GPS or GPX device advice

lit46

Hi there,

I've ridden for a while just using smartphone apps but I'm soon to go on a long ride where ideally I would like to be able to map the route on my computer using whaterver software, upload this to a GPX file to send to a GPS unit which can then direct me according to the route I have created.

I have no idea if this is possible on the GPS computers I have seen advertised and would appreciate any advice if this is possible and if so, what is the best value unit to buy

Many thanks!

freezing77

All you ask is possible on devices with and without maps.
Garmins own free program basecamp can be used to cretae routes which can either be saved as gpx files and placed on the device or in most instances the route can be sent directly from the program.

If you need maps and only need navigation as opposed to training modules, the etrex 20 and dakota 20 are worth consideration.

The edge 500 does not have maps but the gpx route will display as a trail to follow, the edge 800 can use maps and will give directions, any ? please ask.

There are also very many online route creation sites that will let you save the route as a gpx file, bikely, bikeroutetoaster, etc etc.

lit46

thanks for the reply and info, pleased to hear it is possible

My only question is when you refer to those that don't have maps but will display the route, I am struggling to picture how that works...does it just say turn left here, turn right here? I was imagining them working like a sat nav/gps unit in the car, so can't quite work out how it works without a map...

Many thanks for your help!

freezing77

With the etrex 10 and dakota 10 you get this

The arrow should always be pointing in the direction you need to go.

I am not so familiar with the edge 500 but this page has very useful info, http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2009/12/garmin-edge-500-in-depth-review.html

lit46

Thanks for the screen shot and link. I've had a look and it seems these devices all work almost like the classic Grand Theft Auto games...where it tells you the compass direction but not specifically when to turn left or right like in car gps...am I being unrealistic hoping for a similar experience to in car navigation for bike navigation?

freezing77

lit46 wrote:

Thanks for the screen shot and link. I've had a look and it seems these devices all work almost like the classic Grand Theft Auto games...where it tells you the compass direction but not specifically when to turn left or right like in car gps...am I being unrealistic hoping for a similar experience to in car navigation for bike navigation?

If you get the etrex 20, dakota 20, edge 800 you will get something like this with beeps at turns and at night the screen backlight comes on.

freezing77

lit46

brilliant, that looks like what I'm after many thanks!

Would I be correct in assuming the battery will hold out on a 100-200km ride?

freezing77

lit46 wrote:

brilliant, that looks like what I'm after many thanks!

Would I be correct in assuming the battery will hold out on a 100-200km ride?

The 800 uses an internal battery probably good for 15-16 hours. The dakota and etrex use 2 standard aa's and are good for about 20 hours, but of course the batteries can be replaced anytime.

lit46

fantastic, thanks for the help!

cattytown

There's navigation and navigation :-)

Units like the Garmin 5x0 do breadcrumb - it displays a line and you follow it.

The 8x0 can have maps on them and do the "turn left" - they don't speak though, they just chirp to tell you there's something on the display.

Basecamp probably isn't much use for route creation on a 5x0 as basecamp uses the unit's maps.

There are also devices like the Mio 305/505 that will do navigation. The Mios also have a surprise me function - effectively "give me a 30 mile loop" or take me home, but make it 40 miles.

freezing77

cattytown wrote:

There's navigation and navigation :-)



Basecamp probably isn't much use for route creation on a 5x0 as basecamp uses the unit's maps.
.

Basecamp can use the maps on the device OR maps loaded onto the pc or mac, therefore viable routes can be created on devices that do not have their own maps.

fsman

Or just put on OSM / Talkytoaster maps for free.
They even have routing.

freezing77

fsman wrote:

Or just put on OSM / Talkytoaster maps for free.
They even have routing.

You cannot put any sort of map on the etrex 10, dakota10 and edge 500; the units in question.

cattytown

JOOI, How do you get maps into basecamp if they are not on the device? Do you have another device with maps? Or will basecamp support OSM for example?

freezing77

cattytown wrote:

JOOI, How do you get maps into basecamp if they are not on the device? Do you have another device with maps? Or will basecamp support OSM for example?

For example if you get openstreetmap from here http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/

You will get a link to both the *.img gile to place on the device and installers to install the map on pc and mac. If you go here http://osm.pleiades.uni-wuppertal.de/garmin/generic/15-07-2013/9a32dc29af2793b15b0e490fcb5f8f63/ you will see what I mean. The link is live.

Having the maps on the pc or mac speeds up map loading considerably.

cattytown

Cool - Ta.