Zumo 550 Vs Tom Tom Rider V2

Hi all,

Just been on Holiday to Cornwall with the family in the car .. I've got tom tom 5 software running on a PDA ( about 4 years old ) and also my fathers Garmin Nuvi 260 ..

I have been very happy with the tom tom but thought I would try the nuvi as it was an al in one device with no external antenna .. The main reason for this thread is I want to get a bike GPS that can be used in the car as well.

Problems I found with the Garmin Nuvi but are they also issues on the Zumo 550.

1. Is there a way to make the 550 ignore minor roads ?? In the car we were sometimes going down roads that were only really suitable for tractors !! It was set to fastest route not shortest.

2. Instead of asking us to do a U-turn it would sometimes take us on a scenic route to in-effect just turn around !!!

3. Can you view POI's on the Map like you can on the tom tom.

4. On the tom tom I could do advance planning is that possible on the 550 ?
The nuvi always started from the current location.

5. Is there a way to see the next turning coming up ?? On the tom tom it shows it as the bottom of the display .. On the Nuvi the voice mentions it but that’s no good if I am using it on the bike with no sound ..

Are there any other advantages/ disadvantages between the 550 and the tom tom rider v2.

Thanks for any advice clarification given.

Cheers

Steve

Get Garmin XT for your PDA, it's better than both.

TheStig said:

Hi all,

Just been on Holiday to Cornwall with the family in the car .. I've got tom tom 5 software running on a PDA ( about 4 years old ) and also my fathers Garmin Nuvi 260 ..

I have been very happy with the tom tom but thought I would try the nuvi as it was an al in one device with no external antenna .. The main reason for this thread is I want to get a bike GPS that can be used in the car as well.

Problems I found with the Garmin Nuvi but are they also issues on the Zumo 550.

1. Is there a way to make the 550 ignore minor roads ?? In the car we were sometimes going down roads that were only really suitable for tractors !! It was set to fastest route not shortest.

2. Instead of asking us to do a U-turn it would sometimes take us on a scenic route to in-effect just turn around !!!

3. Can you view POI's on the Map like you can on the tom tom.

4. On the tom tom I could do advance planning is that possible on the 550 ?
The nuvi always started from the current location.

5. Is there a way to see the next turning coming up ?? On the tom tom it shows it as the bottom of the display .. On the Nuvi the voice mentions it but that’s no good if I am using it on the bike with no sound ..

Are there any other advantages/ disadvantages between the 550 and the tom tom rider v2.

Thanks for any advice clarification given.

Cheers

Steve

Click to expand...

Like you, I've had TT v5 running on a PDA, and used it for some years. I recently bought a 550 for the bike, and to replace the PDA in the car (bought the 550 with the Garmin traffic kit BTW). To answer your questions:

1. you can set avoidances on the 550 for autobahns (M-ways) and highways (major A-roads) but not minor roads. In 'fastest route' mode it seems to have a strong bias towards M-ways and major roads. Once in a while it chooses something a bit skinny...

2. Don't set it to avoid U-turns, otherwise it will sometimes take you miles out of the way to turn round. Just use your judgement!

3. It will list POIs that are near (~20 miles) your current position, or you can set it to list POIs near to a location you select. You can show the selected POI on the map.

4. Advanced planning - yes, with multiple via points. Its under 'new route'.

5. It doesn't show the next turn as an icon like TT, but it does zoom in on the turn in advance. On the bike I set the map to 2D, and use a fixed zoom (zoom right in to max, then out to your desired setting). There is a distance to next turn display in the bottom RH corner of the screen. I use it without sound on the bike, and have no problems.

I'm not familiar with the TT Rider, but for me the really big advantage of the 550 is the ability to pre-plan riding routes on a PC using Mapsource. The Zumo also has a massive trip log, so it will track where you've ridden, and the tracks can be converted into routes on the Zumo itself. Tracks also import into Mapsource, so its easy to build up a file with favourite routes and if you go for ride outs with friends you can crib their routes. It's also useful being able to share routes on the fly with friends out on a tour via the SD card.

For car use the TT software has one significant advantage because you can get it to avoid specific sections of a route - a blocked bit of M-way for example. The Garmin s/w doesn't allow this, just an overall 'detour' function. Apart from this the 550 has been fine. The traffic info function (it will avoid significant delays) saved me from a major problem on the M42 near B'ham last Friday evening by automatically re-routing me round the blocked section. But the traffic info is only available on m-ways and major A-roads (at least at present) - and it will only work in the car mount, not that traffic jams are a big issue anyway if riding a bike.

Thanks TomCat

Thanks TomCat for your reply .. Very useful ..

Out of interest I phoned tom tom and Garmin today and they confirmed that there is no way to avoid minor roads .. Both of them spoke to me as though I was 3 years old and kept asking me if I had set the route to shortest instead of fastest !!!!

But the tom tom guy did say that they had Poi's for narrow roads that could warn you .. ( Not great if the warning is 300 yds before ) !!

It would be nice if you could speed rate the "UnKnown" roads at 20mph so that both tom tom and Garmin would only use them as a last resort ..

Cheers

Steve