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Garmin Edge 705 customer reviews

Global Rating: 4.78 from 9 reviews.

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rating title date name city state/province country
Far Better than the Edge 305 (5/5) Mar 27, 2008 Jim Gillis Fresno CA US
  The long wait for the 705 is indeed over. I purchased the Edge 705 with the heart rate monitor, cadence and North America Mapping. The 705 does take 3 plus hours to charge but it has the pluses of extended battery life and a mapping program that the edge 305 did not have. This unit is a replacement for my edge 305, which I like but did not like the short battery life or the lack of an available map.
The color map display was very clear and the display is much larger and a lot easier to read than the 305. On the 305 I ended up using a display with a large speed readout because I had trouble reading it in motion with the smaller display. I prefer to have access to alot of functions at once and and I found that I could easily ready the 705 with all available 8 categories displayed at once. (I can see speed, time, distance, average speed, heart rate, cadence, elevation and time of day on one display!) I also like how it booted up, locating the satelites much faster than the 305. The only negative - it is not yet supported by Sport Tracks, the program I preferred to use the 305 with. However Garmin Connect may work OK. I haven't used it enough to see how I like Garmin's new program, which doesn't support the 305.
WOW, Worth the wait (5/5) Mar 26, 2008 John P. Santa Rosa CA US
  Just like Steve, I waited MONTHS for the release. My unit arrived yesterday and I had in on the bike and verified that all transducers were communicating with the Edge. I got a chance to use it on the road today during a lunch time ride, WHAT a great device. First, and most important, it made my riding partners jealous. Second (and third and fourth, etc.) The display is bright and readable in daylight. Configured with a reasonable number of fields the data screens are easy to read. Autostart/pause worked flawlessly. It's hard to describe all the great features.
A couple of caveats - when first charging, it didn't seem to take a full charge, with the indicator showing just 1/2 full. After the ride though, this seemed to self correct. The cadence magnet may need some major shimming if your wheel stay is curved, my Roubaix is curved, so I had to shim a good 15mm to get it to read.

Otherwise, after one ride, I'm glad I waited! Next up, loading maps for local rides, the Alpine County Death Ride, and our annual Sea to Sierra ride from Sonoma County (CA) to Lake Tahoe!
Edge 705 Finally!!! (5/5) Mar 25, 2008 Steve B East Greenbush NY US
  After waiting for months, I just got my edge 705 today. Mine came with the HR and speed/cadence monitors as well as the City Nav N. America NT 2008 maps on a microSD Card.

While I haven't used it yet I thought I write to let you know of the installation experiences I've had while waiting for the three hour initial charge to complete.

First off shipping was on time everything that was suppose to be included was included. At first I thought the pedal magnet was missing, but found it was merely attached to the spoke magnet and together they appeared as one.

The package included two bike mounts, one set up for a stem install and the other for a handlebar install. Since I wanted to mount both using the stem install, I had to switch the handlebar setup by rotating the mount 90 degrees which was simple to do. Also, there is a wedge (only one) included to use under the mount if you need it. Fortunately I only needed one.

The speed/cadence sensor and heart rate monitors are the same as those used for the Edge 305. I've read reviews of the Edge 305 that complain the monitors came with bad batteries but this wasn't true for mine.

The installation of the speed/cadence monitor was fairly simple. I attached it to my hybrid and will get another for my racing bike. I had to adjust the GSC10 to it's widest reach (about 2 inches,) to get it to be within the required 5mm of both magnets. I also had to tilt it about 10-15 degrees off of vertical to span the gap but it does work. This won't be an issue for my road bike but could be for a mountain bike.

Well, now I only got about another hour of charge time left before I can start using it! Can't wait!!!
Finally! i can get it all iin one neat package - that... (4/5) Mar 27, 2008 Gregg Soster Galena OH US
  I have used the Garmin 705 three times now; once walking, once riding, once hiking. A quick read of the instructions and the rest was pretty intuitive. The color screen is quite readable in the sunlight even while riding a mountain bike. The battery life so far looks promising but I have not run it all the way down yet.

If you order the HRM and Cadence add-ons, the pairing was very simple. One thing that threw me for a short time was that the display data fields can be customized to show on different screens and in different locations. HRM data field must be enabled because it does not show automatically. Not a big deal but at first I thought I got a unit that would not show HRM. <Read the manual.

