# Garmin Edge 305 - $135!!



## pimpbot (Dec 31, 2003)

... at Best Buy. At least the one in Pinole, CA had two in stock (had, before I got one). It was marked Clearance at $160. When I got to the checkout, it was $135... $145 and change after tax. 

This is the HRM version that does not include the speed/cadence sensor, but I can get one of those for pretty cheap on fleabay. 

Dunno if this would apply to other Best Buy stores, but worth looking if you are in the market for one of these things.

*edit*

Oh, and it wasn't on the website.


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## eatsleepbikes (Oct 3, 2009)

Thanks for the info I had been looking on E-bay and found a couple places selling them
for 220 but I went to my local best buy and picked up for the same price as you.
Killer deal and I didn't have to wait for it to be shipped I found the cad/spd sensor
for 45 bucks so I need to get one ordered.


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## pimpbot (Dec 31, 2003)

*I found one....*



eatsleepbikes said:


> Thanks for the info I had been looking on E-bay and found a couple places selling them
> for 220 but I went to my local best buy and picked up for the same price as you.
> Killer deal and I didn't have to wait for it to be shipped I found the cad/spd sensor
> for 45 bucks so I need to get one ordered.


for $32 landed on fleabay... new with generic packaging and no instructions. Don't need those anyway. IIRC, they had a bunch of them.


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## RiceKilla (Apr 21, 2008)

I heard this from someone else as well.

TIme to hit up the local Best Buy.


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## Timon (May 11, 2008)

^i recognize that avatar. h-t ftw. 

i just checked my local bestbuy. didn't have any 

i already have one, but i definitely would've bought one or two and sold on ebay/craigslist for a $40-50 profit.


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## Berkley (May 21, 2007)

$132.99 at Bestbuy in Poughkeepsie, NY. $143 less a $25 gift card and I'm out the door for $118.80.


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## pimpbot (Dec 31, 2003)

*Wow. this thing is cool*



pimpbot said:


> ... at Best Buy. At least the one in Pinole, CA had two in stock (had, before I got one). It was marked Clearance at $160. When I got to the checkout, it was $135... $145 and change after tax.
> 
> This is the HRM version that does not include the speed/cadence sensor, but I can get one of those for pretty cheap on fleabay.
> 
> ...


I did a ride with it yesterday. There is a lot I need to learn about it, but here is my track:

http://www.mtbguru.com/trip/show_static/12385-china-camp-fig8-loop


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## clutch_08 (May 5, 2009)

nomit said:


> ^i recognize that avatar. h-t ftw.
> 
> i just checked my local bestbuy. didn't have any
> 
> i already have one, but i definitely would've bought one or two and sold on ebay/craigslist for a $40-50 profit.


i guess im not the only one from h-t all so


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## ataylor (Dec 28, 2009)

I love mine, just dont make a mistake that I did. I went for a ride and came back and turned it off BEFORE pressing stop since I have it on auto pause. Lost all the ride info 
Garmin connect is great for comparing rides, I never use the software it comes with now.
This is my lunchtime cruise around work.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/21269247


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Stripes said:


> I couldn't find an Edge 305 at Best Buy in the South Bay, but I did pick up a Garmin Vista HCx. Was thinking about the Edge 705 but the battery in it isn't supposed to be good.


based on what?


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Stripes said:


> 10 hours of battery life for the 705, and 20-30 hours for the Vista HCx.


Garmin says 15hrs
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=160&pID=10885#specsTab

And shortened battery life is the price you pay for a slimmed receiver with a rechargeable battery.

E705
2" x 4.3" x 1" (5.1 x 10.9 x 2.5 cm) Display 1.37" x 1.71" (3.48 x 4.36 cm); 2.2" diag (5.6 cm) 3.7oz
eTrex
2.2" x 4.2" x 1.2" (5.6 x 10.7 x 3.0 cm) Display 1.3" x 1.7" (3.3 x 4.3 cm) 5.5oz

It's not a big difference, but it is a difference. Edge has the bigger screen with the smaller size. Hence, less room for battery. Weight is a big difference, also.


