Considering a GPS

[superduty]

Hi All,
I have a friend who works for Garmin and can get me a Zumo 550 for an incredible price. It's a NIB unit, not refurbed. I am considering it, but even at the employee price, it's a bit higher than other units not specifically for motorcycles. I have heard others referring to the Nuvi and Streetpilot and others.

My question is, is it really worth the extra $ to get the Zumo, or would one of the less expensive models still stand up to mounting on a bike. What I don't want to do is buy a less expensive one now and have it's lifespan shortened by using it in a way it's not meant to handle.

Thanks,
SuperDuty

[fish]

I have a less expensive model 330c, but if It was an expensive model I wouldn't be using it on the bike. If and when I buy another it will be a unit made for a bike. I hope I helped you.

[audiogooroo]

My partner has the Nuvi and it works great when we're flying to other cities and using it in the rental car. Seems kind of fragile though, so I bought the Zumo 550. Water resistant, built to take the shock of the road and it comes with the RAM mount plus the car mount. I put a 4 gig SD card in mine and loaded it with tunes, so it doubles as my mp3 player. No doubt, they are alot more coin. I think they retail for over $900 but if you shop you shouldn't have to pay more than around $600. I bought mine from Amazon because they had the best price at the time. I love mine!

[nomad1600]

I bought a Garmin Nuvi 350 last year. I have a Ram Mount that is mounted in the center of the handle bars. So far I have had no problem with the Nuvi, it has a MP3 player and has performed flawlessly.

[chuckster131]

I use the Tom Tom one, and for a meer 140.00 bucks it has work great now for over 7,000 miles. NOT water proof! But what I did was put in a zip loc bag and ran the wire through the bottom corner of the bag wrapped with a twistie tie. Worked great for a whole day ride in the rain.

[radco]

GARMIN is a GREAT choice, I have the 2720... what you want is WATER PROOF or at least water resistant,,or as stated a Baggy keeps the rain off. BUT for a Tighter fit a UN LUBED CONDOM Stretches to fit and wont BLOW off. LOL.. SERIOUS, SHOCK resistance is a PLUS for Bikes..... RAM Mounts hold up well.....

[rlfaubion]

GARMIN is a GREAT choice, I have the 2720... what you want is WATER PROOF or at least water resistant,,or as stated a Baggy keeps the rain off. BUT for a Tighter fit a UN LUBED CONDOM Stretches to fit and wont BLOW off. LOL.. SERIOUS, SHOCK resistance is a PLUS for Bikes..... RAM Mounts hold up well.....

This might explain why your nuts rusted?

[rickyboy]

I bought the Magellan Crossover 2500T. Good prod. Handles the rough roads no prob., water resistant, plays MP3's, photos, works for marine as well. So you can use it on a boat as well. It is also good for "geo caching" if you're into that. $300.ish tax's in off of eBay.

[radco]

GARMIN is a GREAT choice, I have the 2720... what you want is WATER PROOF or at least water resistant,,or as stated a Baggy keeps the rain off. BUT for a Tighter fit a UN LUBED CONDOM Stretches to fit and wont BLOW off. LOL.. SERIOUS, SHOCK resistance is a PLUS for Bikes..... RAM Mounts hold up well.....

This might explain why your nuts rusted?
YOU know you may be onto something http://s2.images.proboards.com/shocked.gif MUST use Lube to fight off rusted nuts!!!;D

[wanderer]

I have used a Garmin Nuvi 660 for 2 years on two different bikes with no problems. I like the bigger 4.3 inch screen on the Nuvi, but, you can't enter waypoints into the Nuvi to make it change its chosen route to the way you want to go. Therefore, I just recently bought a Garmin Zumo 450. It does accept waypoints to alter the route.

[naugaman]

I have the Garmin Quest. It has a smaller screen but it is water tight. With the Ram mount, I have had no problems with its use. I mainly use it to keep track of miles rode and keep me in the speed limit. It has some limits but for $150 off Ebay, it does what I need.

[dui546]

GO with the Zumo 550. I've had mine since Christmas and I love it. I also use it at work with the car mount that comes with it.

I enjoy the mp3, cell phone, and helmet communications that the 550 offers. My wife and I use the Scala Rider Team Headsets and it works great with the 550. I HAVE NO COMPLAINTS.

I have a friend who has the 450 and it is a great brother to the 550 as a navigation gps. However, he truly wishes he would have spent the extra bucks and got the 550 because we could communicate bike to bike using the cell phones.

[wildroot]

I have the Garmin 330. It was less than $100 and I mount it between the handlebar and the windshield. It talks to you for turns, etc. It isn't waterproof but I don't ride in the rain much anyway. The sun doesn't seem to be much of a problem for the most part. If you run down a different road than directed, the Garmin will recalculate. The price isn't too bad for what you get. And I get to where I want to go. I can also just turn the map on and see the streets coming up. I've been using it for about a year in vehicles and also on the Nomad. I pack it along when I'm traveling and throw it in the rental car. cool beans. Consider it before you blow your retirement nest egg on something more expensive that doesn't do much better.

[bigjohn]

I've had two. First was a Megellan Roadmate 360. Fine unit, worked very well. Gave it to my wife to keep in the Subaru.

Recently purchased a Nextar P3. After the rebate it's about $90. Had to bet a Universal holder from Ram. It works just fine.

Yes, a unit designed for motorcycles would be nice. But, I can do a lot with the extra 2 to 4 hundred bucks.

[bikerbeagle]

My question is, is it really worth the extra $ to get the Zumo

Yes. If you can get a good deal on one, do it. I love my 550.

[vaccam]

I have the Streetpilot C550. Got it for $200 at Costco online. I love it as well. It has bluetooth and MP3. Everything I wanted in a great price. Not waterproof, but I will manage.

[ponch]

Another option became available today. Apple introduced the iPhone 3G and it has GPS. http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/maps.html

It's $199, with a 2 year contract with AT&T.

http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html