Quick Garmin Edge 810 Review

Jamez117
Jamez117 Posts: 80
edited April 2014 in Road general
Hi guys,

This is my first real review so don't pick on me :D
And sorry in advance for any grainy pics it's the camera not the unit.

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Having owned the predecessor to this unit I had high hopes of its successor... The 810
I must admit on first impressions I was very impressed with its new more rugged look especially considering it contains the 150 K ordnance survey mapping of the United Kingdom, it actually looks like it could survive or knock or two .
The charge and microSD ports are located at the base of the unit where they are each covered covered by a neat rubber seal...

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Which in my opinion gives the edge an excellent level of water resistance, Even to a level of full submersion 8)
The back of the unit has a nice rugged, rubberised feel which is broadly similar to that of their camping/hiking GPS units.

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As for the interface the Edge is nice and simple your home screen is this,

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Just hit the ride/race button and you get your live stats...

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But to record/time your ride you press the play button

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The other button is a lap button.

One of the most useful features in my opinion is the virtual partner, just being able to see how far ahead/behind you are to your previous times is surprisingly motivating

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The elevation screen is very self-explanatory

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The navigation is perfect for cycling, The POI List is local to any given location and is incredibly useful. The whole thing is so easy to use

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Once you found your desired location either by using the postcode finder, POI's, cities or specific address A blue ride button appears on screen simply push it and off you go. The turn by turn navigation gives you the 20 second count down before each turning which just stands as testament to how accurate the GPS unit is

image_zps686e0415.jpg

To start with I couldn't figure out why I couldn't view my average speed and heart rate live as opposed to after the ride but as it turns out all of the screens are completely customisable with your chosen units whether it be speed, cadence, power etc.
And I can see the localised weather report when paired with your smartphone could be a useful feature too

In conclusion the Garmin Edge 810 is a great all-round performer that can handle just about anything from an early morning commute to a grand tour or even a trip up a mountain with the 150K audience survey mapping that is :wink:
(only included in specified packages)

Comments

  • goonas
    goonas Posts: 9
    Jamez117 wrote:
    Having owned the predecessor to this unit I had high hopes of its successor...

    To start with I couldn't figure out why I couldn't view my average speed and heart rate live as opposed to after the ride but as it turns out all of the screens are completely customisable with your chosen units whether it be speed, cadence, power etc.

    So how does it compare? Surely that's the big question / answer with this unit...

    I presume you didn't use the 800 for very long if you didn't know the screens were customisable - like the 800.
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    goonas wrote:
    Jamez117 wrote:
    Having owned the predecessor to this unit I had high hopes of its successor...

    To start with I couldn't figure out why I couldn't view my average speed and heart rate live as opposed to after the ride but as it turns out all of the screens are completely customisable with your chosen units whether it be speed, cadence, power etc.

    So how does it compare? Surely that's the big question / answer with this unit...

    I presume you didn't use the 800 for very long if you didn't know the screens were customisable - like the 800.

    I'm assuming the OP didn't have the 800 - the body is pretty much the same on both. Software wise they're also pretty much identical with the exception of the home screen - and IMHO this is where the 810 loses out. Yes it's simple to change your ride & bike, but for just plain riding it's not blindingly obvious how to get to the data screens.
    IMHO the bit that lets the 810 down is the lack of continuous ride. When you stop the unit you have the choice of save or discard - no pause. So if you're stopped at a cafe for 20 minutes we've found you're best to stop the ride and either save it or swipe the screen onto a data screen and ensure the powerdown feature doesn't kick in. If you hit save then although you save your ride, when you start again it starts a new ride rather than continuation of the existing one.
    Contrast that to the 800 where you can press start/stop to ... er ... start and stop the recording of the ride and if you want to start a new one you just press the reset button for 5 seconds.

    It's not a "show stopper" feature, but something to be aware of and has put me off from replacing an 800 with an 810.

    Another foible of the 810 is with the computer interface on a Mac. When you connect the GPS to the computer with the USB lead it goes into computer drive mode. The microSD card appears fairly quickly, but for some reason the main unit (which stores the ride data) sometimes takes over a minute to appear - this is not the case for the 800. It's possibly just a firmware issue and it does only happen on a Mac (got several so it's not the Mac). It doesn't happen on the windows machines ...
  • Jamez117
    Jamez117 Posts: 80
    Slowbike wrote:
    goonas wrote:
    Jamez117 wrote:
    Having owned the predecessor to this unit I had high hopes of its successor...

    To start with I couldn't figure out why I couldn't view my average speed and heart rate live as opposed to after the ride but as it turns out all of the screens are completely customisable with your chosen units whether it be speed, cadence, power etc.

    So how does it compare? Surely that's the big question / answer with this unit...

    I presume you didn't use the 800 for very long if you didn't know the screens were customisable - like the 800.

    I'm assuming the OP didn't have the 800 - the body is pretty much the same on both. Software wise they're also pretty much identical with the exception of the home screen - and IMHO this is where the 810 loses out. Yes it's simple to change your ride & bike, but for just plain riding it's not blindingly obvious how to get to the data screens.
    IMHO the bit that lets the 810 down is the lack of continuous ride. When you stop the unit you have the choice of save or discard - no pause. So if you're stopped at a cafe for 20 minutes we've found you're best to stop the ride and either save it or swipe the screen onto a data screen and ensure the powerdown feature doesn't kick in. If you hit save then although you save your ride, when you start again it starts a new ride rather than continuation of the existing one.
    Contrast that to the 800 where you can press start/stop to ... er ... start and stop the recording of the ride and if you want to start a new one you just press the reset button for 5 seconds.

    It's not a "show stopper" feature, but something to be aware of and has put me off from replacing an 800 with an 810.

