I’ve just bough a Garmin Edge 305 off of that there eBay. The listing said that the device would not connect to the PC, but I thought it was worth a shot.

I was wrong 🙁

I’ve tried different USB cables, tried connecting to 2 computers (MacBook Pro and PC running Windows 7 64bit), tried a tiny drop of WD40 on the USB contact to dispel any water, all to no avail.

Anyone got any suggestions?

Cheers.

Have you tried a hard reset on it?

Yep, done a hard reset.

No doubt others know more but my m8 was given one (not sure of model) with a bike he bought, and it does the same, he even sent it off to a specialist for repairs.. they couldn’t fix it. Works fine otherwise…

Yeah, mine works fine otherwise. It charges via the USB lead but in Windows I get ‘USB device not recognised’, on the Mac I get nothing.

don’t know what you paid for it but Garmin are pretty good with their out of warranty replacement service, don’t think I’ve never been asked for a receipt when I’ve used it.

Mine’s the same. Apparently a well known problem with Garmin software. Lots of info and comment on the web about it. I also tried a specialist repair company but no success.
Certainly put me off replacing it with another Garmin.

^ T’was his I was talking about… 😀

a long shot but worth trying. i had connection issues and solved it by using a needle and clearing the connection part of all the fluff and build up on the garmin unit.it was amazing what came off

Cleaning the connectors hasn’t helped – wasn’t really any dirt to clean off.

How long are you leaving it to connect?

My Edge 500 seems to take ages to connect. If I intend to upload stuff from it, I stick the computer on, plug it in and then check e-mail and stuff. After a while, you get the USB dong-dong as it connects to the computer and off you go.
If you try to connect before then, it won’t be recognised.

When I say ages, I mean in relative terms. It’s probably no more than a minute.

I found various cheap USB cables did not work on my Garmin (but would charge it up).

I’ve tried various USB cables – the one that came with the unit, and ones that have come with external hard disks, cameras, etc. that all work fine with other devices.

I’ve called Garmin and they’ll replace the unit for £37 – even with what I originally paid, that still works out as a cheap(ish) GPS, so I’m not too pissed off.

£37 is pretty good – it’s always been about £60 when I’ve used them.