Cycle computer for the visually challenged
dorsetclimber
Posts: 10
Stop me buying an old phone and turning it into a cycle computer!
My eyes are..not great, with contacts or glasses, I can see distances, but not close very well, I can't do bifocals etc, Many people notice that with glasses, close vision is "fuzzy"
Cycle computers are tiny things, and hard to read.
Does anyone have any suggestions for large screen computers? know of any?
Phones:
in the next month, Android will be updated with BT smart. Which means, any cheap android phone which can have 4.3 flashed, will be able to communicate with ant+ dongles and BT bits and bobs.
- This means I can happily turn any cheap android phone into a cycle computer WITH A VISIBLE SCREEN!
The downside to a phone is weight and battery life, but with it configured properly, I think I could happily get 7+hours out of a phone. With the screen turning off after 5 seconds, and using the proximity sensor to turn it on for a quick view. <- but still not as great as "always on"
If GPS is turned on, it will sap the battery quite a bit more, You can get around this with an external little gps receiver and BT again.
Iphone:
I know nothing about but it is already capable as all above, and quite frankly id be happy if it got smashed
-the other downside of phones is they can get broken easier.
however I would be taking me phone with me anyway....
All this being said ..the battery still will be a worry, even without gps, data and aeroplane mode on., it still is heavier and can still likely fall off
Watches:
I know nothing about...can they talk to bike sensors? can they be a viable alternative?
My eyes are..not great, with contacts or glasses, I can see distances, but not close very well, I can't do bifocals etc, Many people notice that with glasses, close vision is "fuzzy"
Cycle computers are tiny things, and hard to read.
Does anyone have any suggestions for large screen computers? know of any?
Phones:
in the next month, Android will be updated with BT smart. Which means, any cheap android phone which can have 4.3 flashed, will be able to communicate with ant+ dongles and BT bits and bobs.
- This means I can happily turn any cheap android phone into a cycle computer WITH A VISIBLE SCREEN!
The downside to a phone is weight and battery life, but with it configured properly, I think I could happily get 7+hours out of a phone. With the screen turning off after 5 seconds, and using the proximity sensor to turn it on for a quick view. <- but still not as great as "always on"
If GPS is turned on, it will sap the battery quite a bit more, You can get around this with an external little gps receiver and BT again.
Iphone:
I know nothing about but it is already capable as all above, and quite frankly id be happy if it got smashed
-the other downside of phones is they can get broken easier.
however I would be taking me phone with me anyway....
All this being said ..the battery still will be a worry, even without gps, data and aeroplane mode on., it still is heavier and can still likely fall off
Watches:
I know nothing about...can they talk to bike sensors? can they be a viable alternative?
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Comments
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Obviously depends how bad your vision is and you would need to check for yourself but I need reading glasses and couldn't see anything on the likes of Cateye computers with the glasses I need to wear when riding. Got myself a Garmin 500 and the beauty of it is that you can set the display to show different numbers of fields so get bigger fonts - worth checking maybe for you ...0
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wishitwasallflat wrote:Obviously depends how bad your vision is and you would need to check for yourself but I need reading glasses and couldn't see anything on the likes of Cateye computers with the glasses I need to wear when riding. Got myself a Garmin 500 and the beauty of it is that you can set the display to show different numbers of fields so get bigger fonts - worth checking maybe for you ...
interesting, thanx, I never realised you could change the garmins fonts and display.
The garmins screens, tho bigger, always looked worse, as they had so many digits and info displaying at the same time with tiny fonts.0 -
dorsetclimber wrote:wishitwasallflat wrote:Obviously depends how bad your vision is and you would need to check for yourself but I need reading glasses and couldn't see anything on the likes of Cateye computers with the glasses I need to wear when riding. Got myself a Garmin 500 and the beauty of it is that you can set the display to show different numbers of fields so get bigger fonts - worth checking maybe for you ...
interesting, thanx, I never realised you could change the garmins fonts and display.
The garmins screens, tho bigger, always looked worse, as they had so many digits and info displaying at the same time with tiny fonts.
You can do the same with the Bryton units as well0 -
+1 for Garmin Edge 500. You can set it to have the backlight on permanently then just use 2 or 3 data fields per screen with up to 5 screens you can customize.0
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Garmin edge 500 contrast is way better than the 800 by the way, wins hands down. Also much less issue from glare.0
