New eTrex Touch

[Bianchi Boy]

Garmin have just sent mean email of the new eTrex Touch. This has, as the name suggests, a touch screen. I have scanned the manual and it appears to have all the normal features. The device appears to have s slightly larger screen with a lower resolution.

I found the old eTrex better than the 30 and on the surface it looks like more of the same again with a worse screen that will be hard to use and get hard to read with smudges.

Has anyone any experience of this new device. I hope my first impressions are wrong.

BB

[tubbycyclist]

I am an early adopter - got the eTrex Touch 35, previously had the Dakota 20. I have used it for a couple of weeks and overall my impressions are positive. This includes some touring around France, and PBP.

- although the screen is relatively low res it works for me. Follow the pink line is my usual strategy.
- has a bluetooth connection to my phone, which was great for responding to anxious texts on PBP when the tracking fell over. It flashes the text message up on the screen.
- supports Live Tracking, so my family could follow the blue dot for the first 300km of PBP until it fell over and I did not have the energy to sort it out again.
- syncs with Garmin Connect on the phone via bluetooth and then to Strava.
- records .fit files for those that prefer that format.
- touch screen seems more responsive than the Dakota.
- supplied bike mount is very solid and was not flustered by French speed bumps or cobbles.
- pairs with Ant+ sensors.
- can act as a remote for a Garmin camera (not got one, though, so not tried it)
- did not crash recording PBP (phew!)
- auto start can be switched on and off (did not exist on the Dakota)

The 35 has a barometric altimeter, and microSD card slot. Comes with routable OSM topo mapping for the whole of Europe and a choice of colour schemes.

I ran one set of Lithium and then alkaline batteries - ran for about 12 hours on the Lithium (with Bluetooth on), and more like 8-9 hours with alkaline batteries. Probably would have been more without the bluetooth connection.

I have put it on a usb power meter and looks like it draws 120mA so may run overnight with a Luxos or similar - will have to try it out. I can test that again at some point if folk want to know if it works.

Overall I am quite happy with it so far.

[Ben T]

How good it is might depend on whether it's an electro sensitive or pressure sensitive screen. If it's electro sensitive, like most phones, it probably won't work that well when it's wet. I know my phone's screen doesn't work that well when it's wet, especially swipes, presses work a bit.

[frankly frankie]

It is a capacitative touch screen, according to Garmin.

The Dakota screen was a pressure screen, and pretty awful - you really have to look at the GPS while doing any touchscreen operation to know that it's 'taken' - and looking at the GPS means you aren't looking at the road ahead.  Button devices make far more sense to me in this particular context.

[Ningishzidda]

Wikipedia says about Capacitive sensing...

"one cannot use a capacitive touchscreen through most types of electrically insulating material, such as gloves."

TomTom must be Resistive, as I can operate it sucessfully with my gloves on, or with a soft plastic stylus. The TT screen is unaffected in the rain, unlike my Samsung screen.

On a table beside my armchair at home, is an unused ashtray containing a group of guitar fingerpicks. One fingerpick has become useful for a second purpose 

[frankly frankie]

Maybe Garmin have done something revolutionary and forgotten to mention it  - I guess all you can do is try it - maybe tubbycyclist can try some gloved and mittened operations for us, and leave it under the shower for an hour    and report back.

[Kim]

I agree that resistive is preferable for this application.

I'm sure what it comes down to is cost.  Transmissive LCDs with resistive and capacitive touchscreens are available off-the-shelf in a variety of sizes, due to their use in all sorts of devices.  I suspect the reflective display used in the older models is either prohibitively expensive or no longer manufactured.

[HK]

One very excited bunny here.  Clearly Mr Garmin has been listening to my wishes.  Currently running the Edge 810 for a variety of reason over the Eurex 30.  One of many is the it talks to my phone (when they haven't had a falling out that is). I don't think it's going to take me too long to wear out the Edge given it's internal battery.  Will definitely be replaced by one of these - taking AA rechargeable batteries is a big advantage.

[Ivan]

What's the mount like, same as the old eTrex? This is the biggest drawback for me - the Edge versions are so much more secure and there are many aftermarket alternatives.

I'm tempted to investigate 3d printing my own eTrex out front mount as a winter project as don't really have a lot of love for my Edge Touring otherwise.

[tubbycyclist]

What's the mount like, same as the old eTrex? This is the biggest drawback for me - the Edge versions are so much more secure and there are many aftermarket alternatives.

I'm tempted to investigate 3d printing my own eTrex out front mount as a winter project as don't really have a lot of love for my Edge Touring otherwise.

It comes with a Garmin bike mount that is the same as the Dakota/Oregon/etrex 20 mount. I am not sure whether you menn  the old eTrex Legend/Vista mount but this incarnation has been absolutely rock solid so far.

