Advice Needed

[njc]

I am planning a trip this summer down the west coast of France and along the Pyrenees on the Spanish side over as far as the Med. My return journey should be via Nice and the French Alps.
I intend to keep to "D" roads where possible and would like the assurance of a GPS. From earlier threads I am unclear if the Garmin V will store sufficent maps for the trip. If Garmin V is not appropriate, will Street Pilot 111 Deluxe be up to the task.
Also in relation warnings/instructions on course changes issued by the GPS, is it necessary to have earphones installed in my helmet and linked to the GPS to hear these.

All advice appreciated

Regards
Niall

 

[Gecko]

GPS V won't handle a trip of that size . No way

 

[roadrider]

The Garmin V has a fixed internal memory. And as Gecko said it ain't going to hold all that mapping you are looking for. Unless you are going to take a laptop with you. The Streetpilot 111 has expandable, memory and the memory cards hold much more data as well.
If you want voice guidance, then you'll need to fit some form of speaker system into the helmet. The screen on the 111 is bigger than the V if this is an issue and also in colour. easier to see. Having used a Streetpilot 3 for 3 years I can honestly recommend them, and at the moment they are as cheap as they are probably going to get.
John

 

[PanEuropean]

NJC:

As others have already pointed out, the GPS V does not have sufficient memory in it to store the map detail for a trip of that length. The GPS V has a fixed, non-expandable amount of memory inside of it - about 20 megabytes.

The StreetPilot III uses little memory chips that can be inserted and removed. These vary in size, the commonly available sizes seem to be 32, 64 and 128 megabytes. There are smaller ones than that, but they are not of much use in the StreetPilot III.

The StreetPilot III 'Deluxe' comes packaged with a 128 megabyte memory chip. That will probably be enough to hold the required map segments for your planned route ("down the west coast of France and along the Pyrenees on the Spanish side over as far as the Med") if you are judicious about selecting which segments you include, and which you leave out. For example, I am assuming you would take the Irish ferry to Cherbourg, therefore you would want the French coast from Cherbourg to Biarritz, then both sides of the Pyrenees over to Perpignan (French/Spanish border on the Med). I'm presuming you want about 100 km of coverage inland from the coast, and 100 km of coverage on either side of the Pyrenees.

I can't give you the exact size of the segments required for that trip, because this will depend on what version of Garmin Cartographic product (e.g. CityNavigator Europe 5.0 or 6.0) you are using. The more recent version (6.0) contains more data per map segment, therefore, less geographic area will fit on a chip if you use the later version. But, for what it's worth, using the latest version of CN, which is 6.0, and including all the autorouting data, the map load for the route described above is about 95 megs, so this would fit just fine on the chip that comes with the SP III Deluxe kit. This leaves you with some space to load additional segments in case you plan a side trip, for example, to Bilbao or similar.

You asked about voice prompts - personally, I never use the voice prompts when I am using the GPS (SP III) on a moto. I always have the GPS mounted on the handlebars, directly in my line of sight (not way off to one side like on a car dashboard), so I don't need the voice prompts. Whenever the voice would normally become active, the screen also changes to sort of a "zoom in view" which is called the 'Next Turn Page', and my experience has been that this change in the image on the screen always catches my eye. Besides, anytime you want to know when you next have to turn, you just press the 'SPEAK' button, and it will pop up the 'Next Turn Page' for your review. So, don't bother with hooking up the voice, it's not worth the trouble. The Gold-Wingers love to hook up the voice, but people riding anything else rarely bother with it.

PanEuropean

 

[njc]

Gecko/Roadrider/PanEuropean

Many thanks for all your advice. It appears it has to be a Street Pilot 3.
Next task is to find a good deal.

Regards
Niall

 

[roadrider]

Gecko/Roadrider/PanEuropeanMany thanks for all your advice. It appears it has to be a Street Pilot 3.Next task is to find a good deal.RegardsNiall

Niall, Do you have a CostCo or a Makro in your parts.As they are selling them at around £520 + VAT, which is cheap.
John

 

[PanEuropean]

Niall:

If you are willing to consider buying a used (second-hand) SP III, there might be some very good deals around, either on this BB, other moto BB's, or on eBay or similar. The GPSR's don't really deteriorate or wear out, so there is not much risk associated with buying a used one - if it works OK when you look it over, then it's going to work pretty well for the foreseeable future.

Here's sort of a "quick checklist" for doing due diligence for the purchase of a used SP III:

Basemap - Make sure it's a European basemap model, not an American basemap model. You can check this by removing the memory chip, turning it on, and zooming in to about a 10 mile or 10 kilometre scale on any area in Europe. If you see roads, it's a European model. The American models only show political borders for European countries.

