Garmin Edge 305 Waterproof Cycling GPS With Heart Rate Monitor by Garmin
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Digital camera reviews of Garmin Edge 305 Waterproof Cycling GPS With Heart Rate Monitor
Digital camera Review: Slightly disappointed
Summary: 3 Stars
I have had the 305 for 2 weeks now. I like it, but it isn't all that I hoped.
Installation is easier than any other computer you can get (unless you get the cadence meter). Strap it to the stem and that's it. It does come with mounts for 2 bikes, but if you want to mount both to the stem you will have to realign one mount from the handle bar mount angle (just takes a little prying, but I almost did break it in the process). Stem is the preferable mount just because it is a bit big for a handle bar mount. It comes with one piece of rubber that is for mounting it on bars/stem smaller than 1" diameter. The rubber also helps prevent slipping. Also it only comes with one angled spacer that makes it easier to read from a stem mount. If you want to mount on the stem for an additional bike you will probably want to purchase an additional mounting kit just for the angled spacer. I did, and the extra kits should be a lot cheaper than $17.
I do have a problem on one of my bikes with the 305 rattling against the handlebar mounting screws on the top of the stem. It hasn't damaged the 305, but I don't like that it constantly rattles against the bike so I am going to try to pad it.
After a little playing around, it is easy to use. Doesn't take long to figure out the screens. I have profiles set up for two bikes, but I am not sure of the purpose of this if you don't have the cadence package (if you had it on one bike on not the other you can set this in the profile). The profile asks you to enter each bikes weight, but I have no idea why it needs this information. I was disappointed that it doesn't save the screen settings for each bike, so there really doesn't seem to be a point to switching profiles (unless you do have the cadence meter). It would have been nice to set custom displays for each bike (for instance I don't wear the HR monitor when commuting on bike 2, so I don't want to waste screen space on this).
Most of my disappointment comes from it's accuracy. Calories burned is worthless. It just computes the value from distance traveled, so it's so far off it's laughable. Since people have been complaining about this since the 305 was released I am surprised Garmin hasn't fixed this.
Elevation is all over the place. Sometimes when I do a a loopback it shows a difference of up to 50' difference in the same areas. I realize that weather fluctuations will throw off a barometric altimeter, but the 305 is supposed to use the GPS to help stabilize it. From when I turn the unit on, after waiting a minute for the satellite reception, it takes another minute for the elevation to settle. And even when it's settled and sitting perfectly still it's constantly fluctuating +/- 10'. It also seems to lag a bit behind too so when you crest a hill it still shows you as climbing for a couple of seconds longer (sometimes for quite a few seconds). This affects grade too. Going up a hill it said I was on a 6% grade, going down that same hill 30 minutes later it said it was a 4% grade.
Heart rate is hit and miss. Sometimes it's perfect, sometimes it reads very high and I get warnings to lower it (in the impossible 230 area). I know all HR monitors can be finicky and it depends on your clothes, power lines, amount you sweat, etc, but I used to use a Polar and had less trouble with it (although it wasn't perfect either). I have some HR monitor gel coming to see if that helps.
The distance traveled is also off, but this is fairly common for a GPS to be a bit off. It isn't enough to worry about, but if you want exact measurements every time you are better off with a traditional computer.
Where the 305 is really great is the virtual partner. For a quick work out you can set the partner to a time/distance/speed and race against it. It can be fun to set it to run 20 miles at an 18mph pace and try to beat it. Sure it's just basically setting a time to beat, but as you are riding it shows you how far ahead or behind your goal that you are. It can be a real motivator.
Courses are even better. Once you ride a route and set lap points, you can ride the same route again and try to beat your past performance. You can also set up other training programs such as intervals, but I have not used this feature.
Also as others have said, the 305 is of no use to find your way around. You want a 605/705 if that is what you are looking for.
The screen isn't hard to see when riding. Most screens you can customize how much you see, and if you set too many fields it can be a bit hard to see everything easily. At first you also find yourself playing with it a lot when riding, which is a bit dangerous. This week I looked up from playing around with it and rode right through a broken bottle flattening my back tire. (Yes I felt stupid after the fact.)
GPS reception has been good, but I live in area without any trees. When riding through a tunnel on the local bike path, it auto-paused itself when it lost contact but picked up contact immediately as I came out the other side.
Software is bad. I have it on my Mac and PC but haven't played around with the Mac version enough to comment. You can't really do much with the software besides look at graphs of your ride. Which is nice, but it isn't done very well. The included maps it uses are pathetic and you can't even click on your route to highlight on the ride's pace/elevation graph to compare where you were. Although if you click on a section of the graph it will show you where on the map you were. It also doesn't mark your lap sections on the maps or graph of your ride. You can't edit your courses either. Motion Based (which Garmin owns) looks neat, but it's almost $100 a year or $12 a month. Seeing I am lucky if I get 5 months of riding where I live, $60 for this service seems a bit much.
