Looking for GPS recommendations

[pushr0d]

Although dated, there is a very good article on bike GPS units in the April 07 edition of Motorcycle Consumer News, pages 24-27.

The three models tested were the TomTom Rider, the Garmin Streetpilot 2720 and the Lowrance iWay 500c.

[KitNYC]

Originally Posted by 1050STrider

<...>
On the 2610,
Several of the listers on the Sabre/Magna mailing list have recently bought this unit because of a really good deal on factory refurbs.

Heh. Did I mention that I got a really good deal on a factory refurb?

Originally Posted by 1050STrider

Turning the IR feature off or putting some black tape over the IR receiver fixed the problem. YMMV

Woo! Thanks, Don, I bet that saves me a headache or 2!

Cheers,
-Kit

[SEAsprintah]

Originally Posted by xxxdog56

Zumo 550+XM radio+Autocom system. It all works quite well together. I used this system on a trip to NC and Tenn last month and for the most part the Zumo performance was great, except for one route in Boone,NC. The turns came so close together the gps was about 500ft to slow.

That's very disturbing, I've been contemplating this gps also. But 500ft!?! makes me have second thoughts.

Actually, I don't even understand how that can be, I thought they were accurate to around 30ft? or is it 30m (90ft). Do you think you lost signal in canyons or something like that? Or maybe it just seemed like 500ft?

[Niltime]

Greetings all - I am currently using a TomTom Rider V2, which I find works very well. OK mapping, nice and easy to use, and it comes complete with a bluetooth headset - which I do not use, as I prefer to listen to my Ipod when slabbing it on the freeway.

The mounting system works well, and it was easy to set up. The screen is pretty easy to see, even in bright sunlight, and I have improved it further by fitting a GlareStomper screen.

Cheers,

[noobcorpse]

Originally Posted by oldndumb

Hi noob'
Haven't heard from you for a while. Glad to read that you went the switched route.

yeah, I haven't been poking around here much.. I aim to remedy that. I paid my mechanic to help me with it, he wired it up very well, and it was the best $20 I ever spent.

For those comparing prices, I paid $710 shipped from amazon.com, got it in 2 days. this was about 4-5 months ago.

[noobcorpse]

Originally Posted by SEAsprintah

That's very disturbing, I've been contemplating this gps also. But 500ft!?! makes me have second thoughts.

Actually, I don't even understand how that can be, I thought they were accurate to around 30ft? or is it 30m (90ft). Do you think you lost signal in canyons or something like that? Or maybe it just seemed like 500ft?

It may have been poor reception, or it may be the sattelite reception mode. One is more battery-intensive but is more accurate.. or something.. A friend explained it to me in an email, but I can't find it.. I have mine set to WAAS/EGNOS, which the manual says is
"more accurate" than normal, but uses more battery life.

As far as accuracy, mine seems accurate to about 100ft, which I tested in a neighborhood with very tight streets about 500-700 ft apart - no trouble telling where to turn, even with the map zoomed out a bit.

[oldndumb]

Originally Posted by SEAsprintah

That's very disturbing, I've been contemplating this gps also. But 500ft!?! makes me have second thoughts.

Actually, I don't even understand how that can be, I thought they were accurate to around 30ft? or is it 30m (90ft). Do you think you lost signal in canyons or something like that? Or maybe it just seemed like 500ft?

Get more info before you have second thoughts.

The roads in that area are very twisty. Maybe he was referring to the fact that the spoken directions could not keep up with the twisties. Speed could also be a factor combined with the frequent curves. I don't believe he said the map was inaccurate.

xxxdog56, can you give more info?

[MVP44]

During the summer I did a 6k mile trip to the southwest, the left coast and back to Baltimore with the Zumo. What a difference it made in being able to enjoy the trip. If I saw an interesting road just went and explored with no worries. The sensativity is incredible. I loaded the topo maps just for giggles and took it for a hike with my daughter into the Grand Canyon. I wasn't until just before the first waypoint around Cedar ridge - which in the big scheme isn't that deep, but the elevation change was I think 1500 feet below the rim or something like that. Was an absolute dream finding hotels etc - esp in Col Springs where ramps were closed from the interstate and had to get re directed.
I highly recommend it, but get plenty of those annoyingly small screws that are an extra safety measure to keep the unit in place I have already lost two, but Garmin sent me 10 free of charge.

Also, took one heck of a pelting during a storm in eastern NM and never sputtered. Great Product - Only problem is now I have to wrestle it away from soccer mom when I need it

[kkleinert]

Originally Posted by SEAsprintah

That's very disturbing, I've been contemplating this gps also. But 500ft!?! makes me have second thoughts.

Actually, I don't even understand how that can be, I thought they were accurate to around 30ft? or is it 30m (90ft). Do you think you lost signal in canyons or something like that? Or maybe it just seemed like 500ft?

First, thanks every one for all the info!

As for GPS accuracy, I think that a modern GPS itself would be very accurate. Most receivers will pick up at least 12 signals giving you a very accurate read on where you are. There shouldn't be any problems with lost signals as most populated areas around the globe have very good satellite coverage which is why you guys have accurate indicated ground speed (unless you're speeding along under a triple canopy jungle). In my former life, I used to hang out the side of a helicopter, I wore a Suunto GPS on my wrist and it gave me very accurate indicated speed but it was a very basic GPS receiver. My point is, if there were any "lag" in information, then it would seem to me that this lag would be the fault of the software interface, not the GPS itself. With that said, is this an isolated incident that one 550 has this lag? Would a firmware upgrade fix it? So far, it sounds like the 550 is the way to go.

Thanks again,

Keith

[MVP44]

SEAsprintah is correct - This can happen in say NYC where you may make two or three consecutive turns in short order at speed say 30 or 40 mph. It is definately not the accuracy of the GPS the problem comes in the accuracy of the Map downloaded to the GPS. If you are making a left hand turn you may travel 100 feet less than what the internal map has on record for this street - not much, but when you are talking feet it gets picky. So the gps still may have you executing the turn while in fact you are going straingt and ready to make the turn at the next block 400 feet away. The zumo counters this two ways. If you tap the top of the screen it gives you an exact turn by turn and distance to turn readout which can be used then this situation occers. Also if are in map mode the lower right box will indicate your distance to the next turn so if you are turning and the box says .1 or less you know the next turn is coming up right away.

so yes the limiting factor is the real world vs virtual world - another way to help is to make sure you aren't going to quickly when doing these turn combos.

What I have done is have in mind where these quick turns are in a route and keep that on file in the old bucket upstairs - no matter how fast we compute these days they will never be able to match the speed of our own noodle.

This is a unique occurance and would not disuade me in the least from the Zumo.

kkleinert - you are correct about accuracy I think my Garmin GS 60 I use for hiking and geocaching can get me to within 3 ft of an object. Pretty amazing stuff.