Zumo 590 is nothing more than a piece of crap -RETRACTED later

[Bobbin-Man]

For an upcoming trip to Spain I've decided to invest in a 590LM to replace my old and perfectly reliable 550 .... and so far my perception is it's nothing more useful than an expensive paperweight Help!!!!!!

Can anyone direct me to solving the following issues, I've not even tried it on the bike yet!

- low battery ... yet it's been on charge all night?
- I can't register the unit ... Garmin Express tells me it isn't supported for the 590 and directs me to Map Uploader, then I get stuck in a lop goinf back to Garmin Express!
- it's decided now that it's in Demo Mode and tells me to drive to exit Demo Mode ... surely I can get out of Demo Mode without needing to go anywhere?
- I've uploaded some routes and if I start one it asks me which waypoint I want to navigate to, does the old 550 option of "drive to start of route, yes/no" not exist anymore? That's a feature I used virtually every trip on the 550 and it's going to be a major PITA not have it.

Probably 1000+ more annoying issues, so far very unimpressed

Stu.

 

[Bobbin-Man]

Okay, registration bit sorted! Despite my Garmin Express being set to automatically update itself it was obviously lying, reinstalling GE has enabled it to recognise my 590 so now registered. Onto the next problem ...

 

[Wapping]

I've uploaded some routes and if I start one it asks me which waypoint I want to navigate to, does the old 550 option of "drive to start of route, yes/no" not exist anymore? That's a feature I used virtually every trip on the 550 and it's going to be a major PITA not have it.

Easy answer: Create routes with no waypoints, using shaping points instead. Problem solved. How do you do that? See several threads in this section.

As to the rest? Someone who owns your specific device will be along to help you, I don't doubt. Failing that, someone is bound to be along cursing Garmin, BaseCamp and for all I know their sister's dog's puppies. It won't help you (or them) directly but you probably won't feel alone.

PS If you really believe the device if FUBAR, return it to whence it came and get a refund. Lots of helpful advice on the pages of UKGSer on how to present 'Not fit for purpose' complaints, many advocating the use of extreme violence. These are most often from the same bods who worry about whether hoteliers will be friendly, what the weather will be like four or more months hence and if anyone knows any twisty roads.... So take them with a pinch of salt.

 

[Whele]

Go to ebay and buy a 2820, simple to use latest maps still install send me your 590 as a reward for the suggestion .

 

[Bobbin-Man]

Thanks for the reply. I've managed to get it out of demo mode by driving down the road ... not sure if there's a way to stop it going back to demo mode again.

Easy answer: Create routes with no waypoints, using shaping points instead. Problem solved. How do you do that? See several threads in this section.

I've used Basecamp regularly with the 550 and although it's a little quirky it's fairly easy to get used to. I've taken a Basecamp created route that I've used on the 550 and following advice on previous threads I've marked all the intermediate waypoints as "Don't Alert on Arrival (shaping points)", only the start and end now exist as waypoints on the route.

However on loading the route on the 590 it asks which waypoint I would like to navigate to, the start or the end, rather than the option of "do you wish to navigate to the start of the route?" in which case I used to simply state "No" and it would pick up the route wherever I joined it. If I select to navigate to the end it ignores the actual route and just treats the end waypoint simply as a favourite and takes the shortest/quickest direct route. There must be a way round it but it's not obvious!

Stu.

 

[RedRick Esq.]

The navigate to start of route bit, or lack of it, does take a little getting used to However when the thing asks which point you wish to navigate to just select the nearest one to you if you have a look here it may help with a couple of your issues ( it is for the NAV 5 but in essence they are the same )

Hope this helps

 

[Bobbin-Man]

The navigate to start of route bit, or lack of it, does take a little getting used to However when the thing asks which point you wish to navigate to just select the nearest one to you if you have a look here it may help with a couple of your issues ( it is for the NAV 5 but in essence they are the same )

Hope this helps

Thanks redrick, just read through your link and all seems fine with my understanding and previous use of Basecamp. It would appear from some investigation (plus trial and error) that when creating a Basecamp route for the 590 (as opposed to the 550) it's necessary to create enough waypoints such that the route doesn't change when it's recalculating, then marking the vast majority as "Don't Alert on Arrival (shaping points)" but leaving known key waypoints that enable the route to be joined easily. It'll be interesting to know what happens if I go off route!

It was on charge all night and is still showing low battery ... I'll give it another day to hold some charge otherwise it's going back!

Stu.

 

[RedRick Esq.]

