Upgrade or Replace

myndit

Guest
Hello world of GPS aware people!

Complete forum newby so apologies in advance if this question has been asked before.

I have a predicament.

I have just changed my K1200GT (2006) to a R1200GSA. (It's a long story and not for this part of the forum). My GT had an ebay sourced BMW Motorad GPS (Streetpilot3) which is loaded with CN5. It's a bit slow sometimes to recalculate, however I do quite like it.

I am travelling to France/Belgium/Luxembourg and Germany in 4 weeks time and wish to use the latest Mapsource.

Now, should I upgrade to CN9 (if this is possible with such an old system) or should I just dig deep in my pocket for a new Zumo 550. Bear in mind that my Bank Manager knows that I have just p/exed a 7 month old bike for a new one and have suffered the financial penalty of such a transaction!

I do not wish to use the bluetooth facility on the Zumo as I find any noises in my helmet a bit of a distraction.

Cheers

Doug

Hope you offer some advise
 
I am travelling to France/Belgium/Luxembourg and Germany in 4 weeks time and wish to use the latest Mapsource.
Click to expand...

Whereabouts you going ?

We have just done that.

I have a couple of good routes on Mapsource if you would like
 
the outdated 26xx range would be a good upgrade, but the zumo is easier to use, as it does full postcode searches, has a large easy to read screen, has a battery so you can use off the bike to plan routs and comes with everything to mount it to bars, in the box already, you can get a zumo 500, which comes without the car kit and is cheaper, but again if you've got a streetpilot3, then the 26xx range will be a good upgrade and it will be much faster than the streetpilot :thumb
 
Great feedback, cheers.

Richie, good idea and I may get £80 back on ebay for my old one. One thing I forgot to mention is that I am hiring a german motorhome for my summer family holiday and need the GPS to work in that as well

Manny fagnet, it is the Boullion area (biker heaven) 23 bikes / 5 days.

Ian, cheers I am looking at the 2650 now

Doug
 
myndit said:
Great feedback, cheers.

Richie, good idea and I may get £80 back on ebay for my old one. One thing I forgot to mention is that I am hiring a german motorhome for my summer family holiday and need the GPS to work in that as well

Manny fagnet, it is the Boullion area (biker heaven) 23 bikes / 5 days.

Ian, cheers I am looking at the 2650 now

Doug
Click to expand...


Sounds good.

We based ourselves in Trier,having done the whole of the Ardennes and Vosges last year.

We had 2 days riding out from Trier.

One was a northerly loop along the Mosel and then up to the Nurburgring (for a quick lap) and back via Luxembourg.

The second day was spent on a a westerly loop through Luxembourg,which was utterly amazing.
 
ianboydsnr said:
the outdated 26xx range would be a good upgrade, but the zumo is easier to use, as it does full postcode searches
Click to expand...
Genuine question - I can see the benefit of postcode search in the UK, but how much use would the postcode search be in Europe? Some countries don't even have postcodes and other countries postcodes wont be the same as ours?
 
Taff said:
Genuine question - I can see the benefit of postcode search in the UK, but how much use would the postcode search be in Europe? Some countries don't even have postcodes and other countries postcodes wont be the same as ours?
Click to expand...

The French and Spanish use post codes which work in the Zumo.. :thumb
 
Yes that is correct, we do use postcodes in France, but not to identify and address. My postcode is 24580. The 24 tells you that it is the Dordogne and the 580 says that the town is either Rouffignac or Plazac, which are 6 miles apart. There is nothing to give anymore detailed information than that.
You would be more accurate to put the town into the GPS in France than the postcode.

Bob
http://bikesindordogne.blogspot.com/
 
Seriously, if you can afford a Zumo get that because its built as a bike GPS but can be used in a car. I believe the full 550 kit comes with both car and bike mounts, but do check.

It also has PC mapping, which the Tomtom Rider doesn’t
 
ebbo said:
Seriously, if you can afford a Zumo get that because its built as a bike GPS but can be used in a car. I believe the full 550 kit comes with both car and bike mounts, but do check.

It also has PC mapping, which the Tomtom Rider doesn’t
Click to expand...

That is correct, 550 zumo, comes with car kit and the full CN9 already installed, including the ram mounting kit :thumb
 
Points all noted. Thanks so far.

I could probably afford the Zumo, however, I wish to try and get the best out of my old system. It looks like it will do the same job but just much slower. Before I dig deep in my pocket, I will order the CN9 from Garmin and a new flash card (existing is 128mB).

The truth is I expect I will do the normal and wait until 1 day before I go and end up buying at a high rate!!

Cheers

Doug
 
myndit said:
Now, should I upgrade to CN9 (if this is possible with such an old system) or should I just dig deep in my pocket for a new Zumo 550.
Click to expand...

I would question how well CN9 would run on your system. If CN5 is already a bit slow, I reckon you'll find CN9 slower still. It would be a bit like trying to run Windows Vista on a computer made for Windows 95. The processor in your SPIII may not be able to handle all that extra data.

If you reckon you can get £80 for your SPIII, and an update to CN9 would be what, £70? then for another £50 you could get a 2650 - if you're quick.

I've got a 2610, which is great, but sometimes I wish I'd gone for a Zumo - the clarity of the Zumo screen is a vast improvement on that of the 2610. But, the Zumo ain't cheap. It would, however, make a great addition to that 1200GSA of yours.:thumb2
 
CBFer said:
I would question how well CN9 would run on your system. If CN5 is already a bit slow, I reckon you'll find CN9 slower still. It would be a bit like trying to run Windows Vista on a computer made for Windows 95. The processor in your SPIII may not be able to handle all that extra data.

