I've decided on a GPS system

[exskibum]

I started a thread describing my decision process of a GPs. You said it was wrong. I replied each to his own.
And somehow this violates board etiquette?

Please ...

I guess disagreeing with someone telling you your decision is wrong, you don't know what you are doing, and only choices some in the group make are valid, is having a defensive "tude".

WOW! :blink:

I never said it was wrong. I said I agreed with another poster's position on the audio output and that its lack would be a deal breaker FOR ME. Did I neglect to say "FOR ME"?** I thought it was clearly implied, and didn't need to be made any clearer. Where did I say you were wrong in your choice FOR YOU, or anything close to that? And where did I or anyone say that "you don't know what you are doing, and only choices some in the group make are valid"? You seem to have read several of the comments in this thread with some sense of personal victimhood that prompts you to make a wholesale reconstruction of what really was posted.

If you were just looking for compliments about how smart you were to have found a GPS with features and a price that worked for you, maybe you should have said so, or at least noted that comments disagreeing with your choice would not be tolerated. FWIW, I agree with Wheaties that the original post was a good one, except for its omission of clear directions about what responses would be considered appropriate.

Assuming you might just be having a bad couple days, I was trying to make a gentle suggestion by linking to Hudson's thread. Obviously, you didn't consider that perspective. OTOH, if it's just a personality issue that requires you to be defensive, condescending and abrasive, then nothing any of us can say will change that tendency toward internet ugliness. Have a nice day.

** Nope -- it's there: "for me."

 

[Fred W]

I have a TomTom One that was given to me back in 2004. It's not waterproof but I've used riding in the rain for 6 hours. I didn't have a problem with it. Of course, since I only use it on my bike and given it's age the battery doesn't work anymore I didn't care if it died. For the last 3 years I've left it on and out when riding in the rain and it hasn't died on me yet..... When if finally does I plan on buy a Zumo... 3 years ago I planned on buying the 220... Two years ago it was the 550... I guess I'll buy the 665 if it dies (finally) on me this year.

Don't do it, Kevin. Check out my zumo 550 vs 66X comparison thread here.

To the OP: In my personal experience, having the GPS audio prompts piped in my helmet is a safety feature. Yes, you can always continue to look down at the screen, just like you did with your old paper maps, but part of the advantage that you are forking over good money for in buying a GPS is to get this additional safety feature of not having to glance away from the road and traffic. I just feel like we need all of the advantages we can possibly have when out riding on the road, so why not this one?

If you've never tried it before, maybe you should give it a go sometime, just to know for certain that it's not for you. A simple monaural bluetooth helmet headset can be pretty inexpensive. It's only the fancy stereo ones that cost the big coin, and you clearly would not need anything like that. The GPS voice doesn't actually prompt all that often, even when following a complicated route, so long as you set up your routes correctly, which means using intersection points as routing viapoints as the GPS doesn't announce them.

If you insist on navigating completely visually, I would strongly urge you to mount your GPS receiver up as high as you can get it, so you can maintain peripheral visual monitoring of the road and traffic. You may have already been planning to do that, but you didn't mention it previously, so I thought that I would mention it.

Good luck with your 220. Let us know how it works out for you in the long run.

 

[PanAmerican]

I have a TomTom One that was given to me back in 2004. It's not waterproof but I've used riding in the rain for 6 hours. I didn't have a problem with it. Of course, since I only use it on my bike and given it's age the battery doesn't work anymore I didn't care if it died. For the last 3 years I've left it on and out when riding in the rain and it hasn't died on me yet..... When if finally does I plan on buy a Zumo... 3 years ago I planned on buying the 220... Two years ago it was the 550... I guess I'll buy the 665 if it dies (finally) on me this year.

Don't do it, Kevin. Check out my zumo 550 vs 66X comparison thread here.

To the OP: In my personal experience, having the GPS audio prompts piped in my helmet is a safety feature. Yes, you can always continue to look down at the screen, just like you did with your old paper maps, but part of the advantage that you are forking over good money for in buying a GPS is to get this additional safety feature of not having to glance away from the road and traffic. I just feel like we need all of the advantages we can possibly have when out riding on the road, so why not this one?

If you've never tried it before, maybe you should give it a go sometime, just to know for certain that it's not for you. A simple monaural bluetooth helmet headset can be pretty inexpensive. It's only the fancy stereo ones that cost the big coin, and you clearly would not need anything like that. The GPS voice doesn't actually prompt all that often, even when following a complicated route, so long as you set up your routes correctly, which means using intersection points as routing viapoints as the GPS doesn't announce them.

