Garmin 705 best package advice please

newburb_1968
newburb_1968 Posts: 114
edited August 2009 in Road buying advice
Hi all
The time has come where I am looking to purchase the Garmin 705, however not sure about best package...I understand what it does and offers but not too sure about the Maps.

I want to use on and off road (Bit of countryside around where I live so off road is a additional but not a must).

I want to get this: The map is a euro one is it any good or would I be spending more cash on a better map.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Garmin_Edge_705_Road_Performance_Package_Team_Edition/5360040221/
or shall I get this and does it come with a standard Map similar to the euro and for the price difference would there be a decent map for the £60 difference that would sort me out.
http://www.pentagongps.co.uk/garmin-edge-705-heart-rate-monitor-speed-cadence-i7186.html

Not too sure if there is any difference in the package except the colour.
Any advice would be more than helpful thanks
barry

Comments

  • Mister W
    Mister W Posts: 791
    The 705 base map is useless so you'll want the city navigator map or the TOPO map (if you're doing off-road riding). I only use mine on the road and bought the garmin and maps separately. There's a company on Amazon who sell the maps for a really good price.

    The top one you list has the european road maps so will be perfect for road riding although having maps for the whole of europe may be overkill if you only ride in the UK. You'll also need more maps for off-road.

    The other one only has the base map so you'll need to budget for whichever maps you want.
  • oxford
    oxford Posts: 34
    There is a free map floating around the net (legit) which I downloaded, something that was build up from googlemaps (which is free) by a user here or another forum, I cant quite remember, anyway, its great!!! so much better than the base version and has handly places like village shops etc on it too. I believe it can be edited to your requirements too. Do a search, I did!

    So in short I have had a garmin 705 for over a week and am just using the free map.....


    Cheapest place I found the 705+cad+HR was here:

    http://www.mynewcheap.co.uk/products/de ... ence/11349

    Arrived next day, very happy...
  • procarbon
    procarbon Posts: 62
    Don't bother buying them nobody does that!

    You can gets loads of free (open source) maps or you can get the real ones with a decent torrent.

    Save you £££££
  • Wappygixer
    Wappygixer Posts: 1,396
    I bought the MTB package which comes with the Topo maps.People often knock these compared to the city navigator maps which I also have and I cant tell any difference other than topo has the contour lines and off road trails etc.
    The main difference between topo and city navigator is the compression method used.In short Topo takes up much mor espace on your memory card due to the extra detail and such like.
    Ignore what people say about topo not routing it does it perfectly and has directed me all over the place without a hitch.
    It also has POI.
  • gadgets
    gadgets Posts: 100
    oxford - is the 705 you purchased from http://www.mynewcheap.co.uk/products/de ... ence/11349 the UK model? the one from pentagongps has the correct SKU code based on the garmin site.

    https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID ... versionTab
    Synapse Disc 3 Ultegra '14/CAADX 5 105 '11
  • oxford
    oxford Posts: 34
    Yep uk model! Uk plug etc.... Very happy with their service and the product!
  • newburb_1968
    newburb_1968 Posts: 114
    Thanks for the info

    What I did was by the standard one, without the map and then see what I can get I did spend a little time on my maps on the garmin site afterwards and thought hold on the extra £70 could get me a half decent on or better still give me some time looking for a free-b

    Thanks very much...let me know if there is any links to forums or free map web sites if possible/?
  • oxford
    oxford Posts: 34
    I have the file downloaded, think the readme file will have the address so will check tomorrow as on the iPhone now ....
  • BigG67
    BigG67 Posts: 582
    Just to check I understand. Best bet is with NO maps at all, not even the base maps, just the unit. Then buy cheap/download free a map system for the unit.

    I'd have thought there'd need to be a map system loaded first but I take it I'd be wrong on that assumption?

    Cheers
  • pabloweaver
    pabloweaver Posts: 444
    oxford wrote:
    I have the file downloaded, think the readme file will have the address so will check tomorrow as on the iPhone now ....

    I'd be very very appreciative if you could PM the site address if you find it :)
    http://www.northcheshireclarion.co.uk/

    Great club in and around the Warrington area.
  • oxford
    oxford Posts: 34
    Here you go!

    (nothing illegal so can post it here)

    http://www.ravenfamily.org/andyg/maps/

    download and read the readme.txt first, all instructions are in there...


    Best wishes!
  • amaferanga
    amaferanga Posts: 6,789
    These maps are great if you don't mind them being VERY incomplete in most parts of the country.
    More problems but still living....
  • oxford
    oxford Posts: 34
    Fine for my area!
  • harpo
    harpo Posts: 173
    I got a 705 with cadence sensor from amazon for 230 with base maps. The got euro streetmaps elsewhere. Someone sent me this link and I can't vouch for it as i haven't looked in any detail at it but you might want to or others might know of it. On the face of it looks good.

    http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_ ... n/Download

    I'd get the 705 without maps as cheap as you can and get the mapping you want later.

    Also google Frank Kinlan 705 as his site is a good source of info for once you get started with it.

Categories