660 Audio

[Stonker]

Do you guys find it is necessary to hear the audio from the 660 while riding or do you find the visual is adequate. I tend to ride solo most of the tme nowdays and just listen to my mp3 player through moulded ear plugs. Would I be better off using the mp3 functionality of the 660 and if so, what is the best audio solution?

 

[Sleepy]

I haven't used the audio function for years.. (since a lead I was using broke when plugged into my 550).

Now have a 660, and find the 'silence' ok, just check on the screen now and again, 'specially when approaching a junction/deviation..

 

[Stonker]

I haven't used the audio function for years.. (since a lead I was using broke when plugged into my 550).

Now have a 660, and find the 'silence' ok, just check on the screen now and again, 'specially when approaching a junction/deviation..

That's what I was wondering...

 

[Big_Steve64]

I have never used the audio, I watch the distance to turn box, when it gets near I remind myself which way and on what road I am looking for. Usually you see the signposts by then.

When it's in my car with the audio on it drives me nuts.

 

[ghiribizzo]

I use it through the Interphone F3 bluetooth - kinda amusing because the quality gives it a bit of a "Beware the Hun in the Sun" quality. Still, the speed camera "BOING" is a bit ear piercing.

 

[Wapping]

It is all down to personal likes and dislikes. What suits one bod may not suit you. It is the same story when it comes to the way the screen is set up. I like mine with 'more data' and less map. Others prefer 'more map'. Some like north always up, others like the map's cursor to be straight ahead.

I have run the 660 with the voice prompts on, via an Autocomplete and via Bluetooth. Both work well.

I have also run it with the voice prompts turned off. That works well, too.

Both require you at some point to look at the sceen. Both allow you to look at the screen when nothing is going on, for instance to look at 'estimated time of arrival'.

I have the speed camera warnings turned off. Others like the warnings turned on, but dislike the pinging in their ears.

I do not use the music or phone features. Others do.

Play around with the device. See what suits you best. There is no absolute, 'It is best this way, mate'. The good news is that there is lots of choice and you really cannot break it.

 

[Pauly S]

I use both

Ive got a 16 gig hi speed card in mine, i use the media player, its great, its got an audio mixer,and you can have the nav sounds too, saves keep looking at the screen,and you keep your eyes on the road.
Ive put a 3 step audio volume control on the audio output, selectable by a glove friendly flick switch,1/2 vol , full vol, and audio off., works brill.
When you drop off the tables i'll show you if you like.

 

[NLC]

+1 for the 16gb card which I have in mine - it's a mini sd if you do order it. Works great for directions as it mutes the music when telling you where to go. I have mine wired through my Starcom which has a volume switch on the bars. The only annoying thing is the bloody speed camera sound. I haven't updated my maps and the Hatfield tunnel has been completed on the A1. It goes on forever since the Zumo thinks the road is a 40 when it is a 70. In that case I just turn the volume to zero.

 

[Beemerman59]

Is there any space on the 660's internal drive to store MP3's and any idea of roughly how many? Or do the maps use all the memory so you have to use the MicroSD card?

Just pulled the trigger on replacing my 550 with a 660 so need to think about tunes now

 

[Pauly S]

dunno about internal memory.

The cards arent expensive now,get a fast one though class 6 or faster.
Leave the internal memory for the garmin gubbins.

 

[Beemerman59]

The cards arent expensive now,get a fast one though class 6 or faster.
Leave the internal memory for the garmin gubbins.

Bugger, already ordered one but its class 4

 

[Pauly S]

might be ok

If you put any extra maps or topos on it, because its faster, it can retrieve the info faster and as a result draw maps faster,ie when it recalcalulates after a wrong turn.The last thing you want is a unit drawing a map whilst navigating round a city when the road turnings are coming thick and fast.
Also it will make loading the card faster when bunging on yer tunes, cos you can write to it faster.
Try and and see.
Mines class 6, 16 gig, works great.
Ive also bought the card with a micro sd to sd adaptor so you can bung the sd adaptor straight into the laptop, and write straight to the card, rather than go thru the usb lead to the zumo.

 

[NLC]

Is there any space on the 660's internal drive to store MP3's and any idea of roughly how many? Or do the maps use all the memory so you have to use the MicroSD card?

Just pulled the trigger on replacing my 550 with a 660 so need to think about tunes now

If you delete all the voices and Audible books you can make room but I wouldn't take the risk that you delete something by accident. Easier to have your music on the card and keep maps etc on as backups. Also the songs have to be MP3 which you can convert from iTunes if you are using that.

 

[Pauly S]

Also...

you can use windows media player to convert your cds and tunes to mp3.
Just adjust it to save the files as mp3 and not the windows default wma files.
The zumo will only play mp3 nowt else.

 

[Beemerman59]

you can use windows media player to convert your cds and tunes to mp3.
Just adjust it to save the files as mp3 and not the windows default wma files.
The zumo will only play mp3 nowt else.

Thanks for the all the info. I'm used to MP3's as thats the same on the 550 I just didn't research the MicroSD cards too well before ordering. I will see how the class 4 works at least I know what to do if its too slow. Its coming with the SD adapter so will go straight into my laptop. Going to strip both bikes down over the w/end and remove all the 550 stuff ready for the 660.

 

[Beemerman59]

If you delete all the voices and Audible books you can make room but I wouldn't take the risk that you delete something by accident. Easier to have your music on the card and keep maps etc on as backups. Also the songs have to be MP3 which you can convert from iTunes if you are using that.

Thanks I think I will leave well alone and just use the MicroSD for MP3's.

 

[Bumpkin]

SD card class and speed figures are more to do with write performance rather than read performance. I use an old 8GB class 2 card in my Nuvi 765 (not too dissimilar to the Zumo 660), this works without any issues though I do have the majority of my mapping on the internal memory.

Re. the speed camera bongs being anoying: If you use the Pocket GPS World data then just download the matching voices. Far less grating and they actually tell you speed and type of the up coming scamera which is handy.

 

[Grey Beard]

I have my MP3 files stored on a 16GB SD Card.

The latest Zumo Maps 2012.40 are getting so big with extra detail in the Balkans, etc. that it is difficult to store the whole European Map in the 8GB ? Zumo Internal Storage, especially if you have a speed camera database also installed. I had to delete most of the voices and also accidentally erased the sample Garmin Speed Camera databases.

Garmin tech confirmed to me last month that the map downloads will be getting bigger, so I guess some of these will have to be stored on an internal SD card if you want the whole of Europe, let alone other regions like Russia, N Africa, etc.

SD Card Speed Class is a bit variable I think. I checked the card speeds, as there are variations in the Write/Read speed amongst even the same brand and class of cards. It also tends to be faster when the files are bigger. Probably more important (larger files) in high Mega Pixel digital cameras than in the Garmin.

Grey Beard