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GPS - Looking for an Opinion

Not to hijack the thread but......

Speaking of GPS'.......

I've yet to find one that does what I want. Or better, one that works for the way I travel. What I've found is that a GPS is good if you have no idea where you're going or how to get there. But if you have some idea of the route, it becomes more difficult.

Here's a for instance. I live in Maine. To travel to my uncle's in southern NJ, I know how to get there. But being a gadget guy, I like stuff. Without jumping thru hoops, if I plan a trip on a GPS from my house to his, every one inevitably sends me down I91 in Conn and across the GWB in NY. Now, anyone who lives around here knows that that is the STUPIDEST way to go. We prefer to take the Tappan Zee. But getting most GPS' to route you that way is difficult at best.

A GPS that learns would be nice. A GPS that realizes I may change my mind as I'm travelling and ask me questions about my intentions rather than simply continue to try to reroute me back. Another For Instance. We recently made a trip from Maine to NC via a friends place in Princess Anne Md. on the way home, reversing the route, the GPS of course wanted to send me to my friend's place first. As I drove by the turn, the GPS continually tried to send me back there, constantly rerouting me. I had to "replan the route" (this was on a TomTom Go720 by the way) to get it to forget about the Md stop. Of course, that meant that going back up thru NJ and NY, I was supposed to go back across the GWB!!! ARRRRGH!!!!

I've owned a Magellan. Didnt like it one bit. Was good as long as you had absoultely no idea how to get where you were going. I own Delorme Street Atlas 2008 which is an awesome package. I bought a blue tooth GPS receiver which worked very well. Problem is, I tried to use it with my Palm T|X. that didn't work. Couldnt plan a trip that wouldnt lock the Palm up trying to reroute you if you got off course or made a side trip. I understand from friends that using SA2K8 with a USB GPS on a Laptop is the cats nads but that is impractical for me. My next step is to maybe purchase either Delorme's Earthmate or a Garmin that will take trips planned by SA2K8.
 
xp8103 said:
Speaking of GPS'.......

I've yet to find one that does what I want. Or better, one that works for the way I travel. What I've found is that a GPS is good if you have no idea where you're going or how to get there. But if you have some idea of the route, it becomes more difficult.
Click to expand...

I put in vias of various towns to take me on the route I want to go. Trouble with that is that the Zumo wants to take me into the downtown area of any via town. Kind of messes up the directions and distance list.
 
So far, I haven't found any new GPS that does the job better than my old Garmin 276C.
 
cjack said:
I put in vias of various towns to take me on the route I want to go. Trouble with that is that the Zumo wants to take me into the downtown area of any via town. Kind of messes up the directions and distance list.
Click to expand...

Try this with your Zumo.

When adding your via point:
1. When the "Find" menu displays touch "Near..."
2. Touch "A Different City" and OK.
3. Enter the city you want to use for your via and touch Done. Choose from list if needed.
4. Then touch "Browse Map" and the map of the city you've chosen will pop up.
5. Navigate around the map until you find the intersection you want to go through and touch "Select".
It will route you through that intersection instead of the town center.
 
cjack said:
I put in vias of various towns to take me on the route I want to go. Trouble with that is that the Zumo wants to take me into the downtown area of any via town. Kind of messes up the directions and distance list.
Click to expand...
I particularly love when my Garmin (and all of them do this) uses something like the "City Yard" as the location for a city. So using cities as route-points has you going down a highway, make a left at XYZ street, travel 300 feet, visit city-yard, turn around - head back to the highway. It's a bit frustrating, but can't think of how else they could define a city location, other than A location in the city.

As darencs sez - you can use intersections, but that becomes a PITA to lay out routes of any length with.

What really is needed - is for Garmin to adopt Google Maps as it's route plotting software. I know there are programs that will convert a Google Maps route to GPS waypoints, but the ones I've tried are problematic to say the best..
 
Streetpilot 2720 and NMEA

Does the 2720 support input from other devices using the NMEA format? Does anyone know?
 
xp8103 said:
Speaking of GPS'.......

I've yet to find one that does what I want. Or better, one that works for the way I travel. What I've found is that a GPS is good if you have no idea where you're going or how to get there. But if you have some idea of the route, it becomes more difficult.

