New GPS wanted with Auto Sleep function

[Gratton Paul]

Happy New Year everyone!!

I have a Garmin 820 that I have generally been very pleased with it, although compared to the devises I see friends using it seems rather buggy…and the battery life has deteriorated now that it’s rather old. 

The feature I most like is the Auto sleep/battery save mode.  I use this all the time.  Turn by turn directions flash up just before I need to do anything, then straight after I’ve made the turn, the garmin tells me it’s going to sleep in 3 seconds.  The screen then goes completely blank and stays that way until I need to make another turn.   

This is perfect for me.  I do not like having any visual reminders of distance (to do or covered) in front of me when riding. I just like to ride oblivious of this. I only want to see the turn by turn info at the critical time.  I can also wake the devise up ant any time I want just by touching the screen.

I’m not aware of any of the newer Garmins having this function - you can set them to show limited info, like say NSE or W but I just want the screen to be off. Any help greatly appreciated.  Happy to consider other brands.  Good battery life is important to - ideally 20hrs plus without charging - but this screen only in when important function is essential for me.

I like the look of the Garmin Explore 2 but users tell me it doesn’t have the function I need.

Many thanks.

[Paul H]

I like the look of the Garmin Explore 2 but users tell me it doesn’t have the function I need.

I'm pretty sure it doesn't. though it isn't a feature I've gone looking for.  You can add data screens and assign them to single tasks, for example a heart rate monitor screen without a monitor connected just gives a small symbol and HR in the center of the screen.
Do you rely on the Garmin waking up for a turn?  The three I've had, including the Explore 2, have never been great at distinguishing between a turn and a bend in the road, either way.  The battery life on the Explore is good enough for me to have the map screen showing most of the time, without worrying about it's consumption.

[JonB]

I've got a Garmin 530 - on the one occasion that it got perilously low on power it went into battery saver mode which entailed the screen going blank and then flashing into life when a turn prompt was activated. I think you could set it to run in this mode as I had to dig around to turn it off the next time I used it after the battery had charged. Like Paul H I'm not sure I'd want to rely on this as I regularly get prompts for bends in the road and sometimes nothing for a junction but maybe that can be improved at the route plotting stage.
Battery life is very good although it's over 3 years old now but I think it would go for near 20 hours when I first bought it. I have a feeling that it will do double that in battery saver mode.

[Feanor]

Newer Garmins have little contact pads on the base of the mount.
These can be mated using the appropriate mount with an external battery pack, which will last for a Very Long Time.

I used them on a trip to South America last year, where charging opportunities were a bit random.

[Lightning Phil]

You are right that the Explore 2 screen will not go blank whilst you are actively recording / navigating.   Its battery save mode can eke out over 30 hours, screen on though. 

A cheat would be to add a Garmin IQ datafield that doesn’t show anything to a 1 field screen but whether anyone has created such a field (and had it approved by Garmin) I know not.

[Zed43]

Edge 830 on close-out sale would make sense. I now have the 1040 (lost the 830) as it was only 50 euro more expensive than the 840 and it has the biggest battery of all.