Triumphrat

Ecaz

Clearly, the waterproof(ish) Nuvi 550 is MUCH cheaper in price than the Zumo.

Here's the issue:

you can't turn off auto recalculation on the Nuvi 550.

So, what does that mean? I assume what it means, is that if I create a route in Mapguide and upload it to my Garmin (I read the user manual, i can add 10) I assume that means that it will not take me on my specified route, but try to compensate on each turn? That could get mighty frustrating... any experience?

Zumo is expensive...

prosql

DISCLAIMER: I haven't actually held both units in my hand, so take it for what it's worth (which probably isn't much).....

The Zumo is tuned for Motorcycle use, while the Nuvi is tuned for more normal use. What does that mean? Well, a few things:

Zumo = waterproof rated. This doesn't mean you should go scuba diving with it, but it does mean that it's pretty safe in the rain.
Nuvi= Water resistant. This means you shouldn't panic if a few raindrops get on it, but that you should also avoid major water torture (like sustained rain and wind).

Zumo = tuned for gloved hands
Nuvi = tuned for regular fingers

Zumo = built for some degree of abuse. This doesn't mean that you should use it as a weapon against your ex, but does mean that it's built to be durable against constantly being mounted and unmounted from your bike mount, as well as the somewhat bumpier ride a unit can get on a bike as compared to today's cars.
Nuvi = Built to be portable, but expecting less mount/dismounts and a bit smoother ride.


That's my take anyway. Personally, I think the Zumos are nice, but a tad overpriced (I expect them to be noticeably more expensive than the Nuvi's, but the 2-3x thing seems a bit much). Problem is, they have what are clearly the best units, so they'll probably get me to buy one in the next few months anyway....

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'02 Daytona 955i

hAnKbOt

I just bought a Nuvi 550 for my bike, and I can say that it works just fine with gloves. And there is no reason is shouldn't be able to handle any rain that comes it's way.

As for the auto recalculate, it works the same as any other GPS unit, if you make a wrong turn, or leave the route, it will try to "recalculate" and get you back on track. Having the ability to turn it off just means that when you pull of the interstate to get gas the stupid thing doesn't go into auto recalculate mode to help you figure out how to get back on the interstate.

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Street Triple Fanatic

denny

When autorecalculate is turned off on the Zumo series it will keep you on that meticulously planned route through all the twisties you can find.

If autorecalculate is turned on the GPS will try to reroute you to the next Waypoint in your Route. And sometimes that will take you way far away from your original route.

If you want to use the GPS to help you find out of the way backroads turning off recalculate is pretty necessary. Sit down in front of the computer and find the twisty roads, plan your route, transfer that to the Zumo and it will follow that, as long as you take some care with the planning.

Zumo series is the only ones Garmin makes that will not recalculate a route when you transfer it to the GPS.

Also the Nuvi has no provisions to connect the audio to your helmet.
The spoken directions are very nice. If your route is planned carefully looking at the GPS is not necessary.
Just listen to it.

If you want to tour on minor roads I don't think any other will do that job.

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Cheers,Denny

hobbes80

I have the Zumo 550, so I will be biased.

I have had very good luck with it, and only a few times had it recalculate the route for me in a bad way. That being said, you can reprogram your route on the fly from the interface without having to go to you computer. (I'm sure this is the same on the NUVI)... a lot of times, I'll know where i want to go, but have lots of time to get there. SO I'll set the destination, then tap the map, and start adding points that I want to pass through on the way and just add them as Via points, which makes for a good, on-the-fly route.

You can also build routes from the interface, and add waypoints that you already have, or that you create as you go.

I've been caught in some nasty down pours with it, no problems at all.

I bought mine through gpsnow.com and got it for $500 less than the garmin website, I paid about $700 for it. The Zumo came with a mount for my car AND a mount for the bike AND all the cabling to wire it up to the bike and a cig-adapter for the car. I bought the lifetime map updates for about $110 from the garmin website, doing updates is as easy as plugging in the Zumo to you USB, logging into the garmin website and clicking "update my device". They have an activex plugin that will walk you through it.

I'm sure the Nuvi has most, if not all, of the above features... but figuring out how to mount it might be worth the extra $$ that you'd spend on a ram-mount.

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"...of course, he was the walrus. I could be the walrus, but I'd still need to bum rides off of people"