Garmin Edge 705 to 800 - worth the upgrade?

springtide9

Any 705 owners out there who have upgraded to the 800?

Can you use the maps from the 705 with the 800? Worth it or not? And what are the main advantages of the 800 over the 705? (Apart from the touch screen!) Nav faster/better etc?

Thanks in advance,

careful

Advantages:
Bigger screen - big improvement with my poor close up vision especially as you can have twice as many data windows and scroll between them with auto scroll if you choose (or do it by touch), this allows you to have fewer but bigger fields in each window
Slightly smaller unit
I find it more intuitive - although the manual is still poor
Temperature reading (surprisingly useful esp in v cold weather)
Much more secure fitting to stem etc
The unit's response is supposed to be quicker - but I dont notice a difference
Can use Explorer OS maps although I find these too cluttered for road use - useful for off road or walking
The same City navigator maps etc can be used except that Garmin uses a code so that once you have used them on one unit, they will not be recognised by any other (not sure if anyone has found a way around this one - but I havent).
Overall definately an improvement, but as with most upgrades, whether or not its worth upgrading depends on your finances I guess.

springtide9

Thanks, although still very undecided.

Have you used any of the Free Maps on the '800' ?

I'm mainly interested mainly in the road navigation maps for the UK - as I could cut £100 of the price if I opted for just the unit (as I have HR, Cadence etc).. and could sell the 705 to finance part of the upgrade.

There are a few bugs that I have with the 705 - which if fixed on the 800 would be worth while...

705 Bugs...

- Slow navigation calculations
- Slow to get GPS lock
- A few navigation issues
- Occasionally get 0mph readouts for a split second - while doing more like 35mph (could be the speed sensor with the cadence... not sure
- Calories is a waste of space (as it's not based on HR)

Thanks in advance

superkenners

Given how many problems there are with the Edge 705 I wouldn't touch the 800 with a barge pole at the moment, have also heard about some reliability problems although that might just be the vocal minority.

I doubt the glitches the 705 still has after all this time miraculously disappear with the 800, some of which Springtide9 mentioned. Garmin seem to lack any programming talent!

I'd take all this back if the 800 gave you back Google maps on connect!

springtide9

LOL - well I took the plunge and now have the 800.

I would say there are a few glitches with the 705, but overall I still wouldn't want to be without it. It's funny you say about Connect and Google maps... I did prefer the google mapping... but seem to be swaying towards pushing the data into Strava (really like the way you can put timed sections into your runs or hills etc.

The 705 did a pretty fine job last weekend navigating turn by turn in an area I was really unfamiliar with. It did try and send me down a one way street once, but not bad considering I was navigating the back streets of Bristol for probably 10 miles. It's funny, but unlike a car (where you just follow it blindly).. I think because you are going a lot slower and have time to think, I really felt that I was able to visualize where I was going when out in the country, as well as noticing other turns that looked interesting to explore.... - and it was this that really convinced me on the benefit of Sat Nav on the bike.

I also think I have managed to fix my 0mph readouts - looks like I've managed to move the sensor arm a little and the magnet was a little to far away.

The niggles are a little annoying and it would be much better if they were not present, but there doesn't seem to be anything else on the market that comes close (unless I've missed a device)