Here's a for instance. I live in Maine. To travel to my uncle's in southern NJ, I know how to get there. But being a gadget guy, I like stuff. Without jumping thru hoops, if I plan a trip on a GPS from my house to his, every one inevitably sends me down I91 in Conn and across the GWB in NY. Now, anyone who lives around here knows that that is the STUPIDEST way to go. We prefer to take the Tappan Zee. But getting most GPS' to route you that way is difficult at best.

A GPS that learns would be nice. A GPS that realizes I may change my mind as I'm travelling and ask me questions about my intentions rather than simply continue to try to reroute me back. Another For Instance. We recently made a trip from Maine to NC via a friends place in Princess Anne Md. on the way home, reversing the route, the GPS of course wanted to send me to my friend's place first. As I drove by the turn, the GPS continually tried to send me back there, constantly rerouting me. I had to "replan the route" (this was on a TomTom Go720 by the way) to get it to forget about the Md stop. Of course, that meant that going back up thru NJ and NY, I was supposed to go back across the GWB!!! ARRRRGH!!!!

I've owned a Magellan. Didnt like it one bit. Was good as long as you had absoultely no idea how to get where you were going. I own Delorme Street Atlas 2008 which is an awesome package. I bought a blue tooth GPS receiver which worked very well. Problem is, I tried to use it with my Palm T|X. that didn't work. Couldnt plan a trip that wouldnt lock the Palm up trying to reroute you if you got off course or made a side trip. I understand from friends that using SA2K8 with a USB GPS on a Laptop is the cats nads but that is impractical for me. My next step is to maybe purchase either Delorme's Earthmate or a Garmin that will take trips planned by SA2K8.
Click to expand...


Yea, I have the same issues. I drive a truck and the software cover truck Rts or hazmat Rts. I know the way and I just do what I want. I do sometimes plan my rts on the computer using intersections if need be then download them. Having driven a truck for many years I mostly know where I am going at all time anyway, Chances are good I have been there. The thing I use most is benig able to detour on roads not known and the availibility of gas stations and services on those deoturs.
 
Garmin 478 - not cheap, especially when adding the GXM-30 antenna, but there's no substitute to having real time Nexrad weather radar at your finger tips. Same mapping capabilities (and flaws) as other Garmins. Has a nice size screen with a lot of brightness control. With the GXM-30 you can also subscribe to regular XM radio. Found out I like it a lot, although YMMV.
 
GPS options

I bought my wife a NUVI 650 last christmas and really didn't think it would be something I would use much (WRONG) it's great. So I purchased a Ram Mount kit and mounted it over the clutch reservor and powered it off the BMW socket (2008 R1200RT) I have got the tank bag where all the electrical cordsride tucked inside it. We did a 1000 mile trip without a hic-up. I can send pic's if interested. The only short fall is the NUVI will not accept route planning, so you are somewhat limited.

I will be going to a Zumo in the future.
 
If you want to use it on your bike, ideally I'd want one that is:

1) waterproof;
2) withstands vibration (and not just for the first couple of weeks);
3) has a display meant for viewing in direct sunlight;
4) comes with mapping software you can load on your PC, or laptop, to allow you to plan routes along the roads you want and upload them to your GPS (any Garmin Nuvi unit I've seen simply allows you to pick a point to navigate to and gives you the choice of either faster time, or shorter distance);
5) can be operated with a gloved hand; and
6) has an internal battery.

In Garmin's lineup that probably means one of the Zumo's, or one of their marine chartplotters (276C, 376C, 478C).

Car units generally don't meet these criteria. That said, some people use them anyway.
 
deilenberger said:
I particularly love when my Garmin (and all of them do this) uses something like the "City Yard" as the location for a city. So using cities as route-points has you going down a highway, make a left at XYZ street, travel 300 feet, visit city-yard, turn around - head back to the highway. It's a bit frustrating, but can't think of how else they could define a city location, other than A location in the city.

As darencs sez - you can use intersections, but that becomes a PITA to lay out routes of any length with.

What really is needed - is for Garmin to adopt Google Maps as it's route plotting software. I know there are programs that will convert a Google Maps route to GPS waypoints, but the ones I've tried are problematic to say the best..
Click to expand...

