Why are Garmins with mapping so pricey?

markiegrim

I fancy one, but why hundreds and hundreds, when the Tom Tom for my car was about 80 quid?

arran77

I guess that Tom Tom's were also quite pricey when they first came out and over time the price just drops, same will probably be true with the Garmin's.

BrandonA

Because you do not value the service the product provides.

I say the above as the term "expensive" is a purely subjective term. Something is only expensive if you do not think it offers value for money. I have an 800 and I think its one of the best cycling products I've ever bought as without it I would never have found some of the excellent routes I now ride.

kim10

Just get it without the maps and use the free ones available

BrandonA

OnYourRight wrote:

Because there is little to no competition and the market is small.

These are also the reasons they’re so terrible. Don’t think they’re anything like your car’s sat-nav! They’re a nightmare to set up, the display is tiny and unresponsive to touch, the CPU is slow, the user interface is atrocious, the software is ridden with bugs and broken features, etc. Not recommended unless you strictly need mapping.

I agree they can be a little unresponsive to touch, especially if your hand is wet or in a glove. How often though do you need to touch it once you're up and running? The setup is not too complex and only has to be done once. It can take a while to turn on but once up and running the CPU is more than adequate to record stats every second and update the map. The screen on the 800 is a little small but the ironic thing is that the 1000 is getting panned by a lot of people for being too large.

markiegrim

Thanks both for your views. I deliberately kept my question short in order to genrate diverse opinions which it did. I think my need for uploading routes, nice as that would be, is not so great, so will probably leave it for now

I certainly "value" the service. Yet many hundreds DOES seem to be "expensive" for the "service" when the same (seemingly better) service is available for <£100 by Tom Tom for car. But then a Tom Tom GPS watch is nearer £200, so I think the point about prices being intially high for new tech or in a small market is also in play here

RDW

I have an 800 and rather like it, but it does sometimes feel like going back to a mobile phone from a decade ago. It's fine as a glorified 500, or for turn-by-turn navigation, but the screen is really two small and low res to make it a decent map viewer - I usually end up just stopping and getting out the phone if I need to do more than check the next junction. I don't think we'll see a price drop in this niche, just newer technology (eventually!) for the same sort of 'cycle-specific' price. At least Garmin has a bit of competition now.

pandazoo

I've recently started going further afield in new areas and bought a garmin touring. Design the route on ridewithgps upload it and it works a treat. I think some of the other features of the touring can be pretty quirky by reading a few reviews, but for a simple turn left turn right on a planned track I can't fault it. Good bundle at halfords with a bit of a discount for british cycling members.

rch30

Is your Tom Tom bigger than a Garmin ? Does it have a rechageable battery? Does it record heart rate, average speed, maximum speed, cadence,distance, elapsed time, elevation gained etc? Can you easily plot routes going on the exact roads you desire.
I have had an Edge for over 4 years and would not be without it when I am exploring a new part of the UK.
No matter which way you price it cost per mile cost per session cost per week it is good value for money

markiegrim

rch30 wrote:

Is your Tom Tom bigger than a Garmin ? Does it have a rechageable battery? Does it record heart rate, average speed, maximum speed, cadence,distance, elapsed time, elevation gained etc? Can you easily plot routes going on the exact roads you desire.
I have had an Edge for over 4 years and would not be without it when I am exploring a new part of the UK.
No matter which way you price it cost per mile cost per session cost per week it is good value for money

Yes, take all your points. Was just curious as to why so much more in cost than a tomtom. Not criticising Garmins per se. However, not right for me now I know more. Will stick with my 30 quid cateye and strava on the iphone

RDW

rch30 wrote:

Is your Tom Tom bigger than a Garmin ? Does it have a rechageable battery? Does it record heart rate, average speed, maximum speed, cadence,distance, elapsed time, elevation gained etc? Can you easily plot routes going on the exact roads you desire.

