Garmin or smart phone?

andy83

Ok ive decided its time to treat myself and want a new gadget.

I want something that plots my routes on the bike and gradient and all that. I dont really want an iphone as everyone has got them but know there is a bike specific app for this. I like the look of the htc hd2 phone but not sure the amount of apps for it.

With my current mobile it costs me £10 a month an im not tied down in anyway. Cheapest smartphone i can get is £30 a month on 18th month contract so ultimately going to cost me £360 and then if I ever go over my minutes on contract. I know smart phones do loads more but do i really want that much on a phone when i have my laptop and an old nokia that does the trick

How good is the garming 705, Do I really need one or does the novelty wear off?

whyamihere

http://www.play.com/Mobiles/Mobile/4-/7 ... at:Mobile+

Nokia 5800

Has maps, GPS etc. I believe you can track the route with it, though I've never bothered. Can get it cheaper than that with a sim on PAYG.

Honestly, it's a great phone.

_Brun_

A 6/705 is good for 12+ hours on a single charge. Check the battery usage with gps enabled on any phone you're considering.

andy83

just saw thats a phone I can have with my virgin package on a £15 package which aint much more than im paying

you any idea if this can do gradient etc, that is something im interested in, dont ask me why just spose its more stats and geeky stuff for me to look at

Monst

Agree...Battery time is very limited with a smartphone on GPS, my Nokia managed an hour...no hope if you need to make a call. It came to the point that it one would have needed to carry several extra batteries ....

Plus the GPS will be slower than a dedicated GPS...and will cost loads if you need to download data on the hoof etc

Smartphones are ok'ish at lots of things rather than brilliant at one thing.

If you want GPS buy a Garmin 605/705 ..(the model depends on what extras you want, like HR or/and Cadence) and take a normal phone... you know one that makes/takes calls and texts. If you want music take a small mp3 player as well..

andy83

_Brun_ wrote:

A 6/705 is good for 12+ hours on a single charge. Check the battery usage with gps enabled on any phone you're considering.

Thanks for that, good to know

have you got one??

if so how do the maps look and what features come with it

whyamihere

andy83 wrote:

just saw thats a phone I can have with my virgin package on a £15 package which aint much more than im paying

you any idea if this can do gradient etc, that is something im interested in, dont ask me why just spose its more stats and geeky stuff for me to look at

Having just checked... Irritatingly, no.

There's stuff that tells you your speed, how far you've gone, average speed, lat/long, even altitude acceleration... Unfortunately, you can't put the Sports Tracker software on a 5800 yet, and that's the one that makes it brilliant as a bike computer.

Eau Rouge

On the Garmin front, if you don't want/need the sat-nav feature then the cheaper 500 might be ideal. You can still put a single route in to follow, but it won't give you a map or plot a route home for you.

andy83

hmmm what do i do

to be honest my phone does a job and as previous said smart phones good at lots of things but not excellent at lots

cadence would also be summin i might like. Not sure if id be too worried trying to mount phone on bars and hopefully garmin will be more secure

dilemma which ive been mulling over for a good few weeks, but getting bit of unexpected money and want a treat

alfablue

whyamihere wrote:

andy83 wrote:

just saw thats a phone I can have with my virgin package on a £15 package which aint much more than im paying

you any idea if this can do gradient etc, that is something im interested in, dont ask me why just spose its more stats and geeky stuff for me to look at

Having just checked... Irritatingly, no.

There's stuff that tells you your speed, how far you've gone, average speed, lat/long, even altitude acceleration... Unfortunately, you can't put the Sports Tracker software on a 5800 yet, and that's the one that makes it brilliant as a bike computer.

It is available for the 5800 just not on the main web site (I have it working on my n97 mini) - get it here.

bigmat

I've got a HTC Hero, but branded as a T-Mobile G2 Touch. £18 a month, "unlimited" (but limited to 500mb) internet, 100 mins calls and 100 texts. Plenty of apps that connect to GPS and plot route, speed, altitude, gradient etc. Battery life varies depending on the app but I've tracked 5hr sportives and still had battery life all day.

