Garmin 800

Peddle Up!
Peddle Up! Posts: 2,040
edited July 2011 in Road beginners
I'm on the brink of taking the plunge and getting a Garmin 800 for my cycling (and possibly walking). There seem to be several options available so I thought I'd seek some wise council on the best one to go for. Thanks.
Purveyor of "up" :)

Comments

  • Pumpkin Positive
    Pumpkin Positive Posts: 392
    I bought the Nav / Performance package from wiggle and I've had it for a couple of weeks now. Here are my first impressions...

    Pros
    It's a clever piece of kit which interfaces nicely with Garmin connect which then allows you to relive every moment of your ride from the comfort of your PC - which is great, if that's what floats your boat. If it doesn't interest you then a map and stopwatch will save you £400+!
    Set up was quick and fairly straightforward.
    The GPS mostly fires up in under a minute but sometimes it takes a few minutes.
    The battery seems pretty good - I ran it for 7 hours or more and still had 50% charge.

    Cons
    It's menu system could be better thought out - if you're used to using something nicely designed (like an iPhone) you'll find it takes a bit of getting used to.
    It only supports one user with a max of three bikes - this is a major irritation for me as I hoped I'd be able to add my wife as a user and allow her to use it too. Between us we have 6 bikes and mostly it's just too much of faff to go in and change user & bike settings every time we swap it over between us so we don't bother. For a £400+ machine I'd hoped for something better than this.

    There is a good forum for Garmin Users with a list of bugs (google Garmin Forum), design flaws and work arounds. It will give you a good idea as to what most users think about their units.
  • aussie70
    aussie70 Posts: 75
    Assuming you're gonig to use it on Road, rather than off road, I'd go for the performance and Navigation bundle It comes with a European City Navigator map. The base map installed on the Garmin is useless, so you need the extra detail provided by this map.

    The Speed/Cadence sensor is a bit of a luxury really, as the 800 will give you a good, accurate speed output just from the GPS signal.]

    I'm sue you'll have read lots of reviews saying that the screen is rubbish and it's full of software bugs! THe screen isn't he best in the world, but it's perfectly readabel ,and the the trade off is superb battery life. THe navigation does have a few issues, but it's getting better with each firmware release.
  • saprkzz
    saprkzz Posts: 592
    Get it, its awsome, the best computer out, when using it with Garmin connect its amazing.. you can also set up pages with the Data YOU want to record and view whilst riding.

    One pointer.. buy the all singing dancing package.. I didnt.. to save money I got the performance bundle, really regretted it as I have now had to go out and buy the nav maps Discoverer 1:50 GB at a price :(
  • arthur_scrimshaw
    arthur_scrimshaw Posts: 2,596
    edited July 2011
    I asked the same question

    http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... highlight=

    If you only ride on the road then I agree with the above, but I still do a lot of mtb, went into Evans to get some advice (which wasn't great but they had 20% off) but decided to go for the Enduro pack which gets you the cadence and heart rate plus the OS explorer map 1:50000.
    I've used it on road and off and it works fine on the road with full directions, route planning and poi (but only for the UK) plus it's great for off road (of course)
    In terms of value for money the Enduro pack OS map is £200 on most websites while the map that comes with the performance and navigation is widely available for £90.
    The analysis available on garmin connect is great, you can also download basecamp (a sort of garmin version of bike hike) which is not great but servicable. Can also download higher resolution os maps - I recall it's something like 600 Sq km for about £20, you select the area you want.
    Overall it's a great bit of kit, the ability to customise the screens is wonderful. No regrets on my part although it's not cheap. I paid £360 for the Enduro pack (list was £450) which was the same as the performance and navigation pack at the time.
  • springtide9
    springtide9 Posts: 1,731
    Love mine.

    I use RideWithGPS to plan routes and it works really well. It does feel a decent upgrade to the 705. Haven't used it offroad - but I can see the offroad package working well.

    I also like the fact you can use it as a walking GPS, although haven't tried it yet.

    You appear to be able to get Opensource maps - which others have tried.... but I figured to just get the road package - as buying maps later can be expensive. Might have opted for the Enduro pack .. but couldn't work out at the time whether this also had the full functionality aas the road maps.. but I don't usually use nav offload.
    Simon
  • ollyridesfirst
    ollyridesfirst Posts: 486
    my buddy has it, and it's only because i've bought some new wheels that i haven't bought one yet. I'm currently saving up for it....

    Amazing piece of kit and it gives you so much information out on the ride and back on the computer! You really do get what you pay for...

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