The IT Nerd

Frequent readers of this blog know that my wife and I ran the Garmin Edge 520 cyclocomputers to allow us to measure our performance and to navigate courses at home and on road trips. That’s worked well for us over the last few years, but this year we felt that we needed to up our game. Thus we got the Garmin Edge 830 which has a number of things going for it. Here are the key things in my mind:

• It is a touchscreen which makes it insanely easy to navigate and can be used with full finger gloves as the screen is pressure sensitive.
• On-device route creation which allows you to create routes on the fly.
• Turn-by-turn navigation
• Customisable apps
• Strava integration. You can sync your data with Strava for free. But on-device Strava Live segments requires a Strava Summit membership, and your smartphone needs to be connected to the device.
• Group messaging and tracking assuming that all the people in your group have compatible devices and share their info with you.
• The device displays notifications from incoming calls and text messages from your phone….. Though you can’t answer them from the device which is understandable.
• There’s a bike alarm function. Activate the alarm on the device and if someone moves your bike then the Edge 830 will send a notification to your smartphone.
• Performance monitoring insights that give information on your VO2 max, recovery status, training load, heat and altitude acclimation, and your nutrition and hydration status after rides.
• The device displays notifications from incoming calls and text messages

The Edge 830 has both on board WiFi and Bluetooth connections so it’s possible to directly pair the device to any WiFi network. Once connected, the device will automatically link to Garmin’s servers where it can sync your device so that it can upload your ride data as well as check for firmware updates. Which is something that you should do as Garmin has improved the functionality with every firmware update (which is version 4.10 as I write this). It’s very easy to set up its basic functions using the Garmin Connect app which is available for iOS and Android. From there you can add sensors like speed sensors, cadence sensors, and power meters so that you can get the most out of your training and riding.

One key feature is the incident detection feature, which alerts a pre-defined contact that you’ve had an accident and serves up your location to them. You also get the ability to send them a message saying that all is well if the incident is minor or you set this off by accident by say dropping your bike. It requires that the device is paired via bluetooth with and connected to your phone and only iOS and Android phones need apply. One thing that I note is that it is sometimes too easy to set off this feature on really rough roads.

The turn-by-turn navigation is fantastic on the Edge 830. The on-screen map, when zoomed in, provides excellent levels of detail and accurate guidance instructions with ample warning — both audible and visual — when a turn is approaching. Though if you design your own routes, I would strongly suggest that you turn off the popularity routing feature which uses rides that are uploaded to the Garmin Connect service to determine the best route. The reason I suggest this is that it will take you off your intended route and that will drive you nuts. It also has problems distinguishing between different road and path types and it has a penchant to take you on the most traffic-dense roads or, in total contrast, the least suitable paths, trails or tracks for your defined parameters. In other words, stick to designing your own routes which is what I do.

Any other gripes? The price. This is not a cheap cyclocomputer. The Garmin 830 goes for $550 Canadian which is not cheap. But the argument that I would make is that this is a higher end cyclocomputers used by pros and serious cyclists. Having said that, if this price is too much for you, there’s the Garmin Edge 530 which is $130 Canadian less and does most of what the Edge 830 does. Though you give up the touchscreen and some of the advanced routing functions of the Edge 830. Which means that you’re more reliant on buttons which might make it harder to navigate its functionality. For my money, I’d take the Edge 830 and benefit to from the ease that the touchscreen offers.

When I ride my bike, I’m looking to improve in some way on every ride. To help me with that, I have a Garmin Edge 520 cyclocomputer on my bike.

This is a small but sophisticated computer that out of the box allows you to measure distance, speed, ride time and elevation with no external sensors required to do so. That’s because the cyclocomputer uses GPS and Glonass to track where you are and how fast you are moving. It will also display a rudimentary map that will allow you to know where you are. Plus it also has rudimentary navigation abilities to route you through a course that you can download to the cyclocomputer via the MicroUSB connection while connected to a Mac or PC. You also use the MicroUSB port to charge the cyclocomputer so that you can get up to 15 hours of battery life.

