Best GPS unit - Chinese knock-off or Garmin

[cmh]

And thanks for the detailed info VP. I was actually unaware that Lenovo bought out Motorola - I think I'll start doing some research into the best unit. Until reading your posts, I guess I hadn't realized I was missing out on so much gadgetry coolness. I love me some tech.

Just googled "best selling cycling gps unit amazon" and looks like the Garmin Edge 500 is a pretty clear favorite: http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Electronics-Cycling-GPS-Units/zgbs/electronics/617648011

A bit pricey at $200 but I'll dig into the features and see what it offers and if I need to step down a level to the Garmin edge 200 for $130 which is also very popular. Either way, looks like the Garmin Edge series may be the way to go.

The Garmin 500 is a nice little unit - my wife runs one and likes it. Very simple, not nearly as bells-and-whistles as Garmin's higher end stuff, which borders on a little bit extreme. Easy to work with, supported on most OS's, but also shows up as removable storage so you can just access the FIT files directly and upload from there.

Don't forget that there are knockoffs of the Garmins available. While I've been using a Holux M-1000c GPS datalogger (no display, just records the ride for later access) for a while, I am pretty sure Holux (and many other manufacturers) offer GPS bike computers for a fraction of the price of the Garmin. I don't want/need a display on my bars (thus the datalogger) but if I did I'd probably try something like this:

http://www.holux.com/JCore/en/products/products_content.jsp?pno=415

No doubt there's many options on alibaba as well.

[Sitar_Ned]

Ok, thanks for the info.. I'll definitely check out some of the Chinese knockoffs.

Sorry to derail your thread, VP. Perhaps I'll break this off into a separate thread.

[carbonazza]

Here is another piste to consider...

I tried few rides with my iphone attached on the stem inside a cheap waterproof case.
Using a software called viewranger.com

My plan now as it works quite well, is to find a chinese rugged android phone.
And use it as my nav device.

It should cost 150€ or so.
OpenStreetMap and OpenCycle map are quite good.
But for about 15-20€/year you can get a subscription to the very precise army maps here in some European countries.
The maps can even be stored on the phone.

[RS VR6]

I have a bunch of Garmin units. 200, 500, 510, Tactix, and a 910.

Out of those...I like the 510 the best. I like the bluetooth capability. It automatically uploads my rides onto my phone then Garmin Connect/Strava. The larger screen is nice when I'm trying to follow a downloaded map. I found this quite useful when riding some new trails in Vegas this year. The 510 does not do real time navigation like the 810...but it does navigate if you download an existing route. I also have a "Sunset" field on the 510. I often ride in the late afternoon and its nice to know how much daylight I have left.

If you're looking for a bare bones unit the 200 is fairly cheap and gets the job done nicely. It has no Ant+, so you can't use a cadence sensor or heart rate strap...for that you'll need a 500 and up.

I don't like the idea of using my phone as a GPS since the GPS will drain the battery at a faster rate...and if the phone signals are weak...the battery will drain even faster. With these data hungry phones of today...the battery use can be very unpredictable.

[carbonazza]

I don't like the idea of using my phone as a GPS since the GPS will drain the battery at a faster rate

I was thinking this too. It looks phone have improved.

I tested some 3-4 hours rides with the GPS on.
Showing the map in offline mode, and recording the route.

Starting at 100%, the battery ends at about 70%.
This will cover all my usual rides.
In addition most rugged phone have an increased battery capacity.

[bdub]

What Android apps are available that would be comparable to what you would get with a Garmin?

[carbonazza]

For the trails, you can give a look at http://viewranger.com
You can import GPX routes, and follow them on the map while riding.
And it can record your ride, with a GPX format too.
Maps(OpenStreetMap) can be downloaded on the phone for offline use and save battery.

And if you need to go on a road from a point A to B, with classical turn by turn, you can use Google Map.
But this may drain the battery quicker.

[bdub]

View Ranger looks really nice. Thanks for the info

[Sitar_Ned]

For the trails, you can give a look at http://viewranger.com
You can import GPX routes, and follow them on the map while riding.
And it can record your ride, with a GPX format too.
Maps(OpenStreetMap) can be downloaded on the phone for offline use and save battery.

So are you saying you can have the functionality without having to be online? If so, I can just use my last gen LG G2 Android phone? That would be perfect, as it's just sitting in a drawer and I wouldn't be absolutely furious if I broke it like I would be if I used my current LG G3.

[carbonazza]

If the app works on that antiquated hardware , probably yes.

From the home wifi.
Download the map(you can pick the scale and tiles of the map to have offline, it is OpenStreeMap by Mapquest).

Then on the track, put the GPS on, load the route, and follow it.
Put the app as offline, in the settings.
And you'll see how the battery goes.

[cmh]

What Android apps are available that would be comparable to what you would get with a Garmin?

My Tracks is one I've used in the past.

There are a ton more, although right now I usually just use the Strava app and upload directly to their site.

[jwilds1]

I've used MyTracks too, and Strava.  I like MyTracks because it can plot Speed/Elevation/HR vs. time for free.  Strava costs extra ($50/year!!!) to get the HR graph.  Strava is good, though, for sharing routes, but again unless you are using hardware that can export a GPX file, you can't really import it into anything.

I used GPX Viewer to help navigate a new route last week (Samsung Galaxy Nexus that's WiFi-only).

[Sitar_Ned]

If the app works on that antiquated hardware , probably yes.

From the home wifi.
Download the map(you can pick the scale and tiles of the map to have offline, it is OpenStreeMap by Mapquest).

Then on the track, put the GPS on, load the route, and follow it.
Put the app as offline, in the settings.
And you'll see how the battery goes.

Ok, thanks.. I'll try it out this weekend.