Garmin 595LM

[old git]

I've been using a Garmin Zumo 660 Sat Nav for the past 7 years and it has been very much a love hate relationship. We're currently on a 3 week trip around Europe (on FJR) and for the most part the Zumo has performed well with the multi way point routes I've loaded. It all turned to sh!t yesterday! The route was basically the quickest way from Bratislava to Krakow. All looked good the night before but when we left the hotel to start the journey it thought we were in the middle of the Danube. Long story short - all the detailed European maps appeared to be gone. We eventually got to Krakow and found our accommodation by using the Map programme on my phone. When we got settled I downloaded the maps again and all appears to be well again.


I know there are those that still swear by maps and I have used them in the past but using Sat Nav technology has opened up so many other options that I couldn't have realistically considered in the past. We routinely travel to busy city centre locations as well as plot some fairly complicated routes. As I've got used to the quirks of the Zumo the routes have become less prone to failure. The use of the Zumo in finding busy city centre locations has been almost faultless in 7 years.


I'm now considering changing devices and having considered both the latest Tom Tom and the Garmin 595LM. On balance, in spite of the price, I think I'll go for the Garmin. Has anyone got one and if so, what's your opinion?

[kwarr]

I've got a Garmin 595LM and I would NEVER recommend it. For the money, its horribly over priced and under spec'd. I've'e bought a second battery as I thought the original was faulty (it wasn't), just won't last five mins off the bike. The display is terrible - I didn't realise how bad until my mate showed me his BMW Navigater. The difference is well.......22inch B&W tv compared to 42 in LED Flat screen!!!
I've'e been saying for ages, that my next bike will just have a phone holder, now data roaming charges are gone, I'll stick with my iPhone on a holder.
Sorry to be so negative, but got to speak as I find, no experience of TomTom.

[Holmsey]

I have a cheap Chinese Sat Nav which routes can be loaded on to with a program called Tyre and updated with road changes and speed cameras using a program found on the web which was introduced to me by a forum member.

I also have an android based phone which I use with Google maps with live traffic updates ..... I didn't realise how good it was until Sunday when I was travelling down the A1 to London from Yorkshire and I saw the gantry signs saying the A1 was closed just past Peterborough .... I looked down at my phone and Google maps had already rerouted me.

Now both devices sit together in front of me on long trips.

2 waterproof cases costing a Fiver each and I'm a happy rider .... I can think of better things to spend £500 on.

[Brockett]

I have a Garmin 340 LM. I need my phone to find places so I can copy the postcode into the Garmin. The Garmin seems to Unzoom when I want it to zoom.
When going through complicated junctions / roundabouts the Garmin's habit of unzooming and still displaying the route I have already taken is most confusing.
The map update service  likes to remove all my favourites  (ughhh!)
No matter how many times I update it it fails to show speed limit changes ( one, I know of, has been wrong for over 10 years) .
I have recently been given a 660 (which , I believe , relates to the price £660) I am still testing that in the car. So far it's no better than the cheapie 340.

[old git]

Thanks for the replies so far, good or bad, keep them coming!

The recent screw up highlighted in my original post was down to a problem with the SD card. I replaced it with the one from my phone and after downloading the maps again, all seems well.

I've never had a problem with favourites disappearing with map updates but the 7 years with the Zumo 660 haven't always been easy. It's always been great in cities and over the last couple of years my ability to create multi way point routes have got a bit better or possibly the software updates have improved it. In the past there has been numerous occasions where it's completely screwed up.

It was my cheap mobile phone that got us to our destination in Krakow when the Zumo lost the plot but I've tried the phone in areas with less than decent network coverage (Scottish Highlands, Pyrenees ) and it just wasn't reliable enough.

I will stick with a dedicated Sat Nav but like you say Holmesy £500 could be be better spent. Maybe I'll stick with the 660? Nearing the end of our trip and short of a lottery win, we won't be abroad until next summer at the earliest so don't need to make a decision quickly.

[pauljobr]

If you do use your mobile phone with Google maps, you can download map sections so that you are not reliant on network coverage. The only thing you would lose with poor network coverage is live traffic reporting.
I have downloaded coverage of the UK and south of France so that if I lose phone signal I can still navigate, whether on 2 wheels or 4.

[Loz]

Is Tyre still reliable as it no longer has an API key for Google maps?

[Rusty Nuts]

I've tried the new version and find it clunky. Doesn't work as previously, don't know if they'll improve it or I'll have to get used to it.

[Botond]

I am really curious where this conversation goes...

I am looking for a good Sat-Nav for my Europe trip in August and for smaller ones in the UK in July. I have tried to use my iPhone but on sunny days it's overheating on the sun and turns itself off after 30-40 min. I really don't feel like paying £300+ for a Sat-Nav. 

[old git]

I've got limited experience with using my phone but have over 50,000 miles experience  with the Garmin. It has been a real PITA at times but overall it has transformed how I tour on a bike in Europe. The first time me and my mate went abroad close to 40 years ago on my GS550 there was no www, no google and we basically found the autoroutes to the south of France. We had no clear destination and any notion of a route that was actually fun to ride wasn't even considered. We found our way to a beach and that was about it. Now I can research routes months in advance and can spend the day riding in spectacular surroundings and find my way to a city centre hotel and enjoy the restaurants and bars. I paid over £400 for my Zumo 7 years ago and I think another £50 for lifetime maps and it has been the best money I've ever spent. It's taken me and the wife all over Europe and now I'd be loathed to go without it. I spend more on tyres in a year than I paid for the Garmin.
It's far from perfect, hence my question about the latest model but in my opinion a few hundred pounds will be money well spent if you plan on touring a lot.