Zumo 550 Virgin

[OBisss]

Hi all, im thinking of buying the Zumo 550. Ive read on this site that it takes about 20 minutes acquiring satellites when first activated and then it knows where it is. What im wondering is, if i then fly to spain and turn the Zumo on at Malaga airport will i have any problems with it. I need to find a place near Marbella. As you can probably can tell i dont know a lot about sat navs.

Thanks from OBisss

 

[GreyArea]

I've recently bought the Zumo 550 and, wherever you are when you switch it on, it acquires satellites within a minute no problem; this is of course only true if you are outdoors and not between tall buildings/under trees etc.

So, when you arrive in Spain you should not have any difficulties - I used my Garmin iQue M5 gps PDA in spain and it worked perfectly.

Hope this helps.

 

[OBisss]

Thanks

Thanks GreyArea for your quick reply. Now im a little bit wiser. Great site this for learning. OBisss

 

[Slowdown]

For more in-depth Zumo info, try the Zumo Forum

And that 20 minutes thing is complete rubbish. 2 minutes is realistic if you turn it off in the UK and turn it back on, outside, in Spain.

BTW - there's quite a few people leaving their Sat Nav on in planes - could be more entertaining if the in flight movie is crap.

 

[GreyArea]

When I flew to spain I put the PDA against the window and got sufficient signal to get map position and altitude. Did the same on the ferry to Santander too!

Bit sad, but it's interesting to see exactly where you are during the trip and how far you are from your destination.

 

[Slowdown]

Bit sad, but it's interesting to see exactly where you are during the trip and how far you are from your destination.

I had half of Business Class asking where we were on a recent trip. But the trolly dolly made sure it was off and 'stowed' before we landed

 

[Mark_C]

I think the length of time the unit has been powered down is a factor also. It downloads an "almanac" when trying to locate itsself and the more out of date the last download, the longer it takes to re-establish a fix. Also, keeping still speeds things up (patience required - all your friends who are too tight to buy a GPS will be saying "I told you those things are rubbish, there's a road sign over there, what are we waiting for?").

However, I agree that it would be unlikely ever to take as long as twenty minutes. Perhaps if you took the boat to New Zealand?

 

[OBisss]

Thanks to the great GS family for your helpful replies.

OBisss

 

[(RIP) Boxertools]

OBisss,
If you are in the market for a 550, my daughter Mary who works for Lings Honda can supply one for £450 delivered.

Mary Hyde 01379 851091


Mike.

 

[AlanL]

OBisss,
If you are in the market for a 550, my daughter Mary who works for Lings Honda can supply one for £450 delivered.

Mary Hyde 01379 851091


Mike.

Is this offer still vaild ?

 

[(RIP) Boxertools]

Is this offer still vaild ?

Alan,

Yes, as far as I know.
She has mondays off, but is back at work tomorrow (tues).

She can also supply Arai Shoei and more.
www.bestpricebikegear.com

Mike

 

[OBisss]

Good Price Boxertools , will keep it in mind thanks.
OBisss

 

[BurnieM]

A GPS will normally acquire a position in 30-40 seconds

If you move ANY GPS more than a few hundred miles (without it being turned on) it can take up to 30 minutes to re-acquire a position the first time. After this you are back to a normal time.

 

[Howard Millichap]

For more in-depth Zumo info, try the Zumo Forum

BTW - there's quite a few people leaving their Sat Nav on in planes - could be more entertaining if the in flight movie is crap.

This is great for setting the "Max Speed" to 545mph so that the old bill can't use it as evidence.

 

[GreyArea]

Max speed thing on the plane won't help if you've got other track logs littered through the Zumo showing a complete catalog of infringements, by the second, with locations down to a 30ft radius!!!

Track logs are great for recording routes etc. but, for the reasons above, it would have been a handy option to be able to switch logging off. In Gatso infested, nanny-state GB, how long will it be before the police are allowed to stop us and sieze GPS units for spot checking - could end up with several thousand points and a fifteen year ban in one hit!

 

[Beckford biker]

Good point GreyArea, might sound silly now, but knowing the nanny state as you so rightly put it, has anybody suggested this to Garmin.

 

[Bumpkin]

Won't long before they make up pay to have GPS fitted to all new vehicles that then uploads a daily track-log to automatically deduct fines from your bank account... I'm making a bacofoil hat as we speak

 

[ST4S]

In theory at least, the cops couldn't use GPS evidence against you, it's not a calibrated speed measuring device. A decent brief would have them laughed out of court.
Highest speed reading I've had on mine was 956 MPH on a trip to Wales (I know Ducati's are fast, but they're not that fast). Trip average was 381 MPH.
That was over a 60 mile stretch. As I understand it, a rapidly resolved blockage of the signal can make you 're-appear' to the GPS in a different place and can seriously screw up it's speed calculations (I think it's a similar principle to the TARDIS lol, that's how Dr Who keeps ahead of the Daleks).