Garmin battery life?

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Garmin battery life?

Post by [XAP]Bob »

There is a difference between the custom iPad batteries and the Garmin affairs. The garmin affairs are designed to be replceable.

Actually iPad battery replacements are still fairly easy to get and to install (if you do them often anyway)

Garmin batteries (at least the higher end garmins) are a few standard screws away - no stupid apple pentalobe screws.

The difference is that as vulnerabilities in software are discovered and added to routine exploit kits it becomes impossible to continue using the older iDevices safely anyway - same for earlier smartphones (and some feature phones). The Garmin isn't subject to the same level of attack.

I take it you like phones with user replaceable batteries? How often do you replace those - I've got mobile phones in my drawer that probably wouldn't talk to a current phone network - so who cares about the battery?
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
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Mick F
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Re: Garmin battery life?

Post by Mick F »

This MacBook I'm typing on at this very moment is on its second battery. I bought a cheap one and it works fine. The MacBook OTOH is on its last legs.

The clicky pad is intermittent in its clicks, some of the letters are fading on the keyboard, the cover has a few cracks and splits appearing, and the screen varies in brightness every now and again for no apparent reason.

The machine is over eight years old and cannot be upgraded to the latest software. Already YouTube (for instance) doesn't work very well and eventually crashes the computer, Google Maps have changed and I can't access them properly any more, my Safari browser won't work with some webites ................ just to name a few problems running old software.

I'll carry on until it packs up properly, but the writing is on the wall ............... "Get a new computer!"
None of this modern stuff will last. It either falls apart or becomes so outdated you can't use it. Usually the latter.
Mick F. Cornwall
mercalia
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Re: Garmin battery life?

Post by mercalia »

[XAP]Bob wrote:There is a difference between the custom iPad batteries and the Garmin affairs. The garmin affairs are designed to be replceable.

Actually iPad battery replacements are still fairly easy to get and to install (if you do them often anyway)

Garmin batteries (at least the higher end garmins) are a few standard screws away - no stupid apple pentalobe screws.

The difference is that as vulnerabilities in software are discovered and added to routine exploit kits it becomes impossible to continue using the older iDevices safely anyway - same for earlier smartphones (and some feature phones). The Garmin isn't subject to the same level of attack.

I take it you like phones with user replaceable batteries? How often do you replace those - I've got mobile phones in my drawer that probably wouldn't talk to a current phone network - so who cares about the battery?


who cares about the battery? I do, not for phones as I only have a £10 nokia where the battery would cost as much. BUT I also have minidiscs and pdas that cost a lot of money and still do the job - the gps pda with full detail Anquet/Memory Map maps and tracking, better in fact than what u have these days as it has a colour transreflective screen that DONT need a back light in bright sun ( Kindle like ) and therefore is very battery economical. Hmm iPAD battery replacements not that easy, applying heat without damaging the device not easy I think and they are still new, battery wise any way. Atleast Garmin has some sense it seems!
mercalia
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Re: Garmin battery life?

Post by mercalia »

Mick F wrote:This MacBook I'm typing on at this very moment is on its second battery. I bought a cheap one and it works fine. The MacBook OTOH is on its last legs.

The clicky pad is intermittent in its clicks, some of the letters are fading on the keyboard, the cover has a few cracks and splits appearing, and the screen varies in brightness every now and again for no apparent reason.

The machine is over eight years old and cannot be upgraded to the latest software. Already YouTube (for instance) doesn't work very well and eventually crashes the computer, Google Maps have changed and I can't access them properly any more, my Safari browser won't work with some webites ................ just to name a few problems running old software.

I'll carry on until it packs up properly, but the writing is on the wall ............... "Get a new computer!"
None of this modern stuff will last. It either falls apart or becomes so outdated you can't use it. Usually the latter.


Well thats Apple for you? re note books I still have a couple of HP NC4400 c2006/7 dual cores 2x2 ghz ( originally XP prof) work well enough run windows 8.1 and I have installed a SSD. The key board i replaced for a new one for £10 from Ebay, looks almost like new now and still does a good job. This is very well made with magnesium alloy top and frame 12" screen, will last for years and very cheap now c£100, battery gives about 3-4 hrs cheap on Ebay.
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Garmin battery life?

Post by [XAP]Bob »

mercalia wrote:
Mick F wrote:This MacBook I'm typing on at this very moment is on its second battery. I bought a cheap one and it works fine. The MacBook OTOH is on its last legs.

The clicky pad is intermittent in its clicks, some of the letters are fading on the keyboard, the cover has a few cracks and splits appearing, and the screen varies in brightness every now and again for no apparent reason.

The machine is over eight years old and cannot be upgraded to the latest software. Already YouTube (for instance) doesn't work very well and eventually crashes the computer, Google Maps have changed and I can't access them properly any more, my Safari browser won't work with some webites ................ just to name a few problems running old software.

I'll carry on until it packs up properly, but the writing is on the wall ............... "Get a new computer!"
None of this modern stuff will last. It either falls apart or becomes so outdated you can't use it. Usually the latter.


Well thats Apple for you? re note books I still have a couple of HP NC4400 c2006/7 dual cores 2x2 ghz ( originally XP prof) work well enough run windows 8.1 and I have installed a SSD. The key board i replaced for a new one for £10 from Ebay, looks almost like new now and still does a good job. This is very well made with magnesium alloy top and frame 12" screen, will last for years and very cheap now c£100, battery gives about 3-4 hrs cheap on Ebay.


So you've upgraded and replaced various bits of a laptop - nothing to stop MickF upgrading to an SSD, or replacing the keyboard... And it will still be running a better OS than windows 8.beta (Again an "upgrade" he could make...)
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
PH
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Re: Garmin battery life?

