Garmin...

Please be fair and thoughtful in your opinions. No rants please.
Post Reply
User avatar
[XAP]Bob
Posts: 19793
Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Garmin...

Post by [XAP]Bob »

I'm not going back to them...

I've had two Garmin cycle computers - one was bought for me as a birthday present, an Edge 205.
It worked well, up until the point that the buttons failed inside. It had lasted about 18 months...

The mechanical element of the buttons had fallen off the PCB, and with the difficulties in opening and closing this unit, as well as their repeated efforts to drop off the PCB it was relegated to a box, with floating bits - since I didn't think that paying >50% of the new price for something which should have been built properly in the first place to be mended was reasonable.

By this time I was back in the game with smartphones, and bought a number of cases, some arm worn, some bar mounted.
Every so often (usually for an Audax) I'd borrow a Garmin (with mapping) from a friend - in this context they make a great deal of sense.

Last year (Just before the August bank holiday) all my friends' Garmins were out with them on the day, so I got an Edge 605 from eBay. It had been used for software testing - the screen protection sheet was still in place!

This year, just 12 months of use later, the rubber seal around the unit has failed completely - there is now a big hole over the "mode" button. To their credit the button is still attached to the PCB, but it's not even close to weather resistant any more.
I emailed them to see if I could get a replacement rubber surround.

First response - we don't do parts, but we can arrange an exchange unit

Great I think, another >50% charge for a £2-3 part, I'll ask how much...

Second response - they're discontinued, and we don't have any spares; we're selling newer devices now

With that failure rate (and mode) and lack of support for ongoing usage I'm done with them - I'll put my iPad in a bar bag map case if I need mapping - the bar bag arm for the trike would be cheaper than a new Garmin anyway...


To their credit they have always responded promptly to my emails, but the answers leave alot to be desired.
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.
goatwarden
Posts: 701
Joined: 20 Nov 2009, 12:03pm
Location: Bristol

Re: Garmin...

Post by goatwarden »

You could try some of this to fix the seal:

https://sugru.com/

But overall I agree; Garmin make some things which seem really clever but just decide to make some parts completely unintuitive or simply don't provide access to functions which are clearly available from the instrument. A bit like a low budget version of Apple.
User avatar
[XAP]Bob
Posts: 19793
Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Re: Garmin...

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Big hole, not just a crack. The whole button has fallen off somewhere....
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.
beardy
Posts: 3382
Joined: 23 Feb 2010, 4:10pm

Re: Garmin...

Post by beardy »

On the Etrex the rubber surround doesnt provide the waterproofing, there is another waterproof membrane tape underneath it doing that.

I am on my second Etrex, I got eight years out of my first one and am at about seven on this one, the rubber has been loose for about a year now.
Mine dont get a very easy life with not infrequent bashes and often wet enough to have water in the battery case. The little lanyard mounting pin broke off about a year ago. They survived pretty bad vibration, especially the first on the motorbike, once I had secured the batteries with some padding.
The last one died of a combination of buttons no longer responding and an increasing number of lines failing on the screen, which could have been water ingress, a few knocks too many or just worn out.
I took it apart but found nothing I could see to fix, not being an electronics person.

When this one fails in a year or so more, then I will enjoy upgrading to an Etrex 30 if they still sell them. I will not be buying any more Garmin mapping though, they are overly restrictive about that but I have the sD card so it can move on to the new unit. If I had bought the CD, I would not buy a new CD, which they expect you to do when you get a new unit, rip off merchants!!
User avatar
[XAP]Bob
Posts: 19793
Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Re: Garmin...

Post by [XAP]Bob »

On the basis that I can see the PCB I think it does provide the weatherproofing on the 705.

It's a shame, because overall I like the device, but it's rendered unusable by a trivial failure which they are unable/unwilling to resolve.
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.
User avatar
RickH
Posts: 5832
Joined: 5 Mar 2012, 6:39pm
Location: Horwich, Lancs.

Re: Garmin...

Post by RickH »

[XAP]Bob wrote:On the basis that I can see the PCB I think it does provide the weatherproofing on the 705.

