best ALL around gps??

[Cerenkov]

I have a Montana and love it. Easy to go through the menus with gloves on, takes a firmer press, but it still registers just fine.

I have mine on the SW-Motech anti-vibration mount.

I've also taken it hiking and it works great.

It's all-around-ness is why I went for the Montana, because I knew it wouldn't be just for the bike.

 

[keeponriding]

After 4 months I'm starting to really like the Montana. I have the 600, without the camera.

Tracks work best, though I'm still playing around with routes. Be careful of using waypoints as I've gotten error messages when using GPXs with more than 50. The more I use it, the more features I find.

Plus: Large screen, easy to manipulate with gloves, flexible routing (track back, reverse), great battery life
Negatives: waypoint limitations; when downloading track files, they load onto the device with a generic name ("Track"), so you have to manually find them and rename them; terrible user instructions.

I would also advise the City Navigator add-on pack (on the micro-card) and the Ram handlebar mount.

You also have to become adept at using MapSource software, the best way to interact with the unit for complex trips...the software isn't bad, once you figure it out, but is not intuitively obvious.

One other caveat; After a short time, the unit acted up; when plugged into the bike, it kept reinitializing. When running on battery power, it would send an error message every 30 seconds. When I removed the battery and ran off accessory power, it worked fine. Garmin replaced my unit and it is now working fine...but, be aware, I've heard lots of stories.

 

[coastie]

Thanks for the response guys. I'll research it some more today. I also need it to be able to work with a Mac.

 

[tubebender]

I'm really liking my Montana 600. Works with most gloves, nice screen, and you can load a huge amount of map products into it's memory.
It does take some getting use to. Mapsource is on the way out, Basecamp is the way foward. They have gone to database format; all of your information is in one file and can be placed into 'folders' and 'lists'. Once you have your map products installed you can just drag and drop any routes,waypoints, etc. onto the GPS.
There is a huge thread over on ADV, and the 2 main contributors both use Macs.
It does have some issues but the Montana software team has been really respnsive.

My $0.02: Amps rugged mount with Ram hardware, buy the map products on dvd.

 

[Combo]

I have the NUVI 500, waterproof and works just fine for this old fart.

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-n%C3%BCvi-3-5-Inch-Portable-Navigator/dp/B001CSZSDI

 

[MikeBear]

I have gpsmap 62st on RAM ball mount and 4 inch clamp. I got North America street maps on microSD. Works great and it comes with carabiner clip. Highly recommend it.

 

[limey]

Now i'm confused, I just replaced my Garmin Nuvi 550 with the Garmin 660, don't know if I should have bought the Garmin Montana 600. Any of you guys have experience with both of these units, ease of use and reliability ect. I Have 10 days to exchange the unit. :-\


Thanks Paul.

 

[keeponriding]

I exchanged my Nuvi 550 for a Montana.

Great choice...the Montana is much more flexible unit with larger screen as well as other usability improvements for planning onroad and off-road tracks. I'm in Canada this week on business and brought the Montana along (with the car kit) and it works great as an automotive unit too.

Don't know the 660...the Montana is designed for Car, MC, Hiking and Boat use....if you got the bucks, I'd go with the Montana.

 

[mbabc]

I exchanged my Nuvi 550 for a Montana.

Great choice...the Montana is much more flexible unit with larger screen as well as other usability improvements for planning onroad and off-road tracks. I'm in Canada this week on business and brought the Montana along (with the car kit) and it works great as an automotive unit too.

Don't know the 660...the Montana is designed for Car, MC, Hiking and Boat use....if you got the bucks, I'd go with the Montana.

+1 on the Montana. I also have the car kit and it works 'nuvi' style for car trips. I went with the Garmin rugged mount to power off the S10 12v system. Modded my rugged mount with an SAE type connoctor to be able to switch between bikes. Have it mounted on the cross bar of my madstad bracket. No more mico usb power problems like I had on my Garmin Oregon. The Montana is getting quite high marks since some early bugs have been worked out. Also seems Garmin is updating improved software quite often.

 

[limey]

Thanks guys. Think I will be taking the 660 back tonight.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997R using Tapatalk 2

 

[20valves]

I've had great luck with my 276C for the last 7 years but it is no longer supported and someday it will die.

The Montana 600 being discussed looks like the way I'd go. From the pictures I've seen it appears it can be run in landscape or portrait mode which is cool. Is it as feature rich as the 276C? I assume it would be since it's so much newer. It seems to have the great things the 276 does: big screen, great battery, great routing and tracking, intuitive interface, waterproof. Does it also have all the cool but unnecessary things like moon phases, tides, times of day the fishing is good, etc.?

 

[k woo]

I try and keep things simple, I want my electronic devices to make life easier, NOT more complicated. Gotta Zumo 220, vibration and weather rated, no problems running Basecamp on my mac. Pleased so far. 8)