Garmin Edge 705 Reviews

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  Garmin Edge 705

  £249.95

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  Garmin Edge 705

  £300.85

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• simondaw 29th Oct 2008

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  Good Points: The integration of an accurate heart rate monitor, efficient odometer, a reasonably reliable altimeter and a fairly decent navigation system is a plus. I use it with Openstreetmap, which is free and which works well except that you lose the turn-by-turn navigation aspect. I pre-plan routes using one of a number of websites, then load the route to the unit. This works well, and means one is not reliant on the unit to choose the best route - something I think is probably more problematic when cycling. Works for me.

  
  

  Bad Points: If one chooses to use Garmin's own maps, be prepared for a hefty bill on top of the price of the unit. It can lose signal under cloudy skies, although I don't think it's any worse than my car's satnav in this respect; it's more noticeable because it tells you! The file system relies on and produces TCX files which are a bit of a faff compared to the "standard" GPX files. However, there are online converters which do the job quickly and painlessly (just Google TCX and GPX).

  
  

  General comments: The Garmin Edge 705 seems to be getting mixed reviews. Overall, I find that it's pretty accurate, and that I've been able to adapt it to do the job I want it to do. I wouldn't be happy with it if I was expecting to use it like a car satnav - the display is too small, really, and other reviewers tend to point out that it can suddenly decide you need to do a "U" turn, or that it takes you via an inefficient route, or that the warning messages are delayed. Although I don't use the search feature (because I can't, using Openstreetmap). I have some experience of the latter - going off of a manually planned route results in a stream of messages, which often seem illogical. Nonetheless, I've found, like others, that it's made me explore routes I certainly wouldn't otherwise have tried; a few minutes on the PC can derive great routes which are easy to follow on the 705. It feels a nice, solid unit, and I enjoy using it.
  

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