Not as good as a Garmin, but I needed a phone anyway and it does the job well enough for me to spend the £££ on something else instead! Ditto MP3 - 30mb memory is plenty for the daily commute.

whyamihere

alfablue wrote:

whyamihere wrote:

andy83 wrote:

just saw thats a phone I can have with my virgin package on a £15 package which aint much more than im paying

you any idea if this can do gradient etc, that is something im interested in, dont ask me why just spose its more stats and geeky stuff for me to look at

Having just checked... Irritatingly, no.

There's stuff that tells you your speed, how far you've gone, average speed, lat/long, even altitude acceleration... Unfortunately, you can't put the Sports Tracker software on a 5800 yet, and that's the one that makes it brilliant as a bike computer.

It is available for the 5800 just not on the main web site (I have it working on my n97 mini) - get it here.

You, sir, are brilliant.

alfablue

You should now (or very soon) be able to get Ovi Maps with a free (for ever) voice navigation licence! This happened just 3 or so weeks ago, very timely for my upcoming visit to Oz (I have used it for touring in Italy and Netherlands before, but had to pay for navigation).

whyamihere

Aye, got the voice navigation a week or so ago. Not tested it yet though...

Aidy

Monst wrote:

Agree...Battery time is very limited with a smartphone on GPS, my Nokia managed an hour...no hope if you need to make a call. It came to the point that it one would have needed to carry several extra batteries ....

Plus the GPS will be slower than a dedicated GPS...and will cost loads if you need to download data on the hoof etc

I dunno, I've had my E71 going with GarminXT for a good 4 hours, and the phone still had plenty of battery life remaining after that.

GPS, if anything, is faster that dedicated units I've used, as it can use AGPS.

That 5800 is whyamihere mentioned is probably a good choice if you can find/devise a decent mounting system. Particularly with the release of the latest Ovi maps.

alfablue

whyamihere wrote:

Aye, got the voice navigation a week or so ago. Not tested it yet though...

It is good, been very useful in the car, on the bike and on foot exploring new cities, can get it to show all pubs, for example . Navigation seems to be available for most of the world.

cjcp

You guys have lost me. :shock:

White Line

The novelty of the Garmin Edge 705 never wears off. Neither does the novelty of Snake on a Nokia 3310.

You know what to buy. It's win/win.

nich

I have an HTC Hero and pay around £20 a month for internet (1gig limit)/100mins/100texts

It's a brilliant piece of kit and I've just started using it in conjunction with this!

http://www.endomondo.com

Basically it plots your route using its gps, gives you all the normal gps style stats, and uploads it to the web when you're done and overlays the route onto google maps, showing you split times, altitude, max, average and more (its all free).

Battery life varies, but easily 1 day (max I've had is 3 and a bit) - I generally just charge it overnight.

fenboy369

What about a SatMap Active or a Garmin Oregon GPS thingy? I'm in the same boat and viewing with interest.... Mine would be used whilst off roading on the Mtb and in the Landy, and also as a cycle computer for road/commuting use.
I dont like the idea of a smart phone, cost too much, I only use about £5 a month on my top up PAYG phone so it doesnt make sense for me. The SatMap or Oregon 400 thing look cool, but cost a fair bit when you start adding maps to them. How good are the maps on a Garmin 705? Are OS maps downloadable?

jonginge

fenboy369 wrote:

How good are the maps on a Garmin 705? Are OS maps downloadable?

Bit on this in this thread: http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12681371

I got my 705 with Europe City Navigator maps, which has been great but is now 2 years old...

Aidy

nich wrote:

I have an HTC Hero and pay around £20 a month for internet (1gig limit)/100mins/100texts

It's a brilliant piece of kit and I've just started using it in conjunction with this!

http://www.endomondo.com

Basically it plots your route using its gps, gives you all the normal gps style stats, and uploads it to the web when you're done and overlays the route onto google maps, showing you split times, altitude, max, average and more (its all free).

Hmm, looks pretty similar to Nokia Sports Tracker (which is also free, and good - but only for Nokias).

I might give that endomondo thing a whirl though, looks like it'll run on my phone.

essex-commuter

Surely the phones are not waterproof?

Aidy

essex-commuter wrote:

Surely the phones are not waterproof?

Yeah, this is a fair point.
The 705 looks like it's built to sustain a fair amount of abuse - phones are well, not.

