Garmin Edge 800

[Blue Jays]

My current Garmin 705 easily gets 12-15 hours riding time per charge.
The especially nice features on the new Garmin 500/800 is the improved quarter-turn attachment system and alarm to notify of riding without *start* having been activated.
The attachment system feature alone makes the Garmin 500/800 superior.
One just needs to determine if the need the turn-by-turn mapping capabilities onboard.

[ergott]

Dislike
It even bigger than my 705
Touchscreen (try using it while riding and see your results with a few bumps).

Definitely not going to be an early adopter on this one. I love using my 705. I updated my bikes with the new mount and it's much better.

[cody.wms]

Apparently it can travel in time too. From the Garmin blog post:

"Edge 800 will debut at Interbike (Booth 2631) and Eurobike (Booth A5-201), where it won the coveted Eurobike Award for electronic components."

How did it manage to know it would win awards before its debut?


I'm OK with my 305. It seems to get slower and slower getting a satellite signal, though. The mapping features of the 705 and 800 seem nice, but I'm not sure how much I'd use them.

[cody.wms]

A good size comparison here .


Image 9, in case the link is being goofy.

[veloduffer]

Originally Posted by ergott

Definitely not going to be an early adopter on this one. I love using my 705. I updated my bikes with the new mount and it's much better.

If you don't mind me asking, how did you update the 705 mount to the 500/800 quarter-turn mount?

The Edge 605/705 mount has been a source of frustration with me.

[ergott]

I can't seem to find a proper pic, but when I ordered replacement mounts the new ones were one piece instead of two (disregarding the tilt spacer). The bottom was shaped for both stem and bar orientation. The catalog pic from my distributor and Garmin.com shows the old mount, but I received a different one.

[bozman]

Originally Posted by znfdl

I really wish that Garmin would create a device that has atleast 24 hours of battery life.

Looks great for people who just want to go out and ride and explore.

+1

the 800 is huge. like strapping my ipod touch to the bars.

[mandasol]

For my 500 I find the battery left percentage indicator to be pretty accurate. On mine it uses up about 8% of the battery for every hour of use from full charge to near empty.

[weatherman]

Originally Posted by Steve K

Before recharging I typically have a 5-6 hour ride and a couple more 90-120 minutes rides and still be around 40-50% battery. No power meter in use, just heart rate, cadence and speed.

I have a 500, used to have a 705. Battery life on my 500 has been much better. Haven't put in any 12 hour rides of late, but my experience leads me to believe it would make it no problem. (I am not running power meter--cadence and HR only).

Have not done the firmware upgrade either as my unit seems to work fine.

[mgm777]

Can you store more than one ride on the 500? Also, how does the upload process work? Occassionaly, I use my wife's 405 (running GPS watch) for riding and it seems the upload interface to that USB receiver can be somewhat finicky. Is the 500's process similiar? Thanks in advance. I am considering the 500.

[Blue Jays]

Originally Posted by veloduffer

"...If you don't mind me asking, how did you update the 705 mount to the 500/800 quarter-turn mount?..."

Originally Posted by ergott

"...I can't seem to find a proper pic, but when I ordered replacement mounts the new ones were one piece instead of two (disregarding the tilt spacer). The bottom was shaped for both stem and bar orientation. The catalog pic from my distributor and Garmin.com shows the old mount, but I received a different one..."

Ergott, the new mounts you received are a distinct improvement. I similarly have them for my 705 as well.
They are absolutely nothing like the robust new quarter-turn mounts on the 500/800 series.

[mtb_frk]

Originally Posted by wasfast

Are you having similar battery life as norcalbiker reports? I've been eyeing a 500 to use with a power meter but if the battery life is only 2-3 hours, that's a non starter. Plenty of 4-6 hour rides during the year.

I have never really charged mine other than when I upload files to the computer and it always has a pretty full charge. The battery life seems to be really good. I have a p-tap, and a heart rate monitor that I use all the time.

[onekgguy]

Actually, the touch screen is more a negative than a positive for me. I like a nice, un-smudged screen when I ride. Considering how grimy fingers can get from wiping away sweat and the accumulated goo from gel-packs I don't think I want to be touching my screen.

Kevin g

[djg21]

Originally Posted by bozman

+1

the 800 is huge. like strapping my ipod touch to the bars.

It's actually 1/2" shorter than the 705, and the 705 was not excessively oversized. From the Garmin website:

705: 2" x 4.3" x 1" (5.1 x 10.9 x 2.5 cm)
800: 2" x 3.7" x 1" (5.1 x 9.3 x 2.5 cm)

On the other hand, the 800 screen is significantly larger, which makes a difference on any GPS:

705: 1.37" x 1.71" (3.48 x 4.36 cm); 2.2" diag (5.6 cm)
805: 1.4" x 2.2" (3.8 x 5.6 cm); 2.6" diag (6.6 cm)

The one thing the 800 does not appear able to do is exchange info with other devices wirelessly. I actually used this feature when going on pre-planned group rides where I was unfamiliar with the terrain. It was nice to be able to have someone send me a pre-loaded course that I could follow.

I'm also curious to see how the touchscreen will work with sweaty hands, and if the screen will remain readable when covered with greasy fingerprints.