Thanks redrick, just read through your link and all seems fine with my understanding and previous use of Basecamp. It would appear from some investigation (plus trial and error) that when creating a Basecamp route for the 590 (as opposed to the 550) it's necessary to create enough waypoints such that the route doesn't change when it's recalculating, then marking the vast majority as "Don't Alert on Arrival (shaping points)" but leaving known key waypoints that enable the route to be joined easily. It'll be interesting to know what happens if I go off route!

It was on charge all night and is still showing low battery ... I'll give it another day to hold some charge otherwise it's going back!

Stu.

At the risk of branding you as stupid which you clearly are not

Have you
A) made sure the battery has its packaging isolator strip off
B) tried connecting it up again as the NAV 5 battery fitment is a conector type as opposed to the way the old 660 used to fit
C) tried a different USB lead as they can be a bit sensitive

 

[cafemaestro]

Have been using my 590 for a year or so and I can confirm that the low battery message is very quick to come on when the unit is not connected to a power source. It usually takes about 10-15 mins of messing about with it unconnected.
As mentioned by redrick the USB cable can be a bugger for poor connections so you think it's charging when you leave it, but it isn't when you come back; which means you are never quite sure how long it was on charge for. Cradle charging is better, but you need a good long journey to give it proper juice.
I live with in by keeping it connected where possible and making sure I turn down the screen brightness and turn off Bluetooth when disconnected.

That said I maintain that I reckon the 590 to be a fine (if expensive) sat nav.

 

[Bobbin-Man]

Thanks

My old 550 used to stay mostly on the bike and remained fully charged, I had an issue with a previous unit not charging and Garmin swapped it, the later one has been perfect ... and still is! If the 590 is left on the bike does it lose charge? It seems hard to tell whether the 590 is turned off fully.
Currently I'm trying to charge the 590 using the supplied USB cable, it's the only one I have with the new micro sized plug to connect to the unit so unfortunately no alternative. The power source is a Garmin mains adapter. One thing I've already noticed is that whenever the unit is disconnected from the mains power it turns off .. another pita!

I'll check all the internal connections to the battery, the unit's getting warm whilst charging so there must be something happening.

Stu.

 

[Bobbin-Man]

Update ... for info!

low battery ... yet it's been on charge all night?

After around 45 hours on charge the battery icon finally shows full and the unit is no longer showing a low battery warning on start-up. Strangely it also seems to have become more stable following the full charge. It could have been a poor connection or might just be the time that's needed to fully charge a new unit

I can't register the unit ... Garmin Express tells me it isn't supported for the 590 and directs me to Map Uploader, then I get stuck in a lop goinf back to Garmin Express!

As mentioned in a previous post, installing the latest version of Garmin Express (rather than believing the old version had done the automatic updates) has enabled the 590 to be recognised by Garmin Express and the unit is now registered.

it's decided now that it's in Demo Mode and tells me to drive to exit Demo Mode ... surely I can get out of Demo Mode without needing to go anywhere?

A bit of research suggests there isn't a way of getting out of demo mode without actually using the unit ... so I took it down the road for a few minutes and it reverted back to normal mode. It hasn't tried to get into demo mode again so hopefully that ones sorted.

I've uploaded some routes and if I start one it asks me which waypoint I want to navigate to, does the old 550 option of "drive to start of route, yes/no" not exist anymore? That's a feature I used virtually every trip on the 550 and it's going to be a major PITA not have it.

Still working on this! I think moving from a 550 to a 590 it's really a case of adapting my use of Basecamp to get the most out of the new unit and not assume that the way I created routes for the 550 would work seamlessly with the 590.

Now I need to work out how to handle music files...

Stu.

 

[Wapping]

I guess the demo mode is only really useful in shops, which would make sense not to have it re-set without carting it down the road. Imagine the scene:

Shop monkey opens box... Demonstrates unit to open jawed biker....

Open jawed biker says, "Thanks mate. I'll think about it" ....

Open jawed biker leaves shop, really thinking: "What sort of nob does that chimp think I am? I'm not bein' bleedin' ripped-off by a UK shop, I'm goin' to get me one from Germany... now that I have spent 30 minutes looking at it in a rip-off shop that is"....

Shop monkey returns device to box and awaits the arrival of the next slack jawed biker to wonder in and look at it in demo mode.... repeat at will.