    Another foible of the 810 is with the computer interface on a Mac. When you connect the GPS to the computer with the USB lead it goes into computer drive mode. The microSD card appears fairly quickly, but for some reason the main unit (which stores the ride data) sometimes takes over a minute to appear - this is not the case for the 800. It's possibly just a firmware issue and it does only happen on a Mac (got several so it's not the Mac). It doesn't happen on the windows machines ...

    Ive had the 810 for mor than a year and I didn't know the screens were customisable because I was only using it for mountain biking therefore I never had an need for features such as the heart rate monitor
  • pipipi
    pipipi Posts: 332
    the audience survey? ;-)

    So you ask the onlooking crowd for directions?
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    Jamez117 wrote:
    Ive had the 810 for mor than a year and I didn't know the screens were customisable because I was only using it for mountain biking therefore I never had an need for features such as the heart rate monitor
    You don't seem to be "into gadgets" then ... ?
  • Jamez117
    Jamez117 Posts: 80
    Slowbike wrote:
    Jamez117 wrote:
    Ive had the 810 for mor than a year and I didn't know the screens were customisable because I was only using it for mountain biking therefore I never had an need for features such as the heart rate monitor
    You don't seem to be "into gadgets" then ... ?

    Oh yes i love em but i was only buying it for the 150K mapping
  • chris_bass
    chris_bass Posts: 4,913
    Slowbike wrote:
    When you stop the unit you have the choice of save or discard - no pause. So if you're stopped at a cafe for 20 minutes we've found you're best to stop the ride and either save it or swipe the screen onto a data screen and ensure the powerdown feature doesn't kick in. If you hit save then although you save your ride, when you start again it starts a new ride rather than continuation of the existing one.

    is that true? That's a bad flaw but one that will be easily sorted through a software update i would have thought.

    As I don't really us navigation, breadcrumb trails are fine for what i need, I see no reason to upgrade from my trusty edge 500.
    www.conjunctivitis.com - a site for sore eyes
  • Jamez117
    Jamez117 Posts: 80
    pipipi wrote:
    the audience survey? ;-)

    So you ask the onlooking crowd for directions?

    Sorry stupid iPhone spell correct ;)
  • Joeblack
    Joeblack Posts: 829
    I have the 810 and as it's my first computer I'm very pleased with it but as above I have noticed there is no pause option (that I can find) and I agree that's something that's lacking, I have read somewhere on the forums that there's a auto pause facility but I don't know where to find it and if this will be useful for a 20min etc stop.

    A question I have to all garmin users, I have the speed sensor and it's round and ugly!! Iv seen on ebay some aero spoke ones that are much sleeker in design, does anyone use these and are they as accurate as the one garmin supply's?
    One plays football, tennis or golf, one does not play at cycling
  • duckson
    duckson Posts: 961
    My Garmin 500 is setup to auto pause at 0.5mph, stopped at a cafe at the weekend for around 30 mins and no problem.....it just started recording again when i set off.

    Edge 810 auto pause - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiRmg6izfqw
    Cheers, Stu
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    Yes you can use auto-pause - but I like to stop the ride when I stop - and if I end up waking the bike 50meters it doesn't record it - I can then resume when I get back on.
    Autopause doesn't do that easily.

    You can pause, when it says save or discard - swipe onto the next screen - then you can resume the ride later on. Not very well documented and I fail to see why they would make discard such a high priority in selection - you could hit it by mistake - although I've not checked if there is a confirmation required
  • Joeblack
    Joeblack Posts: 829
    Slowbike wrote:
    Yes you can use auto-pause - but I like to stop the ride when I stop - and if I end up waking the bike 50meters it doesn't record it - I can then resume when I get back on.
    Autopause doesn't do that easily.

    You can pause, when it says save or discard - swipe onto the next screen - then you can resume the ride later on. Not very well documented and I fail to see why they would make discard such a high priority in selection - you could hit it by mistake - although I've not checked if there is a confirmation required

    How do you then resume the ride?

    I thought the only options we're save or discard?
    One plays football, tennis or golf, one does not play at cycling
  • I just leave the thing on for meal stops. Strava sorts out the pausing. If it doesn't it lulls my competition into a false sense of security by making them think my aversge speed is pants.
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    Joeblack wrote:
    Slowbike wrote:
    Yes you can use auto-pause - but I like to stop the ride when I stop - and if I end up waking the bike 50meters it doesn't record it - I can then resume when I get back on.
    Autopause doesn't do that easily.

    You can pause, when it says save or discard - swipe onto the next screen - then you can resume the ride later on. Not very well documented and I fail to see why they would make discard such a high priority in selection - you could hit it by mistake - although I've not checked if there is a confirmation required

    How do you then resume the ride?

    I thought the only options we're save or discard?

    press start ...
  • apreading
    apreading Posts: 4,535
    On an all day ride, if you stop for half an hour or more (or less), you may want to turn it off to save battery. I can do that on my 800 and continue the ride.
  • Joeblack
    Joeblack Posts: 829
    Ahh I see, just had a little play with mine, so if you want to pause it, just press the start/stop button and then turn the device off, then when you want to resume turn the device on again and press the start /stop.

    All becomes clear.
    One plays football, tennis or golf, one does not play at cycling
  • apreading
    apreading Posts: 4,535
    Ah, OK - sounds like it still works OK then, just not very intuitive - this is very much 'the garmin way'...!
  • poppit
    poppit Posts: 926
    I've got an 810 and my wife has an 800. They work in slightly different ways but reading manuals, reviews and youtube turorials are a great help. The main thing is to get the initial set up right, everything seems to fall into place after that. The auto pause works well on both, I never have an issue with it at cafe stops, perhaps I'm just lucky!
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