Mine lasted a couple of years before this started happening. A quick search on google and I see its a common fault. General suggestion is to have a go at fixing it yourself (by stripping down and sorting faulty connectors inside). There seemed to be a mixed success rate on this.

What I wanted to announce is additional info that I hadn't seen anywere else. I called Garmin They will replace the unit with a new one for £66 and give a years guarantee. I was initially disappointed that Garmin wouldn't do this for free/much cheaper as it is a common design problem with the unit. I forgot to ask if this problem had been designed out of a new unit (as I was annoyed at the £66). Unless I hear that the fauult has been fixed, I couldn't recommned the Edge anymore. £66 every couple of years is not good.

The software that comes with the Garmin is pants too. Polar was much better, although I'm not clever enough to find if there is better software than the stuff that came with the Edge.

I'll be looking elsewhere when replacing the unit when it dies.

I only paid £50 for my 205 brand new at PC World, so another £66 to replace it doesn't sound like much of a bargain 🙁 Instead I bought a Dakota 20, which will display real maps once I've made some, and does away with the crappy Garmin Training Centre and just appears as a USB drive you can copy the GPX files from…

also it takes real batteries which you can change – I never got more than 7 hours from the 205 with its integral battery 🙁

I experienced random shutdowns on my 705, got in touch with their customer support who recommended I upgrade to the latest firmware. Did exactly that and for the last 2000 miles + it's worked flawlessly.

The amount of use mine gets I'd have no issues paying £66 for a replacement…

If you're on a Mac I'd recommend Ascent as being the best logging / training software. I use this in conjunction with mapmyride to upload routes without any issues (but then at the moment the bulk of my mileage is on the road).

£66 every 2 years isn't good though is it, especially when it is a design fault. Never had a problem with my polar. I'm sure my mobile will have all the necessary software in a couple of years when it breaks again, so I'll try the DIY fix, then bin it if it doesn't work.

simonfbarnes – £50, I think not.

Got the same problem with mine and like SFB I only paid £50 for it in the PC World sales, so the idea of paying more than that to get it fixed hurts a bit.

Been using my Android phone a lot lately to record tracks but don't want it getting scratched or dirty so might end up getting the Garmin fixed.

Fixed mine, easy peasy 🙂 Didn't bother to hardwire the battery though, just tweaked the connector pins then resealed with pva. Have you all seen the guide? Mail me if you want it. If it doesn't result in success then people haven't been forceful enough with the pins.

My on off button broke after à month on My dakota 20. Hope if does not happen again.

I've had my 305 for 4 years – I must obviously be doing something wrong as it's worked perfectly.
I tell lie, descending off the Col de Lauteret it gave me a top speed of 650km/h coming through the long tunnels dropping down to B d'O.

I've a 305 that I bought from someone that had just come back from having that fault fixed. Had it a year now and it's been great. My garmin connect website is incredibly easy to use and records so e nice data.

Was thinking about getting one I can add os maps to but solved that by buying viewranger for my iPhone.

What do you mean by shut down ?
Does it just switch of part way through a ride ?
I've got a problem with mine. Sometimes it won't respond to either the on/off button or being charged, it's just a blank screen.
It happened yesterday again. I knew it was fully charged, but I just wanted to make sure before a long ride.
I plugged it in to the fag lighter socket, got the Battery charging in progress message, shortly followed by the Battery charging complete message.
Unplugged it, tried to switch it on and nothing. No message when I plugged it back in again. Blank screen.
Is this the same fault ?
If not, is there a cure ?

Google it. I think you need to hold down 2 or 3 buttons to reset it.

simonfbarnes – £50, I think not.

honest, on special offer from PC World! I'd have complained a lot more about its lack on OSGB grid if I'd paid full price! A GPS that won't tell you where you are? Pur-lease!

Got it aP. Couldn't find anything on Garmin's site, but found someone else asking the same question on another forum.
It's Mode & Reset for 10 seconds.

Eeerie!
Mine had obviously been reading the forum as it went into auto shut down mode today.
Reset without any problems….thanks MilitantGraham.

My 305 has given four years faultless service BUT just out of interest, how long do the batteries last and is the £66 for battery replace?

The fix it yourself link:

http://blog.mtbguru.com/2008/11/06/surgery-on-the-garmin-edge-305/

My boss asked if he could have a play with my duff 205, and he's just given it back to me, fixed. He then treated me to a rant about production engineering. He said there was an excellent printed circuit board, which was then connected to the battery by a set of rubbish flexible metal pins, which over time lose their wilbert to the point where the connection becomes prone to vibration. Also, because the unit is glued together, there is no pressure to hold things tight. He said he'd reconnected the battery with soldered wires 🙂