Garmin 800 for Christmas or wait?

Rulebritania

Well the dastardly deed is done, I went for the 800 trail pack from Cycle Surgery via Amazon £299. Now I need to see whether I get enough xmas money from the relatives to buy a galaxy tablet but thats for another forum.

Cheers for your comments folks

jason78

Bought my 800 with trail bundle from go outdoors for £265
That's with price match and a further 10% off if anyone's interested

Rulebritania

jason78 wrote:

Bought my 800 with trail bundle from go outdoors for £265
That's with price match and a further 10% off if anyone's interested

I tried that and got told no?

nort757

i did this too as previously mentioned,they match and beat the price by 10% online too

fevmeister

What's the trail bundle like, what's the gb discover maps like?

Rulebritania

My Garmin arrived last night, I was chuffed to the point that my wife then walked over, took it off me saying "ITS FOR CHRISTMAS I'LL HAVE THAT". She promptly hid it somewhere.

Bugger

essjaydee

Fevmeister wrote:

What's the trail bundle like, what's the gb discover maps like?

I just got this package, and initially playing with it around the house I was a bit disappointed with the map, but out on the road it's fantastic. If you have used paper OS maps before, then this is exactly what you have on the unit in exactly the same level of detail 8) If you like OS maps, buy it with the unit is my advice

Stuuu

It looks like I am in the market for an 800 too. I think Evans has the best deal at the moment and they will price match their own web site in store.

fevmeister

Look at handtec.co.uk stuuu - 250 delivered

CiB

Fevmeister wrote:

Rulebritania wrote:

Fevmeister: er what is OSM mate?

I've just downloaded Navfree on my Samsung s2, has anyone used it or can recommend another so far I ain't had any success.

Open street making - google it

download for free and pop on the garmin, so really you only need the base model for £250 (unless you want gsc 10 and heart rate)

Was looking at the 800 yesterday in Go Outdoors and held back from lashing out on the £349 Trail Bundle but which would have needed another £35 for the speed + cadence kit.

Too many permuatations - would the base 800 for £250 + the speed & cadence kit provide decent mapping, either the included maps or d/l onto an SD card, and enough functionality to plot routes and do this Strava business?

essjaydee

CiB wrote:

Fevmeister wrote:

Rulebritania wrote:

Fevmeister: er what is OSM mate?

I've just downloaded Navfree on my Samsung s2, has anyone used it or can recommend another so far I ain't had any success.

Open street making - google it

download for free and pop on the garmin, so really you only need the base model for £250 (unless you want gsc 10 and heart rate)

Was looking at the 800 yesterday in Go Outdoors and held back from lashing out on the £349 Trail Bundle but which would have needed another £35 for the speed + cadence kit.

Too many permuatations - would the base 800 for £250 + the speed & cadence kit provide decent mapping, either the included maps or d/l onto an SD card, and enough functionality to plot routes and do this Strava business?

Good job you didn't buy it then, or else you would be kicking yourself for being a numptie after reading all of this thread :roll:
You can get the 800 with OS mapping (trail bundle) for £270 from Go Outdoors by price matching it to Halfords (£300) and getting a 10% discount :!:
If you like the idea of full UK ordnance survey maps on a GPS unit, then this is one of the best ways to get it. I love the OS mapping and glad I got this package.
Best price for just the unit and very poor base map is £250 (handtec always very good and rated well), so paying an extra £20 for the full uk OS mapping is a bloody bargain in my humble opinion.

letape2

I have an 800 and love it, especially the maps and navigation functions when I am cycling in France. However, it has been on the marget for a few years now so I would expect a replacement within a year or so.

To me it is overly bulky for what it does and the touch screen technology is rather primative compared to for example an iPhone. Technology has definitely moved on since it was first introduced, so I would hold off on it.

essjaydee

letape2 wrote:

I have an 800 and love it, especially the maps and navigation functions when I am cycling in France. However, it has been on the marget for a few years now so I would expect a replacement within a year or so.