Memory Chip Size - You will need a 128 meg memory chip. These have come standard with the SP III's in the last year or so, but early models came with 32 meg chips, which are way too small for today's map sizes. The little chips that the Garmin units use are proprietary to Garmin, and quite expensive. If someone wants to sell you a unit with a 32 meg chip, you will need to heavily discount the price to offset the cost of buying a 128 meg chip.

Map CD with Unlocked Regions - SP III's sold in the last year or so have come with a CityNavigator Europe version 5 CD, with an unlock code that unlocks all of Europe. The original SP III came with CN Europe version 4 and an unlock code for one region only (e.g. UK, France, German speaking countries, etc.). If you get CN 5 with all regions unlocked, you could probably live with that without having to upgrade, although it will be one year out of date. If you get a unit with CN Europe version 4, you will have to upgrade to version 6. An update to CN version 6 (from either 4 or 5) will cost you USD $150 from Garmin (see this link: Garmin Cartography Updates) Note that the upgrading process is kind of strange, first you contact Garmin and they send you an upgrade CD (free of charge), second, you buy a code to unlock the upgrade CD. You can buy the code from either Garmin direct, or from a Garmin dealer. In North America, the Garmin dealers discount the price of the upgrade unlock code quite a bit, so shop around and see if you can find a lower price for the upgrade unlock code, which is simply a piece of paper with a number on it.

Unlock Codes on a Floppy Disk - The original purchaser must give you a floppy disk to which he has exported the original unlock codes for the CityNavigator software. Otherwise, you won't be able to use the maps on your PC, or upload new maps to your GPSR. Note Carefully: You can't make use of any updated CD unlock code you have purchased unless you already have the original unlock code for the earlier version installed.

Condition of screen - The SP III screen has a quarter wave dichroic coating on it that is quite susceptible to scratches. Make sure the screen is in reasonable condition (not scratched) and the coating is still there (not polished off). A replacement front cover (includes the screen cover) will cost you about USD $25 from Garmin UK, you need to send the GPSR in to them to have it replaced.

Watch for Scams - There are a number of scams to watch out for when buying a Garmin StreetPilot. Here's just a few:

- You want a StreetPilot III, not a 'StreetPilot' or 'StreetPilot ColourMap', which are not the same thing.

- Make sure you get the original map CD's. If someone tries to sell you a GPSR without the original CD's, they are playing games.

- Make sure the CD's you get are "CityNavigator", not "City Select" or "MetroGuide Europe". Only the CityNavigator CD's have the detail on them that the SP III needs to fully perform.

- Vendor must be willing to allow you to re-register the Map CD's and Map Unlock codes to your name with Garmin. If they're not willing to do this, they are scamming you, or you and Garmin.

Anyway, just some thoughts for you - the SP III's are selling, used, for about USD $400 or so in North America. The cost in Europe will be a bit higher (original retail price was higher for the European ones), but if you can find the same thing as the store is selling for 40% off, and it is in good condition and everything that should be there is there, then you have the possibility of saving a lot of money.

PanEuropean

 

[njc]

New or Second hand

The possibility of substantial savings by purchasing second hand is very appealing, however my lack of experience in the GPS area could leave me being short changed and as PanEuropean pointed out there are pitfalls for the unwary. There are no Costco stores in Ireland but there is a Makro in Belfast. They tell me that they are "trade only" so I have a problem but have not given up on them yet.


Regards
Niall

 

[roadrider]

There are no Costco stores in Ireland but there is a Makro in Belfast. They tell me that they are "trade only" so I have a problem but have not given up on them yet.

Nial, Usually if you know someone with a card, they can sign you in, or enable you to join Makro. Then just buy it from the store if they have them in. or if you know someone you can trust (works both ways) get them to get you one.
John
Makro are not strictly trade anymore, they allow company employee's to join, basically this is members of the public.

 

[Podger]

So, don't bother with hooking up the voice, it's not worth the trouble. The Gold-Wingers love to hook up the voice, but people riding anything else rarely bother with it.

I totally disagree.....the voice is very, very usefull , especially in towns, and similar built up area's.. I've used the SP111 almost since they came out , and voice is a big boon ! I also don't ride a Wing........................GS, Hayabusa, and CCM............it's very dangerous to make sweeping statements !and I bought on E bay !!

I do agree that for the trip to France , all the required info could be stored (with Selectivity)... but I bought a extra 128 Mb chip off ebay (usa) for £70.00 which is another way of doing it ..without having to skimp !

 

[Kenny Rodkiss]

She knows you know.

Me tae,

I always use voice guidance as well and don't have a wing!

Also got an extra 128 Garmin data card on Ebay for less than £70 to my door, from the good old USofA.
XXXXX value.
KR