Dakota vs. Edge for Road Biking I am looking for feedback from anyone that has used the new Dakota for road biking. I am considering either one of the Garmin Edge (605/705) or the Dakota - the Dakota actually looks like it offers more, except for the training partner feature. Which I wouldn't miss. Dakota vs. Edge for Road Biking I am looking for feedback from anyone that has used the new Dakota for road biking. I am considering either one of the Garmin Edge (605/705) or the Dakota - the... » Read More Dakota vs. Edge for Road Biking I am looking for feedback from anyone that has used the new Dakota for road biking. I am considering either one of the Garmin Edge (605/705) or the Dakota - the Dakota actually looks like it offers more, except for the training partner feature. Which I wouldn't miss. « Show Less
820808
Has anyone used the Dakota 20 for touring? Or any Garmin unit for that matter. I'd be interested in your experiences. I'm leaning towards the Dakota for a number of reasons (Battery type, battery life, price, features) I don't need a heart rate/cadence monitor(s) I just want directions but I also don't want to be directed on to a freeway on ramp by some piece of misguided software.
820809
I have a Dakota 10 and use it all the time for biking. True, it doesn't do any of the things Frank mentions. I guess I'm just interested in track, elevation and odometer, time, so it's perfect for that. Weather/temperature is applied when the tracklog is uploaded to Basecamp or Garmin Connect (although at this writing, the "new" Garmin Connect isn't correctly calculating distance on GPX files, so there's that.)
697978
Thanks N. Search YouTube for "Wonderland Garmin 405" that is what really peaked my interest.Ok, I was able to find the watch at City Sports. I love it and it finds satellites in about 30 seconds or so.I connected it via Garmin Connect fairly easily (using my Dell D620 Laptop and Windows XP), but I can't find how I can export the GPX files anywhere?
1401492
I like the graphics on the Garmin better and it seems to respond faster than the the Tomtom. I like the display for the Points of Interest better on the Garmin as well. I gave my daughter the Garmin and I have the Tomtom but I am thinking about returning it and getting the Garmin 255w
1076552
I LOVE mine and I haven't even completely learned all of it's features. I chose it because my running coach (who also does tri's) has it and I knew that she could help me. I believe it would be a good choice, unless the mountain areas are poor GPS locations. Other than that, I recommend it!
1047608
To my knowledge, this is still the most current - and best - GPS Garmin produces for most consumers. Those of us wanting the 3597LMTHD had to wait until it's release in May of this year, following our pre-order of same. I believe there is a new "Big Rig" device out there, customized for over-road truck drivers. I've seen nothing else more current from Garmin. Hope this satisfactorily answers your question.
1748569
I am not a runner, but a cyclist with a Garmin Edge 305. As a cyclist, or I believe anyone interested in fitness, the key metrics are not speed and distance. Rather, I'd suggest that time and intensity are far more critical. You may not be interested in "training" but even if you are just interested in general fitness, heart rate is a far better measure of how you're doing. Intensity can be most easily measured by either heart rate or by power output - but I don't know how you'd get power on a run, so that leaves heart rate. Ok - now that I've said that I will never ride without heart rate (even though I can display 8 metrics on my Garmin Edge, the only things I have showing are heartrate, cadence (pedal strokes per minute) and clock (time of day, not time in workout). I'm also going to buy one of these for my wife. She is a very casual runner and I'm guessing she'll never really use the heart rate monitor. She is more interested in making sure she gets an hour in every day, and if she happened to improve her times, then she'll be happy. She'll never track her performance outside of the very simplest of measurements. So I'll spend the money anyway, but she'll never use the extra function. If nothing else, I'll have an extra heart rate strap for myself... Hope this helps, it's just one person's personal opinion.
103045
If money is no object and you want a gps, go for it, otherwise, buy a low cost bike computer for $25.00 or less. I have been using an edge 800 for a year and like it. but I have used low cost units for 20 years and they are great too. Depends on what you want it to do.
2043415
This is kind of an odd request, in that only you can answer the "why?". What is it that YOU need or are looking for in a GPS? By reading the descriptions and a few reviews on each, you may get better information on the different feature set of each unit. A good place for professional reviews is gpsmagazine.com. FYI, all Garmin units will route you pretty much the same no matter the price.Good luck on your search.
