I crakced the screen in my Garmin Edge 530 a few years ago and repaired with a new screen off of Ebay. All was good until Saturday when I got caught out in heavy rain. It seems like there was some water ingress under the screen and that made it unreadable. I was able to eventually save and upload the ride but now it won’t power on or register in the Windows app.
I’m trying to pick out a new Edge and the last round of the x50 series is such a mixed bag. I like the repairability function of the 550 and 850 but am worried about the reduced battery life. The 1050 has a good battery but no buttons at all.
What are people thouhgts on the useability of the 550 button only navigation? In older Edges buttons were fine but it seems like with these new ones touch is what the UI is designed for.
I only have experience with my 540 and I find the buttons to be overly complex to use. This only occurs during setup and when on the bike I only switch between two screens, map & the information screen. It does seem the UI is geared towards touchscreen.
I went from an Edge 530 to an Edge 540 Solar. I would agree the UI (which I believe is shared between the x40 and x50 series) is designed for touch but Garmin has added little tweaks from the original release to make it more button friendly. In the current state, I don’t find the Edge 540 any less usable than the button-only Edge 530, but YMMV as I don’t generally do much more than making sure my sensors are connected, calibrating my power meter, and starting/stopping a ride.
I will mention that I opted for the Solar version to get a little battery boost for longer rides, but the additional battery life provided by the solar cell is really pretty negligible even on a very bright and sunny day.
This isn’t quite answering your question, but it could sort out the options for you. If you send the broken head unit back to Garmin and ask for it to be repaired (there’s an option for this on their website in Australia at least) then they will take it back and refurbish it if they can. They’ll also replace it for you with a similarly refurbished one for a small fee of around $120 AUD from memory. So far I’ve done this for 1 watch and a 530, and my friend did it for her older model head unit and got a significant upgrade for about $120 AUD.
Of course, if you want a brand new one, go for it.
Agree with the comment that the 540 solar is worthless. If I had to do it again, I’d get the 540 touchscreen over the solar as the buttons aren’t great when you are cycling.
I have just replaced my Garmin Edge 530 with the 1050. I was also worried about the lack of buttons to navigate around the screen but, so far, the 1050 has impressed me with how good the touchscreen is. The battery life and speed of operation is also amazing plus much better for navigation with a large screen. Downside if the price plus the size of the unit requires you to consider placement if current mounting position is restricted in length. Annoying Garmin didn’t also provide buttons as a back-up on the 1050.
I went from the 530 to the 840, the slightly bigger screen is useful and once you work out which functions are button only using it is pretty good. A lot of annoying feature are on by default (auto-lap, sharp turns etc) so it needs a bit of time to get rid of them.
Thanks for the input everybody. I went with the 850. I was debating the 1050 for the extra battery capacity but the lack of buttons is a deal breaker for someone who rides a lot in cold weather with giant gloves.
Bold take: after many many years of being very happy with a Garmin I’ve just got a Coros Dura because I just can’t take the piddly Garmin battery life anymore.
I don’t do a huge amount with a head unit, I just want basic data on display and something reliable for 400km+ rides. So far no regrets. In sunny conditions it gains as much power as it loses. The screen is a little taller and the same width as my last 820 and although I’d prefer something smaller, the solar panel is worth it for me. There are nice data visualisations available too. The crown and button work great and I haven’t even tried using the touch screen as a result. Looking forward to winter gloves and rainy rides (ish).
I’m a little sad to not have some data fields (now only have time until sunrise/set rather than when each is; no time or distance remaining for a course) but it’s a small price to pay and generally just equates to mental arithmetic. I do also believe Coros have a reliable software update cycle so these may be added in time.
I had a similar thing happen with my edge 830. Hitting a pothole caused the entire screen to pop off. Garmin had never heard of this before. They sent me a new unit free.
WRT rain, I found that to be a constant problem. I would even lose the cues. Some people I know put plastic bags over their unit.
I decided to divorce garmin after 15 years. After reading many reviews, including DC rainmaker, I went with a wahoo element bolt. I’ve never been happier and no issues in the rain either.