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Garmin Zumo 660 Coming to The UK Soon



pocketgpsworld.comThe latest in Garmin's range of navigation devices aimed at bikers is rumoured to be coming to our shores next month.

The Zumo 660 looks a lot like its Nuvi cousins with a wide-screen 4:3 display format but it is very much designed for the tougher environment of the handlebars of a motorbike.

Alongside features such as Lane Assist and 3D City View come Bluetooth with enhanced A2DP stereo connectivity to compatible Bluetooth equipped helmets or headsets. Listen to navigation instructions or use a connected hands-free telephone.

Kudos to Garmin for also recognising that many bikers are also car drivers. The Zumo 660 comes with both bike and car mounts in the box as well as a carrying case, USB cable and dash disk.

No official pricing has been announced as yet but e-Retailers are doing the usual guessing game on pre-order adds with prices ranging between £380.00 and £499.00. I'd hedge my bets at a price somewhere in the middle, perhaps £449.00.

 

Zumo 660 Menu Zumo 660 Trip Zumo 660 3D

 


www.garmin.com



Comments
Posted by chastreo on Sat Apr 25, 2009 3:14 pm Reply with quote

Like the Nuvi 550 before it, the Zumo 660 has a built in rear speaker which is also waterproof, see the YouTube video of a Nuvi 550 quite happy for 15 minutes doing a demo route from the inside of a fish tank, c/w gold fish.

The built -in speaker is one reason why the Zumo 660 will be cheaper than the previous top of the range Zumo 550, which came with a car kit c/w with integral speaker. For the Zumo 660 the car kit will be the standard type Nuvi window sucker Smile

The 'next turn' graphic box, which doubles up for Lane Assist, is also a welcome addtion for bikers, for whom more time is needed watching the road !!


 
Posted by MaFt on Mon Apr 27, 2009 12:47 pm Reply with quote

hmm... they seem to have got rid of the hardware buttons? pretty certain one of the 'selling points' of the first zumo's were the left-hand friendly hardware buttons you could manage with gloves on?

MaFt


 
Posted by chastreo on Mon Apr 27, 2009 1:06 pm Reply with quote

MaFt Wrote:
hmm... they seem to have got rid of the hardware buttons? pretty certain one of the 'selling points' of the first zumo's were the left-hand friendly hardware buttons you could manage with gloves on?

MaFt


Perhaps they took the view that if TT Rider users were happy without the hardware buttons ...

There are LH screen buttons, plus the on/off hardware button on top doubles up as a mute & screen brightness button.

One USA user said of the 660 against his previous 550 that it was like b/w TV v's Color, in the 600's favour ( I know, it should have been colour) Very Happy

11th May is the suggested date for UK shipping Cool


 
Posted by pwrycroft on Tue Apr 28, 2009 4:07 pm Reply with quote

The Zumo 550 lost a lot of functioinality when compared with the Streetpilot 2720 or 2820. Some of the features are really useful such as time ot waypoints and being able to customise the display of information to exactly what you want. Once setup you rarely ned to touch the GPS which is a big bonus on a bike - I am told that the 660 will reintroduce these features but I think I will wait until I have read a manual to make sure!


 
Posted by Steven-f on Fri May 22, 2009 7:52 pm Reply with quote

I just got my Zumo 660 delivered from Autocom and used it on the drive home. Very impressed - the speed camera alerts are very good.

Interestingly, as soon as I connected & registered it I was informed that a new map was available, so an hour later I'm still updating!


 
Posted by Darren on Fri May 22, 2009 8:01 pm Reply with quote

Steven-f Wrote:
Very impressed - the speed camera alerts are very good.

I know you're a subscriber but are you talking about ours or the Garmin trial OOI?


Darren Griffin

 
Posted by Steven-f on Sat May 23, 2009 8:16 am Reply with quote

The Garmin standard warnings are very good - much like the ones from Ash10's CM. A big black warning if you're under the limit, which changes to red if you're exceeding it, with chimes.

