I've never used a nat nav on the bike, always relied on maps and my impeccable sense of direction (ahem!!!). But the wife is fed up of me looking down at the map on the tank bag (instead of the road!) and getting lost!!! So which ones do you use/recommend as I'm looking to get one in the sales. Thanks
Depends what you mean by "best". Are you in the market for a £500 all bells-and-whistles device? Or would you rather start off with a sub-£100 best-value economy model?
Do you just want (cheaper) Britain and Ireland mapping only? Or (dearer) the whole of Western Europe for continental touring?
I'm looking at the Garmin 390LM, it should do most things and connect to your bluetooth if you use one. Around £250-280 on-line.
Your smartphone is the best GPS, just download an app. The roads are all the same on every GPS that you purchase.
What about ease of use - physical, with gloves on, how big, how easy to read etc. Ease of use, technical - how easy to route plan, make deviations, up-load pre-planned routes from other sources. How busy is the screen? And what about simplicity of mounting and connecting. Is it spaghetti junction with half the bike having to be rewired or simply plug and go (and unplug and remove for security). And how dim and how bullshit-prone? My cheapo car Garmin is a liar and a stupid one. It is slow to react and recalculate and it never seems to grasp that we're not using the suggested route and it doesn't need to spend the rest of the journey trying to send me back to my last "wrong" turn to try again. Route planning is extremely difficult and can only be done by working backwards and adding via points. And when you reach one via point the transition to the next is not smooth and is frequently confusing. My car Satnav needs an A3 road atlas as back-up. Please tell me bike satnavs are in a different league..
No all GPS systems are the same. Trouble is that people expect too much of them. Plan your route before you leave, set the GPS to go to the destination via the waypoints that you have planned and treat it as an aid. You are in charge of the GPS and not the other way around. If you want it to recalculate the route when you divert then sort that in the settings of the GPS rather than just putting up with it. If you use your phone as a GPS, then it needs as much charge as normal and if you want to wire it to your bike it just needs the charger lead.
I use my android phone as a sat nav for work but it regularly drops out or loses signal. I've been looking at Tom Tom rider V5 or Garmin 660LM.
I've got a Garmin Zumo 660 and I hate it. Had it for 4/5 years and never liked it. I do annual updates and use it for European touring mostly, although occasionally to find odd places in UK. Interface is horrible to use and it sits on a stalk off the handlebars. Very difficult to read in sunlight. However, you need one these days as routes are getting harder on signs (France! eek!), as everybody is expected to have SatNav. I get mine updated by the IT manager at work, which makes the updates easier. He used to be a huge (non-bike) Garmin fan, but he reckons the quality of service has been declining for years. The only thing that makes it tolerable is uploading routes from Tyre, which is easy to use. Way to go, if touring, but it can make you less flexible. A chum of mine uses an old Tomtom, not updated for ten years or so, which seems to work better. He can't read a map and has no sense of direction, but he is much more IT savvy. I think level of comfort with the technology is the key. My last tour, the back fell off the unit on the road just as I left the ferry at Portsmouth on the start of a tour to Ireland and Scotland, so I was without it the whole week. Managed fine in the UK, but not so easy in France, Belgium and Germany. I can manage OK in Spain, as I know it quite well, but I'd still rather have it than not.
downside of phone is on the fly button use and potential data usage I have a car one that I have in a waterproof sleeve. One of the other multi guys has a car one he simply covers in clingfilm before use. Both work well and are a third of the cost of a bike one.
On my phone and on my tablet (which has no SIM card) there is no data use as I have the maps on the phone. The GPS receiver on these units use no data either. The phone and tablet are also Bluetooth so I can just relay the voice prompts to the intercom and not bother having to look at anything.
Thanks for your replies....I have decided to go for the TomTom rider 400 .... £269 with free car kit.
