My beloved Zumo 590 is dead

[adventuredon]

so my zumo is dead. all hail the zumo. What to replace it with


I have been using Basecamp for the last ten years (importing, copying and creating routes in it). But it has been my go to for route creation. So when I broke, yep, I pulled the battery connector right of the PCB, with only hours to go before departure, I had to decide which nav app to use. And I had to use my phone. I went with a monthly My Route Navigation subscription. Man it worked well after 5 days of learning how to use it. It is not easy to learn with all the settings and data and downloads etc. But once you have it, its superbly easy to interact with. I like the interface, I liked the colour from my phone. I hated trying to tap a small icon with a small patch on my gloves that are capacitive.


Over the last week I loved the fast re routing, great display and layout of the My Route App on my phone. For £3.45 a month it's a great option. I don't think I could go back to a Zumo 590 as the screen and colours are just bland after using a phone for the last week, but the Garmins etc are waterproof and work quite well


BUT I don't want my phone on the Nav bar all the time because:

• Its a faf plugging in a phone and out all the time - less likely to take pics, harder to pay with stuff. Takes too long
• it has to be connected or it loses power very quickly
• Possible damage to camera...
• Security risk when popping into cafe to get x y z...

So I like the MRA and would love to have that as my new go to planning and riding option, however I don't see the point in using a carpuride or other host that relies on your phone for all its instructions. It just means you have to have power to your phone and your phone on the bars again (I only use a tank bag when touring). I could handle a large redundant phone, but again waterproof, secure mount and not capacitive screen becomes hard to find.

1. So, is there a waterproof tablet that can stay permanently on the bike securely or again quick release type with a powered bracket? I'd add a SIM card for use
2. Or I go for another sat nav option. One that has a hard wired cradle that is permanently on the bike (like the Zumo option).
3. I don't have a wonderwheel and no BMW nav prep so probably looking at Garmin XT. Does this not come with a powered mount? A video I viewed suggested not and that it was a plug in USB cable each time you mount it (If I did go this route there wouldn't really be any point in using MRA anymore except for planning routes on the move but there are plenty free choices for that anyway. I'd prefer the tablet option

Any advice out there?

 

[Wapping]

I have used the very good Garmin XT 1, in parallel to a sacrificial iPhone running MyRoute’s Navigation app. The XT will, of course, work with BaseCamp, too.

It is easy to send routes, created in MyRoute to the XT 1, using Bluetooth and the pretty reliable Garmin transfer app, whose name now escapes me.

PS I have no experience of the XT 2, though I understand it lacks the ease of the Bluetooth file transfer.

 

[glenn2926]

Pick up a second hand Garmin Zumo would be my suggestion. One of my brothers picked up a Zumo 660 recently. I don’t think he paid much for it. That would mean you can carry on using Basecamp. I’ve tried to use a few other plotting, routing type apps but Basecamp is by far the easiest and most user friendly . Calimoto was fairly straight forward but as you have pointed out, it’s on the phone. It also costs money every year whereas Basecamp is free.

 

[wessie]

sounds like you need to search for "rugged phone with glove mode"

What is Glove Mode & How to use it on Blackview BL8800 Series?

Welcome to Blackview blog, Blackview BL8800 and BL8800 Pro come with glove mode, here is guides of how to enable and use it.

www.blackview.hk

 

[wessie]

Pick up a second hand Garmin Zumo would be my suggestion. One of my brothers picked up a Zumo 660 recently. I don’t think he paid much for it. That would mean you can carry on using Basecamp. I’ve tried to use a few other plotting, routing type apps but Basecamp is by far the easiest and most user friendly . Calimoto was fairly straight forward but as you have pointed out, it’s on the phone. It also costs money every year whereas Basecamp is free.

I think the 660 is no longer supported by Garmin for map updates. The newer versions of the Zumo 3 series like my 390 are still supported and they still sell an even newer version, 396 I think

 

[adventuredon]

I have used the very good Garmin XT 1, in parallel to a phone running MyRoute’s Navigation app.

It is easy to send routes, created in MyRoute to the XT 1, using Bluetooth and the pretty reliable Garmin transfer app, whose name now escapes me.

PS I have no experience of the XT 2, though I understand it lacks the ease of the Bluetooth file transfer.

cheers i saw that earlier re dumb phones etc...( trolling before posting..lol) . Does the XT come with a powered cradle mount?

 

[EVskiy]

I have used the very good Garmin XT 1, in parallel to a phone running MyRoute’s Navigation app.

It is easy to send routes, created in MyRoute to the XT 1, using Bluetooth and the pretty reliable Garmin transfer app, whose name now escapes me.

PS I have no experience of the XT 2, though I understand it lacks the ease of the Bluetooth file transfer.

