735xt GPS Issues

have you seen this somewhere or seen a test that shows longer battery life?

Just this: https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?339672-Optical-HR-battery-consumption

it's pretty strange, that with the number of years Garmin has been making GPS devices and specifically running watches. With the number of models and designs that they've evolved over the years... that they can release a product that does this.

reminds me of that meme. "You had one job..."

grrrrr.

I can handle a few bugs in a watch as complex as the 735. It's certainly a brilliant piece of engineering and packaging. But - Garmin needs to get the basics right.

Hi Morey000, not 735xt's but 910xt and Ambit2R. Mountain trail with forest canopy, winter weather, only a few samples so far: http://www.mygpsfiles.com/app/#XdSvfsf0 Both have SiRFstar chipsets, both with good gps accuracy reputations. The Ambit track looks much better but... the Ambit was re-reporting the distance to the next waypoint while the 910xt was accurate and never changed. If I were to choose on the displayed track it would be Ambit without a doubt, but I'll be using the 910xt for course points and virtual partner. I'll still be using the Ambit, I like it, but I won't be worrying about the random deviations of the 910xt track.

Just noticed, the trail is 14km, 910xt reports 15.3, I might be worrying about this. No, the 910xt reports 13.74, MyGPSFiles reports 15.3.

Have you got the 910 on every second recording there? I think the Edge 25 only does smart. If so, the coarser track with smart recording will make it appear smoother.

Have you got the 910 on every second recording there? I think the Edge 25 only does smart. If so, the coarser track with smart recording will make it appear smoother.

Yes, the 910 is 1 second recording, the Edge 25 doesn't have an option. I wouldn't be surprised if it is smart recording though, the cues come up from about 400m out, probably necessary under smart recording, especially on a straight road. I'm liking it that way, the countdown is nice. I'm guessing the Ambit is smoothed too.

The conclusion I'm coming to is that the smoothness of the track isn't too important for the navigation I want.

Yes, the 910 is 1 second recording, the Edge 25 doesn't have an option. I wouldn't be surprised if it is smart recording though, the cues come up from about 400m out, probably necessary under smart recording, especially on a straight road. I'm liking it that way, the countdown is nice. I'm guessing the Ambit is smoothed too.

The conclusion I'm coming to is that the smoothness of the track isn't too important for the navigation I want.

With the tracks as gpx in BaseCamp: The 910XT is recording every 2-3m, the Ambit 12-14m, the Edge 25 1-40m (typically around 22-24m) or 5-10 every minute (6-12 seconds).

It's more likely the point at which the cues appear is in relation to pace rather than the rate of recording (the cues are in the file that has been recorded, not the file that is being recorded). It would make sense to increase the rate of recording at a cue but I haven't found anything in the track to show it, it's not uncommon for a track to cut a right angle corner.

Recording rates have got nothing to do when cues come up. All these devices sample GPS every second and so work with that. They just don't all record the location every second.

Recording rates have got nothing to do when cues come up. All these devices sample GPS every second and so work with that. They just don't all record the location every second.

Yes, probably a good reason to use Smart Recording. If the GPS is sampling every second cues will still be accurate, they have been on the 25 and if total track length isn't affected, might as well save power and storage space by reducing the rate of writing to flash.

Here is another pretty terrible tracking performance from my 735 using GPS+Glonass and 1-sec recording. As you can see it has me flying over buildings consistently. The buildings are not that tall (1-2 stories maximum) and in the past they haven't posed a problem to my FR10 and A3P. Note that before starting the run I waited to get a solid green GPS signal and then started moving.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1251402340

Have seen far far worse over the years. Maybe try without Glonass on here.