If you insist on navigating completely visually, I would strongly urge you to mount your GPS receiver up as high as you can get it, so you can maintain peripheral visual monitoring of the road and traffic. You may have already been planning to do that, but you didn't mention it previously, so I thought that I would mention it.

Good luck with your 220. Let us know how it works out for you in the long run.

Thank you for the reasonable response. I appreciate it.

 

[Fred W]

Thank you for the reasonable response. I appreciate it.

You're welcome.

It's so unlike me, really...

 

[PanAmerican]

WOW! :blink:

I never said it was wrong. I said I agreed with another poster's position on the audio output and that its lack would be a deal breaker FOR ME. Did I neglect to say "FOR ME"? I thought it was clearly implied, and didn't need to be made any clearer. Where did I say you were wrong in your choice FOR YOU, or anything close to that? And where did I or anyone say that "you don't know what you are doing, and only choices some in the group make are valid"? You seem to have read several of the comments in this thread with some sense of personal victimhood that prompts you to make a wholesale reconstruction of what really was posted.

If you were just looking for compliments about how smart you were to have found a GPS with features and a price that worked for you, maybe you should have said so, or at least noted that comments disagreeing with your choice would not be tolerated.

Assuming you might just be having a bad couple days, I was trying to make a gentle suggestion by linking to Hudson's thread. Obviously, you didn't consider that perspective. OTOH, if it's just a personality issue that requires you to be defensive, condescending and abrasive, then nothing any of us can say will change that bit of ugliness. Have a nice day.

What you may be missing is a long held tradition/practice around here, which relates directly to some of what is set forth in the Board's FAQ. It suggests that before making inquiries about a topic, one should at least attempt a search for like topics in which experience, advice or observations on the inquiry may previously have been posted. That is useful precisely because we members DO post our experience, observations and preferences on posts of interest (yours is one, so take it as a compliment).

Please tell me where I made inquiries about this topic or where I solicited others for advice on this matter?

The resonable responses I expected were:

"GPS's are nice, I have model XXX and I like it a lot"

"What kind of mount are you considering? I use the YYY and like it a lot."

"Be careful with the maps feature it does ZZZ on occasion".

What I got were insults based upon the fact I had different priorities.

"It seems that the OP is getting a GPS just because it seems "the thing". I'd agree that it's best to save the $ and use it more wisely."

 

[exskibum]

The resonable responses I expected were:

"GPS's are nice, I have model XXX and I like it a lot"

"What kind of mount are you considering? I use the YYY and like it a lot."

"Be careful with the maps feature it does ZZZ on occasion".

Well, shucks! There ya go! I wouldn't have been so darned stupid in my comments about what did and didn't appeal to me in those comparison charts you posted (good, ones, FWIW) if you'd only educated me about what kind of response was expected.

But did you notice the critical issue here? The "I expected" bit? Ever consider that among those of us browsing the forum, some of us are bound not to know what YOU expected, and that our failure to properly care for your feelings just MIGHT be the result of your thin skin and failure to adequately communicate what you EXPECTED? What did you say about that kind of thing earlier? Oh yeah:

Life is like that.

Give it a break, get over it, or at least post this kind of thing on a Friday so we can have a proper dogpile.

FWIW, I really do hope your day is better from here out, and am glad you like the GPS you selected. Go ahead and respond -- I am done and have better things to do.

 

[Sharif]

Nice fact-based analysis - well done!

 

[Fly Bye]

I think PanAmerican is going to be playing in an empty sand box pretty soon.

 

[garyahouse]

To me it is the last thing I want a GPS to do. I can follow the visual queues thank you very much. Besides when I'm riding - I'm listening to what's going on around me. I don't want to hear a voice telling me which way to go.

To each his/her/its own.

I would agree here. I've got my tunes crankin' and I don't want Miss Loudmouth interrupting. I've got eyes and I know when I gotta turn.
-Also, concerning waterproofing: I have a 130 dollar Garmin. It works fine. I gets to wear a zip lock baggie in the rain. It works just fine in it's little baggie. I don't ride the rain that often and I'm not gonna spend hundreds extra for this feature. --Just my humble opinion.

Gary

darksider #44

Patience gentlemen--- Friday's still 3 days out.

So... consider this for future reference: there are gobs of cheap GPS's on Craigslist. Why not get a cheapo, throw it on the bike, and see what cha think? Then, once ya get it sorted out, if ya still wanna spend the big $$ for a Zumo, sell the cheapo Garmin or donate it to one of the kids/grandkids. If yours are like mine, they're always lost and could use one. Then you can spend spend spend on a Zumo and a nice ball mount setup.

