GPS Arrived Today

 I found a nice Garmin 2720 on Amazon, used, for $50 plus a few bucks for
shipping.  I didn't know what to expect, whether it would be just the unit,
a broken unit, or something that caused it to be about $150 less than most
other units I found.  I would have been happy to get just a functioning
unit.  Instead, I got the unit, cover, auto adapter, bean bag mount, and a
quick start manual, which was a pleasant surprise.

I also found out why it was so cheap.  The guy needed the money.  The trip
computer indicated a maximum speed of 130 mph, which is a good way to get a
tour of the local jail.  No doubt he need fine money, and fast.

Lacking the power line adapter, I went to the car, pumped up the AC, and
gave it a try.

Glorious!

It found the satelites, located my position on the map, and otherwise did
what it's supposed to do.  The power connector seems a little loose, but
I'll be wiring up a new connector when the motorcycle kit comes in, so no
sweat there.

I was very pleased with the touch screen.  I'm not a big fan of them
normally, but this one seems to work well with gloves (too lazy to get my
gloves, I used a handy terry cloth over my finger to test it).  It also has
nice, large zoom controls on the display, which will come in very handy on
the road.

Thank you Don for your opinion, which is what gave me the final push to buy
it.

Hopefully the motorcycle kit will come in soon, and I'll be ready for my
next big trip, tentatively scheduled for November 19 -21, barring weather or
whatever.

I don't know where I'm going, or who I'm going with.  I don't even care.  I
just want to get on the road.

Now I'll be able to make sure I'm near a squat-n-gobble or motel when I feel
the need.

CS

 On 04/11/2010 7:28 PM, CS wrote:

Heh for what you paid for it, it is hard to go wrong. I think I am going
to buy another 26xx or 27xx for my bike. The Zumo 660 is junk.

I know that feeling.  Enjoy.

 
In what way?
Just interested.

Bob

 On 05/11/2010 6:58 AM, Bob Mann wrote:

My problem with it is it will not function as a map.  It works great to
guide you from point A to point B and it provides all kinds of very
useful data information.  What it does not do is provide the kind of
mapping my Streetpilot III and my 2730 did.

As an example a few weeks back I was driving along the range roads
outside of Calgary. I am looking at buying some property in one of the
smaller communities around Calgary. After viewing a property, the seller
told me about a short cut back to town. I ended up getting a little
lost, which was my fault, but the Zumo was of no help in finding the
right route to get me home. For some reason it chose a route that would
take me about 30 miles the wrong way. When I tried to program a better
route the Zumo would only illustrate the various range roads at an 800m
scale. If I zoomed out any further all of the range roads would
disappear leaving only the highway that was going to take me so far out
of my way, visible on the screen.  I know the roads are there. I can see
them if I zoom into a uselessly small scale, but short of scrolling the
screen block by block there is no way I could find the correct waypoints
to override the Zumo's route choice.

When using it on the highway it will not show cities, towns or alternate
highways at most zoom levels.  Often all I will see is a purple line
marking my route on a blank white screen. I like to see what towns or
cities are ahead of me.  Knowing where they are helps me decide where to
take a pit stop.  If you zoom into a 2km or 3km scale you will see some
of the smaller towns. Zoom out further and the small towns disappear and
only larger cities will be visible.  Sometimes they all disappear.  As
for cross roads or alternate non programed routes, forget it.  I can
visually see an interesting side road up ahead and with my other GPS
units I would be able to see the road and where it goes on the screen.
Not the 660. Unless it is a major highway or if you are zoomed into a
small scale you will not see the road. At the smaller scale you will see
the road but only a few kms of it. Not enough to be able to see where it
goes.

Today I took a ride to Lacombe and set the Zumo to various zoom scales
and could not find one that would consistently illustrate the small
towns, cities and other roads, unless I was zoomed into a very small
scale. At that kind of a scale I can see more visually than the Zumo
will display on the screen.

It functions much better in a city where you typically want to be zoomed
into  smaller scale.

My 2730 has a setting that allows me to set the information I want to
see on the screen, right down to the size of cities and towns I want to
see displayed.  The 660 like so many other computer products, some geek
programmer has decided what I want to see and do. It has a setting for
detail but even at the highest settings the display is less than
adequate for a map.

If all you want to do is follow the purple line it works great, but if
you want to see where you are in relation to the small cities or towns
or if you want to see where that interesting road will take you, you
will have to stop and pull out a paper map.

For the record it functioned the same way on the States.

I have discussed this with Garmin and short of them suggesting more
options may be offered in future software upgrades, the 660 is
functioning as designed.

It is an expensive piece of junk that has a very nice screen.

I almost forgot, my other beef with the unit is short of buying a Tour
Tech mount that looks like something out of the movie Alien there is no
way to secure the unit to the supplied motorcycle mount. Garmin will let
you set it up so it will not work without your personal PIN number but
what good does that do you after someone steals it off your unattended bike.

 

Thanks.
I have a 665 (same with XM) and now that you mention it I did find
some of the same things.
I'm undecided about returning it, largely due to also having hard
wired it into the bike's audio system.

I thought it was just the level of detail I had it set at which was
fine for a high speed cross coutry blitz.
There was a couple of times I wanted to see where I was in relation to
my surroundings and yes, that was frustrating.
I removed it and locked it in the tourpak when I was stopped any time.

Bob