I have a Garmin 500 and i'm completely happy with it except for one thing - the time to sync when starting a ride. living in nyc doesn't help.

anyone have a gps device that syncs faster?

The new-ish Garmin edge 520 syncs rather quickly. GPS and GLONASS, too.

I find with the Garmin's, if you move around while they sync it takes a lot longer. I always put mine on the step or car dash while it syncs. I find if I wear it or put on the bike while I'm getting ready it takes longer.

definitely. i get ready, get outside, and then i turn on my garmin. its annoying to wait for it to sync when i'm all ready to go!

I turn on my 500 and then go get ready. If I take too long and it shuts down, it synch's very fast on a restart.

My 520 syncs in less than a minute.

Read this by dc rainmaker
Hands-on with Polar?s new M450 GPS cycling computer | DC Rainmaker
its the new bike computer from polar and its looks great.

Unfortunately it doesn't speak ANT+ like the majority of bike computers and accessories.

Well its only powermeters with ANT+ He cant use. Everyting else is the same as garmin, cadens,speed,HR and all the other ****. my mother gave me the edge1000 to chrismas and it is just to much **** on it! I really only use the bacic things as cadens speed HR distanc and logging it up to garmin connect to se average speed. Maybe the garmins connect is better than polar on that things? I dont now.

..or existing ANT+ items that one might not care to replace.

Exactly, I have my Garmin 500 set up to work on 3 different bikes and only one of them has a Garmin cadence/speed sensor. The other 2 bikes have VDO ANT+ speed sensors and separate cadence sensors. My Garmin heart rate sensor stopped working so now I use the VDO heart rate sensor. ANT+ devices are cross compatible over a bunch of different brands

I would say my 500 also syncs in less than a minute, but only if I'm (1) outside and (2) not moving.

My 510 and 810 both sync in a matter of moments.

I usually turn mine on when I'm pumping up the tires. Then I put on my shoes, helmet, sunglasses, gloves. By that time, the Garmin is ready...start LiveTrack, open Spotify and load the "Ride That Bike" playlist, and off I go.

Someone told me that a Garmin (I use an Edge 200) will store the location of the satellite last used. If you are in a different location, it will take longer to sort out the closest hook-up. I just heard this, but I'm finished for the year, so I won't be abke to see if yhat's true until next spring. The acquisition times vary quite a bit though, so maybe there's something to it.

If you're using a wheel sensor with it, it will keep track of your speed and distance without being synced with the sats, so you can leave on a ride and let it sync up at its leisure. You'll still get the stats, just the not track for the first part of the ride.

I turn on my 500 at the door to the garage, turn it on, roll it into the garage and lean it on the car, come back inside and put on my shoes and it's on and synced every time.

I dunno, the only time that mine takes a long time to sync is when I turn it on in a location that it has never been in before. Otherwise, it acquires the satellites before I finish changing my shoes.

The 520 will sync inside as I walk towards the garage (house, not apartment building). It's quite impressive in that respect.

The lack of a touch screen, otoh, is a bit weird.

My 810 syncs, like others, while I am putting on shoes.

The 500 only uses the american GPS satellites and as such there are not near as many and it takes longer to lock on enough for the unit to read a position. The 1000 on the other hand uses american gps satellites and the Russian glonass satellites so there are quite a few more to lock into so it is quicker. I also think the 1000's technology is faster in satellite acquisition.The 500's technology is about 5 years old, while the 1000's technology is about a year old.

I have owned both units. The 500 typically took about 90 seconds if I was outside and not moving. If I was moving or was inside it may take 4-8 minutes.

The 1000 locks on in about 10-15 seconds outside or inside it really doesn't make any difference. Garmin has really stepped up its game on the 1000. I bought mine about 5 months ago so I never had the issues with the firmware that hat lots of bugs and problems. My unit has been rock solid from day one.