To be clear, Garmins can be buggy, but people generally make too much out of it. In general they work really well, that's why so many cyclists use them. An example is my watch does auto-lap by distance (eg every 5 miles) but not by location, so when I do hill repeats I have to press the lap button myself.

I have an Edge 800 and a Fenix 3 watch. I don't have to pay a monthly fee to use software on either of them, the way you would for a lot of the more useful stuff you'd use on a phone if you didn't want a Garmin. I don't understand your laughter. Are you paying for Training Peaks or something?