I'm on the search for an alternative and now thinking about a combination music machine/GPS solution. If not, there look to be some good alternatives.
Be careful with the Apple critique... the bond runs strong among many!
I got a Garmin Nuvi 350 this past spring which has a built in mp3 player. It uses SD cards, and I currently only have a 2GB card. I've thought about getting a 4GB card, but the 2GB had enough music on it to last all of a 21 hour ride, and I still had a bunch of stuff on the card I didn't even get to.
The battery has lasted all the way from here to Putnam before, which is about 2.5-3 hours, but I had it powered from the bike on the trip, running through the Chatterbox.
Amazon has them now for only $159: (was 199 when I bought mine )
I got a Garmin Nuvi 350 this past spring which has a built in mp3 player. It uses SD cards, and I currently only have a 2GB card. I've thought about getting a 4GB card, but the 2GB had enough music on it to last all of a 21 hour ride, and I still had a bunch of stuff on the card I didn't even get to.
The battery has lasted all the way from here to Putnam before, which is about 2.5-3 hours, but I had it powered from the bike on the trip, running through the Chatterbox.
Amazon has them now for only $159: (was 199 when I bought mine )
make sure that:
a. Your device supports either SD and or SDHC cards.
b. Your card readers support SD and or SDHC cards.
c. You buy an SD or SDHC card for it.
There is a difference, I believe 4gb is the max for SD whereas SDHC is 32gb or something?
Come find yourself - GPS Discussion Forums
Time is the ultimate currency.
The Seamii are awesome.
I got a Garmin Nuvi 350 this past spring which has a built in mp3 player. It uses SD cards, and I currently only have a 2GB card. I've thought about getting a 4GB card, but the 2GB had enough music on it to last all of a 21 hour ride, and I still had a bunch of stuff on the card I didn't even get to.
The battery has lasted all the way from here to Putnam before, which is about 2.5-3 hours, but I had it powered from the bike on the trip, running through the Chatterbox.
Amazon has them now for only $159: (was 199 when I bought mine )
How is the weather resistance of the unit? Do you think it would hold up in wet weather riding?
It's not weather resistant according to the Garmin site. When I got stuck in the rain, I just stuffed it back in the tank bag, and got it back out when it cleared up.
If you want waterproof with mp3, you'll want to check out the Zumo.
It's not weather resistant according to the Garmin site. When I got stuck in the rain, I just stuffed it back in the tank bag, and got it back out when it cleared up.
If you want waterproof with mp3, you'll want to check out the Zumo.
Yeah - I'm looking at closeouts on the 2730. The 550 is a little too much dosh...
[/threadjack]
Incognito: An Italian phrase meaning "Nice Gearchange!"
"It's not debt per se that overwhelms an individual, corporation, or country. Rather, it is the continuous increase in debt in relation to income that causes trouble." --Warren Buffett
It's not weather resistant according to the Garmin site. When I got stuck in the rain, I just stuffed it back in the tank bag, and got it back out when it cleared up.
If you want waterproof with mp3, you'll want to check out the Zumo.
Probably should put this in another thread but here goes...
Does the nuvi have an outlet for earbuds/headphones? Couldn't find that info on the amazon description.
Incognito: An Italian phrase meaning "Nice Gearchange!"
Alright - I decided to stop threadjacking the iPod thread...
Here's my criteria:
GPS (duh.)
mp3 player
Ability to load custom maps
FM transmitter for audio directions/music over car radio
Bluetooth (optional)
Motorcycle capable (vibration resistant, etc.)
Affordable (less than $300)
I've been looking at the discontinued 2730 and now looking at the nuvi 660. The Zumo, especially the 550, is the cat's pajamas but I can't squeeze that much out of the piggy bank right now.
I've heard that the nuvi 660 won't accept custom maps from Google Maps but is there another way to generate custom maps?
Any other options out there with real-world experiences?
Incognito: An Italian phrase meaning "Nice Gearchange!"
Zip-locks go a long way... when you're on a budget
But expensive and you only cry once. Trust me I know budgets, but replacing your make-do gps because it got a little wet is going to piss you off a lot more than laying out the cash initially.
However...the 27xx are waterproof, as is that new Nuvi 500 or whatever (which I haven't looked at in awhile so it might actually cost more).
Come find yourself - GPS Discussion Forums
Time is the ultimate currency.
The Seamii are awesome.
But expensive and you only cry once. Trust me I know budgets, but replacing your make-do gps because it got a little wet is going to piss you off a lot more than laying out the cash initially.
However...the 27xx are waterproof, as is that new Nuvi 500 or whatever (which I haven't looked at in awhile so it might actually cost more).
Looked at the specs on the nuvi 500. It's basically just GPS. No music, no bluetooth, no FM transmitter.
I think it might be a fool's quest unless there are still a few 2730's floating around out there for a song (as long as it includes the XM antenna).
Might have to put this one on the wish list for later.
Incognito: An Italian phrase meaning "Nice Gearchange!"
Santa brought me a nuvi 750. So far, so good but I've only done a few short trials in the cage.
Picked up a couple of 2GB SD cards (on sale 50% off at Radio Shack, BTW) and have only put about half capacity on the first card. Me likey. MP3 player works well and the FM Transmitter is just strong enough for the car. It will take some getting used to with regards to navigating through the touch screen but it's fairly intuitive and, by the time I actually attach it to the bike, I'll have a pretty good handle on it by then as I'm using the unit to find locations for work when traveling. It will be interesting to see how it navigates me through Toronto and surrounding areas next week.
