| Author | Message | ||
     Dick8008 |
I'm looking at getting GPS for the next riding season. Does anyone know if you get one with bluetooth can it give the directions through a bluetooth headset? So I could have the headset on under my helmet. Also if anyone has one and any comments good or bad would be great. Thanks for the input. | ||
| Corporatemonkey |
Short answer: Yes Plenty of people do this. Most use the Garmin zumo 550, or one of the TomTom rider products. There are plenty of threads on badweb about these. I use a custom garmin system that works quite well info here http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/384 2/260528.html?1178440002 As for a headset, I use the cardo scala, it works well, but I am looking for something new. There is an active thread about this here http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/384 2/311498.html?1195557457 | ||
| Slaughter |
Just got the Garmin Zumo 450. 550 has more cute stuff. I'm pretty distractable so don't know how much I'd use the bluetooth. Scope out the websites. I just played with the Zumo in the car yesterday to get to know it and it is very easy to understand and use. I have heard good things about the Zumo and so went that route (Sunny got it for me for my birthday) - weatherproof too | ||
| Xl1200r |
+1 on all accounts so far. I have a Garmin Zumo 550, though I have only used the audio in the car. The bluetooth will transfer the audio into your bluetooth headset, and it will also pair with your phone. On the bike, you can recieve calls on the go, and in the car, you can use the GPS as a speakerphone. Works very well, actually. Another neat thing is you can look up a point of interest (say a motel while you're on a roadtrip), and the GPS will supply their phone number and allow you to call them right from that screen to check to see if they have any rooms before you show up. It works quite well. | ||
| Bcordb3 |
I have the Zumo 450 on my bike, works really well. Wunderlich makes a real nice mount that I think would work on a Buell, it is called the Multi Pod. | ||
| Dick8008 |
Awesome, thanks for the input. I though I was set on the NUVI 360 but found out it the bluetooth only works on phone calls, not directions. I'll have to check out the other models. Thanks for the input everyone! | ||
| Jackbequick |
The zumo (450 or 550) is head and shoulders better than any of the nuvi models on navigation features too. It will let you plan your routes on a PC (the PC mapping install DVD comes with it) and upload them, you get full control of routing with multiple destination routing, it will record tracks for you so you can determine times, places, speeds, etc., later without keeping any notes. There's no free lunch, you buy a cheap GPS you don't get a lot of features. Jack | ||
| Slaughter |
Oh and by the way - I know it's a guy thing but you can get the Garmin Zumo and just turn it on and use it without having to read the instructions. It's pretty user friendly. You have to be kind of careful with the touch screen - you can hit another menu. DO NOT try programming or changing things while on the run. You can "click and drag" pretty easily on the screen without being too distracted. Nice feature. | ||
| Slaughter |
Just got the Garmin mounted (just got back from vacation last night and couldn't wait!) Really simple mounting and the adapters are really versatile. The RAM mounts really do work very well. Got used to the system while driving around the Milwaukee area last week. Another nifty thing - it'll recharge through your USB port on your computer too. Internal batteries seem to be good for about 6 hours give or take. Screen visibility is great. We passed it around inside the rental car all last week and at no time did we lose signal. Save money and don't buy an external antenna unless you're driving an M1A1 Abrams tank. Probably take a run somewhere this weekend if there's time. Gotta play with the new toy! MIght take some pix - brothers buddy bought one of the first Can AM Spyder trikes in the LA area, gonna go check it out! | ||
| Pwnzor |
I expect a review on that trike. Does that GPS have the buttons on the left side? Or is it touchscreen only, no buttons? Don't make me look it up. I'm still using an old Toshiba E740 with a Pharos GPS in the CF card slot, on a mount I made myself. I use it on longer trips only, and I can't really do much with it while I'm moving but it works and the screen is pretty bright and it auto-reroutes if I make a wrong turn somewhere... I programmed the hardware buttons at the bottom to operate the menus in the mapping software, but they're kind of small so I only do that when I have my feet on the ground. I stripped out all the other software and put in a 4GB SD card, overclocked the XScale processor to 500Mhz so it updates quickly. Not bad for stuff that was just laying around the garage, eh?    | ||
