Garmin Edge 305 Bicycle GPS Navigator with Heart Rate Monitor and Speed/Cadence Sensor by Garmin
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List Price: Our Price: $399.00 You Save: $34.00 (8%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $159.99 (click here) Category: GPS or Navigation System See more digital camera details and other models |
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Digital camera reviews of Garmin Edge 305 Bicycle GPS Navigator with Heart Rate Monitor and Speed/Cadence Sensor
Digital camera Review: Awesome hardware
Summary: 4 Stars
I love my Edge 305. I have the Cadence and HR model.
They loose a star for the software though, at this price the unit should come with a full set of maps. Considering you can't ride a bike on major roads and highways, why is that the only thing shown on the maps? All my rides end up in the middle of nowhere on the included mapset. So count on spending another $100 to add maps if you want to plan out your bike trips.
Another beef is that it is possible to accidently hit the release button and have the device fall off your bike. Again, at this price point, there's no excuse. It should be IMPOSSIBLE for the device to fall off unintentionally. Some form of a double lock is called for here.
In the end, it falls short of perfection, but not by much. I'd buy it again and I can't imagine riding without mine. if I were a mountain biker it'd be even more of a neccesity. I love it.
To the people complaining about battery life. Get an Energizer USB phone emergency battery available at any Walgreens or Publix. The GPS runs fine on any USB power source. The down side is duct taping the external battery to your handle bars.
Digital camera Review: Battery Issue
Summary: 4 Stars
For those concerned with the battery life, a travel battery charger with mini-usb (that I use for my cell phone) works great for recharging the Garmin Edge 305 (and my husbands 205). So I simply throw it into my pouch for those 75 mile rides (i.e. the MS 150). I give the 305 only 4 stars though because I do not like the HR monitor as well as the Polar HR monitor.Digital camera Review: Be warned - do not touch this product
Summary: 1 Stars
You have been warned - by all means buy a Garmin 305 today, but don't complain later.
This is a worthless, unreliable piece of junk at a top-line price. The web is full of complaints about them crashing, hanging, not turning back on, not taking a charge, failing repeatedly and unexpectedly during rides and generally making a good skipping stone for the river, if you happen to be riding near one. Some people are on their fourth and fifth unit with the same problem. Garmin is not helping or even acknowledging this problem on their website. Google "Garmin 305 problem" and see for yourself.
Unfortunately this piece of trash was a Christmas present (new and unopened) and so I will have to deal through the person who gave it to me - very unpleasant. It also meant I couldn't do my research. You, though, have been warned - do not under any circumstances waste your money on this. Garmin products have become unreliable.
And when you are on the road with any kind of outdoor product - slick features are nice, but reliability is EVERYTHING. This product is not only bad but dangerous. Try stopping suddenly on a ride if you doubt that.
Digital camera Review: Best Bike Computer Ever.
Summary: 5 Stars
If you been looking for a bike computer that can do cadence and heart rate monitor, look no more. Incredible flexibility and ease of use. Track your progress, race again your virtual partner and more. I have tried Polar, Cateye and was never quite satisfy with the product, their use or functionality. The Garmin Edge 305 hits the spot. I even consider the new suunto but they don't offer cadence. I have the unit speed/cadence sensor installed in my road bike but also have use it without the sensor in my mountain bike and several rentals over the last 30 days with great results. I greatly recommend it.Digital camera Review: Best bicycle computer so far
Summary: 5 Stars
If you are looking to get more out of your biking make sure to try Garmin Edge 305 bicycle computer. Despite the hefty price tag it delivers a lot of value and make rides more enjoyable.
Edge 305 provides the following high level features:
* typical bike data (speed, distance, cadence and ect)
* heart rate monitor (heart rate zones)
* map (rudimentary)
* altitude graph
* virtual partner
Stuff I like about device:
Very easy to install. Not need to know tire radius, the device would use GPS data to calculate all required information (and in most cases would use GPS to calculate your route anyway)
Automatic heart rate zone calculation based on your Max heart rate.
Ability to upload all info about route (map and data) into the computer or web site to see how you did and where exactly you biked. You can sign up (free account) into [...] and upload data and see other peoples routes. (I only wish this site used Flash/Flex technology instead of html/ajax to make it more interactive and usable).
The only somewhat bad comment I have - battery life. For most cases as long as you remember to charge it's not a problem. But it's somewhat different from my previous bike computer that didn't require any charging at all.
Overall, if you like to bicycle (road or mountain) and somewhat geeky, Garmin Edge 305 would give you more data then you even need.
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