iPhone use on tour

neilrobins

Hi
I currently use my 4GS to monitor my training routes ( cyclometer) and I have downloaded every trail to review other people's previous tours. I fancy the garmin edge 800 but it doesn't seem to do anything more than the iPhone. Reviews often comment the iPhones screen is far better. It doesnt work with full fingered gloves tho. What are other peoples experiences? A few more apps on the phone? It is worth having yet another device plus it's weight?

richh

I have both an iphone4 and an edge 800 and there's no competition, especially for touring. Use the edge 800.

Things are different if you are on a tight budget and can't stretch to the 800, but in that case I'd go for a normal paper map in a bar mounted map holder and a cheaper garmin device for logging purposes. The iphone would be a last resort.

Yes the screen isn't as nice but that's about the only advantage of the iphone. As I see it:

iphone advantages:
- nicer screen (definitely, the edge 800 was a bit of a disappointment to be honest, but it does get the job done to e fair)
- better software? (personal thing really but at least you have the choice - I don't have a problem with the Garmin stuff but some people do)
- if you've already got an iphone, adding software is cheaper than buying an edge 800

Garmin advantages:
- waterproof unit (and probably more robust if dropped)
- smaller unit on the bar (i.e. less intrusive)
- much longer battery life (15 hours vs 2 hours at most on the iphone)
- ability to plug in extra battery packs to extend overall battery life for very long days in the saddle.
- much more solid mounting onto the bike
- much more customisable displays
- extra data feeds such as altitude and temperature from direct measurement rather than crude DEM sources linked to from the off-line software.
- compatible with ANT+ devices straight out of the box (iphone can do this I believe but with an module you plug in the bottom I think - extra cost)
- Can be used with gloves (as you've already mentioned)
- Mapping stored on the device (most iphone apps stream the mapping over the available data connection - very unreliable away from urban areas as I found out during my JOGLE last year)
- setting up routes to follow is much easier (iphone apps tend to utilise car orientated routing - I'm sure there are exceptions to this though but it will be much more fiddly)
- I'd personally not want to drain the battery of the phone when it may well be the only way to get help in an emergency (I also don't want to carry multiple phones - i.e. use the iphone for mapping/logging and another for emergency calls).

There's probably more and the above is just off the top of my head. For shorter rides and with a decent waterproof mount (not exactly cheap) the iphone would be fine but it's when you need to go for longer and into areas where a fast data connection cannot be guaranteed that it fails.

I talk about technology issues on my JOGLE blog if you fancy a read (see sig below).

Rich

andymiller

As far as use on tour is concerned, I think the major issues are with battery life and (if you are going abroad) with data roaming charges for downloading mapping.

The first you could get round, perhaps, with additional battery packs or possibly with a dynamo and something like a e-werk or [forgotten the name now - has a + sign in the name - you can get them from SJS].

For the second I think there are applications (eg Motion-X) which will allow you to cache mapping.

I have an iPod which I use with a three Mifi gizmo. I use it all the time - I keep things reference documents and guidebooks on it, I use it for browsing and emailing as well as checking train times, booking hotels, checking my bank balance, finding campsites, language dictionaries etc etc.

I keep my IPod in a Griffin survivor case, but as well as the gloves issue, the touchscreen definitely doesn't work if you get water on it.

The Garmin 800 etc are great as training aids - and I'm sure there's a lot to be said for having a cadence meter, hrm etc all in one box and be able to download data so easily to a computer. If those features interest you then you might want to consider the Garmin 800. But the convenience comes at a price, and if you are interested in a training aid then you might want to explore what you can do with the iPhone (eg with Motion x) before you put down a wedge of cash on another device.

If you're not interested in the training aid features, and what you want is a navigation device and to do things like record your route - then you could consider getting something like an eTrex Legend/Vista or an eTrex 20 or30 and keep the iPhone in your pocket for all the other things it will do. The eTrexes are completely waterproof and pretty robust; the smaller screens are a comparative disadvantage - but the compensation is the longer battery life. The fact that these devices also take AA batteries is another plus. Oh and they cost a fraction of the price of the 800.

Whether it's worthwhile investing in a standalone device also depends a lot on how much you will use it. If you only go touring one week a year then possibly it's not.

neilrobins

Looking at using it on my summer Lejog, battery life normally last on a days ride with cyclemeter (gps) with occasional music but it would be all eggs in one basket as it would also be lifeline. Maybe route cards and maps as back up? Holding back from the garmin as it can only see me using for once a year trips

barney69

I also have a Garmin 800 and an Iphone 4 and did Lejog last August www.nigelend2end.co.uk.
Without hesitation use the 800 - it's what it's meant to do.
800 Battery life far outweighs iphone
800 is waterproof
800 has proper handlebar mount
800 has route profiles as well as directions

Having said that I did use my iphone 4 to run a great little app called followmee which I had embedded a map in real time of where I was going up the country - loads of people were following my progress in real time daily.

elcani

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=145&pID=30926

On an European tour, we used a Garmin Dakota 20. Rugged, 20 hours battery life and takes AA batteries, which you can get anywhere. Perfect for the job, but not as much use as an Edge 800 for normal cycling use. Cheaper though.

neilrobins

Ok I concede, full day on bike with a little music is not possible with iPhone battery life.
So where can I hire a garmin 800 for a couple of weeks?