You can do all that on a £100 smartphone with bluetooth sensors. It'll be bigger than the Garmin, but that's not always a disadvantage.

gloomyandy

But will it be waterproof, allow you to have the screen on all the time (and be readable in sunlight) and have a long battery life? May not matter to you but it does to some.

NeXXus

RDW wrote:

rch30 wrote:

Is your Tom Tom bigger than a Garmin ? Does it have a rechageable battery? Does it record heart rate, average speed, maximum speed, cadence,distance, elapsed time, elevation gained etc? Can you easily plot routes going on the exact roads you desire.

You can do all that on a £100 smartphone with bluetooth sensors. It'll be bigger than the Garmin, but that's not always a disadvantage.

And if you want to see it will require bar-mounting. What if you crash?

RDW

gloomyandy wrote:

But will it be waterproof, allow you to have the screen on all the time (and be readable in sunlight) and have a long battery life? May not matter to you but it does to some.

NeXXus wrote:

And if you want to see it will require bar-mounting. What if you crash?

Some (e.g. Sony) phones are waterproof. Bike mounts are available for many common phones, some of which include waterproof cases that still let you use the touchscreen. Screens can be switched on all the time. Battery life may be an issue for longer rides, but external batteries are available, some of which are built into protective case/mounts - sounds kludgy, but no worse than what many people are already doing with the more powerful lighting systems. My current phone is pretty readable in daylight. Crashing can trash any bike computer, dedicated or phone-based, and if you need a reserve device for emergency calls, compact £10 PAYG phones are available.

I'm writing as a Garmin 800 user, so I obviously see some advantages in a small, convenient device packaged with all the required hardware. But put it next to a recent smartphone and you can see the (growing) technology gap, driven by fierce competition in the mobile phone market. I suspect there's a market niche for a small, rugged Android phone dedicated for sports use, marketed with a range of sensors and mounts, something like an updated Xperia Active:

http://www.sonymobile.com/gb/products/p ... ia-active/

dowtcha

The 3 main reasons are
1. Economy of scale, its a niche device and the cost of R &D is spread over a smaller production run.
2. Spec, shrinking electronics devices always add cost. If you check the spec of the GPS receiver in the 800 you will find its smaller and runs on a lower voltage and draws a lot less power, this device will have a higher price point.
3. You are been ripped off

ForumNewbie

I have both a Garmin 200 and a 500 and think they are great products, although the 500 was a bit expensive.

I've never bothered with the 800 and a mapping function as it was more expensive and I've read bad reviews about it, and I don't really need a sat nav as I check a map before I leave the house, or take a map with me.

philwint

I love the mapping on mine, I usually spend a while pouring over the map on Garmin Connect, sketch out where i want to go and download it to my device, and there it is. Ready to ride.

Occasionally I've used it on the fly to plot a route home when I've bailed, and that's worked well too.

Great little thing imo.

desweller

The maps are hideously expensive. Try one of the OSM options and you'll save a fair few bucks.

crescent

I've just bought a 200 and I'm very impressed with it. The navigation is single line only but certainly does what I want it too - I do a lot of cycling on fairly remote country lanes with little sign-posting, it keeps me on the right path. Uploading and downloading routes is a piece of cake and works very well so far in my experience.

pandazoo

No mapping cost on the touring

keef66

pandazoo wrote:

No mapping cost on the touring

I'd been considering an 800 and downloading the OSM mapping, but when I saw the Touring Plus for £200 on Amazon I clicked BUY in an instant.

I love the simpler interface, and so far it has done exactly what it says on tin. Clever little gadget, and better than my outdated TomTom since it updates the (whole of Europe) maps automatically via Garmin Express.

Brava210

Just bagged a Touring special edition from Halfords for £154. With all the discounts added up
Not bad

pandazoo

Brava210 wrote:

Just bagged a Touring special edition from Halfords for £154. With all the discounts added up
Not bad

Yeah you get the mount included with that, deal exclusive to halfords by all account!