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## pimpbot (Dec 31, 2003)

*Yeah, but really...*



Stripes said:


> 10 hours of battery life for the 705, and 20-30 hours for the Vista HCx.


....Do you ride more than 10 hours at a time? You can charge it up with the USB port. Seems to be that you can use any one of the zillions of external USB batteries to run it as long as you want, if that really was an issue (including ones that us AA batteries)... say for a 24 hour race or long bike tour.

The 305 is the same 10 hour battery.

I considered the Vista for a while, but its just so frickin bulky, and no provisions for cadence or heart rate. It has a lot of other advantages over the 305, but being a bike computer was #1 priority for me.


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## Oragun (Dec 2, 2004)

Thanks for this info pimpbot! I scored one for $132.99 at our local BestBuy (sku 8455913) on the 26th! It was the last one in that store and I'm excited to use it next Saturday on a metric century trail ride (Tour de Felasco). Lots of things to read on the manual and I found it easier and faster to read online reviews and how people are actually using it.


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## Popper252 (Jan 24, 2007)

Just called all the stores in the Orlando area and they're all out 

I already have a 305 but I know some friends were wanting some. Oh well. 

Thanks anyways for the tip guys!


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## tracerprix (Dec 26, 2009)

Neither one of the 2 stores in Syracuse, NY had any.


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## jkmacman (Mar 5, 2009)

edge 305 nice unit, but i use my foreunner 405 w/delorme pn-40 much more

if you just need h-r. i recomend a cheap polar and a delorme if you are an off-road person:thumbsup:


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## pimpbot (Dec 31, 2003)

*Already had that*



jkmacman said:


> edge 305 nice unit, but i use my foreunner 405 w/delorme pn-40 much more
> 
> if you just need h-r. i recomend a cheap polar and a delorme if you are an off-road person:thumbsup:


I was rocking a bike computer and HRM on the bars and an altimeter on my wrist, in addition to lockout levers all over. Everybody gave me crap about it, calling it pimpy's dashboard. It became a PITA for night rides, too... with all that crap going on.

I picked up at Specialized P-Brain at a swap meet for super cheap, and loved that it combined the bike computer with altitude and HRM, although I couldn't figure out all the features without the manual.

What made me want to go with this is that it has all the stuff I needed in 3 devices in one simple gadget, plus of course GPS.


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## pimpbot (Dec 31, 2003)

*Antioch, CA....*



pimpbot said:


> ... at Best Buy. At least the one in Pinole, CA had two in stock (had, before I got one). It was marked Clearance at $160. When I got to the checkout, it was $135... $145 and change after tax.
> 
> This is the HRM version that does not include the speed/cadence sensor, but I can get one of those for pretty cheap on fleabay.
> 
> ...


... Best Buy has one new one left in the box.... if anybody is interested.


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## crux (Jan 10, 2004)

pimpbot said:


> ... Best Buy has one new one left in the box.... if anybody is interested.


I'd be interested as Best Buy in New Mexico does not stock the Edge GPS.


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## pimpbot (Dec 31, 2003)

*Sorry...*



crux said:


> I'd be interested as Best Buy in New Mexico does not stock the Edge GPS.


I meant that more as if anybody was in the area, there is one there. I don't particularly want to go through the hassle of buying and shipping it for somebody.


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## sbpinnacle (Jul 27, 2009)

Add another to the Best Buy Edge 305 team. I can't believe how little this thing is! I'm pretty stoked to use it, I've been using my iPhone, but look forward to real tracks and elevation, not to mention the HR and Cad once I get it. Thanks for the heads up pimpbot!


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## MikeDee (Nov 17, 2004)

pimpbot said:


> ... Best Buy has one new one left in the box.... if anybody is interested.


