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Jackbequick
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 03, 2007 - 08:08 pm: | 
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The i3 and i5 both use flash memory internally. The i5 has enough built in memory to store the North American mapping. The i3 has less internal memory with a basemap in it and additional mapping is stored on the microSD card. The i5 has a microSD card too.
An i3 with a 1 GB microSD card will store all of the North American mapping package (i.e., would be equivalent to an i5 as far as mappping).
Vibration should not be an issue with either of those but I'd like to have just a little isolation or padding in the mounting, like about the same amount as is used for the electronics in your instruments.
The downside, to me, on the i3 and i5 is that neither will do multiple destination routing (i.e., give you full control of routing), neither will record tracks, and neither one will let you plan your routes on a PC and upload them to the GPS. It is the old pay moe money to get more features thing.
It seems strange to me that you can use MapSource from a PC to upload maps to an i3 but that you cannot (if you read the manuals) upload a route planned out on a a PC to an i3 or i5. Does that make sense? I wonder if that is a glitch in the manuals? If you talk to Garmin that might be a question worth asking.
A good way to shop and compare the Garmins is to go to the automobile product page or the motorcycle product page and use the Product Comparison feature to compare the models.
Xl1200r - "I'm still open to other suggestions." Check out the refurbs on eBay
- StreetPilot 2610 http://tinyurl.com/yhphcc
- Quest & Quest II http://tinyurl.com/yaab2z
I don't recall seeing refurbs on the Quests but they may be there.
Jack |
Corporatemonkey
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 03, 2007 - 09:48 pm: |
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This is a great thread, as I am thinking of getting a nav system.
Has anyone had first hand experience with the TomTom rider? I played with one, found it easy to use, but I have read some less than positive reviews on its actual use. I just wanted a real review on some of the higher end units on the market.
Pwnzor, how accurate is the mapping software for your PDA? I have used many gps mapping systems (pda, computer, automotive, etc...) and found most of them lacking.
The only system I have used that was nearly perfect is in the 2006 volvo c70 I used late last year. I honestly can say I fell in love with that system, 5000+ miles, and not one turn wrong... |
Pwnzor
| | Posted on Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 01:04 am: |
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I've been using that PDA as a GPS since 2003, and so far I have only found 2 streets that were either not in the map or misnamed. I use the GPS not only on the bike, but in my truck as well. So far in the western 11 states, it has been 99.9% accurate.
I stripped out a lot of the built in features of the operating system, and overclocked the processor to 500mhz. Increased the internal memory to 128mb and put in a 512mb SD card. The detailed street maps of California take up about 250mb and I keep most major cities and the full arterial highway set on there with 50mb to spare. I have an Ipaq with a lot of memory, and I keep extra maps on that, using the WLAN to transfer them over if needed. |
Jackbequick
| | Posted on Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 09:41 am: |
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The software used on the Rider was sold for use on PDAs as Tom Tom Navigator 5. Like Matt, I ran that on a couple of older PDAs (iPAQ 36xx and 38xx) and it did fine.
I also found the accuracy to be good but it will never be perfect. Some folks go into shock when they find a road missing but it can take two to five years for a new road to show up in NavTeq or Tele-Atlas data and some things have never been right and others might never show up.
Tom Tom released version 6 recently and that has new data, some software improvements, but no major changes from the look and feel of V5 as near as I can see.
I have not seen V6 yet and I've never used a Rider. I'm told that using a Rider is the same as using the TT5 software. The Rider has some bells and whistles (Bluetooth audio, etc.) that you may not have with TT5/6 on a PDA.
TT5 is easy to use and does a great job. It does do multiple destination routing (calling it Itinerary Planning) and gives you full control on routing. I found TT5 on a PDA very useful in a tank bag map case. After I got my Garmin 76Cx I wasn't using the PDA and TT5 as much so I gifted it to my brother.
A thing I would have liked to see added to TT5 is for it to display tracks as you travel and for it to save or record tracks for later analysis. I'm told there is an application you can run in the background on a PDA that will do that for you when you are using TT5.
