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22 Sep 2012
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Join Date: Mar 2007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexlebrit
As an aside comparing Garmin to Google I notice if I'm using turn by turn navigation and go off route Garmin will recalculate to try to get me back to its initial planned route often wanting me to "perform a U-turn", Google will recalculate the whole route afresh meaning I can generally keep on riding forwards. In one recent instance, missing one turn on the Garmin would have lead me to ride a circle (take the next right, then the next, then the next etc.) of 24 miles to get back to the original route, whereas Google recalculated the whole thing, and told me to take the next left.
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Yea! Thanks for that observation Alex - I thought it was just me and how I have my Nuvi 205w set up; I have fiddled with the settings but it continues to do exactly as you describe. On one recent ride in France it appeared to want me to go back to Calais, even though by then I was miles and miles further south. This was quite perplexing at the time - I am used to a Tom Tom that does what I want (and constantly recalculates routes as I deviate, including when the French roads have their own, local, deviations for road works etc). In contrast, the Garmin gave me the impression of "I know best where you want to go (and make a U turn now!!)".
Two other features of the Garmin that I did not like were (this is my first trip using one of these);
It seemed slow to do the calculations compared with my Tom Tom.
Over long route calculations it more or less "gave up" and came up with a message that more information would be provided later. In contrast, the ancient Tom Tom can come up with a route across most of Europe.
__________________
Dave
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23 Jan 2013
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on team smartphone!
I'm keen to try Iphone as a GPS replacement. Important advantages seem to be much more intuitive software and carrying a multi-use device that can also be used to play music or duck into a cafe connect to wifi, check your email, take a photo, or compose a video. To me this is part of the charm of motorcycle travel - figuring out how to simplify things down to the essentials. In the spirit of the debate, below are my idea of solutions to the issues that I've commonly seen raised:
Quote:
Originally Posted by RoadTrekker
Personnaly I would not like to put all my eggs into one basket, A smartphone is for communicating and listening to music. My Iphone eats battery power when running any APP so the phone will die and then you have lost communicatins as well.
$20 usb connector
Smartphones are not water or dust proof
$40 case
Smartphones cannot be used with gloves on
conducting thread
Smartphone mapping software is eons behind the GPS companies
my garmin 60csx is a massive pain to use compared to google maps on my phone
Smartphones cannot be easily viewed in bright sunlight
not sure about this one - maybe shade my windshield (?)
Smartphones are not as accurate as GPS as they track very few satellites
everyone always says this, but I haven't experienced the problem yet. I just used the Motion X app on a hike in Death Valley with no trail to follow and could see precisely where I was
Smartphones require a network connection for the APP to run which can be expensive when traveling through different countries
this is not not true for all mapping apps
Smartphones usualy switch off the screens after a preset time to safe battery life so no road map.
touch the button
Smartphones are not designed for the high frequency vibrations on a bike so it will damage it after a short time.
this is a real concern. anyone have experience with this?
Keep the GPS seperate to mitigate against breakage, theft, failure, battery life.
more crap to loose, break, get stolen
I have a Zumo 660 its built to last in all weathers and it works with clear instructions and maps. I have my Iphone linked via bluetooth to the Zumo and then linked to my Interphone F5 headset. This si the best set up you can get its totaly safe and reliable.
You pay your money and throw the dice!!!
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23 Jan 2013
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someone please make the perfect mapping app!
On the smartphone GPS evolution front, the two Iphone apps that I've found most useful are MotionX and MapsWithMe, but they both have their shortcomings.
MotionX supports track and waypoints and all that, but the OpenStreetMap (OSM) data are huge! Difficult or impossible to fit large areas at high resolution on a 16gb phone.
MapsWithMe OSM data is incredibly compact - highest level resolution for far less space and time to download. The MapsWithMe OSM tiles at the highest resolution are 90,000 smaller than the MotionX ! Seriously - how is this even possible?! I tested with an area about the size of Morocco - 11 MB vs 890 GB.
So, the solution for now may be - download low resolution data in MotionX to use tracks (since away from cities the high res maybe isn't as important) and use MapsWithMe in cities. Anyone have a better idea?
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26 Jan 2013
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here is my 2 cents.
i rode Africa with a motorola defy. this sucker is water proof, dust proof and shock proof. i used 2 maps/nav apps sygic and navit (both fell off the back of the internet truck) i could download the whole of africa on navit and some countries with sygic.
i would put my phone in the map section of my tank bag.
i could also use the phone for all my music and both gps apps would interrupt my music to tell me voice directions 
the navit maps weren't the most comprehensive but not much of africa is mapped!
i could also check my email and do all the net stuff with this phone and it was way cheaper then a good gps it only cost me around 300 bucks. fits my phone gps and some computer needs. i love it and use it all the time now for navigation both online and offline. 
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8 Feb 2013
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I've read this thread (or at least most of it) with interest.
