Nuvi?
 

nuvis are getting very good value at the moment, £120 for a 250W with euro maps. im looking for a replacement for my quest+garmin bike mount, and thought a nuvi+otterbox or givi850 gps barbag would be a viable and cheap option?

the only thing is, i dont just want to be blindly taken there, i like to play on the PC with mapsource and choose the best routes and the garmin website states the nuvi250 doesnt store any routes. does this mean i cant upload routes to it?

I'm disappointed with Garmin, not the equipment but their tech assistance. I was misinformed, purchased the Nuvi 255w model which I was told had the capability to store your route and back track yourself, Ok for mortorcyle use, etc.... Surprise! that's not true.

The best this unit can do is to mark your location (Latitud & Longitud) and later on recall it. If you have a map of the area loaded then the unit will navigate back to your stored location, but if not you are SOL. Garmin has quite a few maps for >$us 100 a shot, and there are other third party downloadable maps that will help (also for >$us 100 a shot). So, the toy becomes an expensive proposition. I contacted a Chilean outfit for downloadables, they had a few, but pretty expensive.

Other things to consider is that the unit is NOT water and vibration proof, therefore it is not recommended for motorcycles. The way around it is to keep it in the map pouch of your tank bag, it softens the ride and keep off the weather . I also noticed that it is very difficult to read the map on bright sunny days. I purchased the screen protector and glare eliminator but it did not help.

In summary, YES I used it, but not very happy for the application. I wish they answered my questions straight.

Hope this helps.:scooter:

the nuvi 500 is waterproof and stores routes, but surprise surprise its too expensive. garmin are good at charging a lot.