But still no voice alerts, no 10% ACPO margin, and above all, the Cyclops database of camera positions isn't as good or up to date as PGPSW so I'll keep both sets live.

I've also got a TT940 which is my main SatNav - I bought the 660 for my motorcycle, and I still feel that the TT routing, maps, flexibility, and traffic (IQ routes and Live) make it far, far better than the Garmin's. The only thing the Garmin does better is the speed camera warnings - I hate the fact that the TT always warns you even if under the limit - and only warns once (except for Specs) why doesn't the menu bar change to red if over a limit with a speed camera present (and maybe amber if within the 10% ACPO limit)...that would be good on both Garmin and TT.


 
Posted by tomthompson on Sat May 23, 2009 5:54 pm Reply with quote

But still no voice alerts, no 10% ACPO margin, and above all, the Cyclops database of camera positions isn't as good or up to date as PGPSW so I'll keep both sets live.

With Ash's camera software the voice and 10% come with an updated program from Ash after a donation, seems fair to me ,in fact its also possible to have a voice warning for overspeed as well instead of those annoying bongs.
If you keep both databases active it will get very confusing as Garmins and this database will duplicate warnings often.


Asus Zenfone 2 twin sim, Garmin Zumo 550, 660 and pocketgps speed camera database

I keep on learning but they invent new things faster ,How do I keep up ?

 
Posted by grumpygit88 on Sat May 23, 2009 8:50 pm Reply with quote

I received my 660 yesterday (after several months wait and missed delivery deadlines by Garmin), and although I'm reasonably happy with the device itself (its very different to my old TomTom Rolling Eyes ) - I have to say that the software that came with it is a complete waste of time.

I installed the mapsource software, but can't unlock it. There's no 8 digit unlock code supplied. I (eventually) managed to register the device and found an unlock code online - 25 digits and it still won't unlock the mapsource software.

I tried downloading the free map update. Maybe that will install a working version of mapsource?... Over 3 gigs (and 8 hours) to download... TWICE because that doesn't bloody work, either. Just causes the computer to grind to a halt. There's no Garmin support available at the weekends, so that'll be tuesday now before I can sort anything out, and no doubt two hours stuck in a phone queue.

Is Garmin stuff always this bad? Or is it just me? Anyone here recently downloaded a map update and got it to work?


 
Posted by Feek on Mon May 25, 2009 9:32 am Reply with quote

grumpygit88 Wrote:

I tried downloading the free map update. Maybe that will install a working version of mapsource?... Over 3 gigs (and 8 hours) to download... TWICE because that doesn't bloody work, either. Just causes the computer to grind to a halt. There's no Garmin support available at the weekends, so that'll be tuesday now before I can sort anything out, and no doubt two hours stuck in a phone queue.

Is Garmin stuff always this bad? Or is it just me? Anyone here recently downloaded a map update and got it to work?


Very harsh. I've downloaded two map updates from Garmin and each one has worked perfectly each time.

I've also had to call Garmin a couple of times for support and each time I've not had to hold for more than a few seconds and they've been incredibly helpful.


 
Posted by chastreo on Wed Jun 03, 2009 2:39 pm Reply with quote

Received my Zumo 660 yesterday.

First impressions, I'm very pleased with it. So far I've only done a short journey in the car to try it. I hope to get it mounted on the bike this weekend.

The wide screen is great. Next Turn and Lane Assist indicator box is good, as is the real time clock.

The Bluetooth finds my Palm Treo 680 no problem and enables access to the phone book & call logs etc.

Being a brand new model, it has a few bugs/omissions, which the various forums are pressing Garmin Support to fix/update asap.

However, coming from a Nuvi 250 I'm more than happy with the extra features. Interstingly, Garmin MobileXT on my Palm PDA has more features and 'bells & whistles', but useability make the Zumo much better.

If you currently have a Zumo 550, you might be upset at some missing features / map details, so unless you really want the wider screen, you might be better off hanging back from buying for now, and wait for a few updates.

But if you are wanting a new bike GPS, and are not currently using a Z550, then I'd go for it now.


 
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