Talk me out of a Zumo?

[Emoto]

Ok, my GPSMap 60C is a fine unit, but I am thinking that once prices have had time to drop a bit from initial release, that a Zumo would be a good upgrade. What are the negatives on this? Any reasons I should NOT do this?

Bob

[HMarc]

ChuckH is a member here, and he recently dug into the Zumo vs: 276/376/378 vs: 26xx/28xx and hopefully will jump in here with his findings. I think one of the big strikes against the Zumo is screen resolution.

I'm pretty happy with my 276C. I'd be happier if it took standard CF cards instead of that damn expensive proprietary Garmin memory card.

My friend Phil is putting up a GPS information Website (coming Real Soon Now ) and knows a ton about Garmins (having worked at Cycoactive and Touratech). He reminded me that you can use the GPS to find motels at the end of a long day when you're tired, hot and grouchy. Who'd a guessed?

[MotoJim]

Don't think it supports saved track logs. Saved track logs are a requirement for me. I'm waiting for Garmin to wake up and give us an instrument that matches what the Lowrance Baja 480C can do. 100 saved track logs of 10,000 points each. Garmin claims the Zumo was created by motorcyclists... I'm betting the Tavern-to-Tavern 2k per year or less motorcyclists.

[chuckh]

Originally Posted by HMarc

ChuckH is a member here, and he recently dug into the Zumo vs: 276/376/378 vs: 26xx/28xx and hopefully will jump in here with his findings. I think one of the big strikes against the Zumo is screen resolution.

I'm pretty happy with my 276C. I'd be happier if it took standard CF cards instead of that damn expensive proprietary Garmin memory card.

My friend Phil is putting up a GPS information Website (coming Real Soon Now ) and knows a ton about Garmins (having worked at Cycoactive and Touratech). He reminded me that you can use the GPS to find motels at the end of a long day when you're tired, hot and grouchy. Who'd a guessed?

Phil's the expert, butt, until he puts up his GPS website this is the (limited) info I know:

I had a 276C for over 2 years and liked it alot. I sold it recently thinking to replace it with either a 376C or a 378. Butt, I'm holding off just a bit. Why? The 276C and the 376C/378/478 units share the same chip set, which, is a generation behind the Zumo. I don't plan to purchase the Zumo. I like the Chartplotter units from Garmin. The screen resolution is excellent, and, I believe the screen size is pretty much ideal for a motorcycle application.

If Garmin doesn't announce a replacement for the 276C/376C/378/478 by this December, then I'll purchase a 378.

It's spendy in order to get the North American City Navigator basemap and you have to pay for that darn GXM30 antenna. Butt, once you do, then you don't have to fsck with Garmin proprietary memory or wondering if you have the NA CN basemap detail in order to locate a Subway in West L.A.

And, I can eliminate my (faultless, so far) Roady XM radio and have one less electronic device on my bike.

I do like the user interface on the Garmin 2820, butt, I like the screen of the 276C/... chartplotter's a lot better, it's resolution is significantly better then the Zumo and the 28?0 series units.

SiRFstarIII is the chipset that (will be) is used on the Zumo and not yet found on the WAAS capable 276C/... series chartplotters. And, why has Garmin waited so long to begin retailing the Zumo? Is 5 months a bit long for a product intro?

BTW, my trusty Garmin III+ booted up and located satellites much faster then my 276C.

A 578 Chartplotter with SiRfstarIII and Bluetooth would be sweet.

[Emoto]

Thanks for all the replies, guys!

So far:

1. No track logs - Does this mean I can't wander around randomly and then save what I did in case I like it and want to make a "route" out of it to use in the future?

2. Resolution & Screen size - I need to go into a shop that has many units and see them side by side, I guess. All I really know is my GPSMap 60C, which I am guessing falls into the small screen and poor resolution group?

[Phil]

Originally Posted by chuckh

Phil's the expert, butt ...

Thanks for the comma Chuck.

Originally Posted by chuckh

I do like the user interface on the Garmin 2820, butt, I like the screen of the 276C/... chartplotter's a lot better, it's resolution is significantly better then the Zumo and the 28?0 series units.

The 2720, 2730 and 2820 share the same screen. 454 x 240. Which is not all that different than the 276C/376C at 480 x 320. (I hope I'm remembering that correctly, the manual isn't right here.) It's interesting that such a relatively small pixel difference is so noticable, but it is. BTW, Emoto, the 60 series screens are 160 x 240. Bigger is better! Don't use a large screen GPS until your Visa balance can handle it.

Originally Posted by chuckh

BTW, my trusty Garmin III+ booted up and located satellites much faster then my 276C.

A 578 Chartplotter with SiRfstarIII and Bluetooth would be sweet.

There was a firmware version that made the 276C really slow at acquiring. It was quickly updated to fix that problem. That version was in a demo 276C at my previous employer and it didn't get a lock in my car all the way from work to home, which was about 20 minutes. Very bad. I updated it the next day.

My wish list would also include the following:
- a waterproof remote of some kind, especially one I could mount on the handlebars.
- a definable hotkey so I could switch between City Nav and Topo with one button push, for example.
- larger map segment limits. Even the 60 series has twice the 276C limits.

Phil

[marty hill]

I have a 2720 and a zumo. Screen res is better on the zumo and much better in sunlight. Don't understand how anyone could say the opposite.

[GSTed]

Had a Quest, very tough to see with my 46 year old eyes. Wife surprized me with a Zumo. So far it is the coolest thing I've seen, I love the touch screen and the large screen is great too! Still learning what it can do but looks great on my 07 GS!

[Smeggy]

Gone from a 2610 to Zumo 550. Well pleased so far.

[dec]

From a Garmin GPS V to a Zumo 450 . . . good upgrade. Curious how it will work on the trip to Alaska next summer . . . time will tell.

dc in DC