Garmin 800

[csm]

Just got one. first test will be today. initial thoughts are it is pretty cool. my 11 year old thinks it is way cool and is scheming a way to get one for his bikes.

[BAL]

Let's us know of your impression of the 800. Did you have a Garmin 705 or is this your first Garmin GPS?

I have been using the 705 for two years and have been thinking about moving up to the 800.

[veloduffer]

I have the 800, which I upgraded from the 605. I like the touchscreen better than the buttons and faster startup - not huge differences and if you're on a budget, it might not be worth the splurge. Also, the mount is way better than the 605/705; it's the same as the 500.

I use mine with a heartrate monitor too. It's been flawless for this entire year.

[djg21]

Let's us know of your impression of the 800. Did you have a Garmin 705 or is this your first Garmin GPS?

I have been using the 705 for two years and have been thinking about moving up to the 800.


I just purchased the 800 yesterday. Performance is doing double-points, and as it price-matches too, the bottom line was pretty appealing.

If anyone wants a 705 in good shape, wih all the xtras, I should have one available.

[csm]

this is my first bike gps. rode with it today. it works. I don't have the sd card city maps yet. so far so good.

[Jellybird3]

How's battery life been in your experience? I see on Garmin's website, their claimed battery life is 15 hours; however, in my experience with other Garmin devices, they always overstate.

[rnhood]

How's battery life been in your experience? I see on Garmin's website, their claimed battery life is 15 hours; however, in my experience with other Garmin devices, they always overstate.


Today, I had 8.5 hours for the weekend and my battery indicator was on 43%. I suspect it will get close to 15.

[Pyramor]

I just purchased the 800 yesterday. Performance is doing double-points, and as it price-matches too, the bottom line was pretty appealing.

What store did you price match wilth?

[Jellybird3]

Today, I had 8.5 hours for the weekend and my battery indicator was on 43%. I suspect it will get close to 15.

With an 800? If so, that's very good, especially for a color touch-screen.

[firerescuefin]

I have the 800....great unit, but normal (non mapping) functions are monochromatic...which saves the battery. I imagine using the map functions (color) would sap the battery faster. Include the price of maps in your purchase...I use it primarily for training with my powermeter, but wanted to use it in Boulder the other day (nav function), and it basically only showed the highways.

[rnhood]

Yes, the 800. However, like the above poster mentioned the mapping functions might zap the battery life. I rarely use this feature. I do run a power tap though so, it records every second.

[TomNguyen]

I've been considering getting an 800 for the past couple of weeks! I have never had a GPS computer before, but I do often get lost in rural parts of Massachusetts. Is there anyway to get turn by turn directions and/or just general navigation with some sort of open source maps or are you strictly forced to use the Garmin navigation pack?

[MattTuck]

riding with GPS is great!

connect.garmin.com
www.ridewithgps.com
www.strava.com



Remember to enjoy just riding, but if you want to geek out, those sites will give you plenty of data/info to digest, analyze, obsess over!

[TomNguyen]

Those two websites are super helpful! Thanks. I think I'm gonna go ahead and order my 800.

[tiretrax]

i ordered one with the navigation bundle from performance a few weeks ago, and then a friend offered me his old computer. the 800 is for sale in the classifieds, but i will return it if no one wants to buy it. i, too, got the price matched, but i had to pay sales tax on top of that.

forgive me for posting here if that's a breach of etiquette, but i have a great deal to pass on.

[aosty]

I have an Edge 800 and like it a lot for the most part.... but there's two annoying bugs and they're taking their sweet time to fix....

1) During rides with over 10000 feet of climbing, total ascent will blank out and display - - - - (four dashes). It's a display issue... uploaded rides are fine. Not a big deal but on a big mega ride, I want to see it!!

2) On a super steep climb, if your speed dips to below ~4mph, the grade counter also blanks out..... --%. This one is annoying to me, particularly offroad, where it occurs on just about every ride.

:rolleyes:

[djg21]

What store did you price match wilth?

http://www.pricebreak.com/details/0-35838/garmin-edge-800-bundle.html?chid=1000&cid=5662

$549.95.

And then double points for team performance.

[Jim Braley]

I have had the 800 since early January and I love it. Initially I had huge problems with HR monitor and accurate settings on the 800 but Garmin updated the software and problems have been virtually non-existant since then. In addtion Garmin Support both on line and via phone has been tremendous to me in working through my initial issues. I upload all of my rides to Garmin Connect and it is a great feature. Go to some of the Garmin forums and you can read both goods and bads but for me it is a tremendous tool, easy to switch from bike to bike and customer support is outstanding. Also buy from a dealer who will deal with returns if there are problems since any electronic unit is going to produce models that are defective--that just happens.

[csm]

I went with the non-bundled as I have at least 2 hr straps that will mate with it and didn't really care about cadence and the speed from the gps is good enough for me. I am ordering the NA city sd card for trips and probably the topo map also.
so far it seems to work. I've got 2 rides in with it...
part of the appeal is that it is a new toy. my 11yo is trying to figure out a way to get one.