550

Just thought I'd ask a couple of silly questions.......................

I presume if you use a power lead with the small usb plug that the unit will short out in the rain?

Is the tracking data enough to go somewhere on my pushbike, and that record that data into mapsource and use it as a definite route/track in the future?..........The reason I ask is that I will be cycling the pennine trail, and I have bought the hard copy maps, and this appeals as a routefinder backup.

Oh, and I might as well ask, where's the cheapest place to buy one?

Thanks

Rob

Airfan said:

Just thought I'd ask a couple of silly questions.......................

I presume if you use a power lead with the small usb plug that the unit will short out in the rain?

Thanks

Rob

Click to expand...

If using RAM GA32 cradle with Q~Power lite, it has a USB plug cover included.

Nuvi 550 bike bundle, so device, cradle, mount and Q~Power, is on home page of www.gpsw.co.uk or was, when I last looked.

RAM-man said:

If using RAM GA32 cradle with Q~Power lite, it has a USB plug cover included.

Click to expand...

Hmmmmm. Didn't get one of those with my order

Regarding the tracks; I haven't found a way of reloading tracks from Mapsource back into the unit. However, the Nuvi 550 does record & archive tracks (like its much more expensive brothers). The tracks can be saved to Mapsource (& RoadTrip) & then used to create routes which themselves can be direct track (walking/off-route) or road routes.

The 550 is ideal for use on a bicycle or walking, as well as for motorcycle touring. I am amazed that people are still buying second hand SPIIIs and Quests when, for not much more, they can have the non-widescreen Zumo 660.

Hi guys,

I was looking at getting a Zumo 660, but I'm having second thoughts

It seems to me that if I'm not too bothered about hearing the navigation while I'm riding, then the Nuvi 550 would seem to be a good alternative unit, at a good price.

I understand that you can prepare routes in Mapsource and then copy them into the N550, just like the on a Zumo, the only downside of the Nuvi is that you can't turn off auto recalc.

If you stray off route slightly, does it just get you back on your original route, or recalc the whole route?

Are you happy with your N550, or would you splash out the extra for a Z550/Z660 in hindsight?

BTW, I've got Garmin MobileXT at the moment on my PDA, and have mapsource on the PC, so that's not a problem.

Your views on the N550 would be helpful

Cheers,

Chas.

Good questions. Most people always 'talk up' their own purchases, but I'll try and be objective.

The Nuvi 550 will auto-recalc to the next via or waypoint, so you won't lose the whole route. Although any route is recalculated after import, GPX files keep their routing characteristics (faster/shorter etc) so you should end up with a custom route close to the Mapsource one, too.

If the screen is dimmed to 30%, you can get a full day's riding with the Nuvi on battery. The Zumo 660, with it's larger screen, is going to be more power hungry. This is important to me as I use the unit on 3 bikes and only one is powered.

I don't ever use sound, or blurtongue, or mp3.

In hindsight, I still wouldn't have bought a Zumo 550 for sure. The 660 won't dissapoint, but I won't change - the Nuvi 550 is a more than satisfactory replacement for my 2610.

If I had one concern, it would be that the Zumo 660 is likely to be developed more than the Nuvi; it will sell to more power users, so it might gain over it's little brother in the future. u

Another silly question...does the Nuvi 550 have a external sound output for Head phones or to Autocom? Is this waterproof?

Cheers

Nasty1 said:

Another silly question...does the Nuvi 550 have a external sound output for Head phones or to Autocom? Is this waterproof?

Cheers

Click to expand...

The N550 is waterproof, there is a youtube video of it in demo mode in a fish tank, it has an external speaker like previous Nuvi's, which makes it usable in a car without an additional speaker.

However it does not have BlueTooth or any jack plugs, which means you can not get any sound out to an Autocom etc.

I went for the Zumo 660 in the end.

Received it yesterday and so far I'm impressed.

Coming from a Nuvi 250, I find it good. Where some users are disapointed is when they are "upgrading" from the Zumo 550 and finding features missing.

Bit like the difference between a Mac and a PC. They both do the same job, but one has more bells and whistles.