Garmin Zumo 660 GPS rumored to come out next week!

[jjsC6]

List price is basically $800. Anyone have a guess as to what this will relate to in real world pricing from the big discounters?

 

[bramfrank]

Just from my perspective, there are 3 deal breakers for me...1. only 10 routes storage. I currently have about 25 routes. 2. micro sd card for images or music. My cameras all hold SD cards, so that is a bummer. 3. no external buttons. touch screen only
On the positive side . 1. larger display (but not much) 2. better resolution screen (but not much) 3. FM reception (very good!)

I dont care about the lack of XM radio on the new 660. I also dont care about the lane navigation feature or the speed limit info.

The price is not bad though. Not a bad deal for those looking for their first motorcycle GPS.

Double check on the FM thing. I don't think that it means you get FM radio. It has an "FM transmitter" Being somewhat tech challenged, I don't know what that does. Maybe it's just me, but it seems that apart from a few minor improvements, the 550 has more to offer. Perhaps that's why the price is lower on the 660.

What FM thing? There's no mention of FM in any of the announcements or in the online literature.

 

[DeweyIsgod]

List price is basically $800. Anyone have a guess as to what this will relate to in real world pricing from the big discounters?

It'll be $800 or thereabouts for the first several months. Just about every new product will go through a wave of popularity where all the techies who've been waiting for the latest do dad will buy the initial inventory. Given that this won't likely hit the shelves until March, you're probably looking at the fall before any meaningful discounts.

 

[Lake Powell]

Without XM reception, it's a no-go for me.

Otherwise I'd have already bought one, after having Xm on the 550 there's no going back.

Just hoping for next year a Garmin 770 with stereo blue tooth, Serius instead of XM, Ipod input and control, a good integrated helmet, and a Gen III FJR!

Is that too much to ask for?

 

[2006FJR]

Without XM reception, it's a no-go for me.
Otherwise I'd have already bought one, after having Xm on the 550 there's no going back.

Just hoping for next year a Garmin 770 with stereo blue tooth, Serius instead of XM, Ipod input and control, a good integrated helmet, and a Gen III FJR!

Is that too much to ask for?

Thats a tall order but it sounds like we are on the same page. I hope we start hearing about the Gen III bikes in the next few months. I would love to see the 1400cc bikes start shipping in August or September. It's not gonna happen but I can d :dribble: ream!

 

[BIODSL]

seems to me that this one is replacing the 450 and maybe they will be coming out with a replacement for the 550 in the near future.

I hope you're right, but I think there's a river in Egypt and it's name is De Nile. I'm actually not surprised by this...saddened, but not surprised. Garmin is now building traffic navigators, not GPSs, for the Camry crowd. We've been watching the move for the last couple of years. Wrapping a Nuvi in new clothes confirms it for me.

Paul Peloquin

Monmouth OR

 

[bramfrank]

seems to me that this one is replacing the 450 and maybe they will be coming out with a replacement for the 550 in the near future.

I hope you're right, but I think there's a river in Egypt and it's name is De Nile. I'm actually not surprised by this...saddened, but not surprised. Garmin is now building traffic navigators, not GPSs, for the Camry crowd. We've been watching the move for the last couple of years. Wrapping a Nuvi in new clothes confirms it for me.

Paul Peloquin

Monmouth OR

So, buy the GPSMap 640!

 

[Fred W]

So let me understand this, you are claiming that only the pixels from top to bottom are meaningful? Also, do you see a difference in the quality of this 3 year old monitor? I personally hate the look of the Zumo 550 and think they really should have changed it up at least a year ago so anything that would have come out would have been a move in the right direction. I am not sold on the Zumo 660, I guess I just hate the form factor and the cost of the Zumo 550 for dated technology. It is not always about the features for me and they waited way too long to refresh the Zumo line in my opinion.

Yes, the resolution in the vertical direction is more important on a GPS because it is constantly reorienting the display so that is the direction you are traveling. Having a wide screen display looks cool, but does not increase the meaningful information much.

The "display" uses the same technology. The reason it looks different is the software running on it. It does look more life-like and modern, but I fail to understand how that improves your ability to navigate, which is afterall the main purpose of the display.

You have obviously made up your mind that the 660 is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I remain reserved and will wait to see how it pans out, but the 10 route limit thing is a serious flaw for a motorcycle GPS in my opinion.

 

[Bionic Pelvis]

90% of the time I aint looking at the map anyway..if I have a route programed I am listening for prompts...not watching the screen. I'll usualy have the XM or MP3 screen up anyway, not the map.

Here Here! I've never found myself looking at the 550 going, "This just doesn't look as nice as my plasma TV. Crappy ol' thing." I check the map infrequently at best, usually just to confirm there are no weird interchanges or whatever in areas I'm not too familiar with. Besides, isn't that the argument our whole community has been making? "GPSs aren't dangerous on bikes. The voice prompts save us from having to look down at a map."

Of course, I'm willing to concede to the possibility that I'm just a crotchety old lady who is resistant to change. Maybe if/when the 550 goes down for the count, I'll reassess my opinions on the Zumo 4000 or whatever the latest and greatest is at that time.

 

[2006FJR]

So let me understand this, you are claiming that only the pixels from top to bottom are meaningful? Also, do you see a difference in the quality of this 3 year old monitor? I personally hate the look of the Zumo 550 and think they really should have changed it up at least a year ago so anything that would have come out would have been a move in the right direction. I am not sold on the Zumo 660, I guess I just hate the form factor and the cost of the Zumo 550 for dated technology. It is not always about the features for me and they waited way too long to refresh the Zumo line in my opinion.

Yes, the resolution in the vertical direction is more important on a GPS because it is constantly reorienting the display so that is the direction you are traveling. Having a wide screen display looks cool, but does not increase the meaningful information much.

