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Mikej
| | Posted on Friday, December 29, 2006 - 09:35 am: | 
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Thank you for the replies. Lots of good info. I'll be heading over to the store later today to see if they still have any in stock. |
Jackbequick
| | Posted on Friday, December 29, 2006 - 08:43 pm: |
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It was a lot easier than it looks, I did a bunch of cut and pastes from alt.satellite.gps.garmin and alt.satellite.gps.
Those groups dissect the consumer GPSRs pretty objectively and candidly and know all the pros and cons.
And don't forget, email me if you're interested in getting some older but very useful mapping data. It has some info and details that are a boon to us folks that like to ride secondary roads and get off the beaten track a little.
Jack |
Too_tall_todd
| | Posted on Saturday, December 30, 2006 - 03:23 pm: |
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I am not so computer literate, I want a gps where I can pull up the maps on my computer then define a route and download that route into the gps and play. Santa brought me a nuvi 350. while I like it the mountings leave a lot to be desired. I have read that the zumo will allow you to download routes, do any of you know if this is the ability that I am looking for? I see no ability to do this with the nuvi, am I missing something. Any help that you all could give me would once again be greatly appreciated. thanks T3 |
Jackbequick
| | Posted on Saturday, December 30, 2006 - 07:42 pm: |
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The nuvi 350 won't do what you want to do and it is not waterproof either (none of the nuvi are waterproof). Nuvi might not be a good choice for a mike mounted unit.
The zumo will do what you want, is waterproof, and comes with a pretty good mount. But costs two or three times as much. It looks like there are "entry level" GPS units and ones with all the wanted features too. But you have to pay more to get more. Here is a recent thread about the zumo that one of the guys here got recently:
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/242634.html
Sounds like the zumo is more to your wants and needs. It does not come with it but if you ask for it, Garmin will send you the City Navigator NT V8 DVD for free. Then you can plan routes on a PC and upload them.
Some other good and/or popular choices for bike mounted units are the older Garmin Quest, Quest II, and StreetPilot 2610. The 2610 is available as a refurbished unit with a full one year warranty for $350-$400.
Jack |
Rhinowerx
| | Posted on Saturday, December 30, 2006 - 10:04 pm: |
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Just for clarification (unless I miss-read) - the Zumo does come with a copy of Navigator NT V8 DVD and an unlock code.
Cheers
-Jack |
Mikej
| | Posted on Sunday, December 31, 2006 - 10:09 am: |
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"a mike mounted unit."
That might hurt, think I'd prefer it mounted to the handlebars or in a tank bag instead of mounting it to my bodyparts. 
Looks like I'm back to thinking about integrated PDA and other stuff. REI has or had the GPSMAP76Cx on sale for $319.93 which the store expert told me was below cost. A very nice unit, but I passed. I'm now looking at the HP iPaq rx5915 Travel Companion that has the SiRFIII gps chipset built in, and also a Dell Axim X51V and adding a remote gps receiver for the Dell. I really think the 76Cx would better suit my GPS needs, but the PDA combination units better fit the functional needs and budget. I'm thinking that by summer I'll be trying to get either a 76CSx/76Cx or the 60CSx dedicated gps unit. In the mean time if I need to wander around in the rain I'll just work with the eTrex unit that gets me within 30' or so but doesn't have any mapping.
I'm thinking that for waterproofness I'll double-bag the pda unit in the tankbag map pouch. Really really appreciate the info this and other threads has provided to us gps neophytes.
Jack,
some of the in-store and on-line units I've looked at don't have the latest versions of included mapping software. I think Garmin has a grace period for free upgrading, they mention it somewhere on their web site. |
Mikej
| | Posted on Sunday, December 31, 2006 - 10:15 am: |
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Funny story:
I was at the semi-local Comp-USA store yesterday talking to a clerk there about tablet and handheld pc's. He was talking about warranties and such and mentioned replacement screens. I asked what if someone I know pulled out a knife and used it as a pointer on the screen and scratched the screen all up, would that be covered? He had the strangest look on his face, so I had to change it to "okay, what if a friend pulls out a ball point pen and messed up the screen". He went back to normal mode at that point.
Maybe you had to be there....  |
Jackbequick
| | Posted on Sunday, December 31, 2006 - 03:50 pm: |
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Jack (Rhinowerx) - You're right of course about the zumo coming with the DVD, thanks for correcting that. Some of the other models do not and you can get it by asking for it.
Mike,
That $320 price for a 76Cx is pretty good, I got mine this summer for $409 on Amazon and a $100 rebate brought that down to $309. Other than that, around $350 is the best price I've seen on it.
And you're right too about the free upgrades. If you purchase a locked MapSource product on or after the release date of a newer version, you are entitled to an unlock on the newer version of that product for free. The details are here:
http://www.garmin.com/support/faqs/faq.jsp?faq=240 &webPage=Cartography&lang=en
The screen protectors (and maybe even the service contract) can be a good idea. I try to use them on mine when I can. The 76Cx is in a case with clear cover over the display. The displays are pretty scratch resistance but you can get unlucky...
But, telling them you used your PDA to fight off a mugger armed with knife? I don't know... :> If the display quit working and they would replace a broken display, I'd break it.
Jack |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Sunday, December 31, 2006 - 04:16 pm: |
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I fought PDA / Laptop / Dongle GPS solutions for many years, and wasted countless hours on it. They can be made to work, but it's always a hack.
