New toy bought today .Garmin 520 and not happy

[Trigger369]

Just bought myself a new Garmin 520 bundle today . Now I'm taking it back .
Not a happy bunny here . Opened the box to set the computer up and it wouldn't turn on .it says in the booklet it would start up on connection with the usb cable . Let it sit for 5min and had a look and it just started up . Further inspection and it's the power lead or the unit itself is the problem There is movement in it and it's starting up and shutting down agian due to empty battery . Going back forreplacement 2moro.

Anyone else have a unit with a loose connection or could this just be a dodgy unit/cable ?

 

[mgs315]

Sounds like a dodgy unit to me. My 520 has been flawless since the first charge.

 

[Trigger369]

Yea .Just not Gona take a chance espically with the price of it .boxed it back up agian for return 2moro

 

[Milzy]

There’s plenty of posts on here about how the Wahoo ELEMNT devices are far superior in every way. Garmin are rubbish, you get what you derserve for not researching properly.

 

[derrick]

Swap it for a Wahoo. so much better.

 

[I like Skol]

Just for balance against the Garmin haters, my Garmin Edge touring has been pretty good on the whole.

Only glitches I have had are locking up while navigating occasionally, but then that may be my fault as I found out late into ownership that when creating routes to load to the device I should avoid selecting control points/way markers close to junctions as this may cause navigation issues and I don't think I have always done that. As with all technology, it is only as good as the operator and I am learning along the way.

 

[Bollo]

There’s plenty of posts on here about how the Wahoo ELEMNT devices are far superior in every way.

Funny that, as DC Rainmaker rates the 520 and the Wahoo Bolt as the current best in class. The 520 is a mature unit so the price is competitive and (most of) the bugs have been sorted. Like most things, the choice depends on what you want out of a unit.

I've had a 520 for a couple of years without problems. It does plenty well and a few things not so well, just like the ELEMNT. Trigger has probably landed a duff unit, which is unfortunate but does happen.

Garmin are rubbish, you get what you derserve for not researching properly.

Nice

 

[Aravis]

I'm also a happy 520 user. My researches (Autumn 2016) suggested that the 520 would do everything I needed and that I could expect it to be bombproof. Others in the range (notably the Touring/Touring Plus) whilst possibly being a better fit for my requirements were likely to be less reliable. The 520 has lived up to its promise in every way.

It seems almost certain that the OP has been plain unlucky.

 

[Lozz360]

I've had my 520 for nearly two years and am very happy with it. Apart from a couple of times when I needed to reset, which in itself is no problem, it has worked faultlessly. I've never owned a Wahoo so can't comment on how it compares.

 

[Trigger369]

Was actually going to buy the element bolt but the shop was sold out of them so went with the Garmin. When u Google the bolt bundle online most are sold out too . So do I get a refund and wait on the bolt conning into stock agian or just swap for a new Garmin?

 

[jonnysnorocket]

Get a refund & go for the wahoo,
After a year of frustration with a garmin touring ( which just decided to switch itself off midride, & not reload my route, on its last outing)
The wahoo elemnt I replaced it with is in another league ( reliability wise) it just works!

 

[PaulSB]

Was actually going to buy the element bolt but the shop was sold out of them so went with the Garmin. When u Google the bolt bundle online most are sold out too . So do I get a refund and wait on the bolt conning into stock agian or just swap for a new Garmin?

Refund or not? Everyone I know with a Wahoo praises its performance. My Garmin 810 is generally OK but suffers from poor battery life and does randomly switch off.

My view would be Garmin is a long established product and should by now be bomb proof. This doesn’t seem to be the case. Every time mine packs up I do a bit more research on buying a Wahoo.

 

[Milkfloat]

I have purchased 7 Edge 520’s for people in my club and myself. None of them have skipped a beat. We all push them to the limit with the OSM mapping hack yet have still been faultless. If mine were to break/get lost today, I would buy another right away. Although the new 520 Plus looks very interesting.

 

[Hacienda71]

I have a 520 with no issues for two years. Good bit of kit, good battery life lots of data and easy to use.

 

[Biff600]

Have you charged the unit up ?

From reading your post is seems that you got it out of the box and expected it to be fully charged ready to go.