Motorcycle GPS vs Car (Portable) GPS?

[UtahPete]

As a note on that while the 590 promises life time map updates. That only holds true as long as Garmin determines useful life not your actual length of use time. IE if it lasts longer than a couple model updates they will declare it obsolete. I had this happen with other Garmin units.

I've had a Garmin Zumo 550 for 10 years now and it's still supported with lifetime updates. Maybe your experience was with the cheaper car units?

[Fat Baxter]

What Nuvi models are you guys talking about? I have an older Nuvi 40LM with a 4.3" screen (measured diagonally) (the entire unit is only 3" X 5") that I had for my previous car (my current car has built-in GPS). I'm looking at it and thinking that dinky little screen would be a bit small for bike use. OTOH, I'd probably be using it only for the maps and directions. All the other stuff you guys mention (bluetooth, music streaming, etc.) I don't think I'd ever use; I'm not a high-tech kinda guy.

Also, there's no provision for an audio jack, so I'd have to crank the volume up and hope I can hear it over all the noise.

I actually prefer paper maps, as I can get a sense of where I'm going.

[CrashDavis]

So for what it's worth that was most of the different between the two, other than my nuvi was so old it was not updateable any longer. As a note on that while the 590 promises life time map updates. That only holds true as long as Garmin determines useful life not your actual length of use time. IE if it lasts longer than a couple model updates they will declare it obsolete. I had this happen with other Garmin units.

On their web site, Garmin says the lifetime map updates are good for the life of the product. They then define "the life of the product" as there is enough storage to accept the new maps. The devices I have will use the SD card as map storage.

[chaz7771931]

This waterproof motorcycle GPS has every feature as ANY GPS on the market. Yes it has blue tooth and works with gloves, but how can you really control any GPS with gloves on while riding? It has a 5" screen and can be seen in direct sunlight. I found a night time screen with a black background and deep blue roads that is even better for daytime driving. It also has
I-GO Australian Software which is the #1 rated software for GPS. BMW, AUDI, Mercedes and most European manufactures use this software. It' $125 and I consider it disposable should it fail. Each time I buy a new bike I get the latest version and sell my bike with the old one.
I use my phone for most of my navigation as google maps has real time traffic alerts. But, I have had my phone let me down because of low coverage. A GPS always has coverage and this one shows about 12 square miles on the screen. When I'm touring I can't tell you how many times I spotted a really nice park or river to follow by spotting it on the screen that is a couple of miles away from my road. It's bullet proof


http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-0-Waterpro...72.m2749.l2649

I was looking at getting one of these but videos say that it doesnt come with maps. Do you know where to download the maps at and at what cost?

Thanks

Charles

[Bob Denman]

I will add my $0.02 in here. I find it best to go with the MC GPS due to the fact that it is waterproof, more rugged than the car and you can operate it with gloves on. The part about being in the rain with GPS that can handle it should be enough. Nothing like being on a road trip, get caught in the rain and have your GPS go out, or the bag around it fog up and you cant see it.

When rain "sneaks up" on you: you're going to forget about protecting the GPS also...

[HayRog]

We very recently did a two day comparison of a car GPS and the ZUMO 590LM from the Spyder.
Drove the car with it's "built into the dash GPS" and used the ZUMO simultaneously, plugged into the 12v outlet.

Without a doubt (routing the same destinations) the ZUMO gave more concise directions, gave them a little earlier, and the screen (although slightly smaller) had more information.

ZUMO screen was also (according to Debbie ) a lot prettier.

Just our 0.2c worth.