Garmin 500 Edge
 

I'm thinking about picking this Garmin 500 Edge up and I was wondering if any of you use it and can give me your opinion of it.

I just got one, was using the Edge 305 before.
I like the smaller size, the bike mount has been improved a lot (no clip to break, no accidental unclipping) and the battery runtime is close to double.
Some complain that the screen is more difficult to read due to glare, I find this true without glasses but find it a lot more readable with my polarized glasses. So if you don't wear glasses or don't have polarized lenses you might have to invest into a cheap anti-glare screen easily found at office supplies stores. On the other hand if you have polarized lenses you will love the improvement.
The Garmin software still suck so make sure that the third party software you are planning to use support the 500 .fit file format. I am a Mac user and love the Ascent program from Montebello Software. Ascent has just been upgraded to support the Edge 500 thus my very recent purchase of the unit.
When connected to your computer the 500 mounts as an external drive making it easy to drop files into it. The drawback is that you have to wait a little bit for the unit to mount before being able to synch your activities, it takes about 35 seconds on my computer.
Some nice additions are the ability to scroll through up to three screens automatically (you have the option between three scrolling speeds), more data type choices (HR Zone, Heading...), temperature, and ant+ compatibility with power meters.
I think it has been well thought out and offers pretty much all what most riders need aside from mapping.

That pretty much sounds like the one I want. The only drawback may be that I wear transitional lens's and if I put clip ons sunglasses on it it will be pretty dark. Anyhow thanks a lot for the review. I have been reading a lot about it and it really sounds pretty nice.

If you are just thinking, before you buy you should give the 705 a look. Bring up the comparison page on the Garmin site. I did that, asked some questions here on BF, talking to Garmin Product Support and ended up buying the 705. You might not come to the same conclusion. But, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

Really? I have polarized Oakleys and I find I can not read or even see the screen on my cell phone with them. They are prescription so not sure if that has anything to do with it, I doubt it though.

Thanks Cleave, I don't know how I missed that. It sounds like a good review, but I'm a little concerned about seeing the screen. Sometimes I have trouble seeing the screen on my Cat eye Strada.

That was a pleasant surprise on my first ride with the 500. My polarized lenses made reading the 305 more difficult, the screen was becoming a cameo of very dark and less dark areas. With the 500 it is the other way around. Like with a polarizer filter on a camera, the lenses cut the glare off the Edge screen. The screen has a uniform tint and looks very clear and crisp.
I wear Rudy Project ImpactX Polarized Photochromic Grey lenses.

Just some added info, if you use SportTracks software to capture your rides the 500 is not compatible. It may be in the future, but it looks doubtful.

I had an Edge 305, which was one of my favorite pieces of electronics. It had a design flaw that resulted in it being replaced twice, and when the third one died I waited until the 500 came out. I think the 500 is great. Here is the most in-depth reviews of it I've seen, and it's a bit out of date because Garmin recently upgraded the firmware to address some of the deficiencies noted in the reivew (like the lack of workouts). I recommend the 500.

I'm pretty impressed so far from what I've read. I like the updates you guys have given me and I really appreciate it. Now all I have to do is wait for this deal and hopefully I score.
http://www.bikeradar.com/road/news/a...and-nvi--25391
If I could get it for a $150 that would be great. If not I'll buy one and add to it later. I don't need the cadence, but I would like to have the HRM. Thanks for all the replies.

George,

This stuff never ceases to amaze me, next it will be a bike GPS with HRM, cadence, power, video camera, cell phone and attitude sensors. If you take a fall it will record the event and automatically call 911 and give them your location and current state of health. We are not that far away, the new phones have everything but the cadence and power meter aps in them but they do have the wireless interface (bluetooth) to couple into these devices. Some one could write and ap for a Google andriod phone and there you'd have it. The phone goes for $179 - not too far away from this device.

It won't be long now...

Now you got me thinking again and that's bad.:D