Garmin Zumo 660 Shipping Fiasco

[Ian Farlow]

Er... I have a hard time believing at that price the units would be new. Anyone with experience with gpsonsale?

 

[Ian Farlow]

For what it is worth,
gpsonsale.com lists the Zumo 550 for $249 (it says they are brand new).

WW

I just checked gpsonsale.com, and the price comes up as $639.99. That's a bit more believable.

 

[Wicked Webby]

For what it is worth,
gpsonsale.com lists the Zumo 550 for $249 (it says they are brand new).

WW

I just checked gpsonsale.com, and the price comes up as $639.99. That's a bit more believable.

Ian,

****...My bad... The price I checked was for the Nuvi 550....

WW

 

[Ian Farlow]

No biggie. I am about to call Fry's to see what I can do with the price.

 

[Wicked Webby]

No biggie. I am about to call Fry's to see what I can do with the price.

Slight Hi-jack on Garmin model,

BTW, I have the Nuvi 650(bought it as a factory re-furb from ebay). It has worked great. In heavy rain, I just slip a zip lock baggy over the top of it(touch screen still works great under the baggie). In light rain, it never even gets wet. Have had it for almost 2 years now (have rode hundreds of miles at hours at a time in the rain)...

It has held up very well and is a great unit. I also use it for my MP3's while riding. The only thing it lacks (from the Nuvi 660) is the blue tooth.

Ebay currently has factory re-furbished (with the 1year Garmin warranty) Nuvi 660's for $148 shipped (buy it now).

WW

 

[Ian Farlow]

I would do that except for the lack of cabled headset/microphone integration, bluetooth phone support, and bike power.

 

[Wicked Webby]

I would do that except for the lack of cabled headset/microphone integration, bluetooth phone support, and bike power.

Ian,

Help me out here. Still trying to figure what features the Zumo 660 has over the Nuvi 660 (other than the "weather resistance case" and a touch screen that is suppose to be"glove friendly"... Hahahahaha!!).

The Nuvi 660 has the bluetooth, a fm transmitter and the standard headphone jack (for mp3's, Nav, and audio books ect..).

What are you referring to as, "cabled headset/microphone integration and bike power" ? Does the Zumo 660 actually have a microphone input jack, along with the headphone jack?

WW

 

[Ian Farlow]

Yes, plus the power cable for direct hookup to the battery/Fuzeblock/Blue Sea, etc. I would be able to direct power the Zumo from the bike saving battery life. Also, I could connect my cell phone to the Zumo, and then connect my helmet to the headset out and microphone in on the Zumo, thereby letting me talk on the phone through the helmet using the helmet's speakers and microphone.

Oh, and the glove friendly interface is real, and it is different than what the Nuvi has. Might not really be better, but the interface is different (bigger buttons).

 

[Wicked Webby]

Ian,

Thanks for the info!

Just went on Garmins site...

The Zumo has the, "Where am I now feature" and the "3-d view of buildings" on the maps too. It did say something

about the headset jack being able to hook up to your headset/micro phone style stuff... I am guessing the jack is similiar

to many cellphone jacks that can use both out/in wired speaker/microphone headsets... But not sure.

I am sure the glove thing is designed to help. Though, I have never had any issues with the Nuvi's screen and gloves. It seems like Garmin is really getting a extreme HUGE premium for the "motorcycle" specific units. One could buy 4-5 Nuvi 660's for the price of one Zumo 660.

WW

 

[Ian Farlow]

The audio wire is split into two jacks... one jack is an 1/8" stereo output (headphones), and the other jack is a smaller mono input (microphone).

The features for "Where am I now" and "3D View" are specific to the 660, I believe, and not found on the 550.

 

[Wicked Webby]

BTW,

Garmins site says the Nuvi 660's are now discontinued... Explains why you can get them refurbished so cheap.

Seems like Garmin GPS's are just like computers these days... If you want the latest and greatest you will pay the

premium... Though, once you get it home.. It is already on its way to becoming discontinued by the next best one

coming out. Thats why cheap *******s like myself can do so well buying the "last years model".

WW

 

[Ian Farlow]

You're right about that... electronics are too quickly replaced these days.

 

[Fred W]

that's after you lay out another $150 or so for the antenna, just like for the traffic radio. I couldn't figure why the device is $200-$300 more than the 450 just to have the capability but you still needed to lay out hundreds more (plus subscription) to actually *use* the extra capability.

Correct. That's one reason that I don't do XM, and MP3's are available on both anyway. The two big 550 features that justify the extra expense over the 450 for me are the bluetooth, both in (phone) and out (wireless headset), and the turn by turn spoken directions (speaks street names). For some reason the latter always commands an extra price from Garmin on all of their units even though it's only software. I imagine it must be some sort of a royalty fees thing.

Also, I only paid $631 shipped for my new (not refurb) Zumo 550 last fall.

I'm sure if you wait long enough there will be a Zumo 770 with all of the features of the 550 in a wide screen format.

 

[bramfrank]

The good news is that my Zumo 660 was just handed to me by my buddy - the darned thing is BIG . . just charging it up now.

 

[kurt]

I got 660 (AMA discount) last Thursday. No issues so far and I like it much better than the Zumo 550 it replaced.

 

[Ian Farlow]

The good news is that my Zumo 660 was just handed to me by my buddy - the darned thing is BIG . . just charging it up now.

I got 660 (AMA discount) last Thursday. No issues so far and I like it much better than the Zumo 550 it replaced.

Um... I hate you both!

 

[Patriot]

Ian;
Zumo 660s not delivered to end users were recalled to the factory and shipments were cancelled because of a serious issue with firmware. Not sure what they'll do for the ones that got out early, though from what I understand it is an interim software release, not the original one that caused the problems and the AMA preships had the original firmware.

However early adopters will almost always suffer the consequences of major firmware flaws in a new product - the old adage about never buying a car in it's first year applies to buying a navigator in it's first week.

The Zumo 550 is a very competent bike navigator and is mature enough that it is relaively bug-free, though you'd better remember to bring a hex key along to let you remove the battery if/when it locks up.

lock up

hold the power button while pressing the + key

reboots

good to go

My Previous 3 tricks Zumo Thread...

 

[Fred W]

I got 660 (AMA discount) last Thursday. No issues so far and I like it much better than the Zumo 550 it replaced.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Now wait a god damn minute there, Bunkie!

You can't go throwing down stuff like that without at giving at least one of the reasons behind it.

So, you like it better because... ?

 

[Ian Farlow]

Well, well... maybe the tides are about to turn. I just checked my bank account and I have just been charged for the Zumo 660. Let's see if tomorrow brings a shipping notice, and since Garmin upgraded me to overnight shipping, I might actually have this thing on Wednesday!

Does this mean that they have a firmware fix ready, or am I about to get trapped in early adopter hell?!

 

[bramfrank]

lock up
hold the power button while pressing the + key

reboots

good to go

My Previous 3 tricks Zumo Thread...

Nope. Not mine nor those of my riding buddies - especially when it was hot or cold out. The battery had to be removed and left out for 30 seconds or so . . . otherwise it was dead to the world.