[DrMekon]

Any more reports? I have a power meter, and hadn't realised the etrex 30 can't pair with power meters. Faffing around with keeping the Edge 520 I use when not doing longer stuff is likely to be more than my reduced brain capacity will cope with. Does the Etrex 35 definitely pair with power meters?

[DrMekon]

Short of someone coming back and saying they've got it working, the lack of a power meter option on the ant screenshots from the touch 35 suggest there still isn't an AA powered Garmin that works with power meters

https://www.navigation-professionell.de/en/garmin-etrex-touch-25-35-settings/

[Oxford_Guy]

Is there anyway to keep the Etrex 35 running without going through it's batteries by connecting it to a dynamo-powered charger like the B&M eWerk or similar i.e. does it have a micro USB (or similar) port that you can power it through? I have a dynamo on some (but not all) of my bikes, and would like to be able to make use of the extended range this would give without having to change batteries. Or is it only the Edge GPS units you can do this on?

Also does anyone know if the Etrex 35 touch screen is less finicky in the wet than the Edge 820's one?

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Ask HK for details. She has several Edges and several Etrexes, including the 35, but has never tried linking any of them with powermeters. She doesn't rate the 35 as an improvement over the 30, though both can be charged on the go.

[DrMekon]

I am definitely interested. For now, I've made the fortunate discovery that the raceware combined exposure / garmin mount provides pretty good shielding of the usb port, and combined my framebag, just leaving a powerbank attached to the 520 would mean I could leave it on for ages.

[jsabine]

Ask HK for details. She has several Edges and several Etrexes, including the 35, but has never tried linking any of them with powermeters. She doesn't rate the 35 as an improvement over the 30, though both can be charged on the go.

I don't think that's quite right: you can power the Etrex (at least my 30x) on the go, which I think is what Oxford_Guy needs, but if you've got rechargeable cells inside it won't charge them. (I use non-rechargeable lithiums in it so I'm not certain, but I'm fairly sure the Etrex doesn't have charging circuitry built in.)
</pedant>

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Yes, you are correct.

I'm not a fan of external power supplies to GPSs while riding. The sockets tend to wear.

[Oxford_Guy]

Yes, you are correct.

I'm not a fan of external power supplies to GPSs while riding. The sockets tend to wear.

An alternative I've also done in the past is to use the dynamo to keep a 16000mAh external battery in my bar bag topped up, then to charge whatever device I've been using from that at lunch stops and overnight. Does add more weight, though. I'm wanting a GPS solution that means I don't require mains power for a week or more of cycling touring (camping)

[Samuel D]

I'm wanting a GPS solution that means I don't require mains power for a week or more of cycling touring (camping)

How about 10 or so eneloop AA cells, charged before you leave? This doesn’t have the psychological comfort of indefinite running time, but in practice it may beat all alternatives for reliability, simplicity, and tolerable weight.

Or fewer cells and a lightweight 2×/4× AA charger for plugging into a mains socket once in a while.

[tubbycyclist]

How about 10 or so eneloop AA cells, charged before you leave? This doesn’t have the psychological comfort of indefinite running time, but in practice it may beat all alternatives for reliability, simplicity, and tolerable weight.

Or fewer cells and a lightweight 2×/4× AA charger for plugging into a mains socket once in a while.

Another option might be to use something like an AA usb battery charger off the dynamo hub in a bar bag. Might be worth an experiment for a whole 1.80! I am sure someone out there can do the sums for the time taken to recharge a set of eneloops, would keep the weight down.

[dim]

Lezyne Super GPS ? .... 24 hr battery life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deczaPZqP5I

[Phil W]

Lezyne Super GPS ? .... 24 hr battery life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deczaPZqP5I

So same as Etrex on a set if rechargeable AA's.  For touring where you'll probably be riding no more than 8 hours a day. Six AA batteries would see you 8-9 days. Mark batteries with tape or permanent marker and you'll know which are which. If they do run out, most garages or shops will see you right with AA batteries.

[Oxford_Guy]

BTW does anyone know if the Etrex bike mount can be made to fit on Brompton M bars, as I also intend to do some touring on my M6 when that turns up?

[Phil W]

BTW does anyone know if the Etrex bike mount can be made to fit on Brompton M bars, as I also intend to do some touring on my M6 when that turns up?

Yes, I had mine mounted on my ?Brompton when I took it to Brittany last summer

[Kim]

My Brompton has S bars, which generally make this sort of thing easier.  Anyway, it will even fold with the eTrex attached - so no problems there.

(This is more useful than you might think, as it's one less thing to faff with when you park the bike under your table at a cafe.)