Originally Posted by
Steve B.
Battery life is kind of a moot point in some respects when you consider most units allow you to charge off a USB stick battery while operating. I get that it's nice to have 20 hrs. out of Garmin and that when they start to lose life and they get down to 5-6 hrs., that's annoying. But if your doing a double century, 15 hrs might do 'ya. Touring ?, randonneuring ? and approach to device selection is different.
I was asking the OP because he was concerned about battery life.
Last year I rode 7 double centuries using a Garmin 810. No problem till about hour
#11 or thereabouts. When I saw it was down to about 10%, I connected an external battery and it was all good.
I now have an Edge Explore that I'll soon sell and an Edge 830 that's been flawless other than a minor hiccup recently when it took a very long time to upload a ride. Only the Explore has been on a very long ride and with a course loaded and navigating at about hour nine I plugged it to my external battery. I haven't done any really long rides with the 830 yet.
I like the large screen of the Explore for my aging eyes but it's missing a few features I wanted and thus I bought an 830.
I've had a 500 that was my first Garmin. About a year ago I gave it to a club member who didn't have a computer. She rides about 5 days a week and it's still going strong.