| Woody1911a1 |
Dick8008 "Awesome, thanks for the input. I though I was set on the NUVI 360 but found out it the bluetooth only works on phone calls, not directions. " huh ? the bluetooth only works on phone calls ? what do phone calls have to do with a stand-alone gps ? reason i'm asking is because that's the model i'm interested in . | ||
| Dick8008 |
You can sync the gps to your phone then either call from your phone book in the gps or on some models call the number of the business on the map. Or you can use it as a speaker phone. But other then that not much else. | ||
| Woody1911a1 |
not doubting you , just suprised . do you know this for a fact ? anywhere i can read this ? | ||
| Woody1911a1 |
ok , i just assumed bluetooth meant i'd hear the nav prompts . so i guess the zumo 550 is the least expensive one capable . bummer | ||
| Jackbequick |
The zumo 450 has been seen for sale on eBay for around $460 or so shipped. That has all the important (to me anyway) features of the 550 and none of the stuff I would not use (Bluetooth, XM radio, etc.). Woody, You can check the 450 and 550 here to compare the features: http://www.garmin.com/garmin/cms/site/us/zumoserie s The 400 and 500 are the European models. The 450 has a audio jack, you can get audible turning prompts via a headset or helmet speakers. The 450 has turning prompts but it will not speak the street names. Don't under estimate the value of the fact that the zumo are rugged, waterproof, and come with a good RAM mount. Also they come with the City Navigator mapping and software on DVD so that you can do your trip planning on a PC and upload it. The 550 comes with the car mount and car power cable, the 450 comes only with the motorcycle mount but it is a good one. You can hang a nuvi or some of the others on a bike for $100 or so less but you have a much inferior unit as far as navigation features, nothing for PC planning, and you still need to come up with a mount. Jack (Message edited by jackbequick on November 27, 2007) | ||
| Woody1911a1 |
"Woody, You can check the 450 and 550 here to compare the features: " yea i did and until dick8008 said something i'd assumed that bluetooth capable meant that i could hear nav directions . TY both . personally i think it's kinda deceptive . | ||
| Dick8008 |
I thought so too. But before I bought one I thought I'd toss it out here to be sure. I'm glad I did. | ||
| U4euh |
TomTom just lowered the prices on thier site for the rider and the rider2. Both come with everything you'll need, including the bluetooth headset made for helmets. i just bought one of the cheap TT 'ONE' unit that BestBuy put on sale for blackfriday. I got it to se how easy the TT was to use and how accurate it was with maps, and warning time to turn, getting me to my location. So far I have been very impressed. The rider models also have weather report capabilities. | ||
| Dynasport |
I used a GPS for the first time this Thanksgiving holiday. My job bought me a Garmin 60cxs or something like that. It is really made for hiking, but they also got the street navigator software and a 2GB card to go with it, which was big enough to download the entire U.S. onto. I mention this simply to muddy the water a bit. I believe this package is quite a bit cheaper than the Zumo models and is still water proof. It has some definite drawbacks, however. First, the screen is smaller than on the Zumo models. To me, this could be an issue on a bike if you are trying to look quickly. Also, because the screen is smaller, you have to toggle between screens to see info such as speed, distance to next turn, and other items. Also, it only beeps to alert you a turn is upcoming. There are no spoken directions at all. I don't think this is an issue unless you are comparing it to a unit that has bluetooth, however, because I don't think I could hear the directions or beeping on my bike at speed without it coming through a headset. OTOH, it did work. It found the addresses I put into it. I tested it with some places I knew how to get to and a couple of times I knew a shorter route than the one it plotted. I think that is true with all GPSs, however, not just this Garmin. The bottom line for me is that if I could afford a the Zumo 550, that is definitely what I would get. I would really like to have the ability to hear the directions through a bluetooth headset. I would also like to see the info it has on the main screen that I had to toggle to see on the 60 I have. Since I can't afford the Zumo right now, I will wait until I can. To me, waterproof is pretty important. I have been caught in too many rain storms to have a GPS that is not waterproof on my bike. In the meantime, I have some very nice paper maps that work pretty well for me. Good luck with your purchase. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Just for further muddy the waters, the Quest gives you full routing control and has a small but very functional screen. It is waterproof and very durable (except maybe for the fold out antenna, which is easily servicable). It will navigate for 8 to 10 hours on it's internal battery, and has lots of mounting options as well. Not nearly as good as a Zumo (which has a better GPS receiver and lots of other goodies), but its probably available on eBay for $150 or less. | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
Just an fyi......The 550 blue tooth is not loud enough to be heard and understood. I have a scala rider bluetooth head set and I cannot understand what she is saying at highway speed. I just plug in ear buds instead and that works better. | ||
| Jackbequick |
I don't have a zumo. But I think I missed something here. As I understand it, if you are using a Bluetooth headset on a zumo, it *will* route the turning prompts and the mp3 audio to the headset. But not the XM audio. If you have ear buds or headset plugged into the stereo audio output jack on the zumo mount, it will route stereo mp3 and XM audio and the turning prompts to that jack also. If you look at page 49 of the manual at this link: http://www8.garmin.com/manuals/1369_OwnersManual.p df There is a matix that explains the moderately complex audio output capabilities quite well. The matrix is enlightening because it explains what output is muted for what and when. Note that the matrix indicates that both turning prompts and mp3 music are sent to the Bluetooth headset but XM radio audio is not. Bluetooth audio is *not* stereo by nature. It is monaural (one channel, one ear). So the mp3 audio on Bluetooth is going to be in mono not stereo. I assume both stereo channels from the mp3 audio are combined on the Blluetooth but don't see where Garmin says that. It would be nice if one of the zumo owners could say for sure that the turning prompts are heard on the Bluetooth. And that mp3 audio is heard there too (probably mediocre at best as it is mono and in one ear only). Jack | ||
| Terribletim |
Ohhhh. . . . I thought you meant bluetooth like this. . .  | ||
| Jackbequick |
I'd like to comment on Dynasport's report on his 60CSx. He arguably has the most versatile GPS reciever on the market today. The Garmin handhelds in that family (60Cx, 60CSx, 76Cx, 76CSx) are the best handhelds on the market today. They have *all* the navigation related features that are offered on any other Garmin. But the 60/76 "x" series models do not have what navigation purists consider to be the "luxury" or non-essential navigation features (like spoken turning prompts, 3-D map views, and large displays). Nor to they have the "brain candy" (for lack of a better term) features like mp3 players, photo viewers, FM-TMC or XM radio, and the like. The 60/76 "x" series are rugged, waterproof, and have very simple power requirements (up to a long day of use on two AA cells). The 60/76 "x" series have a quad helix antenna that out performs the patch antennas used on the zumos and most other Garmin receivers. It will maintain a fix under heavy cover, in canyons, in basements, inside buildings away from windows, and many places where other Garmins will not. And you can add a external antenna to further improve the receiver sensitivity (although I have never found a need to use my external antenna). So the choice comes down to whether you want the most versatile GPS receiver and are willing to give up some of the non-essential to superfluous features found on other models. Or do you want the other features and the brain candy stuff too. You simply cannot get all in one receiver. The 60/76 "x" series models are often described as "unfit" or "inadequate" for use in a car for road navigation because of their smaller displays. Those comments come from people that either have not used them for that or that have not learned how to best use them. They are perfectly suitable for that use. When you activate a road navigation route on those and navigate using the Turn Preview page, you have a single, large font, easily read, very informative info source that tells you everything you need to know and will prompt you through each and every turning maneuver. You