For $310 or less, you should be able to score a Garmin Quest 1 in great shape, and it will do everything you want painlessly and compactly and without grief or drama. (Including building routes on the computer and downloading them to the quest).
That comes with all the necessary software in the box. With a little work, you can get that quest rigged and mounted to your bike with a snap on cradle for another $20-$30.
Not the best most powerful unit, but everything you need. The most significant thing (IMHO) you give up is the "diagonal over the shoulder" map view. You just get the "straight overhead map view". |
Too_tall_todd
| | Posted on Sunday, December 31, 2006 - 10:30 pm: |
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thanks Jackbequick, guess that I will have to talk to the elves. T3 |
Mikej
| | Posted on Sunday, December 31, 2006 - 11:20 pm: |
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Okay, call me wishy-washy, went out and bit the bullet, pulled the trigger, and ordered the 76Cx, should be here in a week or so, one of the last four they had in stock at the time I called in the order.
Plus there are some things coming on the near horizon in the handheld pc market, like there always is.
Next you guys will have me back to thinking about a Uly or TT. |
Jackbequick
| | Posted on Monday, January 01, 2007 - 09:40 am: |
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Mikej,
Email me an address to jacker at midmaine dot com, I'll fix you up with some older mapping to play with on your new toy.
I agree with Reep on the Quests being a good unit, the only reservations I have on them is their only having fixed/internal memory. If they had put a CF or SD slot in that guy it would be better. But then if frogs had wings...
For another bargain, check the Buy It Now prices on the refurbished 2610 StreetPilots on eBay. They are around $350 and have a one year warranty. If they don't come with it, you can get a free upgrade to City Navigator V8 if you buy a refurb from a dealer.
I recently learned some interesting trivia about the StreetPilot 2620 model. That model used CF microDrives for data storage the drives were found to be a little failure prone in service. So I never considered a 2620 a good choice on motorcycles because of the vibration/drive failure issue. But I recently found out that you can copy the microDrive contents to the hard drive on your PC, open the case up, replace the microDrive with a 2GB CF card, copy the original drive's contents back to the CF card, and be back in business with a 2620 that no longer has a failure prone drive in it. And the software runs faster with the flash memory than it did with the drive. This is an interesting hack to me, opening the case will void the warranty if you have still have one.
Another approach to saving money is that Garmin's flat rate, out of warranty, repair prices are:
Quest - $150
Quest II - $200
StreetPilot 2610 - $225
StreetPilot 2620 - $250
So if you can get a broken GPS free or very cheap, you can turn it into a working unit for that price plus shipping and the repair may include the newest software. More details on this here.
Happy New Years to All!
Jack |
Sjh
| | Posted on Monday, January 01, 2007 - 01:28 pm: |
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Picked up a mint used Quest for $200 and it came with a 4 year extended warranty until 2009.
It also came with V7 software that the seller said he purchased later. Is this up to date or will V8 work on my quest? If so, is V8 a need or is it just updated locations?
It seems to be fairly straight forward but some of the trip planning and location finding do not seem to be as easy as I thought it would be, but maybe I am just too familiar with mapquest. |
Jackbequick
| | Posted on Monday, January 01, 2007 - 03:15 pm: |
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A four year warranty is a good deal, the new ones from Garmin only get one year.
V8 will work for you and will have some newer streets/roads, errors fixed, and the POI (points of interest) database will have been updated. The POI thing is always hit or miss, it is either there when you get there (or call if you can) or not.
You can use the online online MapSource Map Viewers to see what is on a map or compare a new release to an older one. Some folks want to get the new one every year, I find buying it every two or three years works fine for me.
The previous owner of V7 probably had to go online at Garmin and unlock that copy of V7 to work with that specific GPS receiver. If so, they are like paired for life. As long as you have the unlock code written down somewhere you can install and reinstall V7 and use it as long as you tell the install that code. Without the code you cannot upload maps that will work to your Quest. The previous owner can go online and recover the code if he has forgotten it. If he still has MapSource installed on a PC, he can get the code from the install.
At least that is the way it works for my install of City Navigator NA V8. I've not had a Quest but think they work the same way.
Jack |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Monday, January 01, 2007 - 03:19 pm: |
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It takes a little adjustment but it works well when you get familar with it.
I start by finding my start position, then my finish position, and setting the route for them (letting it auto route).
Then I "rubber band" the route it plotted inserting waypoints to force variations of the default route. It's non obvious how to do it, but once you figure it out its easy and works great.
The Quest for $200 is a great score! Jacks point is valid, but it won't become that much of a limitation until you are 3 to 4 states away from a computer you can install software on.
(Message edited by reepicheep on January 01, 2007) |
Sjh
| | Posted on Sunday, January 07, 2007 - 12:01 pm: |
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Thanks for the advice, I have been getting better at the controls and process. I am wondering if having a lot of maps loaded on the GPS and not using them will affect the speed of the unit and calculations. I have about 60-70MB of the 115 available. |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Sunday, January 07, 2007 - 04:07 pm: |
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I don't think its much of a problem for the Quest so much as it is for the Quest II... Some quest II owners are disabling (but not removing) maps they don't need to speed things up. Thats like 2 gigs versus your 115 MB even if yours was all the way full. |
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