Plainsman

I see new in the box 500s under $150 now, with the new 510 about twice that. From a functionality standpoint, other than the Bluetooth upload, what does the new 510 gain you? I know it has touch screen and is slightly larger, but other than that I'm trying to weigh the cost difference versus actual benefit (looking at upgrading my computer). Any thoughts?

dvdslw

If you have or plan to buy Di2, the 510 or any Garmin with the model number ending in 10 gives you the option to display your Di2 status. You must buy the little wireless adapter from Shimano as well for $75 so you can display what gear you're in and battery level. I want one!

intransit1217

I read reviews and there seemed to be more issues with the 510 than the 500. I went through:

Garmin GPS Systems, Nuvi GPS, & GPS Maps

Since my head unit can do more than one bike, I bought an out front mount for my roadbike on amazon as it was significantly cheaper to do so.

I didn't notice the 510 was touchscreen. I might have missed something.

mbw

I just bought the 500 and I am very happy with it so far. The software seems pretty solid (other than weird 0 minute activities that appear on the device but never sync and can't be deleted).

I think I prefer real buttons rather than the touch screens. You can put your finger on them before you press and you know what you are hitting.

When I bought my chartplotter for my boat I had the same choice, buttons or touch screen. Garmin GPSMap 840xs (a $1500 8" screened monster). I went for the buttons, so I can see the screen while I am moving things around.


This wouldn't work that well on a bike, but I could have downvue sonar and radar I guess....

RJM

The 510 can use GLONASS and GPS. Garmin says that a device using GLONASS can aquire a satellites up to 20% faster. (maybe more accuracy too.)https://support.garmin.com/support/s...00000000000%7D

chaadster

There's a new 510?

dave1442397

I have the 500, but I'm thinking of going with the new Lezyne Super GPS - Lezyne - Engineered Design - Products - GPS

topflightpro

The 510 also enables other people to track you from their computers. So, if your spouse wants to know where you are, he or she can look it up online. I can think of several times that feature would have been useful in my house.

RALPHFELT

I bought my 510 last year. Does not have a touch screen and if you look hard on the internet I got mine for 176.00. free shipping.

greenlight149

The 510 can see Russian satellites as well which makes locking faster and more accurate, but I read that's mostly relevant to MTB where there are a lot of trees over head blocking signals.

Ben I.

I have a 510 and it's definitely touchscreen, however it uses pressure and not conductivity (like phones do) so it's not quite as sensitive.

As far as worth the extra cost, as mentioned the 510 uses both kinds of GPS satellites so it is faster at acquiring GPS signal and more reliable and accurate. Also has wireless upload, Live Tracking and color display as opposed to grayscale on the 500. If you'd take advantage of those then probably should get the 510, otherwise 500 would be better for your needs.

Here's a side by side of most of the features of both. Hope it helps.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/cata...Product=112885

Psimet2001 

I'm a dealer. I have both and have had both for years. For just straight training and racing then the 500 is a great unit. The 510 is more enjoyable to use. When I go to grab one before a ride I grab the 510.

utahp8ntballer

This is my favorite part of the 510. "Live View" is what it's called and my wife loves it so she can see how close to home I am. However, if I stop moving for a period of time and she notices, she gets all worried that I got hit by a car and I might get a text to see if I'm alright.

chaadster

So this is not a new 510, but the same 510 that came out 2 years ago...there don't seem to have been any changes, anyway.

Plainsman

No, when I said new, I just meant new as compared to the 500. I haven't upgraded my road bike computer since the Cateye wired with cadence I've had, and sometimes I just use my Garmin 305 so I can get HR data. The 500s have gotten so much more reasonable now (like $140 reasonable) that they are hard to resist. The least expensive 510 I've been able to find has still been almost twice that much. I'm sure it has some enhanced features, but just wondering to myself if there was really THAT much difference.

topflightpro

I don't know anything about this website, but I found the 510 for $247: .

Going off memory, that's below wholesale for them. I can't say for sure because I no longer have access to a wholesale account.

cderalow

worth more to find a used 800 so you can have mapping (that's what I recently did)

Seattle Forrest

The wireless upload is really nice, if you'll use it. If you don't care about seeing your data on Garmin Connect or Strava or whatever, it doesn't matter. But if you like the data, not having to plug in a USB cable and boot up the laptop is a great bonus.

Live Tracking is very convenient. I used to text my girlfriend when I was heading back toward home on a ride, with a wild-guess eta. Now she can check the map and I can just ride. And there's a cold iced tea waiting for me when I get home.

Has anyone compared the same ride done many times, with GLONASS on and off?

A lot of Fenix 3 (another Garmin fitness device) users are convinced they get worse tracks with GLONASS on than off. While it should help, people feel the F3 gets confused between the two. I've been testing mine with and without and I think I get better tracks with GLONASS but the jury is still out.

iStone

My 510 is great. The only thing that sucks big balls is trying to upload your ride via bluetooth to your phone. The Garmin App failure rate for me is like 98%

utahp8ntballer

I had this problem after an update to the firmware I believe. After a few weeks there was an update to the app and it started working again.

Ben I.

I've had mine for a couple months now and have only had one problem with it not uploading as soon as I finished my ride.

GatsbyGlen

I'm a newbie, but I went with the 510. I'm enjoying it. I like the fact that I can pair it to my smartphone.

Plainsman

Wow, $247 is the lowest I've seen. I looked at that site. It reminded me of a similar site I used once which was a pass through to who knows where - finally had to have the charges removed as the item never came - no commentary on the site you shared, just that past experience has made me wary. I pulled the trigger on an Edge 500. Can always send it back, but I'm not on Strava, and I don't really even use Garmin connect much. Really just use it for my personal training and racing. Have an Edge 200, but miss cadence and HR.