Deal on GPS--Will it work?

[AndrewP]

So Costco has the Garmin Nuvi 650 on sale for $299. This is the third time I've nearly bought a GPS unit. Has anyone used this or similar Nuvi units off road? Can you make an offroad route on your computer, load on an SD card and follow it on this GPS?

I like the looks of the Lowrance 540c, but it does not look that useful on the road. Any thoughts here? The big screen is a real plus in my mind.

Anyway, this would be installed in my 80 series Land Cruiser and I normally take about 3 5-9 day "overland" type trips per year. I know some like the Garmin 276, but it's been out a long time, and I suspect better options exist.

 

[Photog]

Many of the Garmin units will not show the TOPO information, and many of the backroads in the TOPO charts. A friend of mine has one of the Street Pilots, and is SOL in the TOPO department.

The Garmin chart plotters, such as the 276C work great with the TOPO charts. The newest versions are the 376 & 476. The 376 comes with the street information built in, and the 476 comes with the coastal waters information built in. I just got a 276c, and it is a very nice GPS unit. The bigger ones are nice; but where do you put it? ANd where do you put it, when you leave your vehicle?

I previously used the GPS III Plus & the GPS V. They both allow the use of TOPO charts; but are very small.

GPS V on the column.

 

[AndrewP]

Thanks. I may have answered my own question by calling Garmin! I talked to a very nice woman who went through everything, made recommendations, and specifically said the Nuvi 650 would display the maps poorly, and I would not be happy with the results.

She recommended the Zumo series, which (according to her) does a much better job of displaying topo maps. It will do turn by turn and route's on the street just fine. Plus, it's ruggedized, waterproof blah, blah...

Anyway, I'm still undecided. I was very impressed with Garmin customer service. It did not sound like a Bangelor sweat shop call center either.

So if the perfect GPS pops up, someone please let me know. I am thinking a mini PC plus Delorme Topo would be pretty nearly ideal, at least as far as capability went. I do not want to carry a full size lap top.

 

[7wt]

I was looking at this model and called Garmin about it. They said it will show topo but it won't leave a breadcrumb trail asically making retracing impossible. I still might get one for the road however because it seems to fit what I need pretty well. I am thinking about using the laptop for topo and my old Etrex for the GPS input, if it will work.

 

[mountainpete]

I was looking at this model and called Garmin about it. They said it will show topo but it won't leave a breadcrumb trail asically making retracing impossible. I still might get one for the road however because it seems to fit what I need pretty well. I am thinking about using the laptop for topo and my old Etrex for the GPS input, if it will work.

This is one of the main reasons the Nuvi series isn't very suitable for overlanding. Even if it did leave a breadcrumb, it can navigate it. Here is an example:

On a Garmin 276c, if you go "off track" or outside of a road on the map, it will create a track based on your travels. You can then save the track as a route and then track it back to the beginning. On a Nuvi, if you try that it will show an "as the crow flies" straight line to the closest road instead. Not very useful.

Personally I'm a big fan of my 276C - beautiful screen, reliable Garmin maps but unfortunately it uses proprietary Garmin data cards instead of SD. There is an article on GPS units in the new Overland Journal (which I just got last night here in Canada!) so it will be interesting to read what they have to say... just haven't got to that page yet

Pete

 

[Schattenjager]

I have considered a car-only GPS - but I rarely need one for every inch of my travels. The Garmin 60CSx fits my needs perfectly. It shows TOPO of course, and works very well with City Navigator - giving turn by turn directions with enough notice that I do not need a huge display. I have a power cable running behind it for unlimited juice and when I am on a hike or the like, I unsnap it from the Ram Mount (highly recommended) and off I go under battery power.

This setup took me from Remote Alaska to Denver using City Navigator and I never needed my paper backup map.

The setup below is easy to hide - simply fold it in before you open the door and when you close it, it is all but invisible.

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=310

 

[AlekG]

I did a lot of research before buying the Garmin 276c. What sold me was:
• The great colour screen
• Memory expandability (even though it uses proprietary cards)
• Their Mapsource map format which enables 3rd parties to create vector maps for Garmin units - which allowed me to use the ultra-high detail 1:10,000 topo maps of Ontario and Quebec from Trak Maps
• The unit being small enough to carry out of the vehicle - with its rechargeable battery
• The different mounting options available
• The available remote magnetic antenna

Here are some pictures of the unit in action:

• uploading topo maps to unit
• unit on dash - antenna on roof
• unit on dash from inside

AG

 

[Alex]

She recommended the Zumo series, which (according to her) does a much better job of displaying topo maps. It will do turn by turn and route's on the street just fine. Plus, it's ruggedized, waterproof blah, blah...

Wow, I am amazed that Garmin figured out how useful the Zumo could be to off-roaders! I also used to use a GPS/laptop combo but it became more of a hinderence than a help. The Zumo has served me really well.

http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7555

 

[AndrewP]

Thanks Alex-I had previously read your (very well done) Zumo report. If you don't mind a question or two...

Will it leave a breadcrumb trail to back navigate on?

Can you set up a route on your PC and down load into the Zumo?

I know it cannot actually route the topo roads.

What is the disadvantage of the 450 vs the 550? I don't need any fancy features, just good solid navigation.

I must admit that I fear buying a perfect GPS today, only to have it become obsolete in 6 months. I hate that in the tech industry.

Thanks!

 

[Alex]

Thanks Alex-I had previously read your (very well done) Zumo report. If you don't mind a question or two...

Will it leave a breadcrumb trail to back navigate on?

Yes, it is the cyan line in this snapshot, this differentiates it from the magenta route to be navigated to your destination.

Can you set up a route on your PC and down load into the Zumo?

Yes, a DVD with Garmin Mapsource City Navigator NT comes in the box with the Zumo. This also allows you to save your track logs, clean them up and upload them back to the Zumo (or any other Garmin GPS) for future use.

I know it cannot actually route the topo roads.

Mapsource Topo USA 100k will not let you route the roads, buuuut if you are going somewhere that Mapsource National Parks Topo 24k covers then that map will let you route the roads displayed on the topo map.

What is the disadvantage of the 450 vs the 550? I don't need any fancy features, just good solid navigation.

The Zumo 450 comes with the motorcycle mount only, you will have to buy the automotive mount for another $98 if you wanted a windshield mount with a built in speaker and microphone. The Motorcycle mount is made by RAM, any of their accessories can be used to mount the Zumo in a car.

The Zumo 450 also lacks Bluetooth, XM and text to speach voice navigation. Without an auto mount with a speaker you really could not use these features anyways.

These are great questions, if you don't mind, I'll add them to the Zumo post.