Garmin Drive App

 

[glenn2926]

I think the 660 is no longer supported by Garmin for map updates. The newer versions of the Zumo 3 series like my 390 are still supported and they still sell an even newer version, 396 I think

The 396 looks like my next sat nav when the 660 dies. The only thing I couldn’t find on the Garmin website is whether the 396 has a powered charging cradle. If it hasn’t then I won’t be buying one. I hope I can still send routes plotted on Basecamp to it too. This again would mean I wouldn’t be buying it. The 660 has been brilliant for more years than I care to remember so a similar replacement would be great. I don’t listen to music whilst riding, don’t answer my phone whilst riding, I have the 660 on mute as I don’t want to listen to it so the more basic, simple device would be great.

 

[adventuredon]

Pick up a second hand Garmin Zumo would be my suggestion. One of my brothers picked up a Zumo 660 recently. I don’t think he paid much for it. That would mean you can carry on using Basecamp. I’ve tried to use a few other plotting, routing type apps but Basecamp is by far the easiest and most user friendly . Calimoto was fairly straight forward but as you have pointed out, it’s on the phone. It also costs money every year whereas Basecamp is free.

I fell in love with the new shiny screen on the phone, I think it has to be more towards an XT or other..

 

[EVskiy]

@adventuredon get your self a fairly inexpensive (yet reasonably new enough) iPhone for using with MRA. You can delete most of the apps that you do not want/need from it. You do not even need a SIM card in it, as you can tether (via personal hotspot) to your camera/payment iPhone to create routes, etc.

@Doc has an iPhone 11 that he is flogging for not allot of cash…

 

[Wapping]

Does the XT come with a powered cradle mount?

Yes and a car mount, too.

 

[wessie]

The 396 looks like my next sat nav when the 660 dies. The only thing I couldn’t find on the Garmin website is whether the 396 has a powered charging cradle. If it hasn’t then I won’t be buying one. I hope I can still send routes plotted on Basecamp to it too. This again would mean I wouldn’t be buying it. The 660 has been brilliant for more years than I care to remember so a similar replacement would be great. I don’t listen to music whilst riding, don’t answer my phone whilst riding, I have the 660 on mute as I don’t want to listen to it so the more basic, simple device would be great.

if you look at

you will see it has the same 2 pin power connection as the rest of the 3xx series. Looks like the cradle will need to be rotated 90 degrees in the RAM mount.

 

[adventuredon]

@adventuredon get your self a fairly inexpensive (yet reasonably new enough) iPhone for using with MRA. You can delete most of the apps that you do not want/need from it. You do not even need a SIM card in it, as you can tether (via personal hotspot) to your camera/payment iPhone to create routes, etc.

@Doc has an iPhone 11 that he is flogging for not allot of cash…

still leaving the connected cable issue and a phone to be had issue...size and gloves too!

 

[glenn2926]

if you look at

you will see it has the same 2 pin power connection as the rest of the 3xx series. Looks like the cradle will need to be rotated 90 degrees in the RAM mount.

Looks great. It comes with a powered cradle and all electrical connections. I’m not sure what you mean re the ram mount being rotated. My current sat nav cradle is screwed to an evotech mounting bracket. I don’t have a ram mount. Hopefully the 396 charging cradle would just fix onto my evotech mount. My sat nav cradle is powered from a USB port under the rear seat on my Triumph tiger Rally Pro. I’ve actually spliced into the supply side of the USB port so the port can still be used to charge my phone or powerbank.
I try to keep things as simple as possible which is why I still use Basecamp as it is much more user friendly than any of the other systems I have tried. Calimoto was fairly easy, MRA was terrible, google maps is more difficult as one is limited to about ten way points. Not much use for a long days riding.
The 396 as you have suggested looks to be the way forward for me. Thanks.

 

[DJ123]

I was using a Zumo 396 prior to the XT. IMO, the 396 had far better adventurous routing out the box compared to the XT. Which appears to either think you're an HGV or on a Bicycle with some of the roads/routes it creates on 'adventure' routing options.

However, i don't use it for creating fun routes (i use MRA for that). I use it to follow my created routes, or for a straight forward take to a point/address on the map. It's been great at doing that the last 3+ years i've used it, and i'd not change it to anything else.
The screen is big enough without being enormous; It works well with gloves when navigating through menus; it's easy enough to connect to your phone & headset for bluetooth communication & transferring routes; the menus & POI's are customisable enough to make what you want easily accessible. And so on.

The powered mount works well. And only needs occasional GT85 too keep the pins free to ensure they connect to the satnav & power it. They can get a bit stiff and your satnav will show as not charging - a quick wiggle of it, usually helps to fix the temporary issue. You can get aftermarket locking tabs for them too, if you don't want a larger, more substantial option like the TT.