It's a shame, because overall I like the device, but it's rendered unusable by a trivial failure which they are unable/unwilling to resolve.

Bear in mind that, even if you bought the 605/705 last year you bought something probably manufactured around 2008 - possibly before - & a model that has been unsupported by Garmin since December 2010 (that was when the firmware was last updated - v3.30). Rubber parts are likely to deteriorate over time.

Incidentally, I noticed this weekend that the buttons on my 605 had started to split, so I've given it a wrap of self-amalgamating rubber tape (that I already had - £3.99 at Screwfix) as a short term measure, today I noticed the rubber cover for the USB connector is similarly cracking. I think it may be nearing retirement (or just being a backup device) but I'm not complaining (too much :wink:). Since I got it in April 2008, it has logged over 20,000 miles of riding (&, I just noticed, over 1.5 million feet of ascent!) ranging from Mediterranean summer sun to distinctly icy winter (quite a few degrees below freezing & riding on studded tyres) and plenty of British rain and sun in between.

Rick.
Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.
User avatar
[XAP]Bob
Posts: 19793
Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Re: Garmin...

Post by [XAP]Bob »

That lack of ongoing support is one of the reasons I'm not going back.

Two devices, each of which have lasted substantially less than two years, which is significantly less time than I expect my electronics to live, let alone a 'tool' like a Garmin.

If some part of the electronics had failed then I might be more sympathetic...
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.
User avatar
RickH
Posts: 5832
Joined: 5 Mar 2012, 6:39pm
Location: Horwich, Lancs.

Re: Garmin...

Post by RickH »

In the case of the 605 you may have had it less than 2 years but it is actually 7 or 8 years old, and has been in some sort of use/ having the buttons pressed during that time. You presumably paid significantly less for it to take account of this.

If I bought, say, a bargain ex-demo TV 5+ years after it had stopped being produced I wouldn't be surprised if any physical parts that broke were unavailable if something got broken after a couple of years.

Rick.
Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.
freeflow
Posts: 1637
Joined: 29 Aug 2011, 1:54pm

Re: Garmin...

Post by freeflow »

Sony Xperia smartphone. Waterproof so need for a bag and they do ant+. Happy Xperia z ultra user for 2 year now. Over 8000 km strapped to my handlebars with no issues.
NewHorizon
Posts: 460
Joined: 14 Mar 2007, 10:10am
Location: The Marches

Re: Garmin...

Post by NewHorizon »

freeflow wrote:Sony Xperia smartphone. Waterproof so need for a bag and they do ant+. Happy Xperia z ultra user for 2 year now. Over 8000 km strapped to my handlebars with no issues.

How do you fix it to the bars?
User avatar
TrevA
Posts: 3551
Joined: 1 Jun 2007, 9:12pm
Location: Nottingham

Re: Garmin...

Post by TrevA »

My 705 from 2009 is still going strong. The bit of rubber that covers the charging port has come off, but I just stick a bit of insulating tape over it. It still works as new but it's getting a bit slow at locking on to the satellites, I presume this is because it's got an old GPS chip. I've recently bought an 810 to replace it, but I've kept the 705 as a back up.
Sherwood CC and Notts CTC.
A cart horse trapped in the body of a man.
http://www.jogler2009.blogspot.com
freeflow
Posts: 1637
Joined: 29 Aug 2011, 1:54pm

Re: Garmin...

Post by freeflow »

How do you fix it to the bars?


ebay is a great source of smartphone holders for Motorbikes and Cycles. The one I use has a plastic cradle into which the phone clips. This cradle then clips onto a quick release clamp which goes on the handle bars or stem. In practise, the mount just stays on the bike and I clip the phone out of the holder. It looks extremely not robust, but it has never lost the phone in around 8000 km of riding. The plastic holder does have a stress point in the design so one of the retaining claws eventually breaks off. This usually happens when inserting or removing the phone. The holders are only £3-4 so I've not bothered looking for something better. However as one broke just this Saturday I'm now going to see if the a revised design as used by my wifes smaller Z3 compact is available.

This is what I've been using.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bike-Bicycle- ... 35cecec3cb
Post Reply