However, the real power starts to appear when you pair the cyclocomputer with any of a number of external sensors to get data. The sensors need to support the ANT+ standard for them to work which pretty much everything that you’d be interested in does. In my case, I use a heart rate monitor and a cadence sensor (so that I know how fast I am pedaling). My wife who has the same cyclocomputer takes it one step further by adding a speed sensor on top of the sensors that I have mentioned above. If you really want to get nerdy, you can add the sorts of sensors that pro cyclists use like this power meter that measure your power output when you ride. Or you can integrate it into the Di2 electronic shifting system that cycling components company Shimano makes. It will even integrate with Garmin’s cycling lights and action cameras.

In terms of the data that it collects, it will allow you to measure your performance on the bike in the same way that pro cyclists do. This allows you to really hone in on what you’re good at and what you need to work on. But if you’re not trying to be the next Chris Froome, you can leverage the fact that this computer will work with Strava in a couple of ways. Strava is a social fitness site where riders’ GPS files are compared by time over certain stretches of road. I use it myself and a I use an app called Garmin Connect on my iPhone (it’s also available for Android and Windows Phone) to automatically upload my rides to Strava when I am done. But the Edge 520 supports Live Strava Segments which are sections or road where you can set the best time among those who ride the same section of road. You’ll get a notification of when you are approaching a Strava Segment and relevant info such as best time, your friends best times, etc. This feature does require you to pay for a Strava Premium account, but you do get a taste of this feature for three months.

Garmin Connect is also useful to users of the Edge 520 in two other ways. First is that the cyclocomputer is capable of paring with a phone via Garmin Connect so that you can see the name and number when someone calls you as well as text messages of anyone who texts you on the computer. Though you cannot respond to it, it is handy as you don’t have to pull your phone out of your cycling jersey to see who is calling or texting as long as you pay attention to the road. That way you can decide to pull over and respond, or ignore it and keep riding. The other feature that Garmin Connect brings you is Incident Detection. The Edge 520 leverages its internal accelerometers to detect what it considers to be an incident such as a crash or you being hit by a car. It will then first put a message on the screen of the Edge 520. If this message is not cleared within a given time period then the Edge 520 will then send a message to a Bluetooth paired phone that will that will in turn send a message on to a list of registered contacts about the incident. It’s easy to set up and it will act as some extra piece of mind for your loved ones.

Gripes? Despite the fact that this computer supports both ANT+ and Bluetooth, the Edge 520 would not support pairing with my Series 2 Apple Watch to get heart rate info from it. Now, I can see this from a couple of angles. The first being that Garmin sells wearables of its own and they really don’t want to play nice with the competition which I can understand. The other side of this is that Apple is playing nice with lots and lots of fitness companies and Garmin needs to get into the game. Now I thought that I was an edge case (excuse the pun) with this gripe, but a quick Google search suggests that I may not be the only one out there that would like Apple Watch support to happen.

The Garmin Edge 520 is not cheap. It’s $400 CAD by itself. But you can get it in a bundle with a heart rate monitor, a cadence sensor, and a speed sensor for $550 CAD. It’s aimed at serious cyclists who want to gather all sorts of data about their rides. Thus if you’re someone who only rides on local cycling paths and enjoys the scenery, this isn’t the computer for you and I would suggest looking at one of Garmin’s lower end models. But if you do fit the use case that this cyclocomputer is aimed it, head to your local bike shop and pick one up today.

For the last few years, I’ve had a Garmin nuvi 1350LMT GPS. It’s proven itself useful by allowing my wife to navigate to anywhere because she is shall we say “directionally challenged” and relied on printed maps to get her from point “A” to point “B”. It’s worked well for years. Not to mention that I’ve used it to get around Toronto and various points in the province of Ontario as well. But last week I started to have issues with it. It not only started to display an error message that said “Accessory Not Supported” but the traffic function stopped working. Now there is an FM receiver that is built into the power cable for the GPS that I logically figured was the issue. So I borrowed another one from a friend to to confirm it. I then found that it was the GPS itself that was the issue as I still had the same problem. Since it was out of warranty, I decided to buy a replacement.

At this point you’re wondering why my wife and I wouldn’t use our respective phones for navigation. The reason is simple. I’ve found that a phone works well if you’re willing to pay for the data charges related to downloading maps on the fly. Though the advantage of that is that you tend to get up to date maps. However phone based navigation only works when you have cellular coverage. I’ve driven through parts of the US where there are cellular dead spots. That makes phone based navigation useless. However a GPS based navigation system “just works” regardless of where you are. The catch is that you have to keep the maps updated so that they’re accurate and that’s always a manual process.

