Quote:
Originally Posted by
newbert
Yup - Looks like a great unit but ---- I'm not sure whether it can run off of (not just be charged from) the Spyder's USB power and it certainly is PRICEY (Yikes !!!)
I mucked about with trying to save money. Firstly by using a car GPS (I pinched from my wife:-)) and then phones/tablets with GPS software.
In the end I gave up and got a 590LM (predecessor to the 595LM)
Yes you have to wire the supplied harness in but that's simple to do.
Yes its expensive, this is because its specialised for use on a motorbike.
Firstly its waterproof so you don't have to worry about protecting it from the elements. Its also tougher than a normal GPS and handles vibration etc better. I've dropped mine a couple of times with no ill effects and I do ride on gravel roads that have caused vibration damage to other bits of my Spyder but the Garmin hasn't had an issue.
Another key factor for me has turned out to be that the interface is designed to work with motorcycle gloves on - makes it so much easier to use.
There's quite a few useful for biker features. E.g. it has landscape and portrait mode and I've found portrait is better on a bike.
Issues:
There is the 'Curvy Road' setting that will try and find you routes that a better for motorbikes, though I'm not so fond of this as I find it sometimes gets carried away and most roads in NZ are bike friendly anyway. I suspect in countries with more multi-lane highways this feature would be more useful, South Island NZ probably only has only has 10km worth so everything else is a curvy road:-)
Stopping the device re-planning your routes when you copy them over from Basecamp can be frustrating, but that's the same with every Garmin device. If you are preplanning routes then the Basecamp software takes some getting used to.
If you really need a GPS a lot then I think the 595LM may be the best long term solution - they do last once you've got one.
However if its an occasional thing then an alternative is the 396LM which is far cheaper and in the comparison report I read not that limited when compared to its bigger sister.