Garmin StreetPilot 2820 ANY GOOD?

[Michael R1150GS Adventure]

Hi all

I have a 2620 which i want to change for a 2820

Should I???

i dont know if the 2820 is much better or reliable
anyone got a tuppeny's worth they want to throw in??
all help gratefully received..

 

[Bmmike08]

The 2820 is good and uses NT maps which are still upgradeable.

I use a 2820 and BMW Nav III (2820 based) for past 4 years and found them both excellent.

Regards,
Mike

 

[araspitfire]

I recently had a chance to (sort of) compare my 2820 to a newer zumo (not sure how new).. and I feel mine kept lock in the towns and mountains better then the other guy's...

Garmin, after the 2820, started doing their own GPS chipsets, and I belive they took a step backwards... I've not been keeping up with the news, so am not sure if they've gotten as good as they had it with the 'outside' chipset yet.

Anyways.. I heartily endorse the 2820, if you don't mind that it doesn't have internal batteries...

Al...

 

[Bumpkin]

2720 and 2820 are still good sat navs and can be updated to current mapping. They lack some of the bells and whistles of the Zumos, 2720 has no MP3 or Bluetooth. MP3 on 2820 has little no room for files and I believe the Bluetooth pre-dates A2DP (Stereo and better audio fidelity). Having said that these are just sparkly fluff you don't really need anyway.

They both rely on internal storage and have no card slot and as a result all of Europe (from the current mapping) won't fit on but quite frankly who needs mapping for all of Europe on one trip? The 2820 is somewhat easier to manipulate in this respect as you can access the storage as a disc drive. This means you can create a map set from Mapsource to suit and load it onto the GPS, this is a little harder on the 2720.

If one of the default European mapping zones that Garmin offer when updating suits your purpose then it's much easier, the 2720 will be as easy as the 2820.

IMHO the core navigation capability is as good as the Zumo and I would wager that they're quite a bit more robust.

Another advantage is that a 2720 or 2820 will drop straight into your existing 2620 cradle, though I think for the 2820 you might need to change the power lead as that incorporates the audio out which is probably 3.5mm stereo rather than the 2.5mm mono of the earlier two models.

Despite running a more recent Garmin (Nuvi 765) on the bike my trusty 2720 will stay in the cupboard as a back-up.

 

[beemerboy9]

Another advantage is that a 2720 or 2820 will drop straight into your existing 2620 cradle, though I think for the 2820 you might need to change the power lead as that incorporates the audio out which is probably 3.5mm stereo rather than the 2.5mm mono of the earlier two models.

The 2820 has two audio outs, the mono 2.5mm one exactly as per your 2620 and a separate 3.5mm stereo output on the main body. The latter is no use use on my unit as it suffers from hum induced by the screen.
I'm happy with mono anyway.

The 2820 is out of service with Garmin. They will not repair - admittedly for a whopping £165 - any more. I inquired recently when I believed that mine had given up the ghost.
However, under a separate deal with BMW or something, if your Nav III goes TU, they will replace with a newer unit for a price.

HTH,

John

 

[Bumpkin]

The 2820 has two audio outs, the mono 2.5mm one exactly as per your 2620 and a separate 3.5mm stereo output on the main body. The latter is no use use on my unit as it suffers from hum induced by the screen.

Thanks, that's good to know.