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Help picking a new GPS

 
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Springer
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Joined: Oct 16, 2005
Posts: 11
Location: New Jersey, USA

PostPosted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 2:06 am    Post subject: Help picking a new GPS Reply with quote

I currently have a NavMan icn510. I move it from my car to my motorcycle. It has been great to have in the car but is not ideal for use on my bike. In the car I usually want the quickest route. On the bike I like to take the scenic route. The NavMan has no software to allow planning a route on a PC. I found a way to use Microsoft Mappoint to create a file I could save to the NavMan. I then have to use the added POI's to program the route. It is not really user friendly and took to long.

What I want is a GPS that will work with routes saved in Mappoint or other software easily. I know some Garmin units will do this but I honestly have not kept up with the current state of the art since I got my NavMan. I need to be able to use it on the bike so the TomTom Rider2 looks interesting. Is it a good unit for use in the car as well?

I hope I can get some helpful feedback to narrow down my choices. Thanks in advance.
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Kritou
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Joined: Nov 25, 2004
Posts: 263
Location: UK

PostPosted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 8:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Garmin Zumo would appear to fit your requirements. If cost is a consideration a 2610 or Quest also use the excellent Mapsource PC software. Online auction sites should provide a Quest for about £100 with v8 of the mapping that covers the UK and Europe - it's form factor is most convenient for biking and it will run all day on a single battery charge. The Zumo really requires 12v bike power but has all the bluetooth bells and whistles for somewhere around £400
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Skippy
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 10:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've got Quest and they are great units. They don't do speed camera warnings though which is a bit of a downer. There's no touch screen so entering addresses with buttons can be a bit fiddly. As Kritou says, the battery lasts ages so you don't need to power it from the bike. The Quest is quite old now, doesn't have a lot of memory and can be a bit slow. It's a good cheap solution and it slips straight into your pocket, the Rider and 26xx/27xx are bulkier.

There is a Quest 2 but lots of people say it's very slow and are unhappy with it.

The 26xx and 27xx series are quite bulky units and they have to be wired into the bike's power because they have no batteries. This also means that you can't mark the bike's parking spot and use the 2610 to find your way back to it. Sad

Zumo looks like a nice unit, kind of chunky and rugged for use in the car but there is a car kit for it.

A mate uses a Rider and swears by it, though he's had a fair number of reliability problems and TomTom support has been slow and poor.

If you need a mount, there are RAM mounts for most GPS units and bikes, they work very well and I recommend them.

Garmin's Mapsource is similar to Mappoint. You can plot your scenic route and upload it to the Garmin. An absolutely killer feature in my opinion. To be fair, it is technically possible to create routes and upload them to a TomTom, though I don't know of any software that saves routes in TomTom format...
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Springer
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Joined: Oct 16, 2005
Posts: 11
Location: New Jersey, USA

PostPosted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 4:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the replies. It appears that the TomTom will have the same issue loading routes I create that the NavMan does. The Garmin may be the best choice for me. Time to start comparing prices and specs.
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FazerUK
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Joined: Nov 18, 2004
Posts: 242
Location: Wrexhaml, UK

PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 8:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Garmin Zumo 500 or the 550, one has UK map and the other have euro maps, this unit comes with a car mount with the speaker in the mount
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Tim Buxton
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Joined: 14/09/2002 20:56:18
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Location: Surrey, United Kingdom

PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 10:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Springer wrote:
Thanks for the replies. It appears that the TomTom will have the same issue loading routes I create that the NavMan does. The Garmin may be the best choice for me. Time to start comparing prices and specs.


A couple of things to note: the zumo550 comes with a powered carmount so that you get audio instructions in the car but it doesn't come with a headset so you'll need to buy your own if you want audio instructions on the bike.

Conversely, the RIDER2 comes with a Scala RIDER headset for in-helmet audio but you have to buy the carmount to get audio in a vehicle.

Also, the RIDER will provide audio to the headset (but not the carmount) using its own battery whereas the zumo needs external power for both.

Whilst nowhere near as good as Mapsource, you can create routes in Mappoint (I use Autoroute, but the principle's the same) and convert them using POIConverter to change them into .itn format.
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Tarby777
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Joined: Dec 31, 2005
Posts: 28
Location: Stockport, UK

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 11:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm reasonably chuffed with my Rider 2 so far. As mentioned in other threads, my first one was replaced as it didn't grab the SD card properly. I've found that it does some rather stupid things such as sending you up an exit ramp, over the roundabout and back onto the next entry ramp if that's a shorter route than staying on the motorway, but overall it's working well. The headset is pretty good; I can hear what it's saying at 70mph, even with plugs in.

As for creating routes, you can

a) Do it directly on the Rider, picking out points on the map using a mixture of searching for things and selecting them on the touch screen

b) Do the exact same thing in the Tomtom Home software, which has the same interface, but on the PC screen so you're using keyboard and mouse rather than touch screen.

c) Create it in Google Earth and use TYRE to send it to the Rider. Tyre is great; it's free and it simply notices when a waypoint is copied to the clipboard in Google Earth. It grabs it for itself and when you've copied all the waypoints you want, you send it to the Rider where it is saved as an itinerary file.

HTH
Tarby
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Springer
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Joined: Oct 16, 2005
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Location: New Jersey, USA

PostPosted: Fri Sep 07, 2007 3:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks to all for the replies. I decided on the Zumo 550 and picked one up today.

I run TomTom software on my WM5 phone when I travel. It is fine, but I liked the Zumo interface. I liked the features too. I will be using the J&M Bluetooth headset.

I also need to use the unit in my car so the Zumo including a car mount was important. Time will tell if I made the right decision.
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FazerUK
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Joined: Nov 18, 2004
Posts: 242
Location: Wrexhaml, UK

PostPosted: Sat Sep 08, 2007 1:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Let us know how you get on with this unit, as I thinking of getting one, and what did the BT headset cost on top of the price of the GPS?
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Springer
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Joined: Oct 16, 2005
Posts: 11
Location: New Jersey, USA

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 1:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The headset was 280US$. I just got it installed in the helmet today. I still have to put the mount on the bike. I have been using it in the car and so far I like it.
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