Post by PH »

mercalia wrote:
<rant start> In general the craze for propriety lithium batteries in devices is the worst thing to happen to portable electronics- try getting a rechargeable gumstick battery for a hi end Sony mini disc portable or for a pda, the options and possibilities are getting fewer and fewer and the bad thing is u cant stock up on them as they degrade over time used or not.


The subject is Garmin and much of what you say isn't relevant. The batteries are cheap and available, will last at least 3 years with lots of use and abuse and a lot longer with care and normal use. Stored correctly, cool and 40% charge, a spare battery will lose 2% capacity a year. So buy a spare when you hear the model is changing, even if you don't use it for 5 years it'll still have 90% capacity and plenty of years use - Or buy a spare and change them over every year.
I wasn't keen on built in batteries, though for convenience rather than longevity, with USB charging and powerpacks becoming so common I've changed my mind.
mercalia
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Re: Garmin battery life?

Post by mercalia »

PH wrote:
mercalia wrote:
<rant start> In general the craze for propriety lithium batteries in devices is the worst thing to happen to portable electronics- try getting a rechargeable gumstick battery for a hi end Sony mini disc portable or for a pda, the options and possibilities are getting fewer and fewer and the bad thing is u cant stock up on them as they degrade over time used or not.


The subject is Garmin and much of what you say isn't relevant. The batteries are cheap and available, will last at least 3 years with lots of use and abuse and a lot longer with care and normal use.



well if the Garmin lithium batteries are propriety then does apply - the batteries for the examples I quoted used to be very available but after 8 years or so not so. 5 years not much use for me, I think of 10+ years for a device that serves my needs. The big failure of the lithium battery industry is to not define fixed formats as there are for Alkaline eg AAA AA etc. I am sure there are others here who dont want to keep on replacing things every 5 years? There are people here with bikes 20+ years old...
Mark1978
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Re: Garmin battery life?

Post by Mark1978 »

If you use an electronic gadget for 10+ years you are very much the exception and not the person the devices are designed for.
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Garmin battery life?

Post by [XAP]Bob »

There is a good reason battery shapes aren't predefined - packaging.

Nokia went with a couple of battery sizes for ages, which was good, but as phones (and other devices) get slimmed down the packaging of everything gets tighter. The battery is in the remaining space.

It prevents manufacturers doing what consumers seem to want - thin, sleek devices with maximum power available.

Your MD and PDA batteries are still available - so there is no real problem, of course the volume being manufactured will fall, but I suspect that modern liON batteries are better than those you recall- Tesla are seeing far in excess of the expected 10 year life from their packs in use in the real world. To suggest that they'll degrade *faster* if unused is pushing the limits of sanity
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
mercalia
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Re: Garmin battery life?

Post by mercalia »

[XAP]Bob wrote:
Your MD and PDA batteries are still available - so there is no real problem, of course the volume being manufactured will fall
Barely and often hard to find & one suspects they are old stock left overs.
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Sweep
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Re: Garmin battery life?

Post by Sweep »

You make an excellent simple point about AAA and AA mercalia.

And i don't want my etrex20 any slimmer/thinner.
I could do with it being a tad bigger - for the screen.
Thankfully garmin gave this unit AA power.
It's why i bought it.
So i am happy a lot and presumably them a bit.
Sweep
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Mick F
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Re: Garmin battery life?

Post by Mick F »

[XAP]Bob wrote:So you've upgraded and replaced various bits of a laptop - nothing to stop MickF upgrading to an SSD, or replacing the keyboard... And it will still be running a better OS than windows 8.beta (Again an "upgrade" he could make...)
Yes, got a SSD, fitted the max RAM I can, and I have a spare MacBook with a WiFi problem so I have the ability to replace stuff and keep it going. No doubt at all.

It works very well, but it's the rest of the world that is leaving it behind. As I said, the video processing can't keep up and sites like Google Maps and BikeRoute Toaster won't work any more, but I can get at them via our iMac or Mrs Mick F's MacBook Air or even our iPad.

Many of the older devices can be kept going, but the rest of the world moves on ...........
Mick F. Cornwall
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Sweep
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Re: Garmin battery life?

Post by Sweep »

Interesting points mick but does any of that relate to a garmin on a plastic mount on my handlebars?

As long as the etrex continues to load osm (and i don't of course have to put the planet on it) and still communicates with the satellites to tell me where i am on it, what's the problem?

I don't have to apply garmin's sometimes doubtful system updates.

When the aa batteries are drained, i pop some more in mid ride, pre charged or alkaline. When my rechargeables are shot i buy some more which by then will doubtless be cheaper and longer lasting.

So unless some ##### discontinues AAs, i can let the world go its merry technological way.
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PH
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Re: Garmin battery life?

Post by PH »

And when the toggle switch goes? or the screen? These things are not made to last for ever. I have an Etrex to and it's quite nicely made and feels robust, but it doesn't look to me like it was designed to last a lifetime. It would be easy to get ten years use from the internal battery of a similar GPS, maybe we should revisit this in a decade and see how many Etrexs are still in use.
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Sweep
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Re: Garmin battery life?

Post by Sweep »

That will be ten years of declining built in battery performance.

For the rechargeable AAs i use in the etrex are already declining.

I have already had the etrex a few years.

I am still daily using a radio i have had 40 years.

Cos its mains.

A wind up rechargeable radio i have, which is far far younger, is declining.

If i drop and smash the etrex, well game over of course.

I can hardly complain about that.
Sweep
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