I doubt there are many like me, but I really hate the trend of buying electronic devices with batteries that are sealed into the unit. When the batteries fail, which they will, you have to send the unit back or replace it.
I'm still using a Cateye Padrone Digital and would like to upgrade to a GPS device, but I am holding off.
Does anyone know if any exist with user-replaceable batteries?

After a quick check of Amazon I found this one:
It requires a special battery but another check says they are available.

GEIOD CC600

Hey thanks. I didn't see that in my search!

I am not clear if you just want a basic bike computer, tells you have fast you are and how far you went, etc. Or, are you thinking of upgrading to something with maps that can do routing?

I use a non-cycling GPS that I can also use for backpacking, canoeing, kayaking, etc. It also does routing and I have installed a lot of maps in it. Runs on AA batteries, I use NiMH rechargeable AA batteries in it.

I am guessing you only want the basic computer so I won't bother elaborating here unless you ask for more info.

I guess I should have been more clear, I'm looking for a bike computer with cadence that has mapping.

My brief search on the Garmin site seems to show that their hiking handhelds are no longer AAA powered, but seem to use the same on board rechargeable lithiums as the cycling units. Tell me I’m wrong.

and how difficult is to change non-user-easily-interchangeable battery ? (maybe some videos how easy is to open the unit and find replacement battery)
for now I've changed battery in BT speaker, and BT earphones, notebook and they work

Garmin batteries last a very long time.

True. I gave up on my Edge 800 a couple years ago when I dropped it and killed the bottom right screen. It still lasted longer than I did.

Using a cache battery (stuffed in your waterproof bar bag or saddle bag) will extend the Garmin's runtime quite a bit.

I did not know any used AAA, all the Garmins I have used since i bought my first one in 2001 used two AA batteries.

Their website says that the 65S or 65 and the Etrex 22X or 32X will run on AA batteries. I did not check to see if they will do cadence or not. Based on the graphics on their website, they display a map.
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/669215/pn/010-02257-00
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/715072/pn/010-02451-10

I use a Garmin 64 (no longer sold) on my bike. Photo below. The 64 does not do cadence, but some of the other 64 models did. I use an old non-GPS type computer for cadence, and a separate heart rate monitor too, you can see all three in the photo.



I am fearful of when I can't buy stuff like this anymore that uses AA batteries, so I have bought a couple extra used GPS units on Ebay that are discontinued models.

Some of these GPS units that will run on a pair of AA batteries can use a Garmin proprietary battery pack, and with that battery pack you can use the GPS at the same time that you are charging it. It uses a mini, not micro USB cable. I have fooled it into thinking that i have that battery pack installed in it when instead I have a pair of NiMH AA batteries so that I can charge the NiMH batteries as I ride.

I have a few times put mine into the handlebar mount incorrectly (user error, my fault) and the GPS fell out. That is why I ALWAYS have a tether cord on mine to catch it if it falls out of the mount. You can see the black and yellow cord I use for that.

I use these because I want one that works well for canoeing, kayaking, backpacking, etc. And as you can see in the photo, bike touring. As phone apps are getting better I see a lot of backpackers are using a phone instead, but I am content with the GPS.

Be advised that these GPS units have battery life measured in hours. The old computers that did not use GPS satellites had battery life of months or years, but they did not do mapping.

Sorry, typo, meant AA. My 30 year old E-Trek uses AA,, yet when mounted on a bike (they made a holder) the vibrations made the batteries lose contact and the unit would not stay powered. I stopped using for cycling and got an 810, which was a very unreliable unit. Then the 1000 and 1030 and a 1040 and a 1050. Gadgets are addicting to me.

Have a look on youtube for the model you like and see if anyone has discovered a work around would be my suggestion:

I am a total gadget lover!
BTW, my Garmin eTrex units have all used AAA batteries.

eTrex, if you're okay with old tech and don't need any connectivity to devices. Rock solid, in part because of limited connectivity lol.

I used one for years; never managed to get turn by turn to work, but other people claim they do. USB to upload and download data. That means you need a laptop to upload a route, which these days is downright vintage.

I was in the replaceable battery thing until I decided a power bank would suffice.

Oic you have eTrex. Nvm.

Interesting, none of mine took AAA. I bought my first Etrex in 2001. It did not have mapping capability, used AA. I bought it for kayaking on Lake Superior, if you are paddling towards an island, if the fog comes in you really could have a bad day if you accidently paddled past the island you were padding to. I manually entered the lat and long for the island campsites in the Apostile Islands so that I could use the GPS to paddle to them if it got foggy. That Etrex could save a track and display an on screen map with the track, but the only thing on that map was your track and any waypoints you entered.



But Etrex can mean anything from that first one I bought that could not do mapping to current day models.

Later I used a Legend and Vista, essentially an Etrex but they had mapping with minimal memory, black and white screens. I used these on my bikes until 2016 was the last year that I used them.

Non-user replaceable devices have become the standard for several reasons, the most important being that the end product is significantly improved and more reliable. The compromises are too great to justify using a legacy device that uses off-the-shelf batteries. Modern GPS devices, like the Garmin Edge series, offer long runtimes, are easy to charge, and can accept external power inputs if needed, all this with extremely deep feature sets. A cockpit was shown up thread with six different devices, all of which can be replaced with one Garmin Edge bike computer with more features and easier usability, and when paired with a phone additional features such as live track and crash alert can also be enabled.

My Garmin Edge 530 battery hasn’t shown any significant degradation over 4 years. Whatever capacity it has lost I don’t notice. When it eventually dies I’ll be looking at newer models anyway.

I feel the same ways about batteries, I probably am going to want to replace my device by the time the batteries have noticeably degraded. I bought my Garmin 830 in 2019, and now I want a 1050. Except it costs a bit much. Where is the 850?

Get the 1040. Only real difference is the screen is very slightly better on the 1050 on the map. Data screens look the same. As far as I can tell, the software is essentially the same. 1040 got the USB-C port which is an improvement, battery life is 35 hrs, vs. 20-25 for the 1050. You can still get 1040's new and often on sale.

The 1050 is the screen on the right

I want a speaker, introduced with the 1050. Unless I'm wrong.
I need adjustable volume.

Don't know. I'm pretty deaf so audible alerts and such is useless to me. It's all turned off

My hearing isn't great and the audio alerts on the 830 are really low volume. My 800 was so much better for some reason.

The device has a built-in battery that lasts long enough. Especially these types of devices that are only charged once in a few days or even weeks

Unfortunately Garmin announced this week that their phone companion app is moving to a paid subscription model.

The base functionality is still available for free but one can only assume more and more features will be locked behind the paywall as time progresses.

As such I will no longer be buying Garmin products from this point forward.

I think if you want to use the Connect Mobile Plus app, thats a paid service. I haven’t seen they are discontinuing the basic GCM app.