Sunday, March 14, 2010

News Feed Comments
You are here: Home / GPS Reviews / Garmin Edge 305 Review

Garmin Edge 305 Review

February 22, 2006 by Rich Owings  
4 Comments

UPDATE: Check out my reviews of two newer Edge models, the Edge 605 and Edge 705.

The Garmin Edge 305 is a new GPS-enabled cyclometer. The 305 comes in three models — the 305CAD includes a cadence/speed sensor, the 305HR includes a heart rate monitor, and the 305HR+ comes with both. All the Edge 305 series utilize a barometric altimeter.

The more basic Edge 205 offers neither the cadence/speed sensor nor heart rate monitor, and elevation data is based on GPS readings. All the Edge units, be they the 205 or 305, include the SiRFSTARIII chipset, which has been getting rave reviews for acquisition time and awesome coverage under canopy, in urban canyons and even indoors!

Compare prices on the Garmin Edge 305

Before we hear from others, here’s what the editors at Amazon.com have to say in their Edge 305HR review:

“…The Edge 305HR couldn’t be easier to use. Simply take it out of the box, snap it into the included bike mount and hit the road. The high-sensitivity GPS receiver knows your position in tree cover and canyons, making the Edge 305HR an extremely reliable navigation device. And with the customizable cycle computer, you can select from up to eight different data fields for continuous feedback. Garmin goes well beyond typical cycle computers by integrating GPS technology for basic navigation. In addition, the Edge 305HR gives you the ability to overlay your ride data onto a course map and even “race” a virtual partner, making your training fun while helping to push you toward your goals…”

More Garmin Edge 305 reviews

I’ll be posting more hands-on reviews as they appear, but in the meantime, here are some…

Additional Garmin Edge 305 resources

Compare prices on the Garmin Edge 305 at these merchants:

StoreRatingBest PricesShopzilla Tracking
store-logomerchant-rating
In stock at Heart Rate Monitors USA		$289.99
store-logomerchant-rating
In stock at MemorySuppliers.com		$359.00
store-logomerchant-rating
In stock at pcRUSH.com		$247.50
store-logomerchant-rating$259.99
powered by

Tags:

Filed under GPS Reviews, Garmin, Garmin handheld GPS, Handheld/Sport, Hardware

Comments

4 Responses to “Garmin Edge 305 Review”
  1. Henk says:
    February 21, 2008 at 11:42 am

    Now custom map support is enabled for the Garmin Edge and Forerunner series using http://coursemapper.hostsnake.com/
    This website let’s you create your own maps which you can load solely or combined with a course to your Garmin.
    Unleash the power of your Edge or Forerunner and start creating maps at http://coursemapper.hostsnake.com/

    Reply
  2. Rich Owings says:
    February 21, 2008 at 1:34 pm

    Looks cool. Thanks for the tip Henk.

    Reply
  3. Henk says:
    July 31, 2008 at 4:29 pm

    Just to let you know that the CourseMapper pages have been moved to another server and now has a new URL as well.
    To access CourseMapper go to: http://www.CourseMapper.com
    The old server is out of service, so I suggest you update your bookmarks since you will not automatically be re-directed to the new location.
    Oh, and also made some more improvements to the site itself..
    Have a nice day!
    Henk

    Reply
  4. Henk says:
    August 16, 2008 at 9:33 am

    Hi all!
    Thought I would let you know what I?ve been working on till dawn (and a little more) this night:
    I created the “CourseCompacter” application to compact (compress) the size of Courses for my Edge 205.
    However, I made it compatible with .crs & .tcx and .gpx files so that most GPS devices should benefit from this “track compacter”.
    I have done some tests, and they are pretty amazing.
    The results vary depending on what kind of Course or GPX file you load.
    If you have a file with many curves the compression is a little less, but with files with some long more or less straight streches
    the reduction can be to less than 15% of the original file size.
    With my usual tracks that i recorded while mountainbiking on the winding paths in the mountains I could achieve a reduction to a good 25%,
    but with roadbiking the reduction is far better because of the straight parts.
    The tool lets you specify the accuracy of the track that you wish to maintain. I used settings of 10 to 15 meters with very good results.
    Because the GPS accuracy is normally no much better than 5 meters going below that limit is pretty useless anyway.
    During the conversion of both courses (.crs & .tcx) and tracks (.gpx) the original timestamps and elevation of points is retained.
    This ensures that the “Virtual Partner” and “Elevation Profile” of your GPS device maintains fully functional!
    When compacting courses you can even choose to maintain CoursePoints so you don’t loose important indications.
    I would say, test it for yourself! Please tell me your findings and recommendations.
    I?m pretty happy with the result and hope you are as well.
    You can find the online tool at http://www.CourseMapper.com click the [Compact Courses or Tracks] tab to load the application.
    Good luck, I will try to get some sleep now ;-)

    Reply

Speak Your Mind

Tell us what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!