Garmin 810 and maps

[Hackney]

I've been looking at the 810 but there are so many different packages out there which are very poorly described on the retailer websites. And when there's up to £100 price difference at the same retailer I want to make sure I get it right.

Even where questions can be asked the answers even seem to add to the confusion, for example on the Evans website someone asks: Which map pack does this come with, I'm after uk road

To which the answer is, "No, this is the base unit only. No maps with this package. If you are looking for Garmin 810's with maps, try these 2. Garmin Edge 810 Road Performance GPS Computer or Garmin Edge 810 Trail GPS Computer"

Now, the Road Performance, according to the Garmin website is the same as the Classic 810 but comes with heart rate and cadence monitors.
Follow the link to the Trail GPS and in answer to the question, "what's the difference between this and the 800 trail pack with maps?", the answer is:
"This is the base unit which does not come preloaded with the maps bundle."

What I want is an 810 with road maps of the UK, France and Mallorca. What should I buy?

[broster]

Look for a good deal on amazon, I got the 800 with hr sensor and cadence also included the main uk maps doesn't go to detailed more suited to road use, for £200 I planned to buy the more detailed route map separately. Maybe your beat bet

[numtumfutunch]

Are you sure you need all of the features of the 810?
I have one and its ace, I use the training stuff on it with heart rate and cadence

To be honest Ive had a 500 for ages which does all I need but was seduced by borrowing a much earlier relative (705) on holiday a while ago and the mapping was very addictive, when Garmin did several 30% off promotions in December it was the final straw for me

Anyway the base 810 comes with a base map which may have the M6 and M25 on it but not much else
Your choices are either the Garmin City Navigator (50 quid or so on a memory card) or some free open source mapping which you can Google but is highly rated

To be honest though if youre not bothered about the training stuff and connectivity, another reason for me to buy the 810, you should look at the Edge Touring which actually comes loaded with open source (ie free) maps from the factory at half the price

I am a minimal Garmin geek as you may realise
Feel free to ask any supplementaries

Cheers

[Hackney]

Cheers. Some further hours research has been helpful.

It seems most units on sale come with no mapping, the extra expense is for heart rate / cadence etc
I did have a 500 and like how the Garmin works (based on my 500 experience) but it's the mapping or navigation that's attracting me.

Later this year I'll be doing the London to Paris 24. I did it a couple of years ago and in training was writing down my route which I then had to keep stopping and checking.
The other clincher for me is that when on the actual ride last time I found myself on my own in the middle of France and - having not seen any signs - assuming I should just keep on the same road.

As it turns out I'd missed a turning. Luckily the coaches couldn't take the cyclist routes and one passed me and stopped me to tell me where I'd gone wrong and put me back on track.

So happy to pay a bit more for an 810 vs an 800 / 500 / 510 for that bit of peace of mind.
And on the ride the connectivity will allow people back here to track my progress.

[RizzoTheRat]

If you're not in rush to get one use camelcamelcamel to track the prices on Amazon, every so often the prices seem to drop a fair chunk for a day or two then go back up again. I got my Garmin 610 with HRM for less than the usual price without the HRM
http://uk.camelcamelcamel.com/Garmin-Edge-Touchscr...

[Some Gump]

Op,

I use the open maps on my 800, they were easy to sort and free. There's a website thatdoes it all for you, and you can load either road only, or trails.

I do think the official garmin road maps are clearer on screen, but only at first lance - i've not used them. For 100 quid, i'll robably never find out, either!

[daddy cool]

I got the (older) 800 with cadence, HR monitor and Euro road maps from Halfords recently for £259. I saw no need for the slight extras of the 810. Anyway, later that night I downloaded the 1:50k OS Discoverer maps (the one that comes with the Trail Bundle) from the bay that's full of pirates. All you need is a spare SD card to pop them on.
Both sets of maps are excellent for use on road. Not really used the offroad maps yet - waiting for the countryside to dry out before I dust off the MTB.

[bakerstreet]

Does the OP really need the 810? You can get some great deals on the 800. I use the city navigator maps from Garmin. I paid £25 from Amazon for mine. The base maps that come with the 800 or the 810 are crap.

[Lighterfuel]

You don't have to buy garmin maps as you can get them free from Open Street Maps! Quick search on t'interweb will get you exactly what you need. I've been using these for ages and never had a single problem. Simples!

[DrMekon]

Get the 810 if you want live broadcast of your location; same with the 510.
If you don't want your significant other[s] tracking you, grab the 800 / 500 whilst they are cheap.
Either can be charged by dynohubs for long distance stuff, but if you are going on a long tour, an Etrex is better because AA batteries are available everywhere, and it can run off dyno too.
Never pay for maps. Use Openfietsmap.

http://www.openfietsmap.nl/

[anonymous-user]

How to download free maps to your Garmin Edge 705/800/810

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/05/download-garmin...

[johnnywb]

Just resurrecting this...

If you grab the open source maps, do they work with the .gpx files you find for different courses?

[z4RRSchris99]

mine doesnt its fking annoying... if anyone can tell me how to fix it i would be much appriciated.

[Mister K]

I use open source maps with gpx files downloaded from www.ridewithgps.com they work great on 605 & 800
Take a look at this site for map reviews and garmin tips http://www.scarletfire.co.uk/

[Hackney]

I'm getting really frustrated with the maps / garmin functionality.
The number of times it has got me "lost" is unbeliveable. For example I put in a route the other day to Aylesbury and back. It got me to the North Circular, then told me to cross it and turn right. When I crossed it said turn left. Then it sent me up the A1 (where I would have headed) but told me to take a minor left. When I missed that and took the next left it took me back to the North Circular heading West again.

I headed up towards Hendon, all the time the Garmin was telling me to turn right. Looking at the map it appeared to be telling me to head back towards my home.
It seems to struggle most when you do an "out and back" route, if you stray off the route it picks up the "back" by default.

It also struggles on roundabouts, often sending me the wrong way around them. At the weekend I ended up putting about 6 waypoints around the Highbury Corner roundabout so it didn't direct me 10m up Ballspond Rd, then back to the roundabout.
It would help if Garmin Connect wasn't so temperamental to use.

Would I have these problems if I'd used Garmin maps instead of free maps? A mate has an 810 with Garming maps and seems to have similar problems though.

Edited by Hackney on Tuesday 10th June 17:38

[z4RRSchris99]

I have the same problems. so annoying.