GPS-only
 

This original question was asked two years(not by me). I asked for the Garmin Edge 200 for Christmas on the premise from what I read, that it had navigational GPS ability. It does not, and has even less than my Blackburn Delphi 6.0 cyclocomputer.

The same question was asked two years ago:http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/in.../t-685948.html

The answer given, was the Garmin Oregon 550. Garmin no longer sells that unit.

I bought a cheapie unlocked Android phone (made sure it had true gps first) and loaded OsmAnd (free, offline maps). I don't use it on the handlebars but have it for nav if needed.

You can download courses to the Edge 200 and it will depict them graphically on the display. See the following review for a detailed explanation screenshots and instructions about 1/3 the way in:

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2011/08/g...th-review.html

GPS is a system of ground stations, satellites, and receivers that allow the receivers to determine their precise location on Earth with respect to a coordinate system. GPS can tell you where you are, and show the distance and bearing to another point within the coordinate system, but GPS itself knows nothing of roads, points of interest, addresses, geographic features or anything else. For these, you need a "map" which is a database of the coordinates and properties of these things. Most GPS receivers nowadays include maps or can have maps added to them. The Edge 200 is not one of them. It only a GPS receiver which can record your position. It also has the capability to download a course, which is a string of coordinates, and display this graphically on its screen along with your position relative to it. It doesn't show roads or other features. The file that contains the course can also contain other information, such as messages that can be displayed when your position is within some distance of specific coordinate in the file. Depending on the software or website you use to create the file, you may have the ability to add messages that are instructions or information about upcoming turns. The Edge 200 might be capable of displaying these messages, but I'm not certain.

For more info and better answers, check out the official Garmin Edge 200 users' forum: https://forums.garmin.com/forumdisplay.php?299-Edge-200