So, after doing my research, I settled on the Garmin nuvi 2595LMT. Getting it was a bit of a challenge though. I took a trip to my local Best Buy only to be dismissed by multiple salespeople who when I asked them for one they all said “Sorry, I can’t sell it to you. This isn’t in my department.” So I whipped out my phone and a Google search took me to 2001 Audio Video who had it for $50 less than Best Buy. So I started to walk out of Best Buy. But I did not make it out the door before a salesperson stopped me and asked if I needed help. I told them that I wanted a GPS and nobody would help me. Thus I was leaving to get it elsewhere as I found a store that had it $50 less than they did. The salesperson simply said “Ok. Have a nice day.”

Clearly Best Buy didn’t want my business.

So, after a ten minute drive and five minutes in 2001 Audio Video, I had one in my possession. Kudos to 2001 Audio Video for their customer service and Best Buy (or Future Shop for that matter as they’re owned by the same company) will never see me inside their stores again.

But I digress. This isn’t a rant, it’s a review of the Garmin nuvi 2595LMT.

Now this Garmin is physically larger than the last one that I had. It has a 5″ screen which is up from the 4.3″ screen that my last one had. However is still a relatively compact and light unit. Info is easy to see and read and it can be used in bright conditions and strong sunlight. Contrast is good and viewing angles are wide. The outer shell is classy looking. Here’s a picture of it installed in my car using the mounting hardware that I put in for the last Garmin that I had:

If you don’t want to do what I did to mount the GPS in your car, it does come with a swivel suction mount system that clips onto the GPS and suctions onto your windscreen. One thing that I should point out is that the front is made from glossy black plastic which easily picks up fingerprints and dust. Other than that, it looks cool.

The feature set is pretty extensive. Here are the key features to keep in mind:

• 5″ dual-orientation touchscreen. In other words, it can be used in portrait or landscape mode.
• Free lifetime updates for the maps
• Free lifetime traffic reporting
• Voice-activated navigation
• Lane guidance with a feature called “photoReal junction view”. This is a handy feature that shows a visual representation of any on ramps, off ramps or junction points ahead of you along with arrows pointing you towards which lanes to take. In my testing, the pictures it displayed were surprisingly accurate. It was almost as if someone went out and snapped pictures of every on ramp, off ramp or junction point on your route.
• It has Bluetooth connectivity that you can use with its microphone and speaker as a speakerphone or to stream music along with one other feature that I will get to later in this review. You can also use it with Garmin SmartphoneLink for iOS and Android devices to get information and live services such as more detailed traffic, weather, where to park, sending addresses from your phone to the GPS, and where your car is located. In my case, I turned Bluetooth off as I had set up a Bluetooth adapter in my car routed through my stereo.

I then took 45 minutes to update the operating system and the maps using Garmin Express which is free for Mac and PC. I also used that same application to back up the saved locations on the old GPS and then restore them to the new one. As an aside, this application will alert you if there are updates available which saves you from constantly having to check. In the end, it was a very painless transition from the old GPS to the new one. I should note that you get a MicroSD card slot so that you can add a MicroSD card to allow for additional maps. But you may not need it as I had just over 2GB of space free after updating it.

After plugging everything into the car, I took it for a test drive. Here’s what my impressions are:

