Have bitten the bullet! Ordered a Garmin Nuvi 250 from Amazon for the bargain price of £79.95. Just went for the standard non-widescreen version as this seemed adequate. I went for the Nuvi because it had europe-wide mapping, had lots of good reviews online and was made by Garmin, who have a good rep. I've had a Garmin E-Trex for use in the hills for years now with no problems so decided to go with what I knew. The Becker looked, if anything, a slightly sleeker and nicer GPS, but my cowardly purchasing instincts took over!

Will just have to wait and see how it performs. Am thinking now of eschewing my previous plan of putting it in my clear peli case and building a small rally screen for the XT which it can hide behind.

Matt

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*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

I think you are right Matt, the Nuvi 250 from Garmin is probably a better buy for all the reasons you stated.

When you make your "clear peli case" post some photos.

Happy new year all.

Been using a Nuvi 250 for nearly a year now I think - I would recommend one without hesitation.
really good on and off road and no silly tricksy gimmicks - it just maps really well and has some good useable features on it.

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Have you loaded different/new POI on it ? like new hotels or camp sites ??

That's good to hear eightpot,

One question: Is that on a bike? If so how did you mount it?

Matt

__________________
http://adventure-writing.blogspot.com

http://scotlandnepal.blogspot.com/

*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

I was hesitant to resurrect this old thread, but it's relevant to my question and saves duplicating effort...

I have a TomTom XL Europe (the 330) for my car, with the "EasyPort" (spring-loaded) circular mounting system, and I'm looking ahead to travelling longer distances and taking it with me. As others have said, there are bike mounting kits available for these type of unit -- such as this one that looks like it's meant for a bicycle (I assume would work on a motorcycle?) and this one by RAM that looks to be the bog's dollocks (if a little industrial - but not as industrial as Matt's ) -- but my concerns are mainly about rain/spray and preventing it from making a run for it after too many bumps.

What level of success have people had with just a naked car GPS in the glorious UK & western European weather, or am I silly for even entertaining the idea? My Thundercat has a windscreen, so if I mounted it carefully it could avoid driven rain and spray, but may need a plastic bag over it to protect it when stopped, etc?

What of the strength of its mount? Does anyone have any good or bad stories about the EasyPort mounting system on a bike? I suppose the mini-USB power cable would act as a tether in an emergency, but only until it had a chance to unplug itself.

Even if not for my model in particular, it would be good to get more feedback from others on how they go about using their car/non-waterproof GPS units on their bikes.

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-Matt

I've been using a Mio 550 pda with TomTom software on my bike for over two years. The pda is protected by mounting it in an Otterbox plastic box and that's fixed to the bike via a Ram mount.

The whole thing looks a bit agricultural but then again so does the bike (CCM trailie) so it's not out of place. The pda has an internal battery that'll last about 2hrs but usually it's powered through a mini usb socket. I bought an in car charger for it for £2-3 on ebay and rebuilt the electronics in it into a small box which is permanently mounted on the bike. The cable goes through a rubber plug arrangement on the Otterbox into the pda.

Feedback after two years use : It works well, particularly on cloudy days but can be a bit dim in bright sunshine. It's waterproof and has been through some horrendous downpours without any problems. The box doesn't seem to affect the signal strength but programming the thing can be a bit hit or miss through the plastic window and it's sometimes easier to take it out of the box to do it.

Biggest problem has been the fit between the Otterbox and the Ram mount. it depends on two springy plastic "ears" with pegs on them to fit into two holes on the Otterbox. These were secure initially but move around with vibration and over two years have worn to the point where they pop out with wind pressure. I was about 2 miles out of Dover the first time it came apart and just managed to catch it. I keep meaning to replace the worn bit but for the time being have just used some elastic cord to keep it in place.

I can't find a pic of it bit if you've got a copy of May's MSL with the report on the overlanding day at the Ace cafe, it's bottom left on page 102. Just ignore me

I had a good look at my handlebars this morning and realised that they're not the standard bent tube type, rather are a solid v-shape with short tubes at the end where the grips and such attach. There's no area of handlebar tube free on which to place a mount, so I may have to come up with something creative.

Either that or simply put the GPS in the clear plastic map pocket of my Bagster Alpha tank bag. Mounted, waterproof, and less likely to leave on the bike by mistake, I suppose...

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-Matt

If you can't be bother or can't get it to work (and have a few spare quid!!) Have a look here: GPS Warehouse

Not the cheapest, but pretty close to being, and they have oodles of bits....

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Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

Bike attchment withiout Garmin Nuvi 250...



Nuvi 250 in situ - very safe when attached, very reliable satnav, very cheap satnav with UK and EU mapping