New Garmin for motorcycles - Zumo 350LM

[ebbo]

Is that what you use?

How do you hear the turn by turn directions or is that visual only?

No, I use a crappy 660, mate of mine has the Montana, he’s bought a cheap as chips Bluetooth dongle, plugged it in to the Montana audio out lead and paired it with his helmet headset, works a treat but shouldn’t be necessary.

It’s the display that’s the winner for me though, properly daylight viewable and sharp too, I just can't imagine why bikers would want a daylight viewable display...

Is there not a gadget that ticks all the boxes - especially at £400 - £500.

Not for me, Garmin are holding back

 

[Redboots]

It’s the display that’s the winner for me though, properly daylight viewable and sharp too, I just can't imagine why bikers would want a daylight viewable display...

Not for me, Garmin are holding back

Maybe they are just "targeting" separate markets. Do walkers and geocach'ers want MP3 & BT

John

 

[ebbo]

Do walkers and geocach'ers want MP3 & BT

John

They may not, but the MP3 player is just software and the Bluetooth is just a little chip (I’m sure) ie very little real cost.

 

[stolzy]

They are f*****g useless!!!!!!!!!!!

You're not joking - I'm just using MapInstall to put maps on my 550.

This software is so bad, its almost comical - sort of thing that would have been considered clunky in the age of Windows 98

 

[stolzy]

MapInstall gets better and better.

Chosen the maps, transferring them:

The maps you selected could not fit on the device. The maps require 501.4Mb and only 505.6Mb is available

Is there any way to find out whether the maps will fit before you start the transfer process? - No.

How do I delete maps already installed on the Zumo - I can't (MapSource could do this)

How do I find out what maps-tiles are installed on the device? - I can't

What happens if I send maps that are already installed? - You get two copies (and lose the memory)

Is there any way to tell if map tiles are installed twice? - No

Any way to delete duplicated map tiles? No you have to delete the lot and send the full set again.

This is a bunch of crap even by Garmin standards.

 

[stolzy]

And ewven then, after an hour of building the map:

There was a problem while installing maps on your device. Ensure that the device is plugged in and turned on, and try again.

An error occurred while building the map.

 

[finn]

correct me if im wrong comes with NT for europe road work but will also take topo off road card?
surley if rugged enough can be used on road off road and in the car or am i missing something?

 

[illustratedman]

As one of the biggest gripes, from current users, is about the current units noty having sufficient memory you think they would have made a point about these new models having ample room for the future evolution of the mapping data.

The fact that they haven't alluded to this in the slightest or stated the memory capacity indicates to me that it's the same.

Mind you, I'm hoping to be proved entirely wrong...

There are reviews and video showcases appearing all over the web for the 350, we need someone to plug one in and find out how much internal storage there is.

Just watched one of these videos, on the settings page, about gps, i paused the vid with the device info on the screen which gives the device info software version etc, it shows hardware memory at 4gb 64mb, not promising is it...

 

[The Foolish Fellow]

This 350 could in theory be the answer for bikers as it will take the discoverer os mapping and the bluechart maps for those of us thet might put floats on our bikes. The off road mapping with built in Bluetooth might be handy

 

[Montyross]

Garmin

Just had a look at the 350 on Sat Nav easy website, certainly looks good, have just brought a Zumo 660 off them as currently on offer at £354 or they do one with Life time maps for about £420 (I think)

Gave them a quick ring about the 350LM after reading some of the comments regarding problems with the 660, (although I did not mention that) they said as a comparision the 350 comes with less in the box and less functions then the 660, and has slower processing? Maybe just sales pitch to stop me sending 660 back?

 

[OBxx11]

Hi all, just found this thread..

Looking to upgrade from my trusty quest1..

interestings points about the new 350lm ... can the bluetooth be limited to headset only ?? is it the '£75' lifetime maps that making it more expensive ??

surley there is an advantage there somewhere ?? anyone actually got one yet ??

No 3D and Mp3 is fine by me, wonder if it was that software that causes the instabillity in the 550 - 660 etc Much prefer a tool that does the job intended and remains stable and not a jack of all trades... Is it a new software version ??


Decisions

to the wise ones on here

 

[Ash]

Montana powered mount has a headphone socket, and you can get maps for free if you search. Someone put a link on here recently for the free maps.

350 has a headphone jack as well

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/YwCSaMbFEJA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[geoff48h]

350lm

just got one. so far so good, the speaker built in to the unit can hear it up to 40mph (not bad over the noise of a gs) easy on and off the mount, have put my mapsouse routes on it ok. just go to zumo forum it tells you how to do it. i will be going to bmw rally on friday for its first test, will update if i find any faults, still got my 550 just in case

 

[Ash]

350LM -
My thought so far -

Great search function and when you put in a destination it gives route options without going into navigation menu,very nice to handle as well more streamline than the 550, plus lifetime mapping updates that can handle the whole of NT Europe, rather than just regions.

used it on the way back from the Cotswold and used the tracbac button,great idea ,it even shows you where you stopped and you can choose the date to trac bac ...

Noticed today when i left NOG BMW dealers that as i approached a set of traffic lights on the pear tree roundabout it flashed " Red light traffic camera warning " on the screen and when in " bike mode " the buttons on the keyboard are bigger [ glove friendly ] than when in " car mode " .

Zumo mounted on my 650 twin.

<a target='_blank' title='ImageShack - Image And Video Hosting' href='http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/850/005jpf.jpg/'><img src='http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/7353/005jpf.jpg' border='0'/></a><br>

 

[geoff48h]

just got one. so far so good, the speaker built in to the unit can hear it up to 40mph (not bad over the noise of a gs) easy on and off the mount, have put my mapsouse routes on it ok. just go to zumo forum it tells you how to do it. i will be going to bmw rally on friday for its first test, will update if i find any faults, still got my 550 just in caseFIRST THING I HAVE FOUND THAT COULD BE A PAIN IS ITS NOT EASY TO REMOVE THE MOUNT FROM THE BIKE, YOU HAVE TO REMOVETHE RAM MOUNT FROM THE GARMIN MOUNT TO GET THE POWER LEAD OFF THE MOUNT.

 

[logyk]

+1

Also, I like to listen to music when I ride and if I have my 550 navigating off the SD card I can't.

Not sure I understand this comment.

I have a 550 with all my maps on an SD card. I also have my music on the SD card and I have no problem listening to music whilst navigating.

 

[Emoto]

I look forward to reading about any shortcuts or tricks that people develop for this unit.

 

[v8legend]

No phone, just helmet bluetooth

That was the 'deal breaker' for me. I want bluetooth phone and headset instructions.

 

[Emoto]

Let's contact Garmin about this one - Inability to import and see tracks

So, it appears that unlike the 66X units, we 350 users cannot import an externally created track (like an offroader might make in BaseCamp for navigating in areas with no mapped roads) and then view it on screen. This would be a really handy feature, and since they already have the code for it for the 66X units, I cannot imagine that it would be difficult/costly to add it to the 350. I can understand the 350 not having non-navigational features like playing MP3, but in my view there is no excuse for removing navigational features from their top motorcycle GPS.

I humbly suggest that anyone reading this go here (if you have a 350): https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/escalateForm.htm

or here (if you do not have a 350): http://www8.garmin.com/contactUs/ideas/#container-form

And respectfully request that they add this feature to the 350. Perhaps if enough people ask for it, they will do it. At any rate, it does not hurt to try.

Thanks for reading!