I’ve had an Edge 205 GPS for a few years now; it’s well used, looks battered but still does the job. I’ve just been looking at what I’d replace it with if it broke, and I’m confused by the prices of such things…

Given the age of the thing, and the fact that you can get 605s, 705s and these shiny Oregon things, I’d expect 205s and 305s to be pretty cheap by now – but they’re not much less than what I paid for mine aaages ago! I was wondering whether to just get another 205, or maybe a 305 (for the altimeter) or get something shinier; the 605 has been out for long enough to be quite cheap by now, surely? Apparently not! The “average” price of an Oregon 300 isn’t very much higher than an Edge 305, despite one being very recent and the other being much further down the line. Shorter battery life, a smaller, monochrome screen vs a larger, colour touchscreen, card slot, OS mapping, wireless… what am I missing?

Depending on what for and how your using it have a look at the Etrex range. Better value for money compared to the Edges and a bigger screen for using navigating. The Oregons are too expensive and heavy IMO.

Unless your using the cadence or heart rate functions I’d think the Etrex would be better.

Depends how flash you want to be. I’ve had a Garmin Geko 201 for years now. Small screen no mapping basic LCD. Does do altitude and covers all I need for covering routes without having to resort to a map in new area’s.

Use it everyweek. Then again I know a guy who had an e-trak lagend, never really got to grips withit and is now splashng out 300 quid on a better model.

All depends what you want from it really

from what i’ve see dealers don’t go below RRP but offer extras etc – has always looked to me like an excellent example of limited routes to market carefully controlled and monitored – and i’m sure that the technical expertise and back up provided by the dealers makes it all worthwhile
of course i could be completely wrong and probably am

Amazon had special on Garmins last week and may still be on as did another site but forget it’s name, was mentioned on here though if you search.

I had an eTrex before I got the Edge; I much prefer the Edge for its tiny size, much better accuracy and stem mounting. Both record the track and provide a line on a screen of where I’ve been which is most of what I’m after.

In that regard another Edge 205 (or a 305 for the altimeter) would do the trick, but it grates to splash out on one of those when just a little bit more will get a much newer, shinier GPS with far more features, even if they are a bit larger.

Kind of depends what you want out of it. The eTrex models were designed for navigation, the Oregons are a next generation eTrex with a nod towards mapping. The Edges are for training so play down the navigation aspect (i.e. current position in grid references, mapping, datums etc) and emphasise the training specific features like large ride histories, virtual partners for pacing, more sophisticated trip computers.

The Edge 205/305 will get obseleted pretty quickly as they were the last in the line of serial comm units and the software support is troublesome to say the least. The Edge 605/705 directly replace them and are worth the extra cash. The only time I use the old 305 is for nadgery trips where the chances of crashing are high. Whilst the Oregon can be bar mounted it’s quite bulbous in shape and weighs a ton. Don’t know how good the touchscreen is going to be with gloves whilst riding off road. Haven’t used any etrex’s for ages now (wanna buy a boxed and unused eTrex Vista?)

apparently, garmin do a fixed price repair, so if my 205 broke, i’d get it fixed (second hand info, however)

i paid less then 100 for mine a year ago, and the prices have defo gone up.

The Edge 205/305 will get obseleted pretty quickly as they were the last in the line of serial comm units and the software support is troublesome to say the least.

That’s the thing, they’re old hat now, but the price doesn’t really reflect that – the price seems too high for what is now a fairly poorly specced gadget. (They do use USB though, they’re not that old…)

sockpuppet, I’m not actually sure mine is repairable now since I had to araldite the top back on after a particular tree-related incident…

I agree with you. They aren’t that old but superceded so I don’t understand why they aren’t shoving them out really cheap, after all you can’t move for cheap non widescreen garmin nuvo’s so it’s not like they don’t get the clearance concept.

For what it’s worth Garmin are always worth a try for repair. I smashed an Edge 305 to pieces (on amasa back in moab FWIW) and Garmin kindly replaced it gratis. Still don’t really know why they did that.