 

[wessie]

Looks great. It comes with a powered cradle and all electrical connections. I’m not sure what you mean re the ram mount being rotated. My current sat nav cradle is screwed to an evotech mounting bracket. I don’t have a ram mount. Hopefully the 396 charging cradle would just fix onto my evotech mount. My sat nav cradle is powered from a USB port under the rear seat on my Triumph tiger Rally Pro. I’ve actually spliced into the supply side of the USB port so the port can still be used to charge my phone or powerbank.
I try to keep things as simple as possible which is why I still use Basecamp as it is much more user friendly than any of the other systems I have tried. Calimoto was fairly easy, MRA was terrible, google maps is more difficult as one is limited to about ten way points. Not much use for a long days riding.
The 396 as you have suggested looks to be the way forward for me. Thanks.

if you look at the pins, they are parallel with the short side of the 396. On my 390 they are parallel with the long side. Hence I would need to rotate the 396 in *my* mount.

I just remembered, the 3xx series uses a different pin configuration to your 660. The 660 uses the same pin configuration as the BMW Nav 4 onwards. You will probably need to change things. The lead with the 3 series comes with a 12V to 5V converter in the lead to give power across 2 pins, although you can obviously provide 5V from a different source to the 396 cradle.

 

[Berin]

so my zumo is dead. all hail the zumo. What to replace it with


I have been using Basecamp for the last ten years (importing, copying and creating routes in it). But it has been my go to for route creation. So when I broke, yep, I pulled the battery connector right of the PCB, with only hours to go before departure, I had to decide which nav app to use. And I had to use my phone. I went with a monthly My Route Navigation subscription. Man it worked well after 5 days of learning how to use it. It is not easy to learn with all the settings and data and downloads etc. But once you have it, its superbly easy to interact with. I like the interface, I liked the colour from my phone. I hated trying to tap a small icon with a small patch on my gloves that are capacitive.


Over the last week I loved the fast re routing, great display and layout of the My Route App on my phone. For £3.45 a month it's a great option. I don't think I could go back to a Zumo 590 as the screen and colours are just bland after using a phone for the last week, but the Garmins etc are waterproof and work quite well


BUT I don't want my phone on the Nav bar all the time because:

• Its a faf plugging in a phone and out all the time - less likely to take pics, harder to pay with stuff. Takes too long
• it has to be connected or it loses power very quickly
• Possible damage to camera...
• Security risk when popping into cafe to get x y z...

So I like the MRA and would love to have that as my new go to planning and riding option, however I don't see the point in using a carpuride or other host that relies on your phone for all its instructions. It just means you have to have power to your phone and your phone on the bars again (I only use a tank bag when touring). I could handle a large redundant phone, but again waterproof, secure mount and not capacitive screen becomes hard to find.

1. So, is there a waterproof tablet that can stay permanently on the bike securely or again quick release type with a powered bracket? I'd add a SIM card for use
2. Or I go for another sat nav option. One that has a hard wired cradle that is permanently on the bike (like the Zumo option).
3. I don't have a wonderwheel and no BMW nav prep so probably looking at Garmin XT. Does this not come with a powered mount? A video I viewed suggested not and that it was a plug in USB cable each time you mount it (If I did go this route there wouldn't really be any point in using MRA anymore except for planning routes on the move but there are plenty free choices for that anyway. I'd prefer the tablet option

Any advice out there?

DMD offer a a rugged tablet and phone, using Android, and a lockable mount

DMD-T865 Motorcycle GPS Navigation Tablet powered by Android

A rugged motorcycle GPS specific navigation tablet with Android to guide you on your next adventure! Includes charging holder and lock. Powered by DMD2!

www.thorkracing.com

There’s also a Samsung rugged tab, and RAM do a powered mount for it.

The XT has a powered mount and you can buy a lockable mount from Touratech

 

[NeilDD]

@adventuredon speak to Martin @Santa-2512
He uses a Samsung tablet

 

[Wapping]

To me at least, tablets only serve to add a layer of complexity, not present with a Garmin / TomTom or a phone. Not least the mounting and powering. But hey, bods like ‘em.

 

[Santa-2512]

To me at least, tablets only serve to add a layer of complexity, not present with a Garmin / TomTom or a phone. Not least the mounting and powering. But hey, bods like ‘em.

Why do you say that?,

All a tablet needs is a mount and a power supply , as does a BMW, Garmin & Tom Tom.

Unlike a Carpuride or Chigee, it doesn't need a phone to do the naving and then slaving to a dumb screen

If anything it's a better solution, albeit in a larger form factor

I can plan a route in Tripomatic, and then send it to Sygic,

I can use the Nav on glorious 8" screen, which means i'm not squinting to see route numbers, or speed limits

When i arrive, i can pop the tablet into my bag,

Come the evening, i can watch some downloaded box set or films, again without having to peer at a 5" screen

Read my kindle, and emails, and check a route for the next day , without having to keep pinching / zooming to see the bigger picture

For me it's a godsend