Originally Posted by
Polaris OBark
IThe ideal unit for my wife would have a single button press (or reliable ride auto-start) to start and record a ride, and act as a radar head unit. Beyond that, all the other features would just be nice extras to have. If navigation was significantly better that what my Edge 530 has, it would be worth getting the Edge Explore 2, rather than a second copy of the Edge 530, or something functionally equivalent.
If that's all you want the older Edge Explore will work (at least that's what I did).
Real cheap refurbs are available right now. Don't expect many bells and whistles, but if you just want to record your ride, show basic info (including radar display) and display a decent map then the Explore does all that. I imagine it's not great at routing/navigation (I haven't really tried), but as a cheap head unit for your wife it may check all the boxes.
PS. It may seem contradictory that I'm talking up the Edge Explore in the same thread in which I'm showing interest in the much more expensive 1030, etc, but the Explore was just a cheap way for me to dip my toe into the Garmin world and try out the (also cheap right now) RVR-315 radar. Like you I have a wife who loves cycling, but doesn't really love tech for tech's sake. So giving the Explore to her while I eventually get a more fully featured (and complicated and harder to use) computer may satisfy everyone in the family.