Hi can somebody tell me if this gps unit is any good. Ideally I want to use it primarily for navigation is it cut out for that?

Have a look here

http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/garmin-edge-305-gps.php

primarily for navigation is it cut out for that?

No. It's an advanced trainig aid and can't store maps. For the money you can get better units for navigation

It can be done, but I don't bother.

Ringo, if you want it primarily for navigation then I believe that there's a lot of better options out there for you. I had the 205, which I think is about the same, for a year and for a navigational aid it's limited. Here's the limitations I found:

1. You can't load maps onto it. That means you can follow the "line" of a previously loaded route but that's all.
2. You can't follow the "line" and record at the same time. This is a problem if you're searching new trails and want to record your deviations from the line you're following.
3. You can't have several "lines" on the screen at once. That means you can't see where you are in relation to other trails until you get home.
(There are other limitations but these are the one's I found most annoying!)

I now have a etrex which is a far superior kit for all the above reasons and more. It's a bit more weighty but not so you'd notice.

Hope that helps. Commiserations on being the worst Beatle 😉

Worst how dare you 🙂 ahh I see so would I be better off with a 705 it's a b it of a buggar as I made an impulse bid on eBay and just won a brand new 305 for £120

I have a 305; it's great. You can load maps on it, either ones bought from Garmin (pricey) or maps from OpenStreetMap (free!). It gets me around no problems here.

If I'm lost can it navigate me back to the start. I thought you couldn't load maps onto it

I don't think that you can add maps to a 305. I might be wrong though.

If you've already got it (and at a great price) then you'll be fine. I used it to develop all the trails out here and using a program with maps on the computer it's been great. I would have struggled without it. It'll definitely get you back to where you started and following the trails works pretty well.

I've not used the 705 but to me it seems quite expensive, that's why I went with the etrex thingy.

Come on, you're not even the best drummer in the Beatles 🙂

I've got a 205 which I got when PC World were doing them ridiculously cheap (but never use the training functions). You can't load maps IFAIK, at least not in the sense that you can view maps/road etc in a SatNave sense. You can load routes/tracks whereby you can follow a dotted line (again with no map or road display). It's a GPS not a SatNav, I think that some of the higher models do have map and SatNav functions.

I have a 305 and as far as I know you can't load maps. It is a fancy bike computer that allows you to download your training route to google earth etc. It's interesting a couple of times and then the novelty of seeing where you just rode wears off pretty quickly especially if you tend to take the same routes a lot.
The best thing is being able to swap from bike to bike withough changing anything at all.

To me it looks like the navigation pages are very similar to the Etrexs

If that's the case, it's fine for navigation [just like they are] you plot a route in your mapping software & upload it to the unit, then simply follow the track
if you want something that will display OS maps – this isn't it

Oooo I'd forgotten which model I had… 😳

'Tis true, the 305 won't take maps.

<hangs head>