To me it is overly bulky for what it does and the touch screen technology is rather primative compared to for example an iPhone. Technology has definitely moved on since it was first introduced, so I would hold off on it.

Bulky :!: Really :?
I was disappointed it was too small, but in use it's great 8)
Agree with the touch screen comment as it's not as slick as an iphone, but it still works great, for it's size

apreading

You need a resistive touch screen (rather than the capacitive on the iphone etc) so that you can dab it with gloves on etc.

I got the trail bundle, the OS maps are fantastic on one level, but when the unit zooms in approaching a junction they go all blurry as they are just a big graphics file and dont have zooming. They are also missing alot of trails that are on OSM Cycle Maps.

I downloaded the OS 1:50000 style maps from Talkytoaster and they are great - dont bother with the real OS ones any more. they have different levels of detail based on zooming so they are never too cluttered and show all the trails that OS maps dont. For the record I use the ones without contours as I did find this made them a bit cluttered. (on his website they are called: OS 1:50K Look and Feel Mapset For Use With Garmin GPSrs Only - Routable-NO-Contours)

I would still buy the unit with OS maps as a backup and for peace of mind and if I ever go orienteering with my son's scout group etc but I wouldnt expect to use them unless something out of the ordinary happens...

Only thing I am wondering now is if I do London to Paris, where do I get the maps for France...

fevmeister

apreading wrote:

You need a resistive touch screen (rather than the capacitive on the iphone etc) so that you can dab it with gloves on etc.

I got the trail bundle, the OS maps are fantastic on one level, but when the unit zooms in approaching a junction they go all blurry as they are just a big graphics file and dont have zooming. They are also missing alot of trails that are on OSM Cycle Maps.

I downloaded the OS 1:50000 style maps from Talkytoaster and they are great - dont bother with the real OS ones any more. they have different levels of detail based on zooming so they are never too cluttered and show all the trails that OS maps dont. For the record I use the ones without contours as I did find this made them a bit cluttered. (on his website they are called: OS 1:50K Look and Feel Mapset For Use With Garmin GPSrs Only - Routable-NO-Contours)

I would still buy the unit with OS maps as a backup and for peace of mind and if I ever go orienteering with my son's scout group etc but I wouldnt expect to use them unless something out of the ordinary happens...

Only thing I am wondering now is if I do London to Paris, where do I get the maps for France...

Click on this... - http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ - then select France and download file and pop across to your sd card as you would with the talkytoaster files!

Also can you link me to the talkytoaster os feel map 1:50k no contours please as I couldn't mind a go with it!!!

ElLawro

I got the 800 back in the summer, to replace my ageing 305. It is expensive, but it is a great bit of kit;--))

apreading

Fevmeister wrote:

apreading wrote:

You need a resistive touch screen (rather than the capacitive on the iphone etc) so that you can dab it with gloves on etc.

I got the trail bundle, the OS maps are fantastic on one level, but when the unit zooms in approaching a junction they go all blurry as they are just a big graphics file and dont have zooming. They are also missing alot of trails that are on OSM Cycle Maps.

I downloaded the OS 1:50000 style maps from Talkytoaster and they are great - dont bother with the real OS ones any more. they have different levels of detail based on zooming so they are never too cluttered and show all the trails that OS maps dont. For the record I use the ones without contours as I did find this made them a bit cluttered. (on his website they are called: OS 1:50K Look and Feel Mapset For Use With Garmin GPSrs Only - Routable-NO-Contours)

I would still buy the unit with OS maps as a backup and for peace of mind and if I ever go orienteering with my son's scout group etc but I wouldnt expect to use them unless something out of the ordinary happens...

Only thing I am wondering now is if I do London to Paris, where do I get the maps for France...

Click on this... - http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ - then select France and download file and pop across to your sd card as you would with the talkytoaster files!

Also can you link me to the talkytoaster os feel map 1:50k no contours please as I couldn't mind a go with it!!!

