New toy bought today .Garmin 520 and not happy

[bpsmith]

Been using a 520 since Garmin releases it. More than happy with my research and very pleased with the purchase too.

I am sure the Bolt is also good, but can’t see how it makes the 520 look rubbish tbh.

 

[User33236]

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.

I had a Wahoo and got rid. There were a number of features, for me a least, it didn’t do well so went back to my Edge 1000.

 

[Drago]

4 Garmin devices, all faultless.

That's no consolation to the OP, who's device clearly is wonky. Here's hoping it gets replaced swiftly and normal service can be swiftly resumed.

 

[Trigger369]

No charge in the unit .it was completely dead.

 

[Venod]

A very happy Garmin 520 user here, but that doesn't mean to say I wouldn't consider a bolt, I have owned several Garmin devices and still have a faultless 410 watch, the only Garmin Kit I have problems with is their heart rate straps, but I am an extremely sweaty person, I don't know if this has any effect on the strap operation.

Bike Radar did a comparison of the Wahoo v Garmin.

https://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/article/garmin-edge-520-vs-wahoo-elemnt-bolt-49381/

 

[KenDave]

Personally I would at least try another cable before writing the unit off. What should happen when charging depends on whether you are charging it from a charger like a phone charger, or a computer. If the former, it should boot up to the home screen and the backlight stays on. If plugged into a computer, it just shows a battery percentage screen.
I have only had my 520 for a few months, but it has been great so far. I did my research, and for what I want it for, it's fine. Battery life is actually better than expected. I did actually consider a Bolt, but the fact that I would have had to buy a new phone just to set the thing up was a deal breaker for me. I managed to get the 520 for £168 in the Black Friday sales. I use it with a Wahoo Tickr heart rate strap and Garmin cadence sensor, and they have worked great together.

 

[Vantage]

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.

My etrex doesn't need a smart phone or bluetooth/WiFi to work. It runs off AA batteries which are available anywhere and give me a good 20+ hours use. Its damn near bombproof. Of 6 years use, it let me down.....once. Colour maps not limited to RWGPS anyone?
Dunno where you get your info on Garmins being rubbish, but it's bollocks.

 

[Vantage]

Agreed on trying out a different cable. Ive a few that will transmit data but struggle to power anything.

 

[Cuchilo]

Upgrade to the 1000

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Agreed on trying out a different cable. Ive a few that will transmit data but struggle to power anything.

It's usually the other way around, normally USB cables will charge but as so poorly made they won;t transmit data, but what do I know I'm a happy Garmin 800 user whose never had a problem with it, maybe I didn't research enough to make it break.

 

[Trigger369]

Cable Is defo has movement and that shouldn't be happening in a new device outa the box

 

[KenDave]

If you mean that the USB socket in the unit is loose then that definitely is not right.

 

[woosey]

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.

As an owner of a 520 & an ELEMNT that's not always the case.

If you want navigation - get an ELEMNT

If you want a reliable recorder for your data with decent GPS - get a Garmin.

 

[MiK1138]

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.

+1 for the Edge Touring, I have owned 2 and had no issues with either. 1st 1 was stolen when i stupidly forgot to remove it from the bike whilst shopping and the second was run over by traffic after i dropped it

 

[KenDave]

My navigation needs are pretty basic in that all I want a computer to do is guide me along a pre-planned route. (From RidewithGPS). For this, I find the Edge 520 more than adequate.
Yes, the included map is useless but putting more detailed mapping on is not difficult. If you are prepared to do without street names then you can get quite a large area on there. (I have most of Northern England on there which takes up all of 4Mb, and you can probably just about get the whole of the UK on there if you want).

I've certainly had no problems with it navigating me along a route that I probably would have thought twice about due to multiple badly signed junctions.
If I did go off course for some reason, or need to change my route, I have maps on my phone that don't need a data connection to get me out of trouble.

My only minor complaint would be that the beeps that warn you of upcoming junctions are not loud enough. (Though they are louder with the plastic mounts than the out front mount).

I'm not knocking the Bolt, and I think that how it integrates with a phone is quite neat, and if I had a compatible phone already with a data plan, I might well have bought one. As I mentioned though, my phone is not compatible, (but otherwise works fine), and I wasn't prepared to buy a new phone just to be able to use a cycling computer.