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Which GPS to get?

jcofwmburg

New member
The old Zumo doesn't have the memory for the lower 48 states, and other issues. Putting the data on an SD card is not the solution I thought it would be, so I'm seeking advice for a replacement.
 
I have maps on an SD card, although I would have preferred not to have to. It works for US plus Canada.

What exactly is not working for you?
 
Make sure you have a quality class 10 SD card (aka FAST), some of the lower quality cards are so slow it makes map rewrites painful, with freezes, jitters and chopp scrolls. I have all North America as well as the huge junction view file (as well as all of Europe) on my 8gig Patriot Class 10 MicroSD, for $10 and free shipping from NewEgg, and I can't tell the difference from when the map was in internal memory.
 
That's really interesting...my old 2730 StreetPilot even holds lower 48 states easily. If you haven't already...Garmin support would be my next call. They've almost always been very helpful in the past with any problems I've had.

Good luck!
 
That's really interesting...my old 2730 StreetPilot even holds lower 48 states easily.
Good luck!

What year are your maps? They always fit in my 550 until I went to upgrade at the end of 2011. The info on the new map set was more than the 550's memory would handle (even after deleteing ALL the unnecessary files). It would only hold about 3/4 of the country. Upgraded to a 665, no problems with memory size. Reason for upgrade was due to failing touch screen, not because of inability to hold maps.

Remember, Eisenhower's National Highway program was JUST getting started when the Streetpilot came out.:stick

:dance:dance:dance
 
The old Zumo doesn't have the memory for the lower 48 states, and other issues. Putting the data on an SD card is not the solution I thought it would be, so I'm seeking advice for a replacement.
I was given a Zumo 550 last month and didn't have any problems loading new maps on a SD card.
The unit works the same with the maps on a SD card as compared to internal memory.
I followed instructions on the Zumo forum.
 
Upgrade to the 660 (no XM) or the 665 (w/XM). Either way, easier to read, and more memory. I use an 8GB micro-SD card for music and books in mp3, plus extras and maps.
 
What year are your maps? They always fit in my 550 until I went to upgrade at the end of 2011. The info on the new map set was more than the 550's memory would handle (even after deleteing ALL the unnecessary files). It would only hold about 3/4 of the country. Upgraded to a 665, no problems with memory size. Reason for upgrade was due to failing touch screen, not because of inability to hold maps.

Remember, Eisenhower's National Highway program was JUST getting started when the Streetpilot came out.:stick

:dance:dance:dance


LOL...guess I HAVE had it for quite a while.

I have lifetime updates and last updated 6 months ago. I opted to leave Canada out until I plan a trip that way...just lower 48. No problems. I did delete unused language files, etc.

Okay...now back to my nap. I suddenly feel much older ;-)
 
A call to Garmin helped me eliminate a lot of unused stuff in my zumo 220 that helped free up memory.
You may have to call back if you don't get someone knowledgeable.
I went through 3 people at Garmin before I go someone that really knew what to do.
 
So many ??

I'll try to be brief.
The Zumo 550 has about 2 GB of memory of which about half is for the operating system etc. the newest map for the lower 49(don't ask) 2014.1 is over 2GB. I have deleted languages and all unneeded files. I have talked to garmin by email and phone. Per the techs I can't run the whole US map from the SD card, an SDHC 4GB, I must put what will fit on the Zumo, 2014.1 NE and the rest on the SD. I did this but I'm not convinced that it will work because when I go to map info on the Zumo I don't see what's on the SD listed.
 
It will definitely work with the maps split between internal and SD card. Maybe you can find someone close that can help you. Also, check out the zumoforums.com website. There is a good thread there with instructions on how to do it.
 
The old Zumo doesn't have the memory for the lower 48 states, and other issues. Putting the data on an SD card is not the solution I thought it would be, so I'm seeking advice for a replacement.

Motorrad just announced a NEW unit that appears to be an upgrade from the Navigator IV called the Adventure. That's the one I'm looking at right now. I think it's unfortunate that they shrunk the screen from 4.3 to 4.0 inches, but I like the fact that it can operate in portrait orientation as well as landscape.