Cheers

http://www.talkytoaster.info/ukmaps.htm for the index page with other options

or

http://www.talkytoaster.info/121116-Bri ... APSUPP.zip for the file

letape2

essjaydee wrote:

letape2 wrote:

I have an 800 and love it, especially the maps and navigation functions when I am cycling in France. However, it has been on the marget for a few years now so I would expect a replacement within a year or so.

To me it is overly bulky for what it does and the touch screen technology is rather primative compared to for example an iPhone. Technology has definitely moved on since it was first introduced, so I would hold off on it.

Bulky :!: Really :?
I was disappointed it was too small, but in use it's great 8)
Agree with the touch screen comment as it's not as slick as an iphone, but it still works great, for it's size

Well I would be happy if the screen was bigger! I was just referring to the depth of the unit. If the screen was bigger it would be also be suited to using of the bike as a handheld.

I am about to give those "talkytoaster" maps a go! Hadn't heard of them until I saw this thread

letape2

apreading wrote:

Only thing I am wondering now is if I do London to Paris, where do I get the maps for France...

I bought the Garmin City Navigator Europe SD card - it is a full European (UK, Ireland, continental Europe) map. I cycle in France every year and it have every small road I have been on

whitebirdyman

I had been planning to buy the UK trail bundle from Halfords at £299.99 (less the frequent £20 discount for spending more than £200, with 3% Quidco, less the 10% British Cycling discount, with vouchers at 7% discount I can get through a discount scheme = fairly cheap!) but they have just increased the price to £330!

Now thinking a base unit plus OSM might be the best solution but Halford do not do it. The full bundle at Halfords with speed/cadence and HRM does not look to be special value or I might have gone for that.

vfast1

Just buy a second hand one off ebay like i did. I got the trail bundle, heart rate monitor and silicone cover all for 260quid! bargain!

cianocarroll

At Evans Cycles you can get the 800 with cadence and HRM for £299 or with the European maps for an extra £37 or so. Take quidco into consideration at 5% and you're down to £275. Doesn't make a second hand one at £260 look much of a bargain to me I'm afraid!!

fevmeister

What's quidco??? And 5% off 299 is NOT 275! AND I can't find that evans deal on the site

andi1363

Fevmeister wrote:

What's quidco??? And 5% off 299 is NOT 275! AND I can't find that evans deal on the site

http://www.evanscycles.com/categories/a ... adence=Yes

fevmeister

andi1363 wrote:

Fevmeister wrote:

What's quidco??? And 5% off 299 is NOT 275! AND I can't find that evans deal on the site

http://www.evanscycles.com/categories/a ... adence=Yes

Still can't see the offer in question

charlie_potatoes

Hi Chaps,
I got a Garmin 800 for Xmas with Heart rate and cadence. I think I need to buy an SD micro card before I can try and get my head round loading a map from somewhere.
So quick question is how many gb do I need? I am thinking to just buy a 32gb for the price but will the garmin run okay with one of these or am I better of buying a smaller one?

Thanks in advance

Gizmodo

Charlie Potatoes wrote:

Hi Chaps,
I got a Garmin 800 for Xmas with Heart rate and cadence. I think I need to buy an SD micro card before I can try and get my head round loading a map from somewhere.
So quick question is how many gb do I need? I am thinking to just buy a 32gb for the price but will the garmin run okay with one of these or am I better of buying a smaller one?

It depends on what maps you want.

Full UK maps will need 0.5GB (well 419MB actually) - I just did one for my brother using a 2GB SD card. Be careful with larger cards, I'm not sure whether Garmin supports SDHC (high capacity).

One option for downloads is http://talkytoaster.info/ukmaps.htm I recommend the 2nd one in their table "121214-British-Isles-GMAPSUPP.zip"

charlie_potatoes

Gizmodo wrote:

It depends on what maps you want.

Full UK maps will need 0.5GB (well 419MB actually)

One option for downloads is http://talkytoaster.info/ukmaps.htm I recommend the 2nd one in their table "121214-British-Isles-GMAPSUPP.zip"

Thanks Gizmodo. So in reality an 8gb card is going to be plenty?

I'll download that one now. I take it the one with contours is not so easy to read then?