1566511
The Garmin 800 is a better option for downloading *.tcx files with embedded turn by turn directions. The Garmin 810 does not support *.tcx files as well as the 800. I used RideWithGps.com last year to plan my ride across the USA (4162 miles in 53 riding days) and had turn by turn directions all the way with the Garmin 800. I originally bought an 810, but returned it when proved problematic and bought the 800 instead. It worked pretty well. The only problem was when turns are very close together. RideWithGPS gives you the option to set how early a turn notice will be given (50', 200', etc). If the turns are really close together and the warnings are set to be 500' the notifications can overlap. The Garmin 800 is a better option for downloading *.tcx files with embedded turn by turn directions. The Garmin 810 does not support *.tcx files as well as the 800. I used RideWithGps.com last year to plan my ride across the USA (4162 miles in 53 riding days) and had turn by turn directions all the way with the Garmin 800. I originally bought an 810, but returned it when proved problematic and bought the 800 instead. It worked pretty well. The only problem was when turns are very close together. RideWithGPS gives you the option to set how early a turn notice will be given (50', 200', etc).... » Read More The Garmin 800 is a better option for downloading *.tcx files with embedded turn by turn directions. The Garmin 810 does not support *.tcx files as well as the 800. I used RideWithGps.com last year to plan my ride across the USA (4162 miles in 53 riding days) and had turn by turn directions all the way with the Garmin 800. I originally bought an 810, but returned it when proved problematic and bought the 800 instead. It worked pretty well. The only problem was when turns are very close together. RideWithGPS gives you the option to set how early a turn notice will be given (50', 200', etc). If the turns are really close together and the warnings are set to be 500' the notifications can overlap. « Show Less
293610
I bought the 260 and can recommend it (although later Garmin changed the interface to the 2x5 series ... which may or may not be a positive). My new 765t doesn't route me any better than my 260 did (it just has a few bells and whistles that I liked and needed ... lane assist for one). I've never owned a TomTom, so I cannot compare the two.
2253735
I wondered about that too .. although I'd trust Garmin's website and other 3rd party discussion sites ... the ?70 units are built to contain maps for both continents, and the ?80 are the first one's with MSN Direct.Perhaps there'll be a future ?90 (390/690) range that combines the two sets of new features? :)For now, I'm just wondering whether tot ake the plunge with the 660 and its FMt raffic/preloaded POIs, or wait for the MSN-direct 680 to be released (April?)!
608267
This may not work on the Edge 810. It does work on the 800. I tried an 810 and returned it because the turn-by-turn routing provided by RideWithGPS.com TCX wouldn't work with the 810. The following is from the RideWithGPS web site on how to load maps. http://ridewithgps.com/users/115523 ................ After downloading, copy the IMG file to the SD cards "GARMIN" folder that was created earlier. The SD card can have multiple IMG files on it and you can choose between them in the Edge 800 configuration menu. I kept my names descriptive, "osm_western_us.img". VERY IMPORTANT: keep the name short and free of spaces or odd punctuation - underscores are OK for spaces. Once the file is copied, safely remove (right click on the icon in the lower right of screen for Windows users) the SD card from your computer. Insert the card and power up the Garmin. Go to the configuration menu, then System -&gt; Map -&gt; Map Information, and select the map type. Enjoy!
2181369
Thanks for the input, I actually kept the original Garmin. I realized it couldn't recognize my position re: the street because my house is 1000 ft off the road. I actually like it a lot. It does quirky things like take me to the highway one way and bring me home another even though the streets are not one way. At this point, I'm glad I got it.
517088
Right on the Garmin site! I studied the features of both units, and further down, they have a comparison chart. That's where I saw something a bit different noted on one unit over the other, so I went back to make sure I knew what it was and sure enough it was the part about how that unit shows the actual highway signs. You might have to click on something in the details to see a demo of what you'll see on the screen. I loaned our portable (old)Garmin to our daughter & was caught without it, so going to get this upgraded one to replace it & let her have the old one...
1894145
I've been using the Mio c310x for over 10 months now. My first and only GPS unit to date, so I can't comment much on teh Garmin c320. -the Mio has 3.5mil POIs. Didn't know much back then, but that is kind of a low amt, but it's still something to work with -Navteq used to overall superior, but ever since Mio finally came out with the map update for the c310x back around 9/2007, I thought i read somewhere here saying now says that Navteq no longer enjoys it's supremecy, but can't find the direct quote http://www.gpslodge.com/archives/008669.php -mp3 player isn't very good. Still better than nothing, but not very good at all. No way to fast forward/rewind within tracks. Surprising since it's touted to be an ebook reader. Hate to have to start a 30min track all over again to get to where u left off. Playlists are hard to work with. I just gave up on them, leaving them in order they were added to the device. I've used and made playlists in winamp 2.81, Windows Media Player 9, and 4th gen ipod with ease, but half the time, I'd rather use my PDA as an mp3 player if it were b/w these 2 for music -contrary to what's around, the c310x does NOT come with Canadian maps, preinstalled or otherwise -US maps are preloaded my next GPS device will have many more POIs, and text2speech, but my c310x gets me to where i wanna go, even in unkonwn territory
2065284
Actually you can load maps on the Edge 705. On the 305 it is just a bread-crumb device.
1567531
I am also looking for the best unit; especially for rural areas as we do a lot of hiking. We have been depending on cell phone GPS navigation but it sure doesn't work well in the Far West nor on a recent hiking trip to the Great Smokys and Blue Ridge Mountains. I am thinking of the Garmin nvi 2797LMT 7-Inch or the Garmin nvi 3597LMTHD 5-Inch. Not sure what one I will pick but there are 100's to choose from and reviews are all over the place. Wish Amazon provided for comparisons. Try Best Buy for details, they do a much better job of showing all features and allow comparisons. Then search the web for that unit and get the best price (not always on Amazon).