 

[JerseyNeil]

I just put a load of music on mine. Easiest way is to put an sd card in your 590. Plug it into your computer and go to your drives. You will see the zumo drive and it's sd card drive.
I wanted to use music in my iTunes so what I did was created a folder on my desktop and dragged all the iTunes albums I wanted into the folder then select all the music in the folder and drag it into the zumo sd card drive. It will tell you the music is not compatible and as if you want to convert it. Click yes and the tick box that says do this for all files and leave it to transfer.
I tried first by plugging my sd card into my computer but it will copy the music as MP4 which will not work in the zumo.

Hope this helps

Neil

 

[iand46]

Wonder if it was in demo mode because it hadn't locked onto the satellite signals. Seemed to cure it by using it outdoors. Out of the box there're still in Taiwan regarding a satellite fix.

 

[Andy63]

My initial impression when I first got my Zumo and started to use it was similar to Bobbin-man but now I understand its functionality (to some degree) it is a fantastic piece of kit,
I have done a few trips to France and UK and I am really impressed with it, the map scrolling and up ahead functions are great. Lane recognition

Superb!!

 

[cafemaestro]

My initial impression when I first got my Zumo and started to use it was similar to Bobbin-man but now I understand its functionality (to some degree) it is a fantastic piece of kit,
I have done a few trips to France and UK and I am really impressed with it, the map scrolling and up ahead functions are great. Lane recognition

Superb!!

Agreed - you have to invest some time with it - it will surprise and impress you the more you play with its functionality and capabilities.

In my initial review of this unit I quickly dismissed the linking app for the phone, but I must now retract this in part. The way it uses it to give you live traffic info and delays en route (complete with cause of delay and how far down the route it is) is really impressive and free! Somehow knowing you are heading into traffic makes it less of a drama when you hit delays.

If you use it regularly and not just for the big trips, you will soon assimilate all the functions and operating tricks. It does actually do what it says on the tin.

 

[Bobbin-Man]

I just put a load of music on mine. Easiest way is to put an sd card in your 590. Plug it into your computer and go to your drives. You will see the zumo drive and it's sd card drive.
I wanted to use music in my iTunes so what I did was created a folder on my desktop and dragged all the iTunes albums I wanted into the folder then select all the music in the folder and drag it into the zumo sd card drive. It will tell you the music is not compatible and as if you want to convert it. Click yes and the tick box that says do this for all files and leave it to transfer.
I tried first by plugging my sd card into my computer but it will copy the music as MP4 which will not work in the zumo.

Hope this helps

Neil

Good info Neil, I'd actually found the same after some trial and error. With the Micro SD card slotted into my laptop I couldn't then get the (MP4) music files to show on the Zumo, by leaving the card in the Zumo and then reading it via a cable link the files can be converted as they copy over.

Agreed - you have to invest some time with it - it will surprise and impress you the more you play with its functionality and capabilities.

In my initial review of this unit I quickly dismissed the linking app for the phone, but I must now retract this in part. The way it uses it to give you live traffic info and delays en route (complete with cause of delay and how far down the route it is) is really impressive and free! Somehow knowing you are heading into traffic makes it less of a drama when you hit delays.

If you use it regularly and not just for the big trips, you will soon assimilate all the functions and operating tricks. It does actually do what it says on the tin.

Another agreed. After my initial nightmares (think the time taken to get a full charge made a big difference) the 590 is now performing superbly. The Smartlink with my iphone is something I didn't know anything about and it really improves the functionality, I've not discovered anything useful yet that isn't already free! The weather forecast is a bit of a novelty though

I've also managed to get the Zumo to link to the playlists in my phone's Spotify account, that's a big bonus because like many I'm moving away from actually "buying" music whether in physical format or download, and paying a monthly subscription instead ... apart from vinyl of course, but that's a bit of a struggle on the bike!

I now take back my early criticisms (frustrations!) and think the 590 is a great bit of kit

 

[JerseyNeil]

Good stuff

 

[Berin]

The "demo" mode is just for when it can't see satellites. You can switch satellite reception back on again, I'll have a look at my unit in a mo for the command sequence. A couple of things on power - what caught me out for a while is that when the device is disconnected from power, it goes into a sleep mode, which still uses quite a lot of power - you think it's off because the screen is blank, but it isn't. I try to remember to turn mine off when I disconnect from power - hold the power button on the back until it asks "do you want to switch off" then tick yes. This actually switches it off, rather than the device just going to standby. Also, it really only seems to charge properly from the Garmin wall plug - I charge mine up occasionally from the wall plug and then it's fine. Battery life still isn't great, though, maybe an hour or so.

 

[Wapping]

Looks like it all came out in the wash.

Another happy ending, brought to you by UKGSer.