Garmin Zumo 550

[gatorfjr]

I may be the first owner of a production Garmin Zumo 550! I ordered from Amazon.com in August and after they pushed delivery till January this week, I started looking elsewhere. As luck would have it, GPSnow.com emailed me on Tuesday that they were getting the first shipment from Garmin so I ordered from them. With the FREE priority overnight Fedex I got the unit Wednesday around 10am. Of course I promptly installed using the head nut replacement I had already and RAM parts provided with the kit. I have to say it's a very nice fit, I've attached a couple of pics. (sorry for the poor quality, shoot more when the sun comes up ) I plan to take the Zumo out for a test ride this weekend and will report on the functionality. So far I love it, lotsa features and very simple to use!

 

[Geezer]

Your pictures are in the 'forbidden' zone.

 

[gatorfjr]

sorry, please try again.

 

[dcarver]

Sweet..More pix... gotta have one. particulary interested in ease of use with gloved hands.

 

[HaulinAshe]

Perhaps you can answer if the unit supports A2DP (stereo) Bluetooth. I have not been able to get that question answered anywhere.

Enjoy, and let us know when you get it wet.

 

[gatorfjr]

Perhaps you can answer if the unit supports A2DP (stereo) Bluetooth. I have not been able to get that question answered anywhere.
Enjoy, and let us know when you get it wet.

The only reference I see in the manual is to use with a phone so stereo probably isn't an option.

The touchscreen works great with gloved hands. I don't however advise typing in an address while riding

 

[dcarver]

dumb question. if you have the xm radio ant, that's all you need for xm? no other 'receiver' or 'radio' or what not?

 

[gatorfjr]

dumb question. if you have the xm radio ant, that's all you need for xm? no other 'receiver' or 'radio' or what not?

An antenna and XM service is all you need. If you want the weather and traffic options there is a "smart" antenna which is quite pricey but for standard XM music I think all you need is the basic XM antenna and XM service obviously.

 

[dcarver]

The Garmin price for xm ant is $250. Can another antennae be used? eg a Roady or some other mfr's ant? Are they all the same?

 

[Knifemaker]

The Garmin price for xm ant is $250. Can another antennae be used? eg a Roady or some other mfr's ant? Are they all the same?

Think we went through this in another thread, but the "antenna" Garmin uses is in fact the XM reciever, the gps unit just acts as a control for it. Thus, an antemma from a Roady or MiFi (which are XM recievers) will not work with the Garmin, as it does not have a reciever built INTO the gps unit.

KM

 

[dcarver]

The Garmin price for xm ant is $250. Can another antennae be used? eg a Roady or some other mfr's ant? Are they all the same?

Think we went through this in another thread, but the "antenna" Garmin uses is in fact the XM reciever, the gps unit just acts as a control for it. Thus, an antemma from a Roady or MiFi (which are XM recievers) will not work with the Garmin, as it does not have a reciever built INTO the gps unit.

KM

Ah.. Thanks KM. That explains the price tag.. :glare:

 

[gatorfjr]

The Garmin price for xm ant is $250. Can another antennae be used? eg a Roady or some other mfr's ant? Are they all the same?

The $250 model is for traffic and weather, I'm checking it out with a normal antenna and will let you know if I can get music.

 

[gatorfjr]

The Garmin price for xm ant is $250. Can another antennae be used? eg a Roady or some other mfr's ant? Are they all the same?

Think we went through this in another thread, but the "antenna" Garmin uses is in fact the XM reciever, the gps unit just acts as a control for it. Thus, an antemma from a Roady or MiFi (which are XM recievers) will not work with the Garmin, as it does not have a reciever built INTO the gps unit.

KM

Ah.. Thanks KM. That explains the price tag.. :glare:

Looks like you're right KM, a normal antenna will not connect to the Zumo, looks like I have to get the 'smart' antenna for $220 from GPSnow.com, oh well, with it I can get traffic and weather too!

 

[Knifemaker]

..... looks like I have to get the 'smart' antenna for $220 from GPSnow.com, oh well, with it I can get traffic and weather too!

XM radio is much like satalite (or cable) TV. There are diffrent "packages" available... Basic music channels, sports packages, etc. You of course have to pay for these , and pay more for certain packages. (this has nothing to do with antennas , but you must have the proper software...you can't get Nexrad Radar on your Roady...)

I am not sure the diffrence in price, or what all options they offer. I think someone here mentioned that they have two weather packages , one costing alot more than the other.

If anyone has info about this I'd like to hear as I plan on getting a Zumo myself.

KM

 

[Jackson]

I assume the Zumo comes with a GPS antenna, right? Does it have an integrated antenna that flips up like the Garmin Quest, or does it have an external GPS antenna.... or both?

 

[gatorfjr]

I assume the Zumo comes with a GPS antenna, right? Does it have an integrated antenna that flips up like the Garmin Quest, or does it have an external GPS antenna.... or both?

The GPS antenna is built in so that you can use the Zumo portable which is cool. Also, the car mount is nice in that it has an integrated speaker for the voice prompts. I travel for work and will enjoy having the unit with me for that purpose. The only drawback is that the car mount w/speaker requires power to be connected but it comes with a car cig lighter power cable.

..... looks like I have to get the 'smart' antenna for $220 from GPSnow.com, oh well, with it I can get traffic and weather too!


XM radio is much like satalite (or cable) TV. There are diffrent "packages" available... Basic music channels, sports packages, etc. You of course have to pay for these , and pay more for certain packages. (this has nothing to do with antennas , but you must have the proper software...you can't get Nexrad Radar on your Roady...)

I am not sure the diffrence in price, or what all options they offer. I think someone here mentioned that they have two weather packages , one costing alot more than the other.

If anyone has info about this I'd like to hear as I plan on getting a Zumo myself.

KM

I agree, I've had XM for a couple of years and love it. My point was that the standard XM antenna will not connect to the Zumo. I will probably call Garmin support today to get the skinny on this little issue, it was my understanding that for XM radio all I would need is a standard ($20 or so) antenna not the very expensive "smart" antenna. Oh well, what else do I have to do with my money

 

[bramfrank]

The reason your XM antenna from a receiver won't fit is that the only XM support in the Zumo (or any other XM-capable Garmin device) is the electrical interface for GARMIN'S XM receiver, which is external to the device.

The Garmin XM adapter is just that - an adapter. it is the entire XM receiver and antenna in a single package.

Your antenna is only a antenna and doesn't actually DO anything except deliver the undecoded signal to your XM receiver.

That's one of the reasons I'm not a fan of the multimode navigators. You need a separate XM subscription for them.

 

[gatorfjr]

I am a little bummed that I have to also purchase the Garmin GXM 30 XM Smart Antenna for another $220 just to get XM radio but being able to surf XM channels with the Zumo beats having to mount another XM radio on the FJR. I also have on order a StarCom1 Advance communications kit to run everything through. I'm looking forward to being able to communicate with my passenger, other bikes, have the Zumo "tell me where to go" and listen to tunes from XM or .mp3s! Whatever happened to just riding and enjoying the scenery? Oh well, I guess in this information overloaded society I'm just "gettin' my daily fix"....

 

[gatorfjr]

I have a couple more pictures, what other pics would you guys like to see?