Another garmin question...

colm_gti

Ok so I'm literally just about to pull the trigger on an edge 500 with HRM, but for the same money I could get a newly overhauled edge 705 with HRM, or for the guts of £100 less, a newly overhauled edge 305 with HRM.

I know the 305 and 705 are an older series, but they appear to have most of the features of the 500, with a barometric altimeter, and can both accept HRM and cadence meters, and the 705 can accept a power meter (not that I have any short term plans to get such a thing).

Is there any reason why I should still go for the edge 500 over the cheaper edge 305, or older edge 705? Are there any differences worth noting?

Lumen

Edge 500 has much better battery life than the 305.

705 was horribly buggy and suffered from very fragile mount design early on but later firmware updates and improvements to the mounts improved things enormously.

I replaced my stolen 705 with a 500 and do miss the navigation functions occasionally, even though they were crap.

colm_gti

Lumen wrote: »

Edge 500 has much better battery life than the 305.

705 was horribly buggy and suffered from very fragile mount design early on but later firmware updates and improvements to the mounts improved things enormously.

I replaced my stolen 705 with a 500 and do miss the navigation functions occasionally, even though they were crap.

Thanks for the input Lumen, I'm not so much interested in the 705 I don't think, more the 305 vs 500, it's all a matter of whether the newer 500 is worth the €95 premium over the 305? My longest cycle to date has been ~5hrs, so once the battery lasts that long I'd be happy. I know the edge 305 lists a 12hr battery life, but how realistic is this? Same for the 18hrs listed for the edge 500?

Lumen

I haven't owned a 305 but I think I read reports of people running out of battery on the WW200.

I would definitely get a 500 over a 305.

colm_gti

Lumen wrote: »

I haven't owned a 305 but I think I read reports of people running out of battery on the WW200.

I would definitely get a 500 over a 305.

Perfect, that's all I needed to know, thanks a mil Lumen

colm_gti

One last question, is there anywhere in Dublin that will match handtec.co.uk prices for garmins? I'm having issues with paying handtec by mastercard...or how safe is electronic bank transfer?

C3PO

I had a 305 before my current 500!
As Lumen says, battery life was poor and it had a habit of refusing to turn on until you did a reset (common fault apparently!). For some reason it didn't connect to Strava seamlessly all the time either. And last but not least the mount was very delicate and expensive which is quite relevant if you have more than one bike (particularly is if you ride a mountain bike!) - the mount for the 500 are cheap and much more robust!
So I would definately pay the extra for the 500!

C3PO

colm_gti wrote: »

One last question, is there anywhere in Dublin that will match handtec.co.uk prices for garmins? I'm having issues with paying handtec by mastercard...or how safe is electronic bank transfer?

Give Alfie in Expert Cycles in R'nam a call - 01 4425841. Not sure that he'll match Handtec but he won't be far off!