wich GPS shoud I take?

[Ratte]

Hi,

I want to buy a GPS, and after reading a bit around on fora, it seems a Garmin Zumo is not a bad choice if you want put maps on it, be able to edit them etc.
My goal is to do a Paris-Dakar, after that maybe Paris to Nepal...


but my question is:
what are the differences between the models?

There is now a new
- 430LM for 350€
- 390LM for 400€
- 660LM for 500€
- 590LM for 600€


regardless the difference in size, are there more options on the 590LM for example?

why shoud I buy a 590LM or why woud a 430LM be also ok for me?

And what with second hand GPS's. is it fine to buy it, and where can i see a model history? (I see a lot of different numbers and names of these Zumo GPS's...)



summary: I'm a newbee in GPS's

[juanvaldez650]

The Zumos cost about five times what a car GPS does. I just use a car GPS. The one I'm using now is a Nuvi 255W that I bought off ebay for about $100.

[lmhobbs]

There is a reason that motorcycle GPS are expensive, that is because they are waterproof and very rugged. My Zumo 660 fell off my motorbike at 70mph it seriously bounced, and afterwards the zumo was still working. There was a crack in the casing so it was no longer waterproof. A car GPS is unlikely to take that much beating and when it rains you need to make sure its in a waterproof bag, but if funds are tight go for a car one.

There is an excellent Opensource map site where you can download maps which you can navigate on your zumo.

I always take my zumo as its a place for my music and it sits in a cradle and is charged from the bike so its always working

[Walkabout]

[QUOTE=juanvaldez650;482910]The Zumos cost about five times what a car GPS does. I just use a car GPS. The one I'm using now is a Nuvi 255W that I bought off ebay for about $100.[/QUOTE

I use a Nuvi 205W which came from ebay also, for about £30 I think it was.
If it rains I put a poly bag over it and/or take a coffee break (but it also has tape and blu tack stuck on it over the various apertures and "moderate" dampness has not effected it when I couldn't be bothered to stop - for £30 I don't mind when it gives up).
And, yes, I have bounced it on the highway a couple of times but not at great speed + it charges straight out of a 12V socket on the bike via a USB 12- 5V plug that cost pennies (which is also water-proofed with blu tack).
I carry a couple of the latter for insurance against rain penetration.

[ta-rider]

I used a 50 euro Garmin Nuevi 255w with tracks4africa and openstreat maps to ride around africa and souzh america...

[Toyark]

Wow, Toby- you're splashing out!
I would have thought it would have been more like you to use a lodestone fixed to a string!

[pheonix]

I used a car satnav on my bike but eventually, the electrical connector shook so loose it became very temperamental & had to be positioned perfectly to make a connection, even in my car.

After much debate & confusion over the various options, I recently purchased a s/h 660LM from eBay. It came with the original bike mountings and although I've yet to test it properly, all seems fine so far.
You may want to add Montana to your list too

On Garmin's web site there is a 'compare' option for some of the items you list.

[John A]

I have the Montana, its a 2610 update IMO. And that's a good thing.

If you splash out and buy one with the camera it can take geo-tagged pictures, so no guessing where you took that picture of a mountain etc.

Not cheap, but batteries do last, though I've always used a rugged mount on my bike.

[Walkabout]

Originally Posted by pheonix

I used a car satnav on my bike but eventually, the electrical connector shook so loose it became very temperamental & had to be positioned perfectly to make a connection, even in my car.

Ditto after I had dropped the Nuvi a few times, but duck tape kept it in place OK right up to the day that I replaced the whole OEM charger cable with a new, much lighter, USB-to-USB (type A to mini type plugs from memory) version that goes straight into the USB 5V plug.
I've ended up with 3 of the USB cables of different lengths to suit different vehicles - each cable cost no more than a couple of £ or thereabouts.

[davebetty]

Can you get the deg:min:secs to show up on one of the cheaper car based sat navs.

I'm not really bothered about route plotting but knowing where I am would be a useful thing!

[juanvaldez650]

Yes, at least on the Garmin Nuvi 255W.

[Walkabout]

Originally Posted by juanvaldez650

Yes, at least on the Garmin Nuvi 255W.

Same for the 205W - I expect this to be the same for every garmin product.

There are a few different ways of entering locations to search for but the 3 format options for entering coordinates are:
deg min sec
decimal degrees
deg combined with decimal minutes

[Walkabout]

Originally Posted by Ratte

And what with second hand GPS's. is it fine to buy it, and where can i see a model history? (I see a lot of different numbers and names of these Zumo GPS's...)


summary: I'm a newbee in GPS's

I tend to like fiddling with things so I often buy second hand stuff of all kinds including motorcycles - then someone else takes the first hit in the depreciation.

I've got a second hand Nuvi and a "handed down" Tom Tom (from a relative) and they both work fine after many years of use.
As mentioned earlier, the model histories can usually be found in the manufacturers' websites.
Yep, I feel your pain: garmin has shed loads of models, and numbers therefore.

[davebetty]

Thanks for that, I think a cheapy second hand one is the way to go for me because I am on a restrictive budget.

How easy is it to load an OSM map onto them and is there an option to navigate from a top down perspective rather than a 3d view?

Sorry for my Ig, I have a lot of catching up to do!!!

[Walkabout]

Originally Posted by davebetty

How easy is it to load an OSM map onto them and is there an option to navigate from a top down perspective rather than a 3d view?

Sorry for my Ig, I have a lot of catching up to do!!!

OSM is very "doable" as per the sticky thread in here which has a lot of guidance about accessing OSM maps.
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...eet-maps-64135

It's also very possible to use OSM maps via other means such as smart phones and tablets: quite a few of the android apps are using OSM mapping which does away with the necessity for loading them into a dedicated GPS.

I play around with the apps so nowadays I don't bother too much with putting OSM onto the Nuvi, but I do have most of Europe on an SD card within the Nuvi (done by following the instructions in the sticky thread).

ps Nearly forgot, the map view on the Nuvi is "in plan": I know what you mean about a 3D view (= a perspective other than vertical?) but my Nuvi doesn't have that (I have seen it with some of the apps and it is not important to me).