2610 or 2620? OR 2630 or 2650?

Droopy Dick · Mar 5, 2005

OK. I've just had a letter from that nice Mr Brown in the government telling me that his tax hounds had robbed me of some considerable dosh. As a result of his most earnest desire that all UK taxpayers receive only the most supreb and accurate service, he has asked his minions to send me a cheque to repay all the money erroneously taken from me over the past 6 years..

He hasn't, yet, agreed to pay the interest on the amounts wrongly decucted from my earnings, but I'm sure he'll agree to that in very short order.

So, I have decided to buy a GPS toy. The Navman thingy looked very nice, but they couldn't tell me if it was waterproof.

The Garmin toys seem to be very nice, and I'm used to using their kit in aircraft. And BMW seem to think the stuff is OK too.

But, which model to buy?

I'm perplexed. Obviously the various models have differing prices. Is the 2620 worth the £200 or more than the 2610? Do I need the dead-reckoning facility that seems to be part of the 2650?

I have worked out that the 2620 has an inbuilt hardd rive and the 2610 uses CF cards. But is there any problem using a 2GB CF card in the 2610? Do they have difefrent processors, for example. Why do the websites seem to make little sense to me. They're all very cluttered and 'busy'. Full of visual 'noise'! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr ..

And I saw a thread earlier that mentioned Garmin 'firmware'. What on earth is 'firmware'? I know what hardware and software are, but this is a new term to me.

And then there's a mounting system for the bike. one which is secure to stop any robbing bastard making off with the toy when stopping for petrol etc etc, but easy to use and above all NEAT!
Why is life so very complicated???

bigkuri · Mar 5, 2005

Whatever you do - don't get a 2620 for a bike. Likewise 2650 is waste of time - dead reckoning is a thing that is downstream of the the location fix - as in the processor figures it out. Not good when all those bumps come into play.

get a 276C or 2610, or a quest.

Fanum · Mar 5, 2005

Yup...the microdrives aren't good on anything that goes bumpety bump.....you need a card one or internal memory one.

The dead reckoning might be of use if you're always under tree cover or something, but in practice it's not worth the extra candle IMO....the new gen GPS's are plaenty wuick enough pickig up the satellites when you pass out of the shadow of a buiding or dense trees.

The only other question really is do you want a big screen one or one that you can stick in your pocket.

I chose the Quest, as its jeans-pocket sized (and 150 notes cheaper

)

Oh, and it has internal batteries so you can take it in the pub and play, or into your tent

Droopy Dick · Mar 5, 2005

OK. Now I know what dead reckoning is - hell I even managed to gain the Royal Navy Ocean navigation Certificate as well as the RYA Offshore Yachtmaster - but I'm not sure why it would be as useful on a bike as the websites suggest.

But, why the 2610 and NOT the 2620?

I see the 2610 is considerably cheaper. But the Garmin website even offers a motorcycle mount for the 2620, so gimme soem help here, please! <begs>

Fanum · Mar 5, 2005

Because the 2620 is the one with the no-good-on-bumpety-bump-hard-drive

Just as a matter of interest, if you did go for a 2650 (which is a 2610 with dead reckoning), they'd have to fit a magnetic speed sensor gizmo to your wheels to give the unit it's speed whilst off the satellites.

Greg Masters · Mar 5, 2005

Fanum said:
Just as a matter of interest, if you did go for a 2650 (which is a 2610 with dead reckoning), they'd have to fit a magnetic speed sensor gizmo to your wheels to give the unit it's speed whilst off the satellites.

The 2650 is really designed for US cities where the roads are dead straight but the tall buildings mean that you regularly lose the satellite signals. By linking the 2650 to the electronic speedo drive of the vehicle its mounted in, the 2650 can make reasonably accurate assumptions of where there vehicle is, even if it can't see the sky.

The 2610 will also make assumptions for a short while if it loses satellite signals, but on this unit the assumptions are based on the speed and direction at the time the signal was lost.

Greg

MikeO · Mar 5, 2005

I'd suggest you meet up with someone who has a 2610 and someone who has a 276C and have a look and chat. You may wish to have a look at the Quest - I know nothing about them.... :nenau

The advantages and otherwise of both are documented fairly well here (read Pan European's posts particularly) and are only a search button away.

Broadly - the 276c has a larger clearer display and can be used for marine (hee hee) applications as well. However, it uses Garmin cards for memory which are harder to come by than CF cards, hold a maximum of 256Mb memory each (to give you some focus on this, V7 software for the whole of Europe is 1.76Gb) and are expensive.

The 2610 is the unit designed for what you want, by the sound of it. It has an adequate screen, which is touch sensitive, uses CF cards (including 2Gb, although I've used nothing larger than a 1Gb so far - pretty sure I've read of 2Gb being used on ADVRider...), fast processor speed (same as 276c, but vastly faster than the Strreetpilot III) and comes with car fixing kit and remote control, mains adaptor (I think) etc.
The BMW Navigator II is the same unit with an additional set of buttons in a special mount. These are designed to ease its use on a bike (touch screen/gloved finger interface). I can tell you from much practice that, after a while, you dont use the extra buttons at all and that the touch screen works fine in all conditions. I'd advise against spending the extra money (a considerable amount) on the Nav II, therefore.

