes in a few flavours, including Europe (incl. UK). The split seems to be normally EU / US, but worth checking on the box. Amazon is a pretty good place to browse and get an idea of what's on offer.

Oh, and if you want to be able to read altitudes ahead of time (rather than taking the unit to every location on the map and getting a measurement) there's a UK O/S product out there.

Expensive, and not that great though. Much easier to plot it out in mapsource / whatever, then export as GPX and upload to your website of preference, or construct in the website, then download as GPX / whatever.

Sorry, bit broad here. I've only used the Etrex, and think the routes/tracks might be device specific. I'll shut up now

 

[rich p]

I realise I'm coming over a bit thick here but the long and the short is that I need a gadget which will also provide routing as well as just the info I want (distance, profile, speed) ansd also mapping software separately?