Battery life has been excellent so far, but it is a new unit. Lithium Ion batteries decrease in performance as they get older. You can charge it all you want, and it won't kill the battery, but age will. If kept in a warm place the battery dies at a quicker pace. This would be less of a big deal if you could change the battery yourself. But after a couple season you can forget it lasting for any longer rides. I searched Garmin's site to see how much they charge to replace the battery, but couldn't find anything. If you do a Google search for Edge 305 battery you can find people talking about using cell phone battery boosters to give the 305 a longer life.
Overall I like the product, but think it could be vastly improved. Garmin doesn't seem to be listening to users though since the 605/705 suffer the same problems, so it doesn't look like we can expected an improved 305 or better software anytime soon. In the end I think I would suggest a normal computer over the 305 if accuracy is important to you.
Digital camera Review: The Edge is the best Cyclocomputer out there
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been waiting for the Edge 305hr for the past 6 months and it was worth the wait. I also purchased the CAD accessory so that the unit would also work with my indoor trainer ((Most speed functions are tied to the GPS. With the speed/cad sensor the GPS does not need to be "on" to get accurate data while indoors). Not only can you upload your rides and compare data, you can upload your outdoor rides to Motionbased.com and get a flury of data, race against yourself (your previous times over the same track), against a virtual opponent...etc. Just AWESOME.Digital camera Review: The best bike accessory I've ever purchased!
Summary: 5 Stars
Excellent, excellent, excellent!...
A lot of other folks have gone over the various pros and cons so I'm not going to do that. If you do your research on what you need and what this unit provides you won't go wrong.
Let's be clear... this unit was not designed to be like your car GPS with the nice mapping that you follow. It HAS some basic mapping features but it is meant to be a training tool. And, with that in mind, it is one of the best. It has all of the stats I want with heart rate, mileage, elevation, cadence (if you get the add-on), averages, etc.
The 'race yourself' features, the training workout setups, and the courses are all great features and very cool if you decide to use them. I, personally, love the 'virtual partner' feature. It allows me to race myself whenever I'm on a course that I've done before. This can totally change the mentality of your workout. You can also 'race' someone else's recorded course if you get it from online.
I bought a cheapo armband and now I can use this for running, hiking, canoing, etc as well. Cool!
This unit is well constructed and has held up supremely in rain, mud and, yes, even wet snow! If you spend a little quality time with the menu system before diving in, you'll find that it's pretty easy to use (but... please spend at least a little time).
If you're a serious biker and want a good training tool, you should definately check this unit out. If you REALLY want the complete mapping of a standard GPS then check out the Edge 705 as well.
Digital camera Review: The best training tool I have ever used!
Summary: 5 Stars
I recieved my Edge 305HR on 2/20 so I thought I would charge it up and take it for a quick spin to see how it works. After 20 miles, I can trully say that "I love it". I have had no problems with the battery life nor any other features at this time. I find this a great tool for fitness training and measuring your heart zones. Set up was fairly easy and we measured accuracy against my old cycle computer on my son's bike. You must be aware that this is a training computer and not designed to be a GPS map like other GPS systems. However, I would strongly recomend using Motionbased.com as a add-on tool (basic account is free). Motionbase has done an excellent job in allowing you to upload your data onto the internet to view your course as well as download other courses from other riders onto your Edge.
Unit also works well with Google Earth to get a satellite view of your ride.
The Gramin preovided software is ok, and could use a manual on how to use it. Once you have downloaded a ride and are able to "copy and paste" that ride into a "course" or "workout" to use again against the "Virtual Trainner". This is very helpful while preparing for centry rides. Various features are really helpful as reviewing your heart rate against various climbs to allow you to pace yourself as well as improve endurance. Also if you are like me and want to burn some extra calories, it's nice to look down and see how many you have burned so far during your ride then view your progress on various software.
The screens are completely customizable and very easy to change.
I have odred the cadence as well and should arrive in the next day or so just so I can also messure my RPM's.
I haven't mastered all the features at this time, but I can truly say that this is the best thing I have compared to the following: Polar 725, Suunto X9, and Garmin Forerunner 301 and 305.
Hope you enjoy!
Digital camera Review: Think twice about buying this product!
Summary: 2 Stars
I have the edge 305 and the forerunner 305! Both suffer from the same problem. They quit working! I bought the Forerunner first. I thought it was a nice product. It gave me all the readings I wanted. Then one day it just stopped working! In a couple of days it started again, but my lesson had been learned! Support was useless. I did not want to be with out my HRM so I bought the Edge 305. I was thinking it was a better product! True it has a few more viewable functions. I liked that! The screen is bigger! I liked that. The GPS is good! I like that! Soon I was using the Edge 305 all the time!
It (the edge 305) has just quit on me for the second time! I am pissed! The features I like are nice but Garmin is not the only HRM out there that has GPS! Even though I was not that happy with my Polar HRM I plan on gong back to them because of the lack of relability of Garmins HRM! BEWARE BEFORE BUYING THIS PRODUCT! If you can not afford more than one unit you will be stuck when it stops working!