Antioch doesn't have a Best Buy. Brentwood or Pittsburg?


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## crux (Jan 10, 2004)

pimpbot said:


> I meant that more as if anybody was in the area, there is one there. I don't particularly want to go through the hassle of buying and shipping it for somebody.


No worries.

Found that Best Buy does not have any in NM or AZ. Online they will only sell them for $270. For them to be selling at $135 think the model is most likely slated to be discontinued or no longer carried by Best Buy. Just my guess though.


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## mtb888 (Aug 2, 2006)

Just bought one for 129 but display model in Westwood, CA. I went to 4 different Best Buys and finally found one. Can't wait to play with it.


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## pimpbot (Dec 31, 2003)

*Must be Pittsburgh*



MikeDee said:


> Antioch doesn't have a Best Buy. Brentwood or Pittsburg?


I didn't know Pittsburgh goes over that far. In the shopping center near all those car dealerships.

This one:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...838701&spn=0.011125,0.022724&t=h&z=16&iwloc=A

Brentwood is way the crud out there... so no... not that one.


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## pimpbot (Dec 31, 2003)

*Yeah, I think that one...*



crux said:


> No worries.
> 
> Found that Best Buy does not have any in NM or AZ. Online they will only sell them for $270. For them to be selling at $135 think the model is most likely slated to be discontinued or no longer carried by Best Buy. Just my guess though.


was the one that includes the speed and cadence sensor as well as the HRM belt that they are selling for $270. The $135 one was HR only, but you can buy the speed/cadence sensor separately. Loads of them on Fleabay for $40 landed, sometimes cheaper. I got mine for $32 landed with no packaging.


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## sbpinnacle (Jul 27, 2009)

*Is the variance in results typical?*



ataylor said:


> Garmin connect is great for comparing rides, I never use the software it comes with now. This is my lunchtime cruise around work.
> http://connect.garmin.com/activity/21269247


One of the reasons I got the E305 was to see more accurate tracks and elevation compared to using the iPhone. But I look at ataylor's posted track and the elevation looks completely downhill, which is odd for a loop. Is this accuracy typical for a bike GPS with the +/- elevation changes? NateHawk, you have quite a lot of experience with these GPS devices, any thoughts?


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

sbpinnacle said:


> One of the reasons I got the E305 was to see more accurate tracks and elevation compared to using the iPhone. But I look at ataylor's posted track and the elevation looks completely downhill, which is odd for a loop. Is this accuracy typical for a bike GPS with the +/- elevation changes? NateHawk, you have quite a lot of experience with these GPS devices, any thoughts?


That reading for elevation is not unusual. There are a number of factors that play into it, but probably the primary one at play in this case is that the weather was changing (high pressure system moving in). Based on that activity report, we don't know what the weather was for that day, but a barometric altimeter changes ANY time the air pressure changes. It just assumes that all air pressure changes are the result of changing elevation.

So, the way you sort that out is by considering the real world situation. Were you at a constant elevation or were you climbing/descending? In this case, the ride occurred on a pretty constant elevation in a loop. In that way, we KNOW the elevation for this ride, since it is a loop, began and ended at the same elevation. But because the altimeter readout does not match that, we know that the weather was changing in some way.

Motionbased used to have a pretty good elevation correction system in place that corrected for stuff like this. Word from Garmin is that they are working on a correction system for GC. Maybe the system from Motionbased was inadequate in some way or incompatible with the new system.

The newer Edge receivers have some trouble with elevation because they calculate it differently, but since this is for an E305, I'd chalk it up to changing weather.

Calculating elevation is tricky business. It's not a direct measurement, and that results in compromises and assumptions that vary to some degree.


