What does a Garmin edge 800 have over a 500?

daniel_b

Afternoon all,

I am currently being severely tempted by the 800 on Amazon.

I currently have a 500, and will shortly be setting it up with HR and Cadence, oh and the HR is one of those cycleops ones.

I have a rubbish sense of direction, AND I like to ride places I have never been before - so I use the 500 heavily for the breadcrumb trail option - the minor frustration I encounter with this setting, is that I have to choose to scroll to a new screen to see my stats, you know, distance travelled, average speed etc etc
Would this not be an issue on the 800 - is there a facility to run the map on say half of the screen, and still have enough room for say 4 data fields?

Now I realise that with the open source maps the facility to navigate to places, around places becomes technically a lot easier - but I would still be looking to plot a route on bikehike/gpsies, and download it that way, rather than plug in a destination like a satnav - at the end of the day I will most of the time carry out circular loops anyway.
And I understand the benefit is that even though I still create the TCX file in the same manner, instead of a breadcrumb trail I get a sat nav esque image on a pukka map.

When using the 500, I run the breacdrumb trail at a 300ft (Or is it Metres?) zoom level and this is fine for 95% of the turns I have to make, but I guess the visibility of a map would make it unmissable, especially if it was combined with an alert of some kind.

So - aside from the fact you can have a proper map, is there anything else I can do with the 800 that I would not be able to do with the 500?

Something I want to achieve/create is some proper training plans - I have set a load up for running on my FR Edge 305, and these work a treat - to give you an example:
Warm up - press lap
1m @ 8.20 pace
1m @ 9.00 pace
1m @ 8.20 pace
Cool down - press lap

That is a basic one above, but just to give you a flavour of how I set them up - should I be able to do that both the 500 and the 800?

I've read mostly glowing reviews, but the one about water ingres does concern me a bit, especially living in this country - what are peoples experiences of this?

Be very interested to hear your views, am exceedingly tempted to buy one, just want to make sure it will provide me with enough of a positive difference.

Dan

NeXXus

Colour, touch screen,maps, control a Virb camera

You can display two data fields on map screen

daniel_b

NeXXus wrote:

Colour, touch screen,maps, control a Virb camera

You can display two data fields on map screen

Thanks for the fast reply.

That is handy, re the two data fields - and as I think you change pages by swiping the screen, could you swipe one way to get to a data page, and then back the other way to return to the map?
On the 500, I can press one button to get to the data screen, but then have to press it 4 times, and with a definite pause in between each one, to get back to the breadcrumb trail.
Not a huge issue, but does mean less time spent concentrating on where I am going!

NeXXus

Daniel B wrote:

NeXXus wrote:

Colour, touch screen,maps, control a Virb camera

You can display two data fields on map screen

Thanks for the fast reply.

That is handy, re the two data fields - and as I think you change pages by swiping the screen, could you swipe one way to get to a data page, and then back the other way to return to the map?
On the 500, I can press one button to get to the data screen, but then have to press it 4 times, and with a definite pause in between each one, to get back to the breadcrumb trail.
Not a huge issue, but does mean less time spent concentrating on where I am going!

Yep, quick swipe. Just turn the other pointless screens off and it isn't a problem (defunct training pages, elevation page, virtual partner page)

wandsworth

Weirdly, the 800 with the performance bundle (includes HRM and speed cadence sensor) is currently cheaper on Amazon than the base unit alone. Some mistake?

Edit: someone else on here spotted this first.

kingstonian

So does the map package only cover the UK or does it handle mainland Europe too?

daniel_b

NeXXus wrote:

Yep, quick swipe. Just turn the other pointless screens off and it isn't a problem (defunct training pages, elevation page, virtual partner page)

Thanks for that, tinkered with it tonight.
Was able to get it down to 3 screens, data, courses (which it seems you cannot switch off) and map.
Toyed with the idea of the auto scroll, but the odds are it won't be on the trail at a critical point!

Going out tomorrow so will see how I get on, erring back away from the 800 I think.

daniel_b

I notice from this http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2010/12/feeling-lucky-water-immersion-tests.html
That water ingres is a recognised problem if you are using an sd (micro?) card in the slot on the rear.

My question is, how much built in memory does the 800 have, and if I wanted opensource maps on there would an sd card be my only choice?
If so, then it's looking less likely.
The other thing that troubles me is the apparently semi common power button failure issue.

I think I have been lucky/fortunate with our households two edge 205's, two forerunner 305's, and one 500.
Aside from having to downgrade the firmware on the latter to get the breadcrumb trail to function, the devices themselves have been very reliable.

RDW

Kingstonian wrote:

So does the map package only cover the UK or does it handle mainland Europe too?

The 'performance bundle' that's cheap on Amazon right now only includes the largely useless 'base map' (main roads only, no detail) - not sure how far this goes. If you want usable maps for the UK or Europe you either need to download the free open source maps, or buy Garmin's versions as add-ons, or buy a bundle that specifically includes them.

Daniel B wrote:

My question is, how much built in memory does the 800 have, and if I wanted opensource maps on there would an sd card be my only choice?

Only 100MB (and Garmin says about 75MB should be free). This isn't enough for proper country-wide (open source or Garmin) mapping. You'll either need your own micro SD for downloadable maps, or one from Garmin with pre-loaded maps.

daniel_b

Daniel B wrote:

My question is, how much built in memory does the 800 have, and if I wanted opensource maps on there would an sd card be my only choice?

Only 100MB (and Garmin says about 75MB should be free). This isn't enough for proper country-wide (open source or Garmin) mapping. You'll either need your own micro SD for downloadable maps, or one from Garmin with pre-loaded maps.[/quote]

Thanks RDW, that seals the deal, or the non deal should I say, I can't have a device that isn't properly waterproof - if I lived in Provence or Tuscany then perhaps you could get away with it!

That is the straw that brakes the camel's back for me, even if it comes back down in price I will not consider it now, full steam ahead with the existing 500.

fast as fupp

300

precisely.