But then, there seem to be one or two decent cases you can get which will mount on a bike and offer reasonable protection. Worthwhile checking there's one for the intended phone if that's the route you wish to go down.

essex-commuter

Yes a case would be the answer.

My 605 stays on the bike in all weathers and it's been covered in mud when I transferred it to the MTB...pretty resistant to most things I think.

Canny Jock

nich wrote:

I have an HTC Hero and pay around £20 a month for internet (1gig limit)/100mins/100texts

It's a brilliant piece of kit and I've just started using it in conjunction with this!

http://www.endomondo.com

Basically it plots your route using its gps, gives you all the normal gps style stats, and uploads it to the web when you're done and overlays the route onto google maps, showing you split times, altitude, max, average and more (its all free).

Battery life varies, but easily 1 day (max I've had is 3 and a bit) - I generally just charge it overnight.

Looks great - how do you mount the phone on the bike? Does the screen need to be on for it to work?

amaferanga

I've used a Blackberry Curve and HTC Magic to track runs/rides as well as a few different Garmins (Legend, Legend HCx, Edge 205, FR 310XT), and I have found that the quality of the GPS track in built up areas or when there's tree cover is MUCH better on the Garmins.

I guess the battery life issue with many smartphones can be addressed by using some kind of external power, but that's untidy and a hassle (I tried using one with an Edge 205 and gave up after a couple of rides).

More importantly, the Garmins are waterproof and easily mounted to a bike. The only decent, waterproof handlebar mount I've seen for smartphones (that still allows the phone to be used when its in the case) is on by Dahon which unfortunately is for the Iphone.

If you've got the money get a Garmin. You definitely won't regret it. Edge 705 if you want mapping, Edge 500 if you don't want mapping and a Forerunner 310XT if you don;t want mapping and want to use it on the bike and running. All three are compatible with ANT+ cadence, HR and power meter accessories.

andy83

amaferanga wrote:

I've used a Blackberry Curve and HTC Magic to track runs/rides as well as a few different Garmins (Legend, Legend HCx, Edge 205, FR 310XT), and I have found that the quality of the GPS track in built up areas or when there's tree cover is MUCH better on the Garmins.

I guess the battery life issue with many smartphones can be addressed by using some kind of external power, but that's untidy and a hassle (I tried using one with an Edge 205 and gave up after a couple of rides).

More importantly, the Garmins are waterproof and easily mounted to a bike. The only decent, waterproof handlebar mount I've seen for smartphones (that still allows the phone to be used when its in the case) is on by Dahon which unfortunately is for the Iphone.

If you've got the money get a Garmin. You definitely won't regret it. Edge 705 if you want mapping, Edge 500 if you don't want mapping and a Forerunner 310XT if you don;t want mapping and want to use it on the bike and running. All three are compatible with ANT+ cadence, HR and power meter accessories.

thanks for this

Think I have made up my mind and i dont need a new phone (mine can call and text and costs £10 a month top up) and the fact that the gps is better on the garmin. i think if im going to get one it will be the 705 cos want cadence and like the fact i can take sections of my ride and see my heart rate over this period and average speed, like wiggins in the tour

One question though, i know it has distance on the garmin but im doing a ride for chairty and need to hit 6000 miles in ten months, my proof is the odo on my strada wireless comp, would i still be able to use this aswell as the garmin or would it have to be the garmin? I wont be having the garmin on the bike all the time, just on leisure rides, so not for commuting. worst case scenario could i leave the sensor for the cateye on the bike and just use the garmin, or am i going to have to break it to my girlfriend im going to have to get another bike??

Eau Rouge

The 500 uses the same cadence and HR monitors that the 705 does, so if wanted to save some money and don't need mapping other than a single pre-planned route, the 500 might be the way to go

I don't see why you couldn't keep using the Strada along with the Garmin, just maybe move the mount for one of them to the bars, the other to the stem. The Strada's sensor is on the front wheel, right? The Garmin's use a sensor on the chainstays and the back wheel/pedals so that shouldn't be an issue.

You will still need another bike, n+1 and all that.

Cunobelin

Cunobelin

One word of caution, with the phones you need to be careful with contracts.

Some phones download maps and data as you have to take this into account.

If you have a restriction on data (either as contract or through te limitation of a fair use policy) then this can prove very expensive if you exceed the allowance