Cheers!
Patrick
 
I so wish Tom Tom or something else was a viable alternative to Garmin. My Zumo is corrupting routes that are updated and Garmin offered to replace it for "only" $60. If I took them up on it, that would be the fifth replacement of the unit in three years. I can upload a route in my study, preview it, turn the unit off, walk fifty feet to my garage, turn it back on, and open the route which has now become longer by adding detours and diversions. This happens 100% of the time. (And yes my software is up to date, the settings are the same on the unit and the software, and I've done a master reset multiple time). Don't even get me started on Base Camp which is I consider such a bizarrely incompetent design that my only explanation is that it's a practical joke by Garmin's software engineers.

:thumb

LOL. I have much the same experience. What's happening is the GPS is recalculating the route, and sending the Zumo to Garmin will do exactly nothing. The new one will have the same buggy firmware.

Something happened to the routing algorithm between the 2700/2800 (and NAV-III) series and the Zumo 66x series. My Zumo 660 will often calculate routes with things like - get off the Interstate, go 200 feet to the entrance to the interstate - get back on the interstate. It does this with great regularity on a few local routes I often take, routing me off the interstate to an exit lane that parallels the interstate, then having me continue on the lane as it turns into an entrance lane and back on the interstate.

I have found no way to keep this from happening, but I've learned to look at the calculated routes after the Zumo is done calculating them, and I look for things like this and make a mental note to simply ignore these instructions. The Zumo (Doofus) happily picks up the route ("Recalculating") after being ignored and I continue on.

I think this is why the NAV-III is so popular with long-distance riders (IronButt people..) It just routes better.

I'm a fan of MapSource - but unfortunately Garmin is no longer supporting it, and it's becoming incompatible with the currently available mapsets. There are a few routes I've used for years that used to work with older mapsets, that now cause MapSource to GPF/crash every time I tell it to calculate the route. I have to agree (and I'm doing that as an old software programmer) that BaseCamp is a joke. Using a relational database in a GPS routing program is a brilliant idea, but using it with an interface only understandable to the people who wrote the software is much less so. In general - Garmin's programmers are leaving a lot to be desired. :banghead

My hope is that the web based interfaces to Google Maps continue to improve (Harley has an excellent one, allowing for sectional route planning, with different routing choices for each section) and actually become useable for planning routes for the Zumo series.
 
Glad to hear that I'm not the only one who is perplexed :scratch as to why Garmin replaced Map Source with Base Camp. I've tried a few times to master Base Camp but always become frustrated and walk away.
 
Basecamp isn't going away and mapsource is too convoluted to fix. There are no better alternatives right now, but I'm waiting for realtime google earth...
 
550:

Same issue with the SD card--a 4x one; is it possible to delete all old maps and replace with new? Should we really have to use supplemental media for something the unit is sold to do? It can easily take 10 minutes to load maps and music. Is it a real answer to go to a 10x card? I am truly asking.

The interface on the 550 is downright user hostile. To advert that this unit was "designed by bikers for bikers," well, they were probably on a poker/beer run and getting drunker by the moment.
No qwerty keyboard? Don't you just love spelling things out? And to get to motel or just fricking gas takes how many clicks?

I wish Apple or even Microsoft would make one, at least there would be something user configurable. Wouldn't it be great to have a user configurable GUI? One click from your route and you can choose motels or gas or two or three other items you put there. Base Camp? A real joke, a mean one at that. RoadTrip was no great shakes, but it was easier to use than BaseCamp.
I for one have NO loyalty to Garmin; when a better product from someone else arises, I am there. If that doesn't happen when I need to replace, I am going to by a cheap one and use a shower cap when it rains. The newer ones are a little better in the user friendly dept. A little.

Oh, and sometimes, just out of the blue the gps powers down. Poltergeists? Powers on fine and now we wait another 10 minutes for the SD card to load
I write down turn by turn directions and put them in my map case, along with a paper map. To rely on, at least, my 550 is foolhardy.
 
I'm with you there. I'm fighting with it right now because I just figured out that Garmin Express will upload the latest maps to my Zumo but not to my computer, so I have a different version on the two. I found a thread on the Garmin web site where one of their people said, "Woopsie--we might fix that in the future." Garmin's senior management must be senile to allow this kind of incompetence.


Check the settings on Express. Mine d'loads to the PC.
 
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