Garmin 1030 - too big?

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SilentDrone
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by SilentDrone

I purchased a wahoo bolt last week and have 3 rides on it. But I’m thinking about exchanging it for a Garmin 1030. I’ve found that while I like what the Bolt offers as a device for monitoring and tracking stats, its navigation feature leaves a lot to be desired. Largely this is because the screen is just too small for me. I simply cannot read that tiny font very well.

I think I want a gps device that is more capable and easier to use for navigation. The 1030 seems to be the best for this. Those of you who have used one what do you think? Is it bigger than needed for this? Is it too big?


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nickf
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by nickf

The size doesn't bother me. Was a 1000 user for a couple years. I travel a lot and like the round trip routing. The round trip routing is even better with the 1030, uses Garmin heat map routing. Size wise It seems big at first but I'm used to it now. Using the garmim low mount, so it's tucked away nicely.
Last edited by nickf on Mon May 07, 2018 2:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

SilentDrone
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by SilentDrone

I really thought/hoped I could make the bolt work for navigation but it’s just too small for me. Garmin will soon be dropping he “520 Plus” which has navigation now, but that not much larger than the bolt so I’m thinking maybe just go all the way in with a 1030.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.


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spdntrxi
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by spdntrxi

you get the 1030 for the battery.... which is awesome compaired to past garmins.
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jlok
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by jlok

came from a 820 to 1030. got accustomed to the size from day 1.
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IrrelevantD
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by IrrelevantD

I've been using an 810 for a few years... tried the Hammerhead Karoo for about a month (returned for various reasons), and used the money I got back from the Karoo to buy a 1000. Honestly, I think the 1000/1030 is about the perfect size for navigation. While the Karoo technically had more screen real estate, having a wider screen did absolutely nothing for me.
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SilentDrone
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by SilentDrone

I went to the REI and looked at them side by side: bolt, 520, 820 and 1030. I do like the bolt and it’s size but it just doesn’t work well for navigation. The 1030 is a little bulky to my eye but these are old eyes so I think I could put its larger screen to good use for navigation. The lady at the REI is about my age and she said the 1030’s screen is a little too small for her with her prescription so she prefers to use her phone. I agreed with her that the phone is the best navigation experience but it doesn’t have anywhere near a full day battery for cycling either gps.


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Last edited by SilentDrone on Mon May 07, 2018 8:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

kode54
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by kode54

IrrelevantD wrote:
Mon May 07, 2018 6:21 pm
I've been using an 810 for a few years... tried the Hammerhead Karoo for about a month (returned for various reasons), and used the money I got back from the Karoo to buy a 1000. Honestly, I think the 1000/1030 is about the perfect size for navigation. While the Karoo technically had more screen real estate, having a wider screen did absolutely nothing for me.
i like the 810 size. the 820 size is like a 500 series and too small, although the 1000 series is too large for me. so like you, i ended up getting a Karoo. i like it but the problem i have with it is the weight more than anything else. i need a 810 replacement but not as large as the 1000 size. its just too big i think.
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MichaelB
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by MichaelB

I tested the 1030, and initially found it HUGE, but got used to it (was using a 520 before). When using it for rouyting & navigation, it's great, but apart from that I found it too big.
I'm on a Bolt now, and when using it for Nav, it works fine, but would like that little bigger, but not as big as 1030 (may look et the upgraded Elemnt when that come out), but for me, I'm fine with the Bolt.

Did like the big colour screen onm the 1030, but the absolutre killer for me was the touch screen. Unless you have capacitive gloves in winter, it's useless.

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IrrelevantD
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by IrrelevantD

kode54 wrote:
Mon May 07, 2018 8:16 pm
i like the 810 size. the 820 size is like a 500 series and too small, although the 1000 series is too large for me. so like you, i ended up getting a Karoo. i like it but the problem i have with it is the weight more than anything else. i need a 810 replacement but not as large as the 1000 size. its just too big i think.
I'm actually kinda surprised you are OK with the size on the Karoo but think the 1000/1030 is too big. I mean, yes the 1000 and 1030 are a bit longer, but the width, height and weight of the Karoo alwways annoyed me. I'll agree that the 810 was about perfect, but I'm actually pretty OK with the 1000 after my month with the Karoo.
MichaelB wrote:
Tue May 08, 2018 12:01 am
Did like the big colour screen onm the 1030, but the absolutre killer for me was the touch screen. Unless you have capacitive gloves in winter, it's useless.
Did you ever use the 810 or 1000 with gloves? I'm just curious on if there was any difference in the responsiveness than with the 1030. I've honestly found both the 810 and 1000 to be perfectly usable with full finger gloves. Trick I learned with iPhones, just a quick touch of the toungue on the finger of the glove and they work fine.
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csteenbe
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by csteenbe

I was a Garmin 1000 user for many years, then make the jump to the Wahoo Bolt for the reason to try something else. The Wahoo Bolt isn't a navigation device it laks a lot of features compared to the Garmin devices. Also a point to take notice of is that Wahoo depends on third-party software like Strava / TP and so on, and the Companion App is terrible.....

