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Garmin Edge 800.... upgrade?

theDude

Maximum Pace
Oct 7, 2011
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So, my Edge 800 seems to be starting to flake out. Don't think it's totally done, but getting there.

Altimeter seems to not be doing so well.... Perhaps was the heavy rain in Indonesia? Was sorta-ok on Arakawa, I guess. But that's more or less flat. Plug for USB is a bit irritating.

Thinking to just get another one. I guess.

Anyone get the 810? How about the 510? I don't really use the navigation too much, although I have used it. hmm.

thoughts/experience on 'upgrading' from the 800?
 
Owen has the 810 and if you scope his river rides he gets 2000+m into the stratosphere so I wouldn't worry about that side of it. According to WW he can't set his equipment up properly, though, so maybe it's his fault.
 
Owen has the 810 and if you scope his river rides he gets 2000+m into the stratosphere so I wouldn't worry about that side of it. According to WW he can't set his equipment up properly, though, so maybe it's his fault.

Who's Owen?
 
Well, he torpedoed himself into nothing, only to come back as a notsoanonymous admin. Should have just stayed torpedoed.

Anyway, back on topic. Any real members actually do this 'upgrade'?
 
No need for the nav, here, so the 500 has always been enough for me.

My memory is not clear on this, but one personal obstacle for the 800/810 is that I would want native maps that read out with regular kanji, etc. I don't think the UUD package does that, so the step up to the 800 series would be pretty expensive.

It's not bar-mountable, but the new ipad mini is looking like a possible alternative, esp. for touring. It's not as accurate a tracker/navigator, but you get more screen real estate for maps, plus the usual ipad functions on the side.
 
I had the Edge 800 and was pleased with it except for its habit of crapping out on very long activities - greater than 400 km. (I didn't do many such activities, but it annoyed me that Garmin wouldn't let me even if I wanted to.)

I got the Edge 810 a while after it came out. I like the user interface better than that of the 800.

I don't use the Bluetooth smartphone link function; I tried it a couple of times and it worked OK, but I don't think anyone's so desperate to know how quickly (slowly) I got to work that they can't wait until I get home and upload my shizzle.

The rubber covers for the USB port and microSD card slot are much improved.

Route calculation for on-the-fly navigating seems much quicker on the 810 than it used to be on the 800.

Battery life also seems considerably better, as advertised.
I would want native maps that read out with regular kanji, etc. I don't think the UUD package does that
No. It doesn't. And some of the long place names are just as cumbersome and you'd imagine on that tiny screen. Garmin Edge 810J (the Japanese version) is currently 64,000 yen on Amazon Japan.

I also have a Garmin Montana 650 outdoor/hiking GPS with the UUD map. It works great as a satnav for my motorcycle, but I would consider it too bulky for use while cycling.
 
It's not bar-mountable, but the new ipad mini is looking like a possible alternative, esp. for touring.

Battery life of 10 hours for the iPad mini is little more than half that of a Garmin 500 (16-18 hours). I know, for a lot of people 10 hours would be plenty (assuming they always started with a fully charged battery) but I couldn't even finish the shortest of brevets in 10 hours.
 
So maybe leave the 500 on all the time, and use the ipad when you need it?

I'm not doing brevets, or anything similar.

It's just an idea, but for the touring cyclist, the ipad mini seems to have a few advantages over the garmin products.
 
I had the Edge 800 and was pleased with it except for its habit of crapping out on very long activities - greater than 400 km. (I didn't do many such activities, but it annoyed me that Garmin wouldn't let me even if I wanted to.)

I got the Edge 810 a while after it came out. I like the user interface better than that of the 800.

I don't use the Bluetooth smartphone link function; I tried it a couple of times and it worked OK, but I don't think anyone's so desperate to know how quickly (slowly) I got to work that they can't wait until I get home and upload my shizzle.

The rubber covers for the USB port and microSD card slot are much improved.

Route calculation for on-the-fly navigating seems much quicker on the 810 than it used to be on the 800.

Battery life also seems considerably better, as advertised.
No. It doesn't. And some of the long place names are just as cumbersome and you'd imagine on that tiny screen. Garmin Edge 810J (the Japanese version) is currently 64,000 yen on Amazon Japan.

I also have a Garmin Montana 650 outdoor/hiking GPS with the UUD map. It works great as a satnav for my motorcycle, but I would consider it too bulky for use while cycling.


Thanks.... rubber covers, that's good news. That's half my problem there.

UUD map... I got the topo one, I don't think it is really useful unless you have a pre-programmed route and can follow the 'blue line'. I wonder if it is because it is topo that it is hard to read. I find it easier to use in other countries (without topo, and actually with freely available maps).

Not so keen on shelling out for UUD again. Maybe I don't have to, but will keep that off-forum....


Agreed on the smartphone integration. I guess it's similar to Google Latitude and others? I would hope that it at least uses less battery than most of those, battery being the reason to not use the phone for a cycle computer anyway. Among other reasons.

I'd aim for the non JP version.... it's a lot more and I made it almost two years without it on the 800.
 
It's not bar-mountable, but the new ipad mini is looking like a possible alternative, esp. for touring. It's not as accurate a tracker/navigator, but you get more screen real estate for maps, plus the usual ipad functions on the side.

I've got an iPad mini and I can't imagine this being mounted on a bicycle!
 
I have both 705 and 800 ( thanks to mike). The touch interface is annoying whe you are mid event and need to rapidly shift screens. 705 is a better event computer for this. A lot of things about the Garmin annoy me, but it's still the best mapping unit available. The 810 looks more promising simply because of the extended connectivity. Like why would the 800 not have a way to Xfer data wirelessly or wired to another 800?? For events I prefer using the Powertap Joule since it has button interface and more useful data screens. Plus it's smaller and lighter on the barfly. I worry the weight of the 800 will cause it rattle and shake off during some of the rougher sections. All units completely suck with regards to weatherproofing. I guess they never considered that cyclists would ride in anything other than 25 degrees and no rain weather.
 
Btw, I use OSM and they work fine. The only thing the UUD offers more is a larger POI database, but they route much slower.
 
UUD map... I got the topo one, I don't think it is really useful unless you have a pre-programmed route and can follow the 'blue line'. I wonder if it is because it is topo that it is hard to read. I find it easier to use in other countries (without topo, and actually with freely available maps).
You might try the Open Street Map (OSM) map set for Japan. Use two microSD cards -swap them over in and see which feels better under what circumstances. Nothin' ventured. There are far fewer POIs and other clutter on OSM. You can choose to download OSM with or without topo data.

元データ日付等高線なし(no topo)等高線あり(inc. topo)
2013-11-11gmapsupp_131111.zipgmapsupp_131111cntr.zip

I think I remember reading on here that someone asked nicely and said their GPS unit was damaged and they were replacing it, and UUD gave them a new number for the new unit. If true, UUD are not so penny-pinching as Garmin in this regard.

I always get the downloadable UUD installer for MapSource. This allows me to roll my own map sets, so I have a super-compact one for my usual pottering about in Kanto and a larger but slightly slower set for everywhere. It doesn't seem possible (at least in MapSource) to filter out the contour line data - the only option is whether or not to include route calculation data.

I like the contour lines. They give me an idea of how much pain (or fun, or terror) is coming on the road ahead, based on how close they are together.
 
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The only issues I have with OSM is the slight mismatch between the zenrin maps. So, if you choose off course warnings, you are likely to see a lot if you've made your course on RWGPS for example.
 
Only issue I have noticed with OSM was with following a "saved ride" i.e. the track was uploaded using Basecamp (Mac in my case).
I now use "course" (file is copied to SD card manually).
 
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