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: Better than expected
Summary: 4 Stars
I read a bunch of reviews before buying my Edge. I was prepared for it to not be perfect but went ahead. My impressions are:-
Surprised (for good)
- Following a pre-loaded course is a really useful navigation feature. I recently did a 60 mile loop on unknown roads without stopping once to look at a map (I downloaded the route from motionbased.com and converted it to a CRS using some software I found on the motionbased forum).
- Heart-rate monitor suffers from far less interference than my Polar did. Particularly I found the Polar got thrown by bus power cables overhead and other things. Haven't had an issue with the Edge losing the signal like this.
- I really like the ability to customize the screen to show as little or as much data as you like. Also to have multiple setups you can switch between.
- I was impressed by just how small the unit is.
Bad side
- Software is nowhere near as good as the Polar software for recording training activities. Particularly I could find no way to correct bad data points without going in and editing the XML files from the device. Also the Polar software gives week by week graphs showing aggregate training time in different zones, etc which is not so clear with the Garmin software and non-existent in motionbased (as far as I've found).
- The calorie calculator seems pretty dubious based on feedback I've read elsewhere. I've ignored it.
- Creating new courses / routes is a pain. It's fine if you want to ride a course you've ridden before, using exactly the same directions. For new courses though I had to create a route on GoogleEarth Plus and then convert it to a GPX (using freeware) and then convert it to CRS (using more freeware). The end result was excellent but it took a lot of fiddling. There is also a CRS creator out there but it didn't seem easy to edit / save courses mid-creation with that.
On a side note, make sure you use the speed/cadence sensor. Before I mounted it I tried using just the Edge unit for speed. It's fine until you ride through an area with tall buildings and your speed drops to 0 mph.
All in all I'm impressed.
Digital camera Review: Beyond expectations
Summary: 5 Stars
Thought I might be paying to much for a cycling computer but this one is worth it. Easy to install cadence/distance unit. Easy to follow instructions. Easy to set up computer for your personal readouts to follow during your ride. Incredible data and software to analyze it following your ride. If you are a mountain biker, this would be incredible because it will show you exactly where you are in relationship to where you started. Fantastic for any level of rider. Very highly recommended. I spent a lot of time researching the market and I think the Garmin Edge 305 with the Heart Rate and Cadence bundle is the top system on the market today in this price range.Digital camera Review: Bike Computer
Summary: 5 Stars
I love my Garmin Edge. This computer works perfect. I installed it myself and am really new to biking. It has been great for my weekly rides and it challenges me each time to get better when I ride by myself. The signal and data are extremely accurate and I have had no problems with this device. I highly recommend checking out the stats on [...] and also using it with Google Earth.Digital camera Review: Bike Somewhere ELSE!
Summary: 1 Stars
These guys are not honest. Ordered another this item. Did not arrive. (For over a MONTH!) Several phone calls to full VM box. Did not reply to emails. Submitted claim to Amazon then, BikeSomeShere canceled my order so that I could not leave well deserved negative feedback. These guys cannot be trusted. Go to their storefront and see how many similar complaints. Buy this from someone else.Digital camera Review: Breakdown
Summary: 2 Stars
Buy this product if you don't mind
- sending it back to Garmin for repairs every 4 months
- paying for shipping costs
- paying for repairs taking place a year (or beyond) from purchase
- paying for repairs 90 days after the previous defect was repaired
- waiting 20 minutes on the phone to talk to a representative to get the aforementioned good news
When it works, it's OK...the Motion Based Software is fun
It is very easy to set.... but it will breakdown.