keeponriding
Don't want a pickle Just wanna ride my motorsikle
Founding Member
2011 Site Supporter
2012 Site Supporter
Over the last 6 months. we've had a couple of GPS related discussions....some prompted by me, considering making the plunge (I bought a used car a few years ago that came with one and realized then how much I like them).
Anyway, after pondering thoughts and recommendations, I made the jump and bought the Nuvi 550; The Zumo was more than I wanted to spend...and I was able to get a reconditioned Nuvi (which is waterproof) for $175....mount another $25....so for $200, not bad.
I've used it now for a couple of weeks: I like it over maps as the unit is in my line of sight of the road, something I didn't like with maps looking down at the tank. I don't like losing the richness of distance one gets with a map, and I could adjust to that. The Nuvi touchscreen does respond to gloves...important, but I found the entry of custom routes to be tedious, to say the least (and the unit wants to force me to go over freeways, when there are wonderful two lanes; And take two lanes, when there are wonderful freeways).
However...after much trial and error, I found you can create a route in MapQuest (not supported in Google Maps), send it to the GPS; On the GPS, you can then import the data file as a custom route. The technique is not documented in the user guide and you have to go searching for a help file to explain it and once you do it, it is quite easy.
With that new found skill...I'm completely sold on the value of the tool.
Anyway, after pondering thoughts and recommendations, I made the jump and bought the Nuvi 550; The Zumo was more than I wanted to spend...and I was able to get a reconditioned Nuvi (which is waterproof) for $175....mount another $25....so for $200, not bad.
I've used it now for a couple of weeks: I like it over maps as the unit is in my line of sight of the road, something I didn't like with maps looking down at the tank. I don't like losing the richness of distance one gets with a map, and I could adjust to that. The Nuvi touchscreen does respond to gloves...important, but I found the entry of custom routes to be tedious, to say the least (and the unit wants to force me to go over freeways, when there are wonderful two lanes; And take two lanes, when there are wonderful freeways).
However...after much trial and error, I found you can create a route in MapQuest (not supported in Google Maps), send it to the GPS; On the GPS, you can then import the data file as a custom route. The technique is not documented in the user guide and you have to go searching for a help file to explain it and once you do it, it is quite easy.
With that new found skill...I'm completely sold on the value of the tool.