I have some wired computers with very robust wires, fortunately no wires broke yet. Had a computer with a very thin wire, that did not last long.
Bought a wireless for my folding bike. Was really cheap, had to have the computer and sender within about 30 or 35 cm for the two to talk to each other. My handlebars were too far above my wheel for that to work. So, that was a waste of money.
For my S&S bike I did not want to deal with things like wire, so bought a wireless computer for it. Got a good wireless computer, also with optional cadence sensor. I could put the sensor on the back wheel if I wanted to, the radio part was that good. The two parts had to do some handshacking any time I changed a battery I had to go through a resetting process.
But wireless, when I first start a ride I kept forgetting to tell my computer to start looking for the signal from the sender. My wired computer, it started up automatically but the wireless did not.
The wireless, I get maybe a year on the battery on teh computer, maybe two years on the sender and cadence sensor. But my wired one, I think I get four or five years per single battery. These days there are enough devices to use CR2032 batteries, that they are cheap and easy to find. So the cost of batteries is not a problem, but going for a ride and finding that the battery died part way through the ride, that is less enjoyable. And when I get home I have to look up my wheel data to find my tire circumference to enter into it when I put a new battery in it.
I usually find in the fall when the temperature gets near freezing, that is when my wireless computer battery gives up.
My folding bike, I started to just use my GPS without any other computer on the bike. And this past spring I bought a road bike and have not gotten around to putting a computer on it either, although I have another computer in storage that I can put on it. Instead I just put a GPS bracket on my handlebar and use a GPS instead.
My GPS is a general use recreational one, not a bike specific one. But I can load maps into it from the internet and keep track of my speed and track, has routing, etc., so it works fine for biking stuff too.