The "display" uses the same technology. The reason it looks different is the software running on it. It does look more life-like and modern, but I fail to understand how that improves your ability to navigate, which is afterall the main purpose of the display.

You have obviously made up your mind that the 660 is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I remain reserved and will wait to see how it pans out, but the 10 route limit thing is a serious flaw for a motorcycle GPS in my opinion.

One could argue that with lane assist you make better use of the wider screen? Also I like seeing a freeway or a road that that is up in the top corners of the screen that cannot be seen with a screen that is not as wide. So Garmin is making the screen wide so people think it is better and not because there is any value to it? Shame on Garmin for trying to fake so many of us out with a wider screen when it has no use! You keep repeating yourself that I think the 660 is the next best thing to sliced bread but I would argue you’re not reading what I ******* write. I keep saying that the 550 looks dated and the 660 does not. I have also suggested there very well could be another model around the corner that would better fit 550 owners when the time comes to buy another GPS.

 

[L2M]

As a 550 owner I certainly will not be upgrading. I like the physical buttons because I can feel them without looking at the unit. I also use my GPS speedometer much more than anything else. The text for the speed read out in the new model looks slightly smaller than the one on the 550 and again, I need that info at a glance. Heck, most of the time I'm running a route and will leave the screen up on the speedometer view (speed, tac, max/min, etc.). Maybe the new model has one, but as others noted, the view to the side with the wide screen isn't that great. I personally suspect they added that so that the picture viewing capability will improve (think competitor with the iPod Touch)

Personally, it looks to me like this was designed by marketing people and engineers not motorcyclists. Things I would use:

1. Longer view down the road. Seeing what's ahead without having to zoom out would be nice.

2. Give us a dev kit for it. Look at the iPod Touch. If we can add custom aps then we could track maintenance or some other thing that someone could develop.

3. Load it with things that are relevant to motorcyclists. If I'm in a strange city and need a new tire I could really use a listing of motorcycle dealerships.

4. Fix Mapsource! This isn't specific to the 660 but I would buy an upgraded unit just to get a better copy of that software. As a software dev manager, that software is horrible for motorcycles. Put the roads by class on different layers so that I can hide the interstate but still view those twisty rural roads at a lower magnification. Having to zoom in to a couple miles to see that twisty mountain road does not make trip planning easy. If I wanted to run an interstate from A to B I'd use Yahoo maps or just use the "go to" feature on the Zumo.

 

[Fairlaner]

Calm down Trent it is just a GPS, and just to piss you off more i agree with Fred.

when they come out with a wide screen version of the 550 then i am in until then the 550 IMO is the way to go.

R

 

[Fred W]

One could argue that with lane assist you make better use of the wider screen? Also I like seeing a freeway or a road that that is up in the top corners of the screen that cannot be seen with a screen that is not as wide. So Garmin is making the screen wide so people think it is better and not because there is any value to it? Shame on Garmin for trying to fake so many of us out with a wider screen when it has no use! You keep repeating yourself that I think the 660 is the next best thing to sliced bread but I would argue you’re not reading what I ******* write. I keep saying that the 550 looks dated and the 660 does not. I have also suggested there very well could be another model around the corner that would better fit 550 owners when the time comes to buy another GPS.

Great. Now we're resorting to swearing. Get a grip man. We're just discussing GPSes here

And yeah, I get it. Your big point is that the Zumo screen looks dated. So what? Does it work? Does it do what you want it to do? Does it have the appropriate features for the way you want to use it?

 

[Fairlaner]

It is Friday after all.........

Where is Tim when you need him.

:****: :****: :****:

R

 

[tcfjr]

One thing I'd really like to see in the Zumo replacement: a secondary audio input. The Zumo give you MP3, voice-prompt navigation, and XM radio. For me, the only audio I can't get directly from the Zumo is from my radar detector. If the Zumo had a secondary audio input, I could plug the V-1 into the Zumo, without the need for a separate audio mixing unit.

 

[SouthernCruizer]

One thing I'd really like to see in the Zumo replacement: a secondary audio input. The Zumo give you MP3, voice-prompt navigation, and XM radio. For me, the only audio I can't get directly from the Zumo is from my radar detector. If the Zumo had a secondary audio input, I could plug the V-1 into the Zumo, without the need for a separate audio mixing unit.

*******************************************

EXACTLY!! Just last weekend I checked out my 550 mount to see if there was another audio input. I sure could have used it. Maybe the successor to the 660 will have it

 

[2006FJR]

It is Friday after all.........
Where is Tim when you need him.

:****: :****: :****:

R

 

[johnny80s]

Trent if you really want to be cool you will just print out a google map get rid of that piece of crap gps.

All the cool kids are using google maps now.

 

[2006FJR]

Trent if you really want to be cool you will just print out a google map get rid of that piece of crap gps.
All the cool kids are using google maps now.

I really like using Google maps I just wish there was a way to get it to build in real time? Know where and how far gas stations are is also pretty cool. I would have liked to have some how found a way for them to integrate SPOT tracking and help/911 features. I am not likely to use the XM/Sirus but I would like to see the SPOt features. I will bring the iPod either way since I enjoy my music in the room at the end of a long day.

Are you considering a GPS Johnny?

 

[johnny80s]

Trent if you really want to be cool you will just print out a google map get rid of that piece of crap gps.
All the cool kids are using google maps now.

I really like using Google maps I just wish there was a way to get it to build in real time? Know where and how far gas stations are is also pretty cool. I would have liked to have some how found a way for them to integrate SPOT tracking and help/911 features. I am not likely to use the XM/Sirus but I would like to see the SPOt features. I will bring the iPod either way since I enjoy my music in the room at the end of a long day.

Are you considering a GPS Johnny?

Got one, hate it