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I see you already bought the Zumo. But I'll toss in my 2 cents anyway as you could return it.
I use a 2720 Streetpilot. It's old school Garmin. But, it's like having a 1911 .45 on your hip. Tried. True. Does not fail.
It uses Mapsource - much easier than Basecamp. NEVER reroutes - no matter how few waypoints. It does EXACTLY what you tell it to do.
It can be had on Ebay for the price of a few HD official oil filters.
Cons -
Looks like Grandma's old 13 inch B&W TV
Runs on 12v only - no battery op.
No fancy shmancy interface with anything. Bluetooth? That's for soccer Moms in the Prius.
Heckling from Zumo users at the bar. But - On the road you get even when they take the computer chosen express route to the next waypoint and you taste the goods all by your lonesome.
I see you already bought the Zumo. But I'll toss in my 2 cents anyway as you could return it.
I use a 2720 Streetpilot. It's old school Garmin. But, it's like having a 1911 .45 on your hip. Tried. True. Does not fail.
It uses Mapsource - much easier than Basecamp. NEVER reroutes - no matter how few waypoints. It does EXACTLY what you tell it to do.
It can be had on Ebay for the price of a few HD official oil filters.
Cons -
Looks like Grandma's old 13 inch B&W TV
Runs on 12v only - no battery op.
No fancy shmancy interface with anything. Bluetooth? That's for soccer Moms in the Prius.
Heckling from Zumo users at the bar. But - On the road you get even when they take the computer chosen express route to the next waypoint and you taste the goods all by your lonesome.
pretty reliable eh? that sounds just what I am looking for
Yep. Check Ebay out though. There's a few on there that have the most recent maps. I actually have an offer in on one listed there. You reminded me that I need to stock up.
Super reliable. I even mounted it on my dirt bikes and beat the crap out of it in the UP, not to mention over the Black Hills. I have been using mine since 07. Uses Gdb. instead of Gpx. But honestly, that's not an issue as you can easily convert using any Garmin routing product i.e. Mapsource or Basecamp. And it's especially not an issue if you're drawing your own routes.
You won't impress anyone in the parking lot, but there is no better GPS as far as I'm concerned.
So my initial take on the Zumo 660 was it looks sturdy and weather proof wish the screen was a little bigger like the one I'm used too, I have the 5' screen now but this will be easy to get used to. The motorcycle mount it comes with looks like it will work great for anyone looking to permanent mount it!! you can also hard wire to your bike. I like to use the suction cup and go from the RPM gauge that way I can tuck it away when I don't need it and its still a clean look but again it comes with a Ram mount and few different options to mount.
with a little time this morning and watching a cpl the Basecamp videos on youtube I was able to make a route and load to Zumo it was very detailed map around town with a bunch left and rights I then loaded it to the zumo and it followed the exact route. There a little learning curve to routing and making the route (like clicking the way point after a turn that way the gps will be rethinking after you make a turn not before so your waiting at turn to see what way to go) but it is very simple and easy to get the basics.
I going to work more with waypoints and points of interest for next few months and very excited about the benefits to this Gps
anyone looking for a good deal on a Nuvi 2555? lol
Originally Posted by keith_stepp
I have retired my Garmin GPS in favor of my phone and tablet.
I don't think phones have satellite gps capability or i would have went with my phone. I dont need the gps here or around town but i do need it when we are places that do not have phone service and that will leave you always thinking " did I loose phone service and miss a turn?"
Sounds promising as I am leaning towards picking one up too. I was debating on doing it now or waiting until spring. With so much white stuff on the ground (and more coming) I should have some time to play around with it and maybe test it in the truck.
Where did you find the most helpful videos for Base Camp, YouTube? I hear more and more that Base Camp is a great tool once you get used to it but man was it clumsy when I tried it. Maybe I was clumsy....
I don't think phones have satellite gps capability or i would have went with my phone. I dont need the gps here or around town but i do need it when we are places that do not have phone service and that will leave you always thinking " did I loose phone service and miss a turn?"
You can download an app that will use the GPS in your phone instead of using cellular service. I'm not sure of the name of the app
Glad you found a GPS you like, I've been using the 660 for a couple years and have tried base camp and the Harley ride planner and normally the Harley ride planner is easier for me to use.
Also for mounting I would highly recommend the T&T fab mount, it's not permanent and its small enough that when you remove your GPS and put the cover on (that should have came with your hard wire mount) its only about the side of the cover. It gets locked in between your center windshield screw and you can easily run the hard wire down into the fairing beside the mount for a clean install. If the 660 being smaller is a concern mounting on the T&T fab mount will bring it up higher to your line of sight so it doesn't seem as small? And there on sale right now. http://www.tandtfabrications.com/
Good day; SB. I will provide my input to your question. Hopefully my explanation will assist you in some of your decision making.
I use a Garmin 660 and I do my route mapping on an Apple computer.
I have the same maps loaded on both devices which allows me to map MY routes on the computer and transfer only those routes to my Garmin (device).
Everything worked find until late last year when Garmin updated the software for BaseCamp.
Since doing that upgrade Garmin now advises users with the "older Garmin units - 660's as an example" should return to using MapSource to do their mapping.
MapSource was replaced by BaseCamp about 8 years ago. The MapSource data has not been maintained by Garmin since BaseCamp was introduced.
The reason the new version of BaseCamp won't work with the older Garmin devices is that the route preferences are now different in BaseCamp than what the older Garmin units have. The new route preferences CANNOT be added to the older Garmin devices.
So what happens now is the routes can be mapped on the computer BUT when the routes are transferred to the device; in all likelihood, when you import the routes to the device the routes will be recalculated by the device according to the route preferences of the device.
I refuse to go back to using MapSource because the data has not been maintained.
I wish EVERY Garmin user would send a complaint to Garmin about how they are forcing "us the users" into having to buy new devices due to their software manipulation.
I have found a work around that isn't perfect but does work; if you are interested send me a PM and I'll provide you the details.
Cheers
G
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I should have some time to play around with it and maybe test it in the truck.
