New GPS

[OldButNotDead]

When I sold my GS the Zumo 550 went with it.  Thought I wouldn't need another.  I don't need one, but I did want one.  The prices on Zumo's has gotten out of hand so I started looking at refurbs.  Got a Nuvi 2797LMT with the same warrantee as a new one and lifetime maps and traffic.  Love that HUGE screen.
Can't see it that well in the pic but that is the weather coming from my cell phone.   It loads routes straight from BaseCamp but it has a limit of 29 waypoints per route.  I thought that would be a problem but turns out it really isn't.

[normkern]

Pretty good looking motorcycle you've got that thing mounted on!

Norm Kern

[Steve]

I'll second Norms comment!


Steve

[DirtFlier]

Do I note a bit of brand loyalty at play here?   

[OldButNotDead]

Do I note a bit of brand loyalty at play here?   

If you didn't, I think deaf, dumb and blind would pretty much cover your perceptive abilities. LOL

[Gee-Tee]

Just remember that unit is not waterproof or even water resistant.

[DirtFlier]

It's pretty simple to protect it from rain by just placing a zip-loc, plastic bag over it, held in place by rubber bands. 

[normkern]

Do I note a bit of brand loyalty at play here?   

I don't have brand loyalty to Yamaha, per se. I happen to be very pleased with this particular model. Yamaha is building some pretty exciting bikes and they have the fewest problems of any brand in the industry right now. They deserve credit for that, but the winds of change could shift at any time. I'm not getting any Yamaha tattoos.

Back on the subject of GPS units, I don't care if it's expensive but I don't want to have to pull over & put it in a plastic bag every time it rains. It's hard enough to see the screen in the rain without adding an extra layer of plastic over it. Then there's the problem of powering it, etc.

Norm Kern

[Patmo]

Just remember that unit is not waterproof or even water resistant.

That shouldn't be a problem for him....he's such a ray of sunshine.

[OldButNotDead]

Back on the subject of GPS units, I don't care if it's expensive but I don't want to have to pull over & put it in a plastic bag every time it rains. It's hard enough to see the screen in the rain without adding an extra layer of plastic over it. Then there's the problem of powering it, etc.

Knew about the waterproofing going in.  Also knew about the baggies going in.   Actually, I only "need" a GPS if there is a tricky section of my route to get through.  I've found my Quest, GPS V, Zumo 450 and 550 all to have way too small of a screen to be useful while moving and totally useless for trip planning. That 7" screen is great. I know I'll catch it for that last part on trip planning.  Bottom line is that I'm anal at building routes and I actually don't have to watch the unit in the rain, the BT tells me where to turn.

Now for power, NO Problem at all.  I've got a SAE plug off my battery and a USB adapter that plugs into that.  Don't use the traffic receiver because I get both traffic and weather from my cell BT'd intio the Nuvi.

[stevegrab]

7" screen wow that is large.

I have been scared off by the Zumo prices and some of the not so favorable things I've heard about them. I spent about 150 for a Nuvi 2450 back in 2012 and it does a pretty good job of what I need it to do. Not being waterproof is a down side, and I found that covering with a plastic bag made it pretty unreadable. This past year going to fall color on my VFR I left it out some in the rain and it was barely getting wet (the wind screen was deflecting rain over it).

It doesn't do bluetooth or a lot of other fancy stuff. Some day I may splurge on something better.

[Paco Bulto]

After my 2820 went south I decided to look into the Zumo series. The 660 LM is not the newest model, therefore the prices have come down considerably. Right now they are available for $449 with lifetime maps. My son and I have both gone to that model and like them very much. I use the bluetooth and MP3 player streaming to my Cardo Scalarider G9 in addition to the other tricks it does and I have had mine in some very heavy rain with no problems. Still more than a Nuvi, but reasonable enough that this tightwad finally got one.

[OldButNotDead]

I have owned GPS's for a while: GPS 45 (one of Garmin's first), GPS III, GPS V, Zumo 450 and Zumo 550.  What they all had in common was the screen was too small.  Even the new Zumo's are 5".  At $250, for the unit, FJR spindle mount and cradle, the price was definitely right.  That's with lifetime maps and traffic.  With Bluetooth and voice commands, you can control it with Cardo and Sena communicators.   I'm deciding which communicator to get so now I just test the unit in the car.  I know the Zumo 550 doesn't come close to the performance of features on this Nuvi.  It really needs a BT comm system to make the features work like that of Zumo, but if you have it then the rain issue "ain't no big deal."  You can navigate by waypoints or route in the rain by giving it voice commands and listening to the directions.

P.S. - I did not have plans to get a new GPS because there aren't too many places from OH/PA down the Appalachians to N.Ga I haven't ridden (KY is an exception which I intend to rectify this summer). The GPS's I've owned were NOT a necessity by a long shot.  That's what made cost a significant factor in my decision.

[OldButNotDead]

This is a follow up.  I got my new Sena 20S and guess what, it won't pair with the Nuvi.  I have been informed it will only pair with phones and not headsets.  That is the second major disappointment with getting this unit to function.   The first was not all USB ports will power the unit.  I do have that working but it took some time finding the right combination.  I do like the screen and I really like it in the car.  So much so I got my wife one to use in her car.   That big screen is great.  What I have learned is that I will never, ever get another Garmin unit again.  Not going into the specifics but their support has dropped from superb three or four years back to total crap.

[Gee-Tee]

The Garmin 660 is waterproof, has bluetooth and can be bought used cheaply on EBay. Pretty much bulletproof.