Originally Posted by
Looigi
800 and 810 screens have low resolution, but the bigger problem, IMO, is poor contrast and visibility in daylight. The older 500 and 705 units are much better in this regard. I've used small hiking/geocaching GPSs that are much better in both resolution and contrast.
The 500 is monochrome. That's much easier to make work (the monochrome screens on the 800 work OK). It's interesting that the 705 seems better.
One issue with the 810/800 screen is that readibilty is strongly related to the orientation (relative to the sun) of the unit. It's easy to move a hand-held device (so much so, that you might not notice moving it to make it more readable). The 810/800 unit is often stuck in one position. When I used the rubber-band mount for the 810/800 unit, I could move it around to get a better angle. (Keep in mind that most handheld units are not used "continuously" like the 810/800 are.)
Originally Posted by
Lex Fati
Garmin did come out with a Garmin Edge Touring over the course of the year for touring cyclists. From the reviews, it is basically a stripped down version of the Edge 810. It is not ANT+ compatible (no HRM, speed/cadence or power sensors), but if navigation is what you're after it is priced significantly lower and is advertised to have a longer battery life.
There is a "Touring+" that supports ANT+ heart rate. It doesn't support speed/cadence/power meters (otherwise, it would be the same as the 810!).
In terms of hardware, I believe the Tourings are very similar to the 810 (that's expected). There are navigation options for the Touring that are (rather) different than the 810/800. (I'm not sure but) It seems that you can't just follow a track on the Touring (like you can on the 810/800). If that's true, it would not be good.
Originally Posted by
Athens80
Does anyone here have the facts on what a "retina" resolution screen would add to the unit price in the quantities that Garmin would buy for a cycling GPS? I expect that the cost of phone screens are part of either a high monthly contract price or a high upfront purchase price, further offset by spreading the development costs over more units than Garmin sells.
In other words, would a high resolution screen drastically increase the cost of cycling GPSes? (not to mention the additional processing power and electrical drain to show and refresh so many pixels)
The 810/800 are the result of engineering compromises (
like any device is). The 810/800 have as design goals (among other things): good battery life, usability in sunlight (without a backlight), small size. While one could argue about how well they managed to meet those goals, it seems clear that they put some effort into doing that. I suspect that the "retina" displays would either not work in sunlight or use too much power (more pixels typically use more power).