If you're planning a route on your PC using Mapsource, it's very easy to pick a town/city as a waypoint (usually the town hall), then move it to the main drag, or whatever road you plan to drive through on. To move a waypoint, just right click on it using the waypoint tool in Mapsource and drag and drop it so it doesn't take you where you don't want to go.
 
tkdan235 said:
Greenwald, I am considering the same thing. I currently use a 350 for my car. I purchased this mount for my bike: http://cgi.ebay.com/Motorcycle-Moun...ryZ73353QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

My question is, how exactly are you hooking this gps up to your bike. I know it is 12 volts, my R75/5 is 12 volts, am I able to do the same?
Click to expand...


Sorry for the slow response. I missed that you had even asked me a question.

Shame on me.

I have an auxillary port on my R1200RT that I plug an adaptor into, and then the power cord for the Nuvi into that. The Garmin is mounted to the bike via a RAM system off the clutch fluid resovoir.

Good Luck.
 
Last edited:
Maybe I missed it, but what is your budget? That will be the deal breaker. Lots of great GPS's out there. I prefer the Garmin's, but you need to look at them all.

The Garmin's have a hidden cost. You need to pay for map up-grades. The Tom Tom does up-grades for free. I don't know about other brands. The NT maps for the Garmin are can be downloaded onto your PC or laptop, so you can use the computer to map out your routes, then load the route to the GPS.

And how are you going to mount it on your bike? That's an additional cost you need to think about. And you said something about swapping from your car to the bike. How easy is the unit to move back and forth?

I have 3 Garmin's and yes pay for the yearly map up-grades. I originally had (and still do) a Quest, which I swapped back and forth. Got to be a pain, so I left the Quest on the bike and bought a Nuvi for the truck.

So maybe you can spend more on a high end Garmin (or what ever you end up liking) or use the same dollars to buy two mid or low range units, one for the bike and one for the car.
 
Garmin Gpsmap 60csx

I have not seen anyone using the GPSMAP 60CSX. I mount it with a Ram-Mount, and love it. Waterproof, rugged, and can plan your routs on MapSource with ease. I think I paid around $300.00 about three or four years ago.
 
dtcjem said:
I have not seen anyone using the GPSMAP 60CSX. I mount it with a Ram-Mount, and love it. Waterproof, rugged, and can plan your routs on MapSource with ease. I think I paid around $300.00 about three or four years ago.
Click to expand...

+1 on the 60CSX. It works great!
 
DeLorme PN-60 GPS

I recently put a DeLorme PN-60 on my R1150RT and offer the my experiences with it; overall, I'm happy.

http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELibeCCtdItemDetail.jsp?item=30538&section=10740

PROS: Price = $300 with full USA/Canada street-level mapping software, less than most; waterproof, lets you select a route on a computer, turn-by-turn, and download it into the GPS. Many other units give you the quickest/shortest choice only. When used "stand-alone" it only calculates shortest route. Very good "point's of interest" database built in. Fits in your pocket for off-bike navigation. DeLorme tech support is very good if you need it (I did!)

I added a RAM mount for $50, rechargeable battery for $15, 12V power cord for $20, and a 32GB Memory card for $20. Buttons can be worked with gloves, with the RAM mount it can be easily removed when desired. Using power cord permits backlight to be on contentiously for night riding. For a little over $400, this setup works well for me.

CONS: Screen is small but readable; there is an option to select turn-by-turn directions in large print, paging between this screen and map screen. The automatic "back-on-course" correction is so slow that I keep it turned off. It's easier to look at the map, see where you are, and where you ought to be.
It's not the most user-friendly - but since it does so many things, there's a learning curve. Same applies to the "Topo North America" software.
 
I may be dense, but I still don't quite get the advantage (and justification of cost) for motorcycle specific units. I bought a Garmin Nuvi 255W for my car a couple years ago and then a RAM mount for my bike. I've done several trips with it including a just finished 1300 mile jaunt and had no issues. When it rains or is wet, I put a zip-loc over it. When it's really wet, I put it in my tankbag. I do understand (and would like to have) the ability to download mapquest routes directly to the gps, but an index card and map work just fine and I'd have to use a lot of those to make up the cost difference. Plus, the 255 has traffic which saved my rear going through Chicago!
 
Oh I forgot one feature I'd like to have - the xm/sirius receiver for weather. I saw these at Osh Kosh this year - we could have full weather updates on our beemers for just a couple thousand bucks!
 
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