Garmin Edge 500 v. 705

[Jiffer]

The 500 is a completely different animal than the 305. If his new unit looked anything like the 305, then it is the 705 and not the 500. If you think you are able to use your Garmin for mapping then you also do not have the 500.

Why do I prefer the 500 to the 305? The 500 is smaller with a larger brighter display; the battery will last MUCH longer than the 305, which required me to run a battery pack for rides over 12 hours; it doesn't short out and completely shut down as the 305s were known to do (even my newer one started to do this); it is a better looking unit (IMHO).

Cool. Thanks for the info. Your post caused me to dig deeper into researching the Garmin options. The one my husband tried was the 705. I had no idea the 500 was an even newer one. It DOES look nice. We looked at it on the internet together and now I actually know what to get him for his birthday. And what to tell him I "need" for mine a month later. Ha ha! Glad this thread came up.

[bluebug32]

Here's Garmin's own comparison page among the 305, 500 and 705.

Bluebug, it's weird you say you can program workouts into your 500 when Garmin says you can't. Do you have to "trick" it somehow?

I can program specific workouts (intervals, etc.) through Garmin Training center and download them to the 500 to run. I can do this with courses too. I think this is what you mean, right?

By the way, can anyone get max. speed on their 500? I swear it isn't a display option. How strange.

[tattiefritter]

By the way, can anyone get max. speed on their 500? I swear it isn't a display option. How strange.

I can, I'm sure I can. I will check tonight but I'm pretty sure as the last road ride I did I hit a new max of 43.9 mph descending (scared myself a bit, still not very confident descending on the road) and it was there on one of the screens as I had configured it. I think the display option it may have came as part of a firmware upgrade? I had a lot of problems with my Edge 500 initially until I upgraded the firmware and each upgrade introduced new functionality - problems were mainly getting it to talk to Training Centre.

[tattiefritter]

Have checked my Edge 500 and I definitely have Max Speed set to display on one of the screens.

[bluebug32]

Thank you!!! I'll have to check out the Firmware updates. Are they on the Garmin website?

[tattiefritter]

They should be available from the Garmin site or Garmin connect, think you need the Garmin Web Updater to apply it to the unit.

One of the firmware upgrades did reset everything on my unit to factory settings though, scrubbing display choices, bike details, autopause settings etc so it may be worth noting what you have set up in case it does it to you. It did warn of it prior to the upgrade though.

[OakLeaf]

Yes - AFAIK firmware updates on all their devices clear your settings, and they also make the history inaccessible, so make sure you've downloaded all your activities before updating and made a backup (you may as well erase your history at that point, too).

I will say that although I'm really not familiar with the 500 at all, it's generally a good idea to take a look at the Garmin forums before applying any firmware patch. I don't update mine automatically any more. Taking into account that any software/firmware update will cause problems for some people - and taking into account that the internets tend to magnify the scope of problems just because thousands of happy customers don't go around complaining or looking for tech support - still, if I'm not having problems with whatever firmware I'm running, I usually wait a couple-three weeks to find out if a lot of people, especially the experienced users, are having trouble with the patch.

JME...

[tattiefritter]

I agree with Oakleaf so do some research on what the upgrades provide, I had annoying problems with my Edge 500 that were solved with some firmware updates and everything is going swimmingly so far since upgrade. I never really bother updating my forerunner 305 unit as it does everything I want just fine and I probably won't be doing much upgrading of the Edge 500 now unless there is new functionality I want that is provided by upgrade - though can't imagine what.

[maillotpois]

Here's a great review of the new 500:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/reviews/g...500-gps-review

[BikeDutchess]

And here's another in depth review: http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2009/11/g...th-review.html

I must say I'm really tempted...I'm so tired of my 305 powering off all the time.

[Aggie_Ama]

What about the 605? Garmin lists it as a cycling computer. DH and I are hoping to buy Garmins, leaning towards the 500 because the 705 is a little steep for the mixed bag reviews.

When you say mapping do you mean like a car GPS where you won't get lost? Or the little downloads that show your course?

[OakLeaf]

Both.

I've never used mine to navigate on the bici, but I've used it a couple of times in the car. The user interface is essentially the same as the Garmin car GPS's my DH uses. You have the option to set it to navigate by car, bicycle or walking; and under that, you can choose to avoid unpaved roads (not entirely accurate, but some help), toll roads and/or limited access highways. (obviously the bicycling and pedestrian options eliminate limited access roads by default).

Mostly I use it the other way, to guide me along a route I or someone else has already mapped on mapmyride or ridewithgps.

Either way, I would hate to be without it.

But I don't know what the 605 does that the 500 doesn't?

[feral1]

I have a 500 and love it I got mine on E-bay for $250....a lot cheaper than other sites. As for getting it wet...I got soaked in 2 downpours the other day and it seems very water tight.Kinda wished I got the one with the GPS too since I get lost leaving the driveway.....but that's what my husband is for

[Aggie_Ama]

Looks like the 605 has a lot of the functions minus cadence and HR. I never liked cadence on my Cateye, so much I didn't put the censor on my new bike! I have a Polar. DH will want these features so the 500 is likely better for him.

The local mountain bikers share gpx files, does that only show the elevation? How about the coordinates of the trail? I am a gadget dunce but I did upload some custom POIs to my Garmin Nuvi. I was hoping these files they share were like that?

[OakLeaf]

A .gpx plots coordinates on a map to generate a route. If you have a 705 or one of the non-cycling computers with mapping capability, it'll plot those on a street map or on whatever mapset you purchase. A 605, 305 or 500 will use whatever basemap it comes with.

I wouldn't have a clue how to upload POIs to a GPS. But you would have to use the navigation feature to get from where you are to the POI. To use a route that you, not the computer, have planned, you need a .gpx or a .crs (course file, which contains some other data like target speed - they're also supposedly more accurate for routing).