Garmin 800 used as sat nav for the car?

kim10
kim10 Posts: 186
edited August 2012 in Road buying advice
Hi – hope somebody can help.

I have realised that I really really need a Garmin 800 but they don’t come cheap so to justify it a bit more I was wondering if it can be used as a sat nav for the car as well. I will primarily use it for my cycling to track rides/performance, explore new routes etc. but can you use it as a stand alone sat nav? I obviously don’t want it to record and track the driving as this will obscure my cycling data (although will probably get me a few Stava KOM’S :) Also will the screen be too small to follow when driving?
I don’t need to use it often in the car but as my old sat nav has packed it in just wanted to know if the 800 could be used for both.

Comments

  • antfly
    antfly Posts: 3,276
    Yes you can, with decent mapping software such as garmin city navigator, only it doesn't speak to you which is a bit of a drawback.
    Smarter than the average bear.
  • Wrath Rob
    Wrath Rob Posts: 2,918
    And don't forget to change the routing options to Car. Otherwise if you're driving up a major road like the A1 it will try and take you off at every exit. And then straight back on. Not that this happened to me. Oh no...
    FCN3: Titanium Qoroz.
  • mroli
    mroli Posts: 3,622
    Or taking you on a number of bike paths through Bristol. That definitely didn't happen to me. No. Definitely.
    http://www.georgesfoundation.org
    http://100hillsforgeorge.blogspot.com/
    http://www.12on12in12.blogspot.co.uk/
  • kim10
    kim10 Posts: 186
    Many thanks for the advice, I will get one and see how I get on.
  • on-yer-bike
    on-yer-bike Posts: 2,974
    if you have an iphone get the Tom Tom app and cradle for the car, its brilliant. If the iphone had a mount and longer battery life it would be a much better cycle navigation device with the tomtom app than a Garmin
    Pegoretti
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  • antfly
    antfly Posts: 3,276
    No it wouldn't.
    Smarter than the average bear.
  • Solis
    Solis Posts: 166
    Just in case you are not aware Kim10 the 800 has an "automotive" screen setting which likens the display to a sat nav.
  • Martin818
    Martin818 Posts: 24
    And if you can't get the turn-by-turn to work, try this:

    After 30 minutes out in the car fiddling with the settings this is how I got it to work, on two different courses, one designed on Garmin Basecamp (I can't express how much I hate this software) and another on BikeHike website- loaded directly to the Garmin Edge 800:

    System Settings

    Spanner>System>Routing
    Calculate Routes for - BICYCLE
    Guidance Method - OFF ROAD (I think this is the crucial bit for some weird reason?)
    Recalculate - OFF

    Course Settings:

    Menu>Courses>Choose course>Spanner (probably also the name of the person who programmed this thing!)
    Turn Guidance - ON (obviously)
    Virtual Partner - OFF (probably doesn't matter)
    Off Course Warnings - ON (because they are handy!)
    Map Display > Course Points -OFF (I think this also might be crucial)

    Hopefully this will work for you too - one of the main reasons I purchased the 800 - I was getting extremely frustrated with it!!
  • Wrath Rob
    Wrath Rob Posts: 2,918
    on-yer-bike wrote:
    if you have an iphone get the Tom Tom app and cradle for the car, its brilliant. If the iphone had a mount and longer battery life it would be a much better cycle navigation device with the tomtom app than a Garmin
    Is that in the vein of a Viz top tip? "Take your large, non-waterproof, non-impact resistant, expensive smart phone, strap it to a high-vibration place on your bike and use it as a sat nav, until it breaks/floods/falls off"

    A mate tried this, i.e. an iPhone as his bike computer. He now has a Garmin 500. Enough said.
    FCN3: Titanium Qoroz.

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