I believe I've figured out how to mount it to the bike and I just need to pick up a couple of items from RAM - there is a mount that fits at the steering head for the Aprilia and I can mount the unit in the RAM Aquabox which will protect it from any weather and still allow touch screen functions. Also need to pick up a power cord from powerlet - all relatively minor and available items.
I've also been able to create a few custom routes on the unit itself but it's a little labor intensive. I'll be interested to see how Mapsource works in route programming.
It looks as if this unit will serve a good multi-purpose role for me since it travels light, is portable and easy to switch between vehicles (car/bike/rental car/walking). It's well-rounded enough to where I can use it effectively in most any application and the battery function means it's not tied to the cord.
Incognito: An Italian phrase meaning "Nice Gearchange!"
BTW, Kudos to Garmin support - the nuvi's don't come with Mapsource software but a friendly email to Garmin support and a disk is on its way. No charge.
Incognito: An Italian phrase meaning "Nice Gearchange!"
The North American map worked well in Toronto although once the unit commits to a route, it will do everything it can to get you back on the road it wants you to get on. Seems there is no fine line between highways and no highways.
Still, it got me where I needed to go (for the most part) and helped find a British Pub... or two.
Again, superior support from Garmin. When I returned from my trip, I found they had sent the mapsource software (free) and I now have the ability to construct custom routes on my computer and transfer them to the device. This will make for some interesting fun this riding season.
Now that winter is officially here, I'm in no huge rush to get my set-up mounted on the bike. However, I plan to get the aquabox and a few other bits to start bodging it together over the next few weeks. I love the ability to use this unit in the car and on foot. I'm sure the functionality will be good on the bike, as well. The good thing about getting this in the winter is that I should be familiar with the menus, etc. in the car instead of learning "on the fly" on the bike.
Incognito: An Italian phrase meaning "Nice Gearchange!"
You can tell where I was driving through when this screenshot was taken...but here is the weather capabilities of the latest Nuvi's. No more forecast only...now includes semi-live doppler when in MSN direct service area!
Come find yourself - GPS Discussion Forums
Time is the ultimate currency.
The Seamii are awesome.
"It's not debt per se that overwhelms an individual, corporation, or country. Rather, it is the continuous increase in debt in relation to income that causes trouble." --Warren Buffett
You can tell where I was driving through when this screenshot was taken...but here is the weather capabilities of the latest Nuvi's. No more forecast only...now includes semi-live doppler when in MSN direct service area!
Wow! very cool! That suddenly makes the xxxT models more attractive.
Aside from the green nonsense, that's actually pretty cool for "appliance" driving.
"It's not debt per se that overwhelms an individual, corporation, or country. Rather, it is the continuous increase in debt in relation to income that causes trouble." --Warren Buffett
Wow! very cool! That suddenly makes the xxxT models more attractive.
Bear in mind the MSN direct receiver (GDB-55 in this case) is warranted to make any of the xx5W nuvi's perform this function...I have one already on a lifetime subscription from my Nuvi 680
The Regular 765t unit only has traffic/bluetooth/nav. The 785/885 have have the MSN direct receiver built in.
Full disclaimer - msn direct is a paid sub service, it's 60$ a year or 120$ for a lifetime sub and is not guaranteed to operate beyond November 2014. By then though...we'll have something much better anyways.
You should look into it mr ride datalogger while it does add some oddness to the driving experience with it 'on' this is a hidden gem imo!!
Originally Posted by luvtolean
Aside from the green nonsense, that's actually pretty cool for "appliance" driving.
- exactly my thoughts, but now I think it's really neat.
Garmin lists it as Eco-friendly and you are rated on your carbon footprint and stuff, it's sort of funny. I believe what it adds is there is some accelerometer to the device maybe, that detects how you're braking/accelerating and gives you your 'score' based on that combined with the position info.
The hidden value to all of this is you put in your gas price, vehicle mpg, etc. It keeps track of all your travels - time in transit, miles traveled, fuel cost, average mpg (based on numbers you input and speeds travelled).
I think this is a takeoff of the logbook function of the (Trucker model) Nuvi 4xx series that recently came out.
Either way though...the logged data that is stored is pretty handy to have. I will try to get some screen caps. I also think it is now added to mapsource in your trip logs as well.
Garmin needs a data enabled unit that has more than just MSN.
That said, another nod to the MSN is that it has local events in the area you are in, plane arrivals/departure schedules based on local airports and times or flight ##. Stocks (20min delay), as well as the fastest traffic updates I've experienced. I really like the ability...they have grown it well.
Come find yourself - GPS Discussion Forums
Time is the ultimate currency.
The Seamii are awesome.
So the last time I used my GPS it was on route2 so apologies for it looking like I am just hanging out here posting reports
But here is a storm we had today...and suprisingly, it does NWS 'watches' too, pretty neat. Updates about every 10 min it looks like. The map is dynamic if you are moving too. In this case I was just watching a storm roll across the state.
Tossed a fuel summary screen up there too.
Come find yourself - GPS Discussion Forums
Time is the ultimate currency.
The Seamii are awesome.
How do you get 56 pounds of carbon out of 2.9 gallons of fuel?
...dude you ride an offroad bike with slicks, 1/2 the weight of a GS, double the suspension, with a browning 50 cal going off 32" from your skull as a daily freaking driver - I'd expect anything except a nitro dragbike to be bland by comparison - SSG
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Originally Posted by evl_twn
I got a Garmin Nuvi 350 this past spring which has a built in mp3 player. It uses SD cards, and I currently only have a 2GB card. I've thought about getting a 4GB card, but the 2GB had enough music on it to last all of a 21 hour ride, and I still had a bunch of stuff on the card I didn't even get to.)
make sure that:
while it does add some oddness to the driving experience with it 'on' this is a hidden gem imo!!
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