As you can probably tell, most of my experience has been with a Nav II (and a Streetpilot III for several years before) - but I like to think I made an unbiased decision to upgrade last year when I chose the Nav II of all the options. Having used it for a year in various weathers, I'd now choose the 2610 and save the extra money.

But hindsight's wonderful, isn't it?

Mike

Kropotkin · Mar 5, 2005

Droopy Dick said:
But, why the 2610 and NOT the 2620?

Search Advrider for 2620. All you find is several "my 2620 broke within 50 miles" threads. The microdrives are just no good with the high frequency vibrations generated for motorcycles, they break within hours. Get a 2610 with a 2GB card.

Droopy Dick · Mar 5, 2005

Thank you to all who have commented, esp Mike O.

Does anyone know of a place near Southampton where I might look at all these toys? I 'spose particularly the Quest and the 2610 alongside each other.

Wraithwrider · Mar 5, 2005

DD

I can tell you that Garmin's UK base is actually very near or in Southampton.

Otherwise try a new thread appealing for GSers near So'ton.

BTW are you ex RN?

Wraithwrider · Mar 5, 2005

Oh and I'd recommend the 276C. I've got 2 x 256 MB cards and you only need to load maps of where you go, as opposed to the whole of Europe etc.

gasman · Mar 5, 2005

fair point about only needing 256 MB cards, but it is nice to have most of europe on one CF card, especially if you're planning a wide ranging trip through france/spain.
Also I don't think the 276 has a touch screen whereas the 2610 does. The touchscreen works well with gloved hands especially in the summer. I've got the 2610 and am very happy with it.

BurnieM · Mar 5, 2005

No one unit has all the good features;

The GPSmap 276C screen is significantly sharper than any other unit.

The 276C processor is also slightly faster than the SP26xx series.

.... but it uses non-standard memory cards with a max size of 256 MB

Droopy Dick · Mar 5, 2005

Very many thanks to everyone who's offered some helpful points.

I have another query despite poring over a number of websites looking for details. Do any of the Garmin products allow you to plan a route to an end destination, where the destination is given as a post code rather than street name?

For example, if I wanted to get to MK5 0PH, will it accept that as an address?

Thanks also for the pointer as to Garmin's UK HQ. It's in Romsey, a few miles away. So, I'll give them a bell on Monday to see if they can set up some sort of viewing for me.

TerryM · Mar 5, 2005

gasman said:
fair point about only needing 256 MB cards, but it is nice to have most of europe on one CF card, especially if you're planning a wide ranging trip through france/spain.
Also I don't think the 276 has a touch screen whereas the 2610 does. The touchscreen works well with gloved hands especially in the summer. I've got the 2610 and am very happy with it.

All true, but the 276C is a colour marine plotter, has a much bigger screen with higher resolution, a far faster processor and a wobbly four way button thingy for navigation that can be operated with a gloved barge pole coated in 10mm of ice.

And of course when you reach the yacht moored down at the villa on the med, the mode can be switched to marine and off you go with the latest floozie into the sunset.

But the basic cost is higher, say GBP700 with auto nav kit europe and 256mb data card. But mounting is childs play and costs almost nothing on top, whereas the 26xx series mounting seem to range in the 90-100 quid extra.

So for about 50-100 quid net you have a much more usable and versatile bit of kit. If you choose the 276C we who preceeded you will be happy to give chapter and verse on who has them, at what price and how to affix to the toy.

Terry

TerryM · Mar 5, 2005

Naples USA ????????? GPS no wonder!!

Enough, we have been had!

All that stuff about which one to buy when all you really wanted was directions to the holiday let you booked on the internet!

Would have been simpler to ask the moderator gods who occupy such sunny spots.

Fanum · Mar 6, 2005

For example, if I wanted to get to MK5 0PH, will it accept that as an address?

Sadly, no.

I believe some of the PDA based versions will, but not the Garmins- though it has been talked about as a future update for the newer units, and all of them are more than capable of dealing with it.

I strongly suspect the lack of this feature is to do with licensing and use of the Info....Garmin don't produce any cartography or info themselves, they buy it from various places....I don't know the legal status of the postcode look-up system but it'd probably come at a price for them.

Droopy Dick · Mar 6, 2005

Re: Naples USA ????????? GPS no wonder!!

TerryM said:
Enough, we have been had!

All that stuff about which one to buy when all you really wanted was directions to the holiday let you booked on the internet!

I own the 'holiday let', so I know where it is, resting on the sunny Gulf coast of Florida.

So it's a jet to Miami or Orlando, rent a car, then cruise to the warm swimming pool and endless sunshine.

Droopy Dick · Mar 6, 2005

Fanum said:
Sadly, no.

I believe some of the PDA based versions will, but not the Garmins- though it has been talked about as a future update for the newer units, and all of them are more than capable of dealing with it.

I strongly suspect the lack of this feature is to do with licensing and use of the Info....Garmin don't produce any cartography or info themselves, they buy it from various places....I don't know the legal status of the postcode look-up system but it'd probably come at a price for them.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!

One of the very nice things about Autoroute for planning is that it'll put your chosen postcode right into the middle of the map window.

Still, I suppose that I can always do that and transfer road names to a Garmin device.

xpi0t0s · Mar 6, 2005

Ack

No postcode lookup? Oh dear. . Is there a motorbike-mountable GPS system that *does* do postcode lookup?

2610 or 2620? OR 2630 or 2650?

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