Tom Tom does not come with or have a PC application for planning and uploading routes but the software does have an Advanced Planning mode that will let you plan routes on the PDA.
Garmin seems to have been trying to crush Tom Tom's growing market in the U.S. but Tom Tom seems to have fought them off. The details of the Garmin lawsuit are here. I'm glad to see some one offer Garmin some competition, if they had the market to themselves they would punish us on their prices more than they already are.
Also, Tom Tom uses Tele-Atlas data, Garmin uses NavTeq and Tom Tom's use of Tele-Atlas and slowly increasing U.S. market seems to have Tele-Atlas focused in getting their data up to date for the U.S. market. And I'm seeing Tom Tom advertising on TV in prime time markets now.
Jack
(Message edited by jackbequick on January 04, 2007) |
Xl1200r
| | Posted on Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 09:41 am: |
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The 2610 looks nice as well. Would you feel odd about buying a refurbed GPS?
The only downsides I see are the internal battery (I like the AA's the i3 and i5 use), the need to load maps (an easy fix though with a larger card), and no 3-D map view (I really like the 3-D map view). Like the quest, it's a little large, but since it's waterproof it doesn't matter quite as much.
Good thing I have time to decide on all of this... |
Cereal
| | Posted on Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 10:05 am: |
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I got the Magellan Explorist 500 from costco, but after buying the battery, software, and memory card, I should have just bought a Garmin. It works well and is waterproof, but not very user friendly. I have many complaints about it, but don't really feel like getting into it right now unless there is someone who was thinking about buying it and have some questions. My biggest issue now is that I lost the DVD software and can no longer hook it up to my computer to create routes (the DVD needs to be in the drive for the program to run). That's $100 down the toilet. |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 12:18 pm: |
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The internal batteries may be arguably better. While they are less flexible and harder to replace if they wear out, the internal AA units can have issues with vibration on a motorcycle where they are loosing power intermittently. |
Garp
| | Posted on Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 01:50 pm: |
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I have a Garmin 60CSX on the 12R, and a Nuvi in the car. The 60 series are waterproof, and the newer models are expandable by Micro SD cards. i have a 1GB card and have 2/3rds of the country stored. It doesn't talk, and it doesn't have a very good 3d view, but it does the job for me. |
Xl1200r
| | Posted on Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 02:10 pm: |
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I'm actually getting interested in the StreetPilot 2730 - Basically a 2720 but with XM, and costs far less than the more expensive 2820 which is the same thing but with Bluetooth. Only downside is it's discontinued, but can still be had from Amazon for $617.
No internal battery though, so I'd have to rig up a 12v source on the bike. How hard is this to do? |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 02:25 pm: |
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Simple. You can build one easily, or simply get an adapter for "something else" like a cell phone charger that has the right voltage and current specs and re-purpose it.
Depending on the unit, it might not even need it. It's kind of hard to tell from the manual, but we could figure it out. |
Garp
| | Posted on Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 06:39 pm: |
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Garmin sell Hardwire kits for most models, so hooking them up is easy. |
Jackbequick
| | Posted on Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 09:37 pm: |
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All of the 26xx and 27xx and 28xx StreetPilots will take a 9-36V DC input.
Those all have good internal regulation so you can just wire them in directly on bikes and cars. They list them and the power cables as for "12/24" volts but those can actually be used on 9-35VDC.
Look on eBay for the non-OEM power cables and also mounts and stuff for those. The cables are much cheaper there.
I think the Quest was about the only Garmin that had that strange (for Garmin) 5VDC input voltage.
Xl1200r - On the wisdom of buying the refurbs, the people on the newgroups say they cannot be told from a new one. They show now signs of previous use and come with the same one year warranty as a new one. The come in a plain white or brown generic box if that would be an issue.
Jack |
Xl1200r
| | Posted on Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 10:39 pm: |
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Good to know... Anyone have a pic of a 26xx, 27xx or 28xx StreetPilot or similar sized unit mounted over the upper triple tree? |
Hotdog271
| | Posted on Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 11:10 pm: |
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I have a garmin Nuvi 350, it works great on the bike and also plays MP3s and translates french to English. Not that I think that will ever help. |
Corporatemonkey
| | Posted on Friday, January 05, 2007 - 05:30 am: |
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I can't wait for CES to see what garmin is going to release this year.