On the other hand the Wahoo Bolt is small, readable however a friend of mine has it stand diagonal and looks like shit hihihi. It does the job for statitics and following roads for navigation. No touch screen is not a issue because the buttons works just fine however when it is raining water stays in the button....

Dropped the Wahoo Bolt and went back to the Garmin the 1030, navigation is much much better, can you use again GC, Garmin Connect, the App and the WEB GUI. Battery life time is 4% per hour, screen is top and swipping is not a issue.

Only disadvantage: it is BIG....to big, no it isn't, would I like to be smaller YES.

I would love to test the new 520 Plus, it is much smaller, it has the same navigation as the 1030, no POI but I can live with that. Also no touch screen but that bothers me either.

SilentDrone
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by SilentDrone

csteenbe wrote:I was a Garmin 1000 user for many years, then make the jump to the Wahoo Bolt for the reason to try something else. The Wahoo Bolt isn't a navigation device it laks a lot of features compared to the Garmin devices. Also a point to take notice of is that Wahoo depends on third-party software like Strava / TP and so on, and the Companion App is terrible.....

On the other hand the Wahoo Bolt is small, readable however a friend of mine has it stand diagonal and looks like shit hihihi. It does the job for statitics and following roads for navigation. No touch screen is not a issue because the buttons works just fine however when it is raining water stays in the button....

Dropped the Wahoo Bolt and went back to the Garmin the 1030, navigation is much much better, can you use again GC, Garmin Connect, the App and the WEB GUI. Battery life time is 4% per hour, screen is top and swipping is not a issue.

Only disadvantage: it is BIG....to big, no it isn't, would I like to be smaller YES.

I would love to test the new 520 Plus, it is much smaller, it has the same navigation as the 1030, no POI but I can live with that. Also no touch screen but that bothers me either.
Thanks for the in-depth comments. I’m riding with the bolt right now and have 30 days to return it under the satisfaction guarantee from competitive cyclist. I like that it functions smoothly and it has a nice design. Biggest drawback for me is that I’d like it to me more navigation capable, including a bigger screen. That small screen makes it hard for me to read the small navigation prompts which hinders my ability to use the capabilities that it does have.

I went to the store yesterday and compared the bolt, elemnt and 1030 side by side, turning them on, etc. The elemnt has a bigger screen which somewhat fixed the font size issue, but the unit itself is ugly, the screen isn’t as bright as on the bolt, and then it costs more for really no value added imo. The 1030 looked better in person than I thought it would—didn’t seem to be as huge as I thought it would be, especially when sitting next to the elemnt. There 1030 felt lighter than I expected too. The touhsceeen worked well even the plastic protector on it. Wasn’t terribly impressed with the look of the UI though, seemed clunky and outdated. Is it easy to create a route in Garmin Connect or wherever and upload it to the 1030 like I’m doing now with rwgps on the bolt? Can the cues be customized? And most importantly does that information present on the unit in an easily readable fashion do one can follow the prompts easily without having to excessively concentrate on viewing the screen?


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MichaelB
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by MichaelB

IrrelevantD wrote:
Tue May 08, 2018 4:37 pm

Did you ever use the 810 or 1000 with gloves? I'm just curious on if there was any difference in the responsiveness than with the 1030. I've honestly found both the 810 and 1000 to be perfectly usable with full finger gloves. Trick I learned with iPhones, just a quick touch of the toungue on the finger of the glove and they work fine.
Never used the porevious versions (only 305, 500 & 520). The difference with the 1030 is they went from resistive screens to capacitive screens, hence them not working real well with gloves.

Here is the review I did for BNA.

re the comments about the Bolt navigation (its the same as the 520), it's not a full navigation comp like the 1030 (or indeed apparently the 520 Plus).

I still find Garmins setups not as good as the Wahoo Companion app (it's not that useful for data etc, but sooooooo easy to use to configure & chnage the Bolt), but will get the 130 to test shortly. I can't quite work out why they made it the 520 Plus instead of the 530 (to follow the other convention), but maybe there are plans afoot for a 530/830 release soon ?

MichaelB
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by MichaelB

SilentDrone wrote:
Wed May 09, 2018 2:46 pm

... Wasn’t terribly impressed with the look of the UI though, seemed clunky and outdated. Is it easy to create a route in Garmin Connect or wherever and upload it to the 1030 like I’m doing now with rwgps on the bolt? Can the cues be customized? And most importantly does that information present on the unit in an easily readable fashion do one can follow the prompts easily without having to excessively concentrate on viewing the screen?
Because it's larger, the cues are easier to raed and work well. Re the full route customisation, not sure, but it is harder and still needs connection to a computer compared to wifi with the Wahoo products.

Haven't used the latest Garmin connect as I'm with the Wahoo system now, but will get a chance to try with the 130 soon.

Try to do the touch screen on a 1030 with winter gloves and you'll find the 1st BIG hurdle. Yes, there are ways around this (capacitive capable gloves or dodgy fixes), but not good to have to spendf more whn you've already spent heaps on the new computer!!

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ms6073
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by ms6073

I realize the Edge 1030 is still relatively new to the market, but anyone have any suggestions on online sites where the just the head unit can be purchased for a good price compared to retail?
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