• Unlike my last GPS, the Garmin nuvi 2595LMT starts up and is usable within seconds of turning on the car. The 1350LMT by comparison would take up to two minutes to boot. There’s a battery inside the nuvi 2595LMT that puts it into a sleep mode and it seems to be able to survive a couple of days of being asleep with minimal battery drain. Thus I imagine that you could keep it asleep for weeks at a time.
• The user interface has been refined and is more smartphone like. You can use swipe gestures to scroll through items for example. It’s also easier to enter addresses and do common tasks.
• The Garmin nuvi 2595LMT not only calculates routes much faster than my old GPS, but it now gives you the option of choosing from multiple routes so that you can avoid toll roads or areas that you don’t like. On top of that, if you don’t obey the instructions of the GPS, it re-routes you almost instantly. My last GPS by comparison would take a very long time to calculate a new route. That is a very welcome change.
• The default voice is female that speaks street names. It sounds incredibly robotic as if it’s from the 1990’s. My last GPS had a much more natural voice. You can replace it with other voices, but you lose the ability to have the GPS speak street names. Thus you’re basically stuck with this voice. The upshot? It’s clear and easy to understand.
• The nuvi 2595LMT has a voice-recognition engine which can interpret full addresses read out loud. You don’t have to say the town, then the street, then the number, as the system understands the whole address in one go. This worked well when I tried it.
• The traffic function worked well on major highways via the FM receiver that’s built into the device. However, it had no clue about traffic on local roads. That’s no different than my last GPS so I’m fine with that. One handy feature is that the nuvi 2595LMT beeps and displays a warning about traffic ahead of you at the top of the screen. My last GPS simply said “Traffic Ahead”. Now If you want more detailed traffic updates, you can use Garmin SmartphoneLink to provide more detailed traffic reports if you’re willing to pay for it, or you can get the Garmin HD Digital traffic receiver if there’s coverage for HD traffic in your area. There isn’t in Canada, so I will pass on that.
• My last GPS had the ability to calculate fuel economy if you enter some info about the vehicle that you’re driving (namely the city and highway mileage). While it was a rough estimate as it was simply doing math rather than reading stats straight off the car, it was handy for spotting potential issues with my car. The nuvi 2595LMT does something far more sophisticated. You need to purchase a Garmin Mechanic with ecoRoute adapter that plugs into the OBD II port on your car and connects to the GPS via Bluetooth. It provides detailed system data, including engine monitoring, sensor and gauge data, fuel efficiency and engine diagnostics in real time. It sounds interesting, but I think I will pass on that for now.

Other than the rather robotic sounding voice and the loss of the ability to get a rough estimate of your fuel economy, I really like the Garmin nuvi 2595LMT. And neither of the two items that I mentioned are deal breakers by any means. It was not a planned upgrade, but it was a worthwhile one. I recommend it for anyone who needs an in car GPS. The list price from Garmin is $199.99 USD. If you shop around, you can likely find it for less just like I did.

Just don’t get it from Best Buy.

Let’s start with the specs. The Garmin Nuvi 1350LMT is a 4.3” touch-screen with a MicroSD card slot to add extra content (pictures, additional maps, etc). It comes with a battery that lasts 4 hours, but you can plug it into your car power adapter. It’s preloaded with North America maps. Speaking of the maps, it has free lifetime updates for the maps (as long you’re the original owner). Just make sure you have plenty of time to update the maps and the OS for the GPS. It took me almost an hour to do both after I got the GPS. But it’s well worth it.

Now here’s some cool features of the GPS:

• It tracks your speed and will display your speed in red if you are exceeding the speed limit.
• It logs where you’ve been and you can download this to your computer (or erase it if you have something to hide).
• There’s a feature called ecoRoute which has a “less fuel” option to your routing choices and gives you fuel and mileage reports, estimated fuel cost for trips, and even a “driving challenge” to improve your fuel efficiency.
• There’s a feature called CityXplorer where you can use it as a handheld GPS and get routing info via public transit. However you’ll have to spring for the maps to do so and they go for $10 to $15 for each map.
• There’s text-to-speech, so you’ll hear “drive one-half mile, then turn left on Main Street.”
• You get lifetime traffic alerts which warns you of traffic ahead of you both visually and via speech. What you get depends on where you are though.
• The interface is very customizable. You can tweak it to make it look or sound the way you want it. You can add custom icons, voices (including Darth Vader and Yoda) and even add your own voice using free software from Garmin.
• You can add favorite places via Google Maps as long as the GPS is connected via USB to your computer. Plus it works with Windows and Mac.

How does this GPS perform. Quite well I must say. I’ve got it set to find me the fastest route that uses the least amount of gas, and I’ve discovered that a lot of the routes to places that I’ve used for years haven’t be as fast or as fuel efficient as I thought they were. The traffic alerts are kind of handy, and the visual cues for driving green (a leaf that turns red if you’re driving badly, yellow if you’re only doing okay, or green if you’re driving fuel efficiently) are nice to have. The screen is clear and readable in all light.

Would I recommend it? Totally. If you want a GPS for your car, check out the Garmin Nuvi 1350LMT. You won’t be disappointed.