can go hundreds or thousands of miles on just that page, glancing at it each time it beeps at you, and with impeccable navigation guidance. The more often used for navigation Map page is almost as informative as the Turn Preview page but only at times and only if you have it configured right. Trying to navigate using the Map page is what leads many people to conclude that the 60/76 "x" series models are a poor choice for auto navigation. I have a 76Cx, a StreetPilot 2610, and two StreetPilot 2620's. The 76Cx is the one that I would keep if I were only going to have one GPS receiver. It has the most features and is the most versatile of all of them. I use the 76Cx when I take trips involving rental cars and boat deliveries (I have marine charts on it too). And the 76Cx is with me when I go into the woods (it has topo maps too) either on foot or on the ATV. Of all the various dash mounted units, the zumo is the most capable of all of them. The primary things that keep the zumo from displacing the 76Cx in my life is that it is much less versatile as far as power requirements and it is not as rugged and "pocketable" as the 76Cx. It also is lacking some of the navigation related features (data boxes and the choices of data types that can be displayed in the boxes). I use the 2610 or 76Cx on my motorcycle (one RAM mount, two different cradles, 15 seconds to change from one or the other. If I was going to take multiple day, pre-planned on the PC, trips, the 76Cx would get the nod. The 2610 is fine for day riding but comes up short primarily on my track data collection desires. My two 2620's came to me cheap and they do fine in the car, truck, and motorhome. The 2620's have the failure prone microdrives for program and data storage and I would not use them on a bike. Jack | ||
| Dynasport |
Jack, I am quite sure I don't know how to use the 60CSx I have to its best use. I got it just before the trip and haven't had much time to learn all its features. As I said, it is not really mine, but belongs to my work, but I am interested in purchasing a GPS for my MC at some point in the future. I have a couple of questions for you, as you seem very knowledgeable about these units. First, how do you hear the beeping on your MC? I don't think I could hear it. I was using it in a car and noise was not a problem. On my bike at speed, that is another issue. Also, is there a way to see info such as speed, distance to next turn, distance traveled, and distance to destination on one screen? I have heard on some units you can customize what info is displayed on a screen, but I have not found a way to do that. Finally, there seem to be six different models in the 60/76 line. Is there one you would recommend over the others? Thanks Dan | ||
| Jackbequick |
Dan, "..you seem very knowledgeable about these units" I am thoroughly addicted to GPS as a tool and hobby and spend time on a number of GPS related news groups. "..how you hear the beeping on your MC?.." I don't hear it there, only in the car. I don't hear my 2610 on the bike either and don't want to. When I use the Turn Preview page for navigation I can see a continuous display of distance and time remaining to the next turn at a glance. I have similar info displayed on tabs on the 2610. I just don't feel a need for an audible wakeup call on the bike. "..is there a way to see info such as speed, distance to next turn, distance traveled, and distance to destination on one screen?.." Yes. You can choose to display two to six data boxes on the various pages. And the data choices in the boxes include all the things you want to see and more. Also you can change what is displayed in the data boxes on the Computer page. Press the Menu button from any page and if the is a Data Boxes choice there, explore that further. "..there seem to be six different models in the 60/76 line..." The 60 and 76 "x" series models have identical hardware, displays, and software. Only the button locations and shapes of the cases differ. The CSx models have a built in flux gate compass and barometer and will provide accurate compass headings when stationary and more accurate altitude figures. The Cx models use the GPS calculated heading to give you a "compass like" display, and use the less accurate/more erratic GPS calculated elevation for elevation readings. I bought the 76Cx and would buy it again. I did not feel a need for the compass and barometer and saved $50 and a little on battery life by not buying the CSx. If I were a aircraft pilot, sky diver, or mountain climber I would have bought the CSx. Feel free to email me at jacker@roadrunner.com for more info on any of this. Jack |