On ball mounts: why can't somebody make a ball mount that puts the GPS about 4 feet away from my eyes so I can focus on it without my stupid bifocals? I gotta flip up my face shield and adjust my glasses soes I can read the dumb thing. Then my eyes get all sore from fucussin' too much and the wind catches me with my mouth open, and next thing ya know, I'm a mess.

These manufacturers are prejudiced against old farts.

Gary

darksider #44

 

[Bokerfork]

Wow, what a fustercluck.

FWIW, I'm on your side PanAm. Any attitude you gave was well deserved.

My opinion is that there are just too many choices of everything these days. I long for the days when your choices were limited to just a few. You may not have gotten exactly what you wanted, but the research was shorter and the anxiety of making the wrong choice was certainly lessened.

As for me, I appreciate the OP for what it was. A concise and reasonably elucidating explanation of an apparently very touchy subject.

In the words of the great Beemerdon,,,, jes sayin, and enough said.

Mark

 

[PanAmerican]

I think PanAmerican is going to be playing in an empty sand box pretty soon.

Then take your Tonka truck and go home. It's what it is.

 

[SouthernCruizer]

I dont know about the rest of you, but I wish Garmin or XYZ GPS company would develop a portable HUD (Heads Up Display) that could be used on helmet visors or clear windscreens, and come in under 1K. THAT would be something I'd like to try.

 

[Fly Bye]

I think PanAmerican is going to be playing in an empty sand box pretty soon.

Then take your Tonka truck and go home. It's what it is.

As soon as you stop trolling.

 

[Kevin_Ireland]

I dont know about the rest of you, but I wish Garmin or XYZ GPS company would develop a portable HUD (Heads Up Display) that could be used on helmet visors or clear windscreens, and come in under 1K. THAT would be something I'd like to try.

Now that would be something but since the cost of such a system for the helmet that pilots wear in the Apache are over $100k and even taking into account the government over pays you'd still be looking at around $10-15K. AND you'd be stuck with what ever helmet they decided to mount it on....

But I really do like the thought process!

 

[SouthernCruizer]

I dont know about the rest of you, but I wish Garmin or XYZ GPS company would develop a portable HUD (Heads Up Display) that could be used on helmet visors or clear windscreens, and come in under 1K. THAT would be something I'd like to try.

Now that would be something but since the cost of such a system for the helmet that pilots wear in the Apache are over $100k and even taking into account the government over pays you'd still be looking at around $10-15K. AND you'd be stuck with what ever helmet they decided to mount it on....

But I really do like the thought process!

I think the Apache, or other military weapons platform HUD tie into the entire avionics system, including weapons, tracking, IR , NAV, etc. This would only be piping in the GPS screen data. Seems like with the technology we have today, it might be possible.

 

[PanAmerican]

I think PanAmerican is going to be playing in an empty sand box pretty soon.

Then take your Tonka truck and go home. It's what it is.

As soon as you stop trolling.

Find another topic and add value there.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Fred W]

Background noise notwithstanding...

I agree about the lack of good GPS mount locations on the FJR. At one point I considered fabricating some sort of a mounting system that would attach to the moving windshield bracket, in order to have the display up above the instruments, like I have it on my V-strom. Here's a picture taken when I was still messing around with mounting my 550 on the 'strom (pay no attention to those wires). I now have the 660 in the same location.

It really does make a world of difference having it up high where you can see the screen without taking your eyes off the road. If one of the fabrication gurus on here came up with an easy way to get the GPS mounted like that I'd be all over it.

 

[PanAmerican]

Wow, what a fustercluck.

FWIW, I'm on your side PanAm. Any attitude you gave was well deserved.

My opinion is that there are just too many choices of everything these days. I long for the days when your choices were limited to just a few. You may not have gotten exactly what you wanted, but the research was shorter and the anxiety of making the wrong choice was certainly lessened.

As for me, I appreciate the OP for what it was. A concise and reasonably elucidating explanation of an apparently very touchy subject.

In the words of the great Beemerdon,,,, jes sayin, and enough said.

Mark

Thanks. I appreciate the kind words.

 

[Fly Bye]

I think PanAmerican is going to be playing in an empty sand box pretty soon.

Then take your Tonka truck and go home. It's what it is.

As soon as you stop trolling.

Find another topic and add value there.

Thanks in advance.

Thank you for the kind words, but I think I'll do as I damn well please.

 

[PanAmerican]

I think PanAmerican is going to be playing in an empty sand box pretty soon.

Then take your Tonka truck and go home. It's what it is.

As soon as you stop trolling.

Find another topic and add value there.

Thanks in advance.

Thank you for the kind words, but I think I'll do as I damn well please.

Then, just do it.