Zumo 660. 550 or 220?

[NLC]

I have a 660. When it works it works. It can be a little fussy sometimes like being in a relationship. I've got a 16gb music card in mine which is great when you don't want to bother hooking up the iphone. I find the Tomtom easier to use on the unit interface but the mapping software on the computer for custom routes is very good but takes a bit of getting used too... sort of like being in a relationship. S*it... SWMBO is coming this way....

There is a 665 just released but I think that is a North American unit. Comes with XM Radio built in (Sat Radio). Too bad its not here in the UK (XM) as it is the dogs.

 

[Funrider]

There is a 665 just released but I think that is a North American unit. Comes with XM Radio built in (Sat Radio). Too bad its not here in the UK (XM) as it is the dogs.

The 665 was released over a year ago.

 

[Tomcat]

Zumo 220 vs 550

I've had a 550 for a few years, and have just bought a 220. I bought the 220 because I'm having problems mounting the 550 on a Duc MTS1200 without obscuring the speedo (I like the GPS to be close to my line of sight when riding). I don't use the audio, MP3 or phone link on the 550 so the 220 looked just the job BUT...

The screen on the 220 is the same size and resolution as the 550 but is lower contrast, especially if viewed from a slight angle. The 550 is noticeably better in this respect.

The power to the 220 is via a flying lead with mini USB connector, which has to be plugged in after clipping the 220 to its mount. Not as neat as the 550, and perhaps not as robust in the long term.

220 plus points:

You can choose what is displayed in the two lower info windows

You can turn off the auto zoom (I find autozoom is a pain on the 550)

The mount is slimmer and lower in overall height than the 550 mount. But it's also considerably wider so looks a bit ugly with the 220 removed.

The clip on the mount is good, and locks the 220 in place, but it flips back and up to release. This means that the mount can't be placed quite as close to the windscreen as the 550.

Otherwise, most of the navigation features look similar between the two models. I'm debating now about which one to keep

 

[Ceri JC]

Re track logs. Not sure what the limit is but last year I had many days of track log going from UK to Romania without overwriting. To be safe I downloaded onto laptop every couple of days though.

I believe it is 5 days, irrespective of volume. It's odd, but in the earlier versions of the OS at least (I've not updated mine), retention appears to be based on date/timestamp, rather than volume. Dumping it to your laptop/netbook every couple of days is wise on longer trips.

My experience of the Zumo 660 in general is that they still have some way to go to match Tom Tom in the UI/intuitiveness stakes, but in general it is much easier to use than the older models. I like how feature rich it is, I just wish the software for the PC was a bit better (like not forcing you to install on c:\, come on chaps, it's not the mid-90s any more ).

Reliability is generally good. I had one that started making funny noises, like radio static, even when muted. I had it replaced under warranty, no problems in the 23K since. The included mount is vastly better than any of the Tom Tom bike ones, none of which are fit for purpose if you ride high miles, ever offroad or even just have a particularly vibey bike.

 

[Zoomboxer]

The screen on the 220 is the same size and resolution as the 550 but is lower contrast, especially if viewed from a slight angle. The 550 is noticeably better in this respect.

The power to the 220 is via a flying lead with mini USB connector, which has to be plugged in after clipping the 220 to its mount. Not as neat as the 550, and perhaps not as robust in the long term.

220 plus points:

You can choose what is displayed in the two lower info windows

You can turn off the auto zoom (I find autozoom is a pain on the 550)

The mount is slimmer and lower in overall height than the 550 mount. But it's also considerably wider so looks a bit ugly with the 220 removed.

The clip on the mount is good, and locks the 220 in place, but it flips back and up to release. This means that the mount can't be placed quite as close to the windscreen as the 550.

+1 for all of the above - heartly agree with those comments.

It took a bit of fine tuning to get the mount in the right place on the 1150. It's at present on the handlebar towards the left and just under the clock. In a perfect world it would be on top of the display above the speedo/rev counter - better line of sight - but the clip would foul the screen. Yes the empty mount looks a bit untidy - it could easily be unscrewed but then it would take me a while to get it "just right" - OCD kicking in here - I use a locking thingy to keep in in place to make it secure. Unit easily slips into pocket.

I can get about 2 hours on a full charge without having to plug the unit in. Just right for a fuel/leg stretch break and plug the Unit in.

I am not 100% sure with the clip - to me it looks flimsy and could pop open if hitting a pot-hole and bump - perhaps it's just me being paranoid at the moment an ex-post office red rubber band has been put into use

 

[andyclift]

The included mount is vastly better than any of the Tom Tom bike ones

+1 on this. My wife had a Rider which was secured with the Tomtom supplied lanyard (bit of string). On a bumpy bend the Rider came off the mount and dropped into the fairing where it neatly hung next to the forks jamming the steering resulting in her dropping the bike.

220 plus points:

You can choose what is displayed in the two lower info windows

You can turn off the auto zoom (I find autozoom is a pain on the 550)

The 660 with detail view has a great many options on the data you can show on screen and it does not autozoom.

 

[Ceri JC]

+1 on this. My wife had a Rider which was secured with the Tomtom supplied lanyard (bit of string). On a bumpy bend the Rider came off the mount and dropped into the fairing where it neatly hung next to the forks jamming the steering resulting in her dropping the bike.

Yes, it doesn't inspire confidence that rather than fixing the useless mount, their "recall" consisted of shipping registered users tethers. The mounts don't just break mechanically either; the electrics in them pack up too over time. I had 2 additional mounts out of them under warranty. By the time I sold it, it was out of warranty and by the sounds of the problems the guy who bought it from me reported having a few months later, the third one finally packed in.

In contrast, my Garmin on the default mount attached to a BMW central bar mount is as good as you'll get without a Rally style fairing. I would happily offroad all day with the Zumo in this mount.

 

[Tomcat]

Does anyone know if you can fit all of Europe on a 220?

thanks,

The 220 comes with the whole of Europe installed to internal system memory. On my (brand new) unit, there is 4GB memory with 1.6GB free space (2011.10 map version), so I'd guess it should be able to handle future map updates for quite a while. If it works the same way as the 550 then even if maps become too large for the system memory, they can be installed on SD card (micro SD in the case of the 220)

 

[tallgug-09]

I like the 550, installation pictures here

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=15568304&postcount=51