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| Garmin Edge 305HR+ GPS Navigator and Bicycle Computer with Heart Rate Monitor and Cadence Sensor | 
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| Brand: Garmin
Category: CE
List Price: $319.99
Buy New: $226.95
You Save: $93.04 (29%)
New (72) Used (3) Refurbished (2)
Avg. Customer Rating:  99 reviews
Sales Rank: 316
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Native Resolution: 128x160
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.8
Dimensions (in): 4 x 4 x 4
Array:
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: 010-00447-30
Model: 010-00447-30
UPC: 753759053574
EAN: 0753759053574
ASIN: B000BS4PZW
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Not for Directional GPS Use August 20, 2006
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
Unlike other GPS products, such as Garmin eMap GPS, I was abit disappointed to learn that the Garmin Edge 305 GPS does NOT come with features used for displaying a map on the main screen, or have info on Turn by Turn Routing, Turn by Turn Route Prompting, 3D Perspective Map View, Text-to-Speech Voice Prompts, nor does it allow uploading of GPS Maps from a computer or have internal or additional memory. The waypoints are stored in the unit and are downloadable to view the map on a home computer. I was hoping that I could find a GPS unit that would allow me to upload maps of bike routes throughout Southern California and provide directional information. Hopefully the next generation of Garmin Bike GPS products will intergrate these features.
Edge 305 - Good For Day Trips, But Not For Tours July 14, 2006
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
The Edge 305 has all of the bells and whistles that you would want in a bicycle computer. Each of the functions is relatively easy to use, providing great infomation concerning speed, cadence, heart rate, elevation, ascent, grade, etc. The only draw back is that the battery does not last more than a few hours. This is a negative if you are out on a tour. Two weeks ago I did GRABRAAWR in Wisconsin. This seven day ride covering 430 miles was great, but every night I needed to find an outlet so that I could recharge the battery. This is the only fault that I can find in the Edge 305.
Better than expected May 4, 2006
56 out of 58 found this review helpful
I read a bunch of reviews before buying my Edge. I was prepared for it to not be perfect but went ahead. My impressions are:-
Surprised (for good)
- Following a pre-loaded course is a really useful navigation feature. I recently did a 60 mile loop on unknown roads without stopping once to look at a map (I downloaded the route from motionbased.com and converted it to a CRS using some software I found on the motionbased forum).
- Heart-rate monitor suffers from far less interference than my Polar did. Particularly I found the Polar got thrown by bus power cables overhead and other things. Haven't had an issue with the Edge losing the signal like this.
- I really like the ability to customize the screen to show as little or as much data as you like. Also to have multiple setups you can switch between.
- I was impressed by just how small the unit is.
Bad side
- Software is nowhere near as good as the Polar software for recording training activities. Particularly I could find no way to correct bad data points without going in and editing the XML files from the device. Also the Polar software gives week by week graphs showing aggregate training time in different zones, etc which is not so clear with the Garmin software and non-existent in motionbased (as far as I've found).
- The calorie calculator seems pretty dubious based on feedback I've read elsewhere. I've ignored it.
- Creating new courses / routes is a pain. It's fine if you want to ride a course you've ridden before, using exactly the same directions. For new courses though I had to create a route on GoogleEarth Plus and then convert it to a GPX (using freeware) and then convert it to CRS (using more freeware). The end result was excellent but it took a lot of fiddling. There is also a CRS creator out there but it didn't seem easy to edit / save courses mid-creation with that.
On a side note, make sure you use the speed/cadence sensor. Before I mounted it I tried using just the Edge unit for speed. It's fine until you ride through an area with tall buildings and your speed drops to 0 mph.
All in all I'm impressed.
 All-in-one cycling information system [almost] April 24, 2006
38 out of 39 found this review helpful
I admit to being a bit of a tech-junkie and have previously purchased a several HRM and GPS-enabled bicycle computer systems. The Edge 305, which I have owned for three months, is the first one that I felt was worth the investment. It strengths are: user configurable displays, high contrast screen with backlight (last several hours for night riding), user-friendly downloads with fast USB communication/charging, very lightweight (~ 3oz), with secure mount/dismount, very straightforward button/menu system, waterproof (haven't tested this yet).
The 'Training Center' software is excellent, with a full set of graphs and maps, much easier to navigate than e.g. Ciclosport or Cambietta software. Ride histories are downloaded automatically as soon as the USB cable is plugged in. Even better, there's a website (motionbased.com) that one can upload rides and get complete reports, including overlaid Google maps, weather, and lots of statistical information about the ride (HR, speed, grade etc). Note that motionbased.com charges a monthly user fee (currently $8/month). The ride history storage is quite good - in the 'smart' recording mode, a data word is recorded every 10 seconds. There are 13,000 storable points, so it should be possible to record about 36 hours of ride data before a download. This would be handy for multi-day trips when a computer isn't available.
Nothing is perfect in life. Here are the issues I have found so far with the Edge.
1. The battery life is close to 9 hours, definitely not the advertised 12 hours. I completed a 200K brevet last weekend, which took 9:10 with stops (the Edge was left on). About 20 minutes before the end I got a 'low battery' warning' but it kept running to the end. Note that I don't have a cadence unit, which probably decreases the battery life. The Edge was fully charged before the ride.
2. The 'grade' display is useless. It bounces around +/- 5% on hills. I think the unit is sampling too fast - Garmin will likely fix this in a firmware update soon.
3. The map display is simply a track history, and does not display actual map information (roads, towns, etc). It's handy for out-and-back rides, since you can see approaching turns on the return trip, but it would be terrific if one could load map data. (Note that positions are recorded and the route is displayed on a 'real' map after download to the 'Training center' or motionbased.com software.)
4. Although there are two bike mounts included, they are at different orientations (90 degs apart) so if you have 2 bikes with the same setup, you'll have to buy another mount ($15).
Another Winner from Garmin April 23, 2006
13 out of 20 found this review helpful
Basically, you can read the review written by Torv Carlsen and you'll have my opinion of this new Garmin toy. The complaint about battery life, for my use (old, fat, diabetic) that simply doesn't much apply. I don't think I COULD ride to the end of the battery. (G)
However, the data this machine returns has helped me improve my condition fairly dramatically in an amazingly short time. I had been using my Garmin RINO and a spreadsheet prior to acquiring this new toy. The data storage and processing in this unit, plus, for my simple needs, the "race against yourself" feature are fantastic tools that have helped me make measurable gains in health and conditioning.
Granted, the unit price is a bit on the steep side, but given the data return, it's well worth it to me. It's also VASTLY cheaper than a heart attack, which was my "other option."
I have long been a "fan" of Garmin, but have been sorely disappointed by their attitude toward Mac. To date, is has caused me to have to set up a Windows machine as my dedicated GPS computer. Their change of heart toward Apple is very welcome.
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