Garmin 705 Price Check

bikeboff
bikeboff Posts: 87
edited February 2009 in Workshop
I'm thinking about buying a Garmin 705 - the full monty with the HR/CAD and a Europe SD card.

I've done my research on the web, and it's interesting - the specialist satnav shops seem far cheaper than the specialist cycling shops. The cheapest price I have found for the unit is £260, give or take a pound or two; and £60 for the SD card.

I must say though that I'm balking at paying £320. I know from the reviews, and from the comments of lucky folks who already have one, that it's the best GPS for a bike that money can buy -- but that's still a lot of money (for me anyway).

Has anyone found it cheaper anywhere? I wouldn't want to buy on eBay, or from overseas, but I wondered if I've missed a good discount in the UK.

Comments

  • James_London
    James_London Posts: 530
    http://www.handtec.co.uk/product.php/90 ... te-monitor

    Spilt the savings 50:50?! ;-)

    It's well worth it. See how you go with the included maps perhaps. I was surprised how good they are and for most situations adequate I find. Get a cadence sensor instead...
  • nferrar
    nferrar Posts: 2,511
    When you say 'included maps' do you mean the base map? If so it's terrible (unless you cycle a lot on motorways). You really need to budget City Navigator maps in with it (I got Topo ones but they're not so great if you're doing mostly road stuff). There are free maps (non-Garmin) about to but not sure how well they work.
  • avoidingmyphd
    avoidingmyphd Posts: 1,154
    amazon is always the cheapest I think. It's 236 today but , but it hovers around 230.
  • bikeboff
    bikeboff Posts: 87
    I have found you need to read the descriptions carefully. The Amazon £236 version is without the heart rate monitor or cadence sensor; the £239 HR version from Handtec doesn't include the cadence sensor, I don't think, and of course there are lots of different versions of the maps too. It's the SD Europe City Navigator which I'm after.
  • bikeboff
    bikeboff Posts: 87
    Right now, for the HD/cadence version, pentagongps, global gizmos, handtec, fitsense, heartratemonitorshop, and activesportskit are all cheaper than Amazon. That's unusual, as Amazon is often my first and my last stop.
  • bikeboff
    bikeboff Posts: 87
    Right now, for the HD/cadence version, pentagongps, global gizmos, handtec, fitsense, heartratemonitorshop, and activesportskit are all cheaper than Amazon. That's unusual, as Amazon is often my first and my last stop. I agree, avoidingmyphd, they're often the cheapest.
  • avoidingmyphd
    avoidingmyphd Posts: 1,154
    no, they all include the hrm - that's the standard package. amazon just brainlessly advertises it as an accessory as well.

    other packages all add something - cadence, some maps etc. Did your £260 include the cadence sensor? where is it?
  • bikeboff
    bikeboff Posts: 87
    £260 with cadence sensor - here, amongst other places: http://www.pentagongps.co.uk/garmin-edg ... i7186.html
  • superlav
    superlav Posts: 3
    Best price I've seen for the Performance package is on cyclepowermeters.com at £323 Thsi includes Heart Rate, Cadence and full Europe maps
    http://www.cyclepowermeters.com/garmin-705-edge-road-performance-455-p.asp

    Heartratemanitors.co.uk have the HR + CAD pack for 260
    http://www.heartratemonitor.co.uk/garmin_edge_705.html
  • bikeboff
    bikeboff Posts: 87
    Thanks superlav - those match the best prices I have seen. Are you going to splash your cash as well?
  • superlav
    superlav Posts: 3
    I'm afraid I found these prices a little too late, I got my 705 a couple of months ago. I had an Edge 305 for a couple of years but it came to a sad end in a nasty racing crash toward the end of last year.

    If you do take the plunge, I'd strongly advise the use of the free software SportTracks available at http://www.zonefivesoftware.com/SportTracks/

    Takes a bit of getting used to but is a much better tool for analysing your rides than the TraingCentre software by Garmin
  • jimmcdonnell
    jimmcdonnell Posts: 328
    I can't comment on the 705 price as mine was an xmas gift, but I picked up the Micro SD Europe maps for £45 on eBay.

    I'm also led to believe by other posts here that you can easily download maps (completely legally of course :roll: ) from the electronic interweb.
    Litespeed Tuscany, Hope/Open Pro, Ultegra, pulling an Extrawheel trailer, often as not.

    FCR 4 (I think?)
    Twitter: @jimjmcdonnell
  • mikey_748
    mikey_748 Posts: 108
    http://www.thenavigationcompany.com/pro ... adence.php?

    £248.97

    I win!
  • Martin Van Nostrand
    Martin Van Nostrand Posts: 149
    Still far too expensive for something that does little more than the 305, at half the price.

    Get a 305, a Tom Tom, and money is left over for a picture show and some pie.
    http://commiecanuck.blogspot.com/
  • plowmar
    plowmar Posts: 1,032
    +1

    also UK cities sd card I got before christmas at less than £30, now £30 here http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/881872/ ... nd-ci.html.

    between us we have full set at less than - well nearly - than the starting price for the basic.

    :D:D:D
  • ScottieP
    ScottieP Posts: 599
    You might find a better price at an online computer shop - I just checked Dabs.com and they are selling the version with the HRM/Cadence and European maps for £315. Before Christmas they were doing them for about £280 ....

    ScottieP
    My cycling blog: http://girodilento.com/
  • u01akrg
    u01akrg Posts: 24
    I got the 205 a couple of years ago for £110 (Amazon US site). Well worth it, but now I'm a lot fitter and can go far enough to get lost would like to get decent navigation - I need more than the 205s limited number of waypoints, and struggle using open source software to load routes. If the 705 is capable of decent navigation then I reckon circa £300 is worth it. So, is it?
  • Wappygixer
    Wappygixer Posts: 1,396
    I wouldn't get the memory card as it wont work with Garmin mapsource or training centre.
    Get the DVD as its similar price.If a memory card fails you're screwed, a DVD is less likely as it wont be in constant use.
    Prices are really shooting up of these too.I paid £280 in November and now Wiggle is charging £342 for same package with the DVD of maps.
    I'd recommend buying asap as I would say many prices will rise with new stock
  • bikeboff
    bikeboff Posts: 87
    Ooh, good man, Mikey. The eyes and ears of the forum prove their power again.
  • bikeboff
    bikeboff Posts: 87
    I just looked on dabs.com, and it's not at all clear to me that the £315 price includes the Europe SD card.

    I presume I need the SD card rather than the DVD, by the way, so that the full mapping will be on the 705 unit rather than on my laptop? Otherwise the 705 is only using the basemap, surely?
  • Wappygixer
    Wappygixer Posts: 1,396
    The dvd has the maps on and you transfer the maps from your pc to your gps.This way you only have the maps you need.All the maps will fit on a 2 gig memory card, and a card will cost around £5.
    This way you can use the maps on your pc to plan rides etc.
  • jig
    jig Posts: 134
    I got mine from handtec - a decent price with cadence sensor.

    There are plenty of other options for maps including the official city navigator etc - just do a few searchs and you will find!

    http://www.handtec.co.uk/product.php?xProd=905

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