If you reckon you can get £80 for your SPIII, and an update to CN9 would be what, £70? then for another £50 you could get a 2650 - if you're quick.

I've got a 2610, which is great, but sometimes I wish I'd gone for a Zumo - the clarity of the Zumo screen is a vast improvement on that of the 2610. But, the Zumo ain't cheap. It would, however, make a great addition to that 1200GSA of yours.:thumb2
Click to expand...

agreed, newer systems are far faster to calculate and have better screens, i would sell the streetpilot3 and put the cash towards the zumo or 2610


nice though the old pilot was, its just too slow and will be slower, it was a big jump when cn6 came out and cn9 has more detail, cards for the sp3 are small, wheras you can get the whole of europe on a card to fit the 2610, and my 550 zumo has the whole of Europe built in :nenau
 
myndit said:
Points all noted. Thanks so far.

I could probably afford the Zumo, however, I wish to try and get the best out of my old system. It looks like it will do the same job but just much slower. Before I dig deep in my pocket, I will order the CN9 from Garmin and a new flash card (existing is 128mB), because I don’t think it takes a bigger card.

The truth is I expect I will do the normal and wait until 1 day before I go and end up buying at a high rate!!

Cheers

Doug
Click to expand...
The SPIII is slow at calculating long routes, I had one, it was painfully slow. Plus, it can lockup while it’s doing it and force a reboot AND another recalculate. On the other hand, if you pre plan your routes on the PC and upload them to the SPIII and just use them, you might be fine. I would just check if 256mb is enough memory to cover the area you’re planning on visiting.

Having said all that, you asked if you should upgrade (to a Zumo), Yes, you should, dig deep and be happy :D
 
myndit said:
I could probably afford the Zumo, however, I wish to try and get the best out of my old system. It looks like it will do the same job but just much slower. Before I dig deep in my pocket, I will order the CN9 from Garmin and a new flash card (existing is 128mB).
Click to expand...

Doug:

Honest to goodness, don't do that. When it comes to personal electronics equipment - be that laptop computers, iPods, cell phones or GPSRs - the answer to the 'upgrade or replace' question can be found in the Kenny Rogers song: "You have to know when to hold them, and know when to fold them."

The StreetPilot III is far, far too old to upgrade. Besides having to buy new maps for it, you will probably have to buy a larger chip to store the map data on - then, you will be most pissed off to find that your new, larger chip actually holds less cartography (fewer square kilometers) than your old, smaller chip did when it was loaded with your old cartography.

Sell the SP III to someone who is content with the existing (out of date) cartography - perhaps someone who lives in a rural area where the roads don't change much - and buy a new, contemporary GPSR. It will have up to date maps in it, and it will also function satisfactorily for you for the next 3 years or so.

I would be hesitant to buy new maps for a 26xx series GPSR (I'm not saying 'don't do it', just saying I would be hesitant to do so because of the age of the GPSR and the speed of the processor in it). Buying new maps for a SP III is, for sure and without any question, a mistake.

Michael
 
PanEuropean said:
Honest to goodness, don't do that.
The StreetPilot III is far, far too old to upgrade. Sell the SP III to someone who is content with the existing cartography. Buying new maps for a SP III is, for sure and without any question, a mistake.
Click to expand...
Right!

Buying a 2610 including up-to-date maps and enough memory will cost you less than upgrading the SP3. But the 2610 runs 8 times faster... Once and for all - forget upgrading a SP3!

If it's ONLY a matter of money buying a 2610 could be an option since it will do the job and it will cost you less than half the price of a Zumo. But technology is moving forward and the 2610 is also rather old. Newer models typically have much better screen, more memory for routes, support for speed cameras, etc.
 
madman said:
Yes that is correct, we do use postcodes in France, but not to identify and address. My postcode is 24580. The 24 tells you that it is the Dordogne and the 580 says that the town is either Rouffignac or Plazac, which are 6 miles apart. There is nothing to give anymore detailed information than that.
You would be more accurate to put the town into the GPS in France than the postcode.

Bob
http://bikesindordogne.blogspot.com/
Click to expand...

Oi - this is a GS site mate and unless you've grown a couple of extra inches I reckon you're stuck with your 'S'!! How is France these days? PS - love to Jude xxxx :thumb2
 
And the story ends......

So

Bought a V9 from Garmin

Upgraded my SP3 with the V9

Bought on Ebay a 2610 for £240.00

Used the second unlock to upgrade the 2610

Bought from Maplins a new mount and cable

Total cost £345.00

Expected Ebay revenue of old SP3 (c/w V9) £100.00

Total spend £245.00

Half the price of a Zumo and still worth £200.00

Happy now, thanks for all the advice.

Now where can I find a POI for Italian Campsites??

Doug
 
myndit said:
So

Bought a V9 from Garmin

Upgraded my SP3 with the V9

Bought on Ebay a 2610 for £240.00

Used the second unlock to upgrade the 2610

Bought from Maplins a new mount and cable

Total cost £345.00

Expected Ebay revenue of old SP3 (c/w V9) £100.00

Total spend £245.00

Half the price of a Zumo and still worth £200.00

Happy now, thanks for all the advice.

Now where can I find a POI for Italian Campsites??

Doug
Click to expand...

Doug, you have proved your point in a very convincing fashion. :clap

Since the 2610/SPIII technology is not compatible with modern POI technology in a straightforward manner, you will probably need to download a copy of POIEdit to convert the POI files into .gpx format and then load them as waypoints.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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