Thread: Review: Zumo 550

Zumo 550 Review
Note: all comparison is made to a Garmin Quest II

So I have had this unit and used it on a couple of ride now so I can comment some.
Quick impressions:
The bigger display is better and easier to use on the fly but slightly less visible in bright sun than my old unit. The controls are so easy to use that you have to be careful not to play with it while riding. Left hand control The speed on recompute and refresh vs my old unit WOW! Download sucks much slower and more cumbersome than my old unit. Touchscreen nice and decently intuitive. Manual is mediocre but in this day that is about the best you can hope for. Acquisition WOW! I get satellites INDOORS.

I miss some of the geek features (or hiking) of the Quest II such as what satellites that are locked and how many. Of course this is not necessary for good use. The interface is good but sometimes I miss the ability to go deeper that the Quest provided. No GPS out My feeling is that Garmin should be trying to provide the ability to import from other products like MS Streets instead of going more closed as they appear.

So on a basic run I enter the route on my computer and shape it to the good roads by adding via points. Been using Bobcat on my Mac and the new unit and old both work well. Next I upload from Bobcat to the unit this is quick and easy. On boot the unit display my custom startup screen then a two large buttons (and two smaller ones). The first button is Where To? which I will use and the other View Map which is used in the case where a route is active or you just want to see where you are. The smaller buttons provide access to tunes and configuration items. On pressing Where To? you get a variety of buttons on of which is Routes this is the button I will use. Here is the first minor gripe the bottom has to arrows to go to more buttons, these are present whether or not they are available (oops writing this I realize they are disabled but the contrasted colors is LAME). On pressing Routes I get a list of the routes I have loaded and select one. Options are available here the one I use being Go! Then boom you are ready. This sounds harder and slower than it is but it is quick and can be done on the bike with gloves on.

Now for some complaining. It suffers from the same Garmin disease my other did with a worse case. I ride loops and about 25% or the time it skips the whole route and tells you to go to the last stop which is home. Worse on the old unit to cure this I rode out a small distance then did route from here and poof it cleaned up. The Zumo really makes you work to add HERE to the route. I am sure I will get used to it but this was a major step back.

The security screwdriver lost its end cap on the second ride and the hole in the screwdriver is to small for the key loop. I don’t use this as I will just remove it if out of my sight but this is a poorly thought out and LAME feature.

Default mode was not WAAS. I realize this uses more power but it is wired to the bike.

Avoidances failed as it tried to route me up a dirt road during a Blue Ridge Detour.

Now for some good. The size and weight is more than the Quest II but I can still fit it in my jacket pocket when I get off the bike if I want.

The fuel gauge which is set up via the configuration menu (for distance available) is nice. Not because I don’t use the odometer and light I have but because when it triggers a gas icon is displayed. This allows an instant gas search. Cool feature that I use.

Speed! this redraws fast all the time.

Availability! I never lost satellite lock and only had it hesitate one morning (I restarted it and lock occurred right away)

Road names! I like it. I did not use Bluetooth but even without it this was worth the extra over the 450 in my opinion (of course this WHOLE write up is my opinion)

I mentioned gloved operation but I cannot do it justice this is worth the premium price by itself.

Finally the one thing I am unsure of as I have not figured it out yet. Unlike the Quest II where it had to be enabled the route is always recorded (I am getting used to it but you need to do a reset of things before starting to get full power of the device). On one trip this worked great and was a nice feature once I figured it out. The manual states the trip log can hold 10,000 points but not much more. When I did the blue ridge trip I lost the entire portion that was the Blue Ridge and Skyline drive. I had thought at worst it would wrap but it appears to not have done that. On return home the trip log was at 3% and missing the data. This would appear to indicate that I hit full and it reset before starting again. There is a chance I cleared it by mistake but I doubt it as I would have to hit it then verify in the dialog before it was gone. You can save it off to a route though I would prefer to save it as a Trip Log so I can do elevation etc. I can certainly do without this but it will be the biggest feature I miss from the Quest.

Overall a good unit and close to 4 hooves up but with the loop item, dirt road route and trip log I can only go
+.75

Originally Posted by SomeStrangeGuy

Stick a >1gb SD card in there, you'll have longer trip logs now - I have over 4000miles of data on mine (somehow). I also have a 4gb card in mine that's been in it since new.

I did not have one in there and now I do... When I eject the 2GB SD card is still says that it is 3% full so it must not count that in the total I will test it.

Originally Posted by SomeStrangeGuy

In regards to the routing thing, I'm familiar with that issue on some of the other manual routed units. Once the unit is up and running and detached, go into the route and 'rearrange points'. The first and last place should be the same, if you remove the endpoint (or go to map and 'move' it) that will go away, and you'll have more fun on your loops.

Yes first and last are the same on purpose... hmm have to look when I go riding next.

Originally Posted by SomeStrangeGuy

The download thing is suprising . I am guessing it's a Mac / USB thing? My Zumo plugs in and takes about a minute to convert all my crap out to GPX format, then connects to the PC itself. Anything I download to the unit occurs in the blink of an eye. My 2720 on the other hand, does not do this.

Nope I was not clear it is the converted way that takes forever. I like being able to see what is there but it is SLOW.

Originally Posted by SomeStrangeGuy

Security screw...tell me about it . Check this thread for some assistance:

WTB-or where to buy- ZUMO Knurled Knob - ADVrider

The screw is a 1x6mm IIRC. I've started leaving the whole kit and kaboodle locked to the bike after I bought a locking RAM knob and stubby RAM mount (so that basically all the fasteners are shrouded in some form or another by the mount itself.

I am glad to hear you're liking it so far Coming off a quest I am not suprised, and if you're good I'll tell you how to find the satellite lock screen and other diag mode data

I just don't use it and it works fine but the concept is OK, the implementation

Found diagnostic mode but the Quest II had this cool locking graphic