• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Garmin Zumo 550 or 660?

kosher kitten

New member
I need help deciding which unit to get. We are heading cross county this year up to Canada first then over to California and through the middle of the country.

I have read, watched and studied everything I can about the two units but still can't decide. Especially now that the price difference is only about $76 dollars.

Can you think of any major diffences that could convince me to get one over the other?
 
I need help deciding which unit to get. We are heading cross county this year up to Canada first then over to California and through the middle of the country.

I have read, watched and studied everything I can about the two units but still can't decide. Especially now that the price difference is only about $76 dollars.

Can you think of any major diffences that could convince me to get one over the other?

There are some discussions about this over on http://www.zumoforums.com/index.php that you might find interesting.

Pete
 
660 has a higher resolution display, slightly longer battery life, faster processor for speedier calculations and recalculations, lane assist, speed limit indicator.

550 has XM radio. The street price is lower (although suggested retail on the two is about the same).

The mounts are a little different. I preferred the old 550/450 mount because it had a locking screw that I considered secure enough to leave it in place if I was just running into a store for coffee. The 660/665/220 series does not, so you have to remove it every time.

So, IMO, if you don't need XM, the 660 gives more features but costs a little more.
 
I believe some are finding that the new quarterly map updates are becoming too large for the Zumo 550's internal memory although there are ways to work around that. The 660 has gobs of available memory for future upgrades.

I have a 660 and the biggest gripe I have is that the screen is less bright than the 550. So it is more difficult to see in open daylight. The new v2.20 firmware update is supposed to improve that though.

Other than that, the 660 works well for me.

If you need XM, the 665 is basically a 660 with XM capability for more money of course.

There are many happy users of the Zumo 550 out there so it is still a decent unit. However, the 66X series is newer and Garmin should support it longer.

The Zumo forums are the best place for detailed information on any of the Zumo GPS.

Lee
 
I have a Zumo 550; I've had it for about four years and am quite happy with it. It did die on me earlier this year and I opted to replace it with a factory exchange rebuilt one. I had considered just buying the 660, but the additional costs were too much to justify that. I have cradles for both bikes, so I'd have to buy a second one for the 660, and my lifetime map updates would not transfer to the new unit (but I was able to keep them for the replacement 550), so I would have had to shell out for that again. I'm happy with the 550, it works well for me and does all I need it to do. The map updates are getting harder to fit the limited memory as some have noted, but I can select pretty much all the areas I need to have typically available. The remainder can be loaded onto the SD card if desired. So, I saw no need or advantage to upgrade to the 660 considering the extra cost of doing so.

However, if I were shopping for a first GPS, I would most deffinitly choose the 660. Its newer technology and for the small price premium, well worth it over the 550 if your starting fresh.
 
The one issue I have with the 660 is portability. Since there is a Ram Mount cradle for my 765T, I can easily move it from Hilda to Heidi and back. But there is no cheap aftermarket cradle for the 660. If I want to use it on Hilda, I will have to buy the Zumo mounting kit. There is no Ram Mount cradle for the 660: I can't use the FM traffic on Heidi, like I can on the 765T, since there is no way to connect the antenna/power cord (Garmin GTM 20) when in the Zumo motorcycle mount. I can only assume the RM 550 cradle will allow use of the FM Traffic antenna/power connection as it does on the 765T. Not a biggie, just a point. Overall, very satisfied
 
If you are planning on using it as a mp3 player, be aware that the 550 is mono sound over bluetooth. The 660/665's are stereo. Not a concern if you are using a wired headset.
 
Back
Top