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I've been deliberating what to go for. I see loads of people still using the etrex, but the fact you can't charge them from a dynamo if you don't want to use AA's is a bit off putting. But then I keep reading in reviews of newer Garmins that the battery life is only around 5-6 hours if you're using navigation mode, which is the main function I want. So I'm guessing it would mean having them on near constant charge?
Black_Rainbow_Project-
Unlike many others I like my garmin 800, and so far has never crashed on me. I'm not really interested in recording what I do, just the navigation. Navigation is good so long as you preload the route, I've always found the inbuilt navigation a bit cautious to take busier roads
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My 800 will get about 10 hours in map mode, and 12 on normal info screen. Don't think any of the news ones come close to that. I charged it twice a day on the divide, from the dynamo usually, or the cache battery if it was already dark and I was using the light.
It also depends what the route is like. The divide is SO vast, and with so few turns, that mostly I didn't use the map, but I had split to route into 200 mile tcx routes using ridewithgps and added cues to the turns, the 800 can then show you the next cue and how far it is. Was really easy, and also added a cue for the city limits of each town. So I could go to the cue screen and see that Pie Town was 76 miles away etc etc. If you're riding a more technical route or it's in built up areas, you definitely need the map view more.
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I was under the impression you could power etrex units from USB. You might need to use a non-data cable and it won't charge batteries in the unit but it will power the unit.
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My current setup is 1000, phone backup, etrex 30x backup.
800 is not reliable enough with long routes. 810 is a fucking joke, 1000 is the most usable and most stable but has shitter battery life. etrex is good backup unit as it will run off AA batts if your dyno fucks out.
rj
turnpedal
hippy
I used my Garmin 800. It is not perfect, but all Garmins are shit in some sense. It crashed once and I lost ~8 miles before I noticed, and I didn't backup the activities or save to the SD card (duh), and it auto deleted day 1 to make space for new data. Lessons learned and that wont happen again. I got my day 1 data from Morgan, seeing as we rode side by side most of the day...
Yes, I'm still using the same device, and I just got another 800 on eBay for cheaps as a backup for HTR.
I have tried a Dakota 20, but the are a bit weird and bulky and I hate the mount and the fact you have to secure them with a lanyard in case they fly off on some bumpy trail. Happened to a guy I was riding with on Tour Divide, coming down the singletrack after Breckenridge, his flew off, and he spent ~2 hours looking for it!