New garmin product 1040edge, 840, 540

[Butcher]

My first Garmin was a 705. I've upgraded every time. I cannot recall the last, or even the first time, I had a software issue. I understand some people do, but I suspect they sell well is because most of us are puzzled why others have so many problems.

I do not like Apple and really do not want to learn the 'Apple' way of doing things. I'm happy they do not play with bike computers.

[pdlpsher1]

I compared the physical dimensions between the 1030 Plus and the 1040. The screen size and pixel count are identical. The exterior dimensions are identical in mm but oddly Garmin added 0.1" to the length of the 1040. 114mm should be 4.5" not 4.6". The 1040 weighs 2g. more. The bottom line is that the 1040 is hardly an 'upgrade' over the 1030 Plus.

[spdntrxi]

maybe it's bigger for the battery

[bobones]

Still can't understand how Garmin maintains its market share with buggy firmware and underwhelming hardware.

What Garmin Edge do you have and what are the bugs?

[Stueys]

The edge units are so feature rich now that I'm not hugely surprised that Garmin are struggling to find much to add thats meaningful. Multi band GNSS is the main draw for me, it's stellar on my watch. I quite liked the idea of solar but thats a hefty premium to top up a battery life that's already significantly more than I need.

[njleach]

My first Garmin was a 705. I've upgraded every time. I cannot recall the last, or even the first time, I had a software issue. I understand some people do, but I suspect they sell well is because most of us are puzzled why others have so many problems.

+1

Have used the Garmin Edge range for many years without issue, including the last few years on the 830. Have never experienced a software issue beyond the odd occasion where the ride didn't automatically upload upon returning home and connecting to WiFi.

[usr]

maybe it's bigger for the battery

Have you looked at the leaked images? It's longer for the slightly more oblique angles at the front and rear, that's it. The rectangular box you could fit into the outline is tellingly similar between the old and the new case design. The alleged runtime improvements must be improvements in chips and/or their operating system that were made for tweezing more runtime out of those tiny watch batteries.

[justonwo]

Still can't understand how Garmin maintains its market share with buggy firmware and underwhelming hardware.

What Garmin Edge do you have and what are the bugs?

Let's see. I had the 305 many years ago. Worked reasonably well. Died after maybe 3 years because of their goofy battery design. Then got a 500? maybe. And then a 510. Then a 520. Now a 530.

I don't even remember all the problems by model. The ones freshest in memory are from the 530. For the first year I had it, sensor dropouts were so bad I didn't use it. I stuck with my 520. I started using the 530 again maybe 2 years ago? Hard to keep the timeline straight. Would disconnect and reconnect to sensors maybe 100 times a ride. I would ride with it every so often to see if firmware had fixed the issues. Tried all kinds of tricks with Garmin support. They thought it was all sensor hardware. Right. All of my sensors are defective?

Finally, the dropouts went away with firmware. Maybe last year? But often I wouldn't be able to connect to my Di2 system at all. That was resolved earlier this year.

I vaguely recall tons of navigation issues with the 510? The 520 had been the only computer that has worked with some level of consistency and reliability. And it's the one I use when there are problems with the 530.

Oh, and problems on models connecting to my phone consistently, even now. And LiveTrack intermittently stops and often doesn't even start. Better these days than it used to be. Oh and several months where the 530 would sense an accident a few times a ride. Never could figure out why that happened. You have to press a lot of buttons to disable the alert and prevent it from notifying your loved ones. I finally had to disable that feature.

Oh, and I still can't turn off the constant weather alerts. I've disabled it in the app many times but I get them all the time.

So yeah, just generally buggy and meh. Been using their stuff for 15+ years. It mostly gets the job done but doesn't excite me. The year of sensor dropouts with the 530, rendering it completely worthless, was infuriating.

[Mocs123]

Interesting, I don't think I've had more than 1 or 2 sensor dropouts in the past year/6K miles with the 530. I had a 510 prior and it wasn't perfect, but it servedme well until it finally died this past summer.

If I wasn't already invested in the Garmin ecosystem I might have tried Wahoo, but I don't think they are any better, different but not better.