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## ataylor (Dec 28, 2009)

I was going to ask about that but had not had time to read the manual to see if there was something I was doing wrong. I was not sure about how the elevation was calculated, could this be from riding into a head wind then on the way back it would be a tail wind? Going back and looking at older readings of the same loop its always this way. This loop is basically flat all the way around.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

ataylor said:


> I was going to ask about that but had not had time to read the manual to see if there was something I was doing wrong. I was not sure about how the elevation was calculated, could this be from riding into a head wind then on the way back it would be a tail wind? Going back and looking at older readings of the same loop its always this way. This loop is basically flat all the way around.


If it was windy, that's an indication that the air pressure is changing and a weather system is moving in or out.

Another thing I notice is that this ride is pretty short (both time and distance) and that the change in elevation is less than 50ft. Looking at the site, the readings at the end of the ride are probably more likely to be accurate measurements, but the ones at the beginning are off. Might this be a case of moving the GPS from a warm car to the cold outside? Because if the GPS was warm and cooling off as the ride progressed, that might result in numbers like we see in the ride data.


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## sbpinnacle (Jul 27, 2009)

Nate... thanks for the barometric education, it's certainly helpful. After your last post, I started wondering if I should "normalize" my bike & E305 outside for 20 minutes or so before I head out in the winter? I live in NVA and most of my rides lately are when the temps are 25-35 or so. My bike and GPS reside in my basement, a toasty 50-70 depending on whether I'm in my office before I ride.


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## ataylor (Dec 28, 2009)

its always windy here. I am right on the edge of the San Francisco Bay. I think you may just have it on the temp thing.. I keep it in my car mostly, then click in on the bike then do my short ride.. This is my ride on near the same path yesterday, http://connect.garmin.com/activity/21889753 Its much more stable but has me going uphill all the way.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

yeah you should let the gps sit for a bit to normalize. The last ride starts at over 100ft below sea level and never even gets positive before the ride is over. The temperature of the GPS receiver needs to be the same as the outside temperature at the very least.

Being on the coast with near constant wind, you're experiencing nearly constant differences in air pressure between over the water and over land. The barometer will only be flat when there is no wind. So certainly expect some kind of variation over the course of a ride.

Try giving your GPS some time for its temperature to get closer to the outside temperature before starting your ride. Maybe try putting it in a cooler with an ice pack until you reach your destination to start your ride. You have updated the firmware recently, correct?


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## ataylor (Dec 28, 2009)

Yes, when I run the web updater it says that it has the latest software on it. I will watch it closer and see how it reacts. Like I said this area is pretty much flat, and I know its around sea level not more than 50ft above.


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## bikingbob (Jan 11, 2007)

Thanks for this post.
I found one at the Best Buy, Pleasant Hill store in GA. 132.99. Now if it wasn't 19 degrees outside...


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## sbpinnacle (Jul 27, 2009)

*In the pocket...*

I played inline hockey this morning and had the E305 in my pocket, trying to get an idea of the actual fitness of playing. I forgot to wear the HR monitor, and this was my first attempt with the GPS. It produced 2 tracks/workouts once I downloaded it... and I thought I turned it off but it ended up tracking my follow up drive to Starbucks.

There was elevation changes, which I guess could have been due to my body heat and ambient temp changes. I didn't show me going nearly as far as I expected, but the playback did have me zig zagging all over the place. Cool that it "worked", now I have to figure out what to do with the workouts.


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## MikeDee (Nov 17, 2004)

I called the Pittsburg Best Buy and they said they were out. I went to the Brentwood store and they had one, but the price was $275!? I said forget it.


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## roadiegonebad (Jan 31, 2004)

sbpinnacle said:


> I played inline hockey this morning and had the E305 in my pocket, trying to get an idea of the actual fitness of playing. I forgot to wear the HR monitor, and this was my first attempt with the GPS. It produced 2 tracks/workouts once I downloaded it... and I thought I turned it off but it ended up tracking my follow up drive to Starbucks.
> 
> There was elevation changes, which I guess could have been due to my body heat and ambient temp changes. I didn't show me going nearly as far as I expected, but the playback did have me zig zagging all over the place. Cool that it "worked", now I have to figure out what to do with the workouts.


