Garmin Edge 705 First Impressions

I thought I would pop a few things down about my recent purchase of the Garmin Edge 705. The Garmin Edge is a GPS based cycling computer, although the term cycling computer does not really do it justice.  Here is the description from the Garmin website.

Trainer. Navigator. Edge 705 pushes you to do your best, then shows you the way back. This GPS-enabled cycle computer knows no limits. Get heart rate, cadence, turn-by-turn directions, power data (from ANT+™-enabled third-party power meters) — the works. Even share your data with other Edge 705 buddies after your ride. All wireless with a color display, this is no ordinary cycle computer.

This is my first GPS cycling computer that I have purchased mainly brought about by the use of MotionX on the iPhone, you can read my review here.  A great product although limited by recording capabilities and battery life.  Plus when you get a call the software stops recording, something that was growing pretty frustrating.

I purchased the unit from OctaPC in Perth.  The sale went smoothly and apart from a small mix up with couriers resulting in a 2 day delivery rather than the 1 day as promised I was generally happy with Nicks communication at the store.  The unit was bought for $569 inc GST.

Setup

Setup of the unit proved to be so amazingly easy, the bike mount went on super easy and initially thats all you really need to do as the speed and mapping are taken care of with GPS, the additional supplied Cadence/speed sensor can then be added to enhance the accuracy of the unit.  Although I have found mine to be super accurate without installing it.  The units, user/bike details then are also very easy to setup along with training zones for heart rates.

You can also setup the screens as you want, so zoom levels on maps, information on the display is all user definable, great for being able to see exactly what you want, when you want.

The unit comes with basic maps which are great for seeing roughly were you are.  I have gone one step further and added route-able maps from OPENSTREETMAPS, an open source mapping community built by the users.  These maps are very good and work brilliantly on the Garmin, of course they require upkeep by us the users, so the more people who contribute the better.  You can find more info on a friends blog here.

First Use.

My first ride on the unit was just a small commute of 13k form work to home, the unit worked flawlessly, the data was easily readable, quick to respond to presses of the keys and the backlight is an awesome addition.  The chest strap for the HRM is really comfortable and never loses connection to the unit, something my old Polar seemed to do frequently so another tick in the boxes.

Battery Life

The battery life is claimed to be 15 hours by Garmin, although I haven’t had the opportunity to test this fully, the results that I have been seeing suggest that this is an accurate assumption.  Even with the HRM and using the back light occasionally I believe this is easily achievable.  The battery is also easily charged with any Micro USB cable either from the PC/mac or from the mains power.  You can also charge the unit with a portable AA battery pack thats designed for charging MP3’s on the go.

Summary

In summary the first impressions of the unit is awesome, I really believe that I have made the right choice in purchasing this product.  I have heard a few issues with reliability so we shall have to see how we go.  I will update this post and write others when I have more experience with the product.

Below are some pics of the unit, plus some of the information screens from the unit.

Whats in the box

Ride History

Main Information screen

Fitted to the bike

If your a Garmin User I would be very interested in hearing your opinions on the comments section