[TobinHatesYou]

I've had occasional hangs and crashes on the 830, some weird sensor behavior too...but I've also had the same and worse on an ELEMNT Bolt. Worse in fact, the Bolt had garbage accuracy as soon as I placed another wireless device underneath it like a Fly12, GoPro or even a Bontrager Ion Pro RT light.

[jlok]

I just wish Garmin navigation has the flexibility of Google Maps, or simply allows me to import the Google Maps navigation, plus real-time sync of the navigation changes/re-route.

Also, can I turn off the virtual partner for once? Not that it's a deal breaker but it's almost like a "bug" becoming a feature for a laugh.

And... if people accepts the battery life of Karoo2, surely Garmin could implement AMOLED screen on a top top level/model to test the market acceptance?

[ODC]

I think that we are at a point, with bike computers, like with smartphones. No big innovations anymore but improvements.
I just don't understand why Wahoo and Garmin aren't using better screens (price?) and like some people say. Why not implement a app function like google maps.
For me no needs for a bigger battery life but I think since covid there are lot of more people doing insane bike trips (+300km) and they are thinking about those people?

[Hiks]

Agree - 1040 innovations are now missing...
Just quick toughts....(some of these ideas maybe totally stupid but)

How about camera? from safety perspective...or real time shared MTB activity with selected friends - camera - and voice chat? Next genaration will eventually do this, I see them using TikTok and live sharing quite a lot.
And if integrated speaker, could 1040 have then "bell/horn"?
For MTB racing: real time gaps to next racer, previous racer would be nice
or if you are cycling with friends - real time heart rate shared with mates. To make sure the pace is good for all and all enjoy
Now garmin shows suggested cycling activity when starting the activity. Timing wise it would be better if garmin could share suggested activity on the morning, by email or maybe via pop up on garmin watch..

[jlok]

Agree - 1040 innovations are now missing...
Just quick toughts....(some of these ideas maybe totally stupid but)

How about camera? from safety perspective...or real time shared MTB activity with selected friends - camera - and voice chat? Next genaration will eventually do this, I see them using TikTok and live sharing quite a lot.
And if integrated speaker, could 1040 have then "bell/horn"?
For MTB racing: real time gaps to next racer, previous racer would be nice
or if you are cycling with friends - real time heart rate shared with mates. To make sure the pace is good for all and all enjoy
Now garmin shows suggested cycling activity when starting the activity. Timing wise it would be better if garmin could share suggested activity on the morning, by email or maybe via pop up on garmin watch..

Re: camera integration

Maybe Garmin can let us preset camera start/stop triggers by map locations GPS and also sync/record sensors data on the video. Garmin already allows adding check points in Course creation, certainly feasible to add one more kind of check points as Camera start/stop?

Make a new action camera and optional mount kit with the same Garmin external battery pack interface. The camera battery can be shared with 1040 then.

[cyclespeed]

Agree - 1040 innovations are now missing...
Just quick toughts....(some of these ideas maybe totally stupid but)

How about camera? from safety perspective...or real time shared MTB activity with selected friends - camera - and voice chat? Next genaration will eventually do this, I see them using TikTok and live sharing quite a lot.
And if integrated speaker, could 1040 have then "bell/horn"?
For MTB racing: real time gaps to next racer, previous racer would be nice
or if you are cycling with friends - real time heart rate shared with mates. To make sure the pace is good for all and all enjoy
Now garmin shows suggested cycling activity when starting the activity. Timing wise it would be better if garmin could share suggested activity on the morning, by email or maybe via pop up on garmin watch..

Re: camera integration

Maybe Garmin can let us preset camera start/stop triggers by map locations GPS and also sync/record sensors data on the video. Garmin already allows adding check points in Course creation, certainly feasible to add one more kind of check points as Camera start/stop?

Make a new action camera and optional mount kit with the same Garmin external battery pack interface. The camera battery can be shared with 1040 then.

I would just love a very small, simple, low res, integrated camera so I can record all the car driving idiots that try to kill me every day.