Maybe I will be able to get a zumo550 later this year at a deep discount |
Jackbequick
| | Posted on Saturday, January 06, 2007 - 11:03 pm: |
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Mark,
I guess no one can help on the photos and I don't have or know that bike. If you havn't check it out before, look at the RAM Mounts catalogs to get some ideas on ways to do that.
They tend to decide what you need and sell kits but their system is pretty modular and you can mix or match pieces. There are cradles for the GPSRs, two rubber covered ball mounts, and a clamping arm that connects the two. The ball that is attached to the bike can be U-bolted around a bar or cross brace but they also have that lower base in a variety of other styles and mountings.
It you look at their Universal Catalog from the link above and at the ball mounts and arms in the 9/16" and 1" sizes you can probably find something that will work out better than the kits. Some of the ones that mounted on threaded studs or screwed into drilled and tapped holes might work out good. They also have a number of them that can be screwed down if there is a convenient spot.
Jack
(Message edited by jackbequick on January 06, 2007) |
Xl1200r
| | Posted on Sunday, January 07, 2007 - 11:40 am: |
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I'm pretty familiar with Ram-Mount's stuff, and I was planning on using them to get it all set where I wanted it. I was going to run a ball off of the left-side mirror plug on the bar, and then run it over more towards the center of the triple with an arm. |
Cityxslicker
| | Posted on Sunday, January 07, 2007 - 12:38 pm: |
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If they find a way to integrate the vehicle information, ie speed, rpm, and fuel meters into that tom tom, I will replace the factory dash in a heartbeat. Any body have any good experience with the tom tom system off road, ie the other 22.5 percent of the roads out there that are still dirty? |
Corporatemonkey
| | Posted on Monday, January 08, 2007 - 04:30 am: |
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Question I have been wondering. For those of you with nav systems, how are you hearing the voice prompts? What headset do you use?
Anyone have experience with the bluetooth scala rider?
http://www.cardowireless.com/scala_rider/ |
Xl1200r
| | Posted on Monday, January 08, 2007 - 09:55 am: |
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I have no experience with the Scala stuff - I have a Chatterbox that works well, though I've never used it for anything other than talking to another rider. But my buddy uses his for music and says it works good, just a direct mini-stereo line into the unit.
What's nice about the chatterbox (and others I'm sure) is they prioritize the different audio inputs. For instance, you can be listening to music, but when your buddy starts talking, it will automatically cut out the music and you'll hear him instead. Then, if your GPS or cell phone goes off, that will cut out your buddy so you can hear that instead. Kind of neat.
If I get a GPS with a line out, I'll just use the line in into the Chatterbox I already have. |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Monday, January 08, 2007 - 12:38 pm: |
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My Quest can be configured to have one of the boxes that are displayed during route navigation always show time and distance to next turn. I think it shows street name as well. When I want to know, I just glance at the screen.
So I just avoid the voice prompts all together, didn't even run the wire. |
Fl_a1a
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 09, 2007 - 11:23 pm: |
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Voice prompting on my GPS...done at stops by hitting the next turn icon...mostly don't use that feature while on two wheels. My unit is loud enough to hear over the motor at idle with helmet on. I have the Garmin c330 and the visual prompting on this unit blows away my other GPS units. I find I like voice prompting on 4 wheels only because more distractions are taking place ( passenger conversation, cell phone, radio station jumping ). |
Xl1200r
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 09, 2007 - 11:40 pm: |
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Hey guys...
I'm going to be getting the i5. The 2730 is just too damn big (and expensive), and the waterproof thing is no big deal for me.
Plus, I'm going to Ireland in the spring and want something to take there that doesn't need to be plugged in. I found a guy who makes custom mounts for them, so between some of his parts and some of my handywork, I can put the thing right where I want it. |
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