Saturday 26 January 2013

It will soon be a sad farewell to the Garmin 800!

Next week I am going to cycle from London to Cambridge with a few brave friends - all on Brompton bikes - as a recce for the same ride with a larger number of riders (again all on Brompton bikes) later in the year.

Unfortunately it will also mark the end of my test run with the Garmin 800. As you may know, Garmin very kindly let me borrow one to test out and review. I write 'unfortunately' as I have loved using the Garmin 800. It has been a constant companion on my Brompton bikes and I will really miss it. The information it displays is so useful! Maps, speed of use, battery life and user customisation are all excellent. This in combination with the 'Garmin Connect' website in my opinion destroys the competition.  I will be putting the finishing touches to my review after next weeks big ride and navigating from London to Cambridge is going to test it to the limit. 

I can hear you say, if it is so good are you going to buy one? The simple answer is yes I would love one. It is definitely worth the money and I am going to miss it terribly when I send it back. Sadly, I cannot afford one straight away as Christmas has only just been and gone. (I want to stay married to Mrs Orange Brompton as I am extremely fond of her).  I will however save up for one, however long it takes.

2 comments:

  1. I know you will miss it, mine to is always with me it doesn't feel right to ride "The Legend" without it. Even when at the IG Nocturne it didn't feel right.

    Hopefully you will get one pretty soon esp after the new one comes out there will be a few people wanting to upgrade and maybe find a great deal somewhere :)

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  2. I have had a Garmin 605 for just over four years and have been impressed with mine. During that time it has been through a number of software updates, they have redesigned the handlebar bracket and even sent me a free rubber bung for the micro-usb connection. It has been in a few crashes, in torrential downpours (in foreign parts) flown off the handlebars a few times. The battery life has been as it says on the tin. During that time the battery-level monitoring once went wrong and then reset itself. I still need to reset the device every few months when it complains of being out of memory - when it patently isn't. It has pretty much faithfully recorded 26,500 miles, although I actually record in kilometres. The user interface still catches me out sometimes. Its replacement will most probably be a Garmin - when it gives up.

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