The new Garmin website called Garmin Connect replaces Motionbased their old service... and it’s free! Unlike their Motionbased subscription service. For now only the Forerunner 50, Edge 605 and 705 work on the new service but all will be switched over later this year.

Mounting the 705 to the bike was a snap; however, I would like a lanyard or short leash to make sure I don’t lose it. Time will tell if it can be trusted.

I give only four stars because I want the ability to configure routes on my PC using the City Navigator software that came with it, then d/l. You can only edit previous routes.

In all, a great device that does most everything very well.
Does everything (5/5) Mar 27, 2008 Ryan Hanson Oklahoma City OK US
  Just got the unit today- I am the enve of all the mtb friends. The 705 does everything. I love the fact that i can race against myself. Screen is great and bright. Very accurate as far as i can tell. Fits great on my Epic Carbon Marathon. Also going to be a great unit on my out of town trips while also helping me find places to eat with the city maps. Great Unit
Great! Although I have discovered a problem (4/5) Apr 21, 2008 Harry Bauer Harleysville Pa US
  I have had mine for just over 2 weeks now. I have explored most of it's capabilities. Had to call tech support twice,so far. They are wonderful but the wait time is long as previously stated. The first issue was a problem with my computer's drive letter assignment which they fixed for me remotely by taking control of my computer...very strange watching someone else control your computer.

The second problem has not been resolved as of yet but, I'm sure it will be. It seems as though I've discovered a bug. When I created and scheduled workouts in Garmin Training Center and then download to my 705 the dates get offset by one day. That is to say the workout I have scheduled on the computer for tomorrow has been placed in todays schedule on the 705.

They had me export my tcdatabase.tcx file to them as an attachment and they tried it in their 705. They got the same result. It is not a problem with the 605 however. They are not sure at this point if the problem is in the TC software or in the 705. If you have one,watch for an upgrade to resolve this problem.

All in all...absolutely wonderful unit especially if one utilizes it's full capabilities. I'm having a blast with it!
A fantastic toy with less than great instructions (5/5) Mar 28, 2008 Richard N Lipow Glenmoore Pa
  This is a fabulous toy that Garmin has not adequately supported with detailed instructions. The printed and on-disk "how to" and quick start instructions are not sufficiently detailed and do not address the many functions of this great device.

The tech support is very helpful but the wait time is long.

All in all, a wonderful addition to my daily bike ride.
Biking - outside or stationary, jog (5/5) Apr 2, 2008 Walter Yorgason Draper UT US
  Out of box: I knew the unit was small, but I couldn't find it in the box. Turns out it was under another layer of cardboard at the bottom.

Jog: I first used the unit for jogging. I held it upside down in my left hand, so I could easily hit the lap button at particular landmarks. I view my HR, speed, and time as I run. I did find it odd that none of the default viewing fields included heart rate - one of the main reasons for buying this GPS versus another one.

Stationary bike: It's still cold out, so I put the 705 on my stationary bike. I had to turn off the auto-pause based on movement so it would track my progress while not actually moving. Glad that feature was there - it enables me to track my HR over time and cadence while I train inside during the cold winter months.

TrainingCenter: I love to review my workouts, comparing HR to cadence, speed, incline, etc. in the TC sofware. And I can compare one run or bike to another one by selecting "compare activity to...", so I can review my progress over time.

Overall a great unit, about the size of a cell phone. I just hope it doesn't fall off my bike as I'm riding through rough terrain later this summer!
So exceptional, I bought 2 (5/5) May 13, 2008 Randy Borree Appleton Wisconsin US
  This device worked perfectly right out of the box. Use all the features, HR monitor, cadence monitor, Training Center, Garmin Connect and Motion Based. This device has brought "fun" into training. The virtual partner is great for challenging you when you are alone. This is a great device. I liked mine so much I got my son one. He uses it for biking and running. Highly recommend it. Easy to use. Had it up in running in minutes. Training Center allows you keep all the information on your PC. Garmin Connect allows you to share rides with others. Motion Based is a great respository of possible rides. The combination of the Edge and the tools is unbeatable!

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