Garmin....worth the money?

[HLaB]

....and don't get me started on Garmin taking a mere 20 mins to lock onto GPS if not used for a couple of weeks.

That was partially true of the first gen models, but they could take 5 or 10 minutes if they hadn't been used for a while and/or in a brand new location from their last switch on. Wary of that I switched on the 200, 800 and 1000 with just gps and find it locks in seconds and at most under a minute. I believe the 1000 also uses the Russian GPS system and could lock on even faster but I prefer the better battery life with it switched off

 

[fossyant]

I don't have a Garmin. Why do you need one to commute? Don't you know the way?

Basic 200 to record the miles. 705 for navigation.

 

[jonnysnorocket]

In answer to the op, I have a garmin touring, and it is, without an absolute shadow of doubt, the most useless object imaginable...... Do yourself a favour and steer well clear!!

 

[MichaelO]

I've just sold my 810, having had enough of the crashes. Elemnt Bolt for the same price I sold my second hand 810 - much better unit!!

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Has anyone ever recorded with a Garmin on a flight? Does it have a fit?

 

[Aravis]

Basic 200 to record the miles. 705 for navigation.

A very similar philosophy - 200 to record miles, 520 for navigation. However, at the start of this year I switched to uploading from the 520 because I prefer the bigger climbing numbers you get from a barometric altimeter, so the 200 is now the backup recording device. Having both on the bars means I can see data and map at the same time without needing to touch anything.

The 200 has been rock-solid at all times. No flicker of a problem that I can remember. A couple of times the 520's display has frozen briefly, but when it freed itself it was clear the track had been recorded faithfully. And it did reboot itself once, but without any loss of data. As for battery life, they both look as though they'll last 20 hours without a recharge, and both can be charged in-flight without disturbing the recording.

A total of £240 paid for both (new). Worth it? Without a shadow of a doubt.

 

[classic33]

Has anyone ever recorded with a Garmin on a flight? Does it have a fit?

Yours is on at present then?
A few KOM's coming your way.

 

[John the Monkey]

My own experience, fwiw (cribbed from another thread)
(Downsides of a phone)
For me, battery life, finding a mount that seemed secure enough at a reasonable price, heat build up running the GPS & inability to have the screen on without contributing significantly to that heat build up , weatherproofing.

The Garmin 800 I use hasn't given me any trouble so far[1], loaded with OpenStreetmap mapping, and it leaves my phone to be a phone.

I think it may be the best bike thing I ever bought.

[1] I've ridden pre-planned routes (loaded from RidewithGPS), ad hoc routes using the mapping to follow bike routes and check that "wonder where that goes" roads don't end in dead ends, and let it navigate me back to where I was staying in France when I had to cut a circular ride short unexpectedly in an area I didn't know.