I've been a tomtom user for many years and have a chinese motorbike tomtom satnav on my bike which works fine. I quite like the interface and simplicity.
The Zumo seems to be the satnav of choice for bikers though, I've never used one but I don't know what functions of it over the tomtom I am missing? Bear in mind though I've always stuck to tarmac before. I think it can track your ride and stuff?
Anyhow I have just been cleaning out my wardrobe and found a Garmin 60CSX. I've played around with it, loaded Basecamp on my PC and loaded a map (Of Iceland) and see I can get OSM maps for it. However I'm pretty naive and wondering if the fad with these is over now that phones and tomtom/zumo's are around.
Basically is the 60CSX something I should learn about, play with and become familiar with and will it become a good part of my travels or am I just playing with outdated or unsuitable technology?
Thanks - Daniel
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14 Sep 2014
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I'm just about fed up with garmin products. I've never had so many issues with their older stuff. The 60csx just worked. Now got 2 rino's and besides useability issues batteries don't connect well between units and now wall chargers stop charging.
Winge over!
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16 Sep 2014
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The old ones are decent like you said Noel. These new ones just seen to shit themselves.
How have people mounted them?
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17 Sep 2014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tmotten
The old ones are decent like you said Noel. These new ones just seen to shit themselves.
How have people mounted them?
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Hey Taco,
Yeah, there is a reason why I stick to my 276C with upgraded 2Gb memory card but I also hear possitive sounds about the Montana and on our recent Mongolia trip the Zumo wasn't half bad eather!
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17 Sep 2014
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Fair call Noel. But I'm always amazed why people need or want turn by turn directions in the bush.
Maybe I navigate old school by land features and check where I am on the map and look at where north is.
For that an app that works with any geo referenced scanned or downloaded map like backcountry navigator (love it, very accurate and power conservative GPS receiver) will do perfect.
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17 Sep 2014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tmotten
Fair call Noel. But I'm always amazed why people need or want turn by turn directions in the bush.
Maybe I navigate old school by land features and check where I am on the map and look at where north is.
For that an app that works with any geo referenced scanned or downloaded map like backcountry navigator (love it, very accurate and power conservative GPS receiver) will do perfect.
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Middle of Sahara or Gobi?
No problemo , with smart phone.
BackCountry Navigator
Plus for oceans and air plane flight...
[url=http://gps.motionx.com/iphone/overview/]MotionX
Maps with me awful good ,,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_MNX7OO8zw
Internet and telephone any where ,,
http://www.thuraya.com/satsleeveandroid
http://www.gizmag.com/iridium-go-satellite-hotspot/30711/
No recalculating ,, no go back to road.
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18 Sep 2014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tmotten
Fair call Noel. But I'm always amazed why people need or want turn by turn directions in the bush.
Maybe I navigate old school by land features and check where I am on the map and look at where north is.
For that an app that works with any geo referenced scanned or downloaded map like backcountry navigator (love it, very accurate and power conservative GPS receiver) will do perfect.
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I guess everything is possible now with smart phones but they are way too fragile for me and I don't like touch screens in a dusty environment, where you need to wipe the screen clean every 15 minutes. With a touch screen phone (or GPS!) the thing goes haywire! My tea remains my non touch screen Garmin for now 
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18 Sep 2014
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Anywhere really. The choice is usual "go left or go right".
I've noticed backcountry navigator to be more accurate than the garmin in cases. They've got a trick to optimise the GPS location without reception somehow.
Never dropped out neither. The rino lost the signal for 15 mins mid ride on a clear day on the prairie.
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19 Sep 2014
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I used a combination of Garmin Zumo 660 n Samsung Grand for my trip from India to Uk last year thro the hot dry windy weather of Uzbekistan. One of them always worked where the other didnt. Language was a problem on Garmin but not on a phone. I did have maps for each zone I was traveling. One does need a phone to communicate so it shall be a part of our trips Garmin or any other GPS does help. In a trip of thousands of Kms some lost paths are part and parcel. Although I did not loose a single way or direction on the entire trip. Its like comparing phone v/s a camera to take pics.
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19 Sep 2014
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Smart phones,,
Water proof ,,
Dust proof ,,
Encased in this box, with finger recognition front cover ,,
https://www.google.co.kr/search?q=ra...ed=0CAYQ_AUoAQ
Enough said !
Ride on !
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19 Sep 2014
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this thread is still going!? my contribution of empirical evidence - Iphone4 using MapsWithMe app as my only navigation down the west coast of Africa London to Cape Town, now in Nairobi on the way back up to Europe. The app pulls OpenStreetMap data which is updated frequently, easy to use, GoogleMaps-like data rendering.
Somehow MapsWithMe makes the data super compressed, so I've ridden around with all of W. Europe and Africa living on my phone. Works great and costs about 0 if you've already got a phone. Glad I returned the Garmin to REI before I left the US.
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