I'm sure there's tons of dropout and greatly underestimated distance when using within a confined space w/ lots of zip zaggping and such


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## the bionic knee (Sep 27, 2007)

*Score!!*

He shoots, he scores!!

Just picked one up at the Strongsville, Ohio (Cleveland) store for *$103.99!!* (They have 2 left!) They did a price match from my local Best Buy store, which had just sold their last one. Finally, I get an awesome deal! Thanks to the op for the heads up!!! :thumbsup:


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## pimpbot (Dec 31, 2003)

*Dang....*



the bionic knee said:


> He shoots, he scores!!
> 
> Just picked one up at the Strongsville, Ohio (Cleveland) store for *$103.99!!* (They have 2 left!) They did a price match from my local Best Buy store, which had just sold their last one. Finally, I get an awesome deal! Thanks to the op for the heads up!!! :thumbsup:


That is f'ing cheap!!!

I wonder if I can get a price match....


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## Jeepdude (Nov 22, 2007)

Ya...thanks for the info. I picked one up night before last for 122.99 @ the Industry store here in CA...looks like a lot of the Best Buys are running out, but you can go to one store and have them check the inventories at other stores and call around. I had to travel 30 minutes to get mine, but after a $10.00 coupon I had, got out the door for like $113.00. Can't beat that!


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## jaysen (Dec 23, 2009)

Industry have anymore ?

I just picked up a 705 via Craigslist w/ HRM, Speed/Cadence, and Maps for $300 new - but If I can pick up a 305 for a buddy @$130 that would be sweeeeeeeet !


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## Jeepdude (Nov 22, 2007)

I don't know...inventory showed only one in stock when I bought mine...They said there was one in stock at the Pasadena store, but I never called. I already tossed the numbers, but you can probably go online, get the phone numbers then call. The Best Buy stock number is 8455913...good luck!


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## winddancer (Aug 1, 2006)

*Great Deal*

Just picked up a 305 with the heart-rate monitor for $75.99 plus tax at the Best Buy at Brier Creek in Raleigh, NC. The store still had one left in stock.


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## 56cbr600rr (Oct 16, 2008)

Just got the last one here in acworth, ga. $75.99!


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## Timon (May 11, 2008)

i hate you guys.


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## roadiegonebad (Jan 31, 2004)

56cbr600rr said:


> Just got the last one here in acworth, ga. $75.99!


yup, they are now 75.99 (if you can find one)


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## 56cbr600rr (Oct 16, 2008)

I bought the last one in Hiram ga also. Got two.


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## rmccully (Jul 18, 2008)

I got the second-to-last one in Maryland this morning for $75.99. Now if only the snow will melt so I can go for a ride.


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## tedsti (Oct 22, 2004)

I got one for $76.99. They had them marked $171.99, but I told them everyone had them marked down. He pulled up the inventory in the area and the 10 or so stores had many prices ranging from $76 to $171. They matched the store 8 miles away that had it for $76 even though that store had no inventory.


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## drz400sm (Nov 12, 2008)

are you guys finding these in the gps section? or are they hidden somewhere in the store


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## Berkley (May 21, 2007)

GPS section.


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## Ranger Pride (Jan 21, 2005)

*Help*

Apparently here in Michigan Best Buy never carried them. Anyone willing to grab one for me? I can Paypal you.


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## stumonky (Mar 27, 2004)

What type of file does the 305 output to (gpx, tcx, etc)?

Of the ones that purchased this model, for 'data recording' have you tried both the 'smart recording' and 'every second' settings? Just curious on the accuracy of these two modes and which is best for mapping (as if I purchase, my usage is purely for such).


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## david8613 (May 31, 2005)

are these still available at best buys at these prices?


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## 56cbr600rr (Oct 16, 2008)

doubt it.



david8613 said:


> are these still available at best buys at these prices?


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