Zumo 660 first impressions

[big_smile_2u]

What a awesome thread! BF thanks for starting this and for continuing to update it.

I bought a Magellan CrossoverGPS a couple of years ago to discover the pluses and minuses of a GPS system. This unit works OK for trips around the corner. One thing that I do not recall seeing mentioned is Garmin's Lifetime Map updating service. The Magellen's maps were years out of date when I bought it. They want more for a one time update than I paid for it! Since I have a limited budget (plus I am a tight wad) for "toys/farkles" it is important for me to have a product that can service me for a longgggggg time. Garmin has this covered.

IMO ... For you virgin's I concur with BF's assessment that cross street names and the bigger picture view are important/useful.

The other thing I have learned from the FJRFORUM is that you can load a GPS plotted trip into a GPS device. A feature I see I need for my next childhood starting in 2014 and to maybe do a ride with folks here. Has anyone used Garmin's photo navigation and if so, what is you opinion of it?

BF keep the faith! When others get testy enjoy the satisfaction of flushing out their immaturity and that you raised their blood pressure. Life is meant to be LIVED ... isn't that why we ride FJR's!! LOL

Rick

 

[bramfrank]

Well, the Zumo 665 is out and the Zumo 660 firmware has been updated to incorporate the GUI changes implemented on the 665 - I gather there is a common code base now.

But there are now MORE bugs and people are characterising the issues which seem to cause the 660 to shut down altogether too often - I suppose I could block copy my epinions update here, or I can just provide a link to the updated review HERE

 

[SouthernCruizer]

I've done a few rides with my 665 now, and overall, like it well enough. The screen is a bit of an improvement over the 550. My main gripe is the lack of external buttons on the unit. The screen gets "grubby" much faster as I am having to touch the screen more. I do like the cradle better than the 550...seems more secure. I also love the fact that it has an audio out jack. I can plug into a docking station when I am outside and listen to my MP3 songs. I have been using the weather function, and like it, but the alerts are a little strange. It has alerted me about rain in the area when there was no rain to be seen. I am thinking that the radar was picking up precip that was not making it to the ground. I havent had much of a chance to try the traffic part yet, as I have been travelling back roads, no major highways.

I am a little concerned about the speaker on the unit. Hope it does not affect the water-proofness of the device. Another negative is the fact that it can only handle 20 routes. I had 43 routes in my old 550, and have had to get used to swapping out routes. And one last thing...I dont like having to take off the battery cover to get to the USB port. Wish they would have put it next to the audio out jack.

 

[GreyGoose]

Well, the Zumo 665 is out and the Zumo 660 firmware has been updated to incorporate the GUI changes implemented on the 665 - I gather there is a common code base now.
But there are now MORE bugs and people are characterising the issues which seem to cause the 660 to shut down altogether too often - I suppose I could block copy my epinions update here, or I can just provide a link to the updated review HERE

BF,

thanx for spending the time for this write up. I'm a new owner of the 660 and had battled issues with the 765t for some time before deciding to move to the 660. I'm getting ready to go on 4 day bike trip and have some really in depth custom routes that i've imported into the device. i've noticed that since i've upgraded my firmware to 3.50, that a new 3.80 update is available. you mention that the 3.80 update upgrades some things around importing of custom routing (but that is actually doesnt work). can you explain in a little more detail where the bang for the buck is concerning that update?. i always thought that the 660 would take exactly what was in mapsource and keep it intact (which is a change from the 765t which was why i switched to the 660). but it sounds like i've overlooked something here. Also, would you recommend i stay at 3.50 untill they get this "shutdown" thing worked out? i've never had my device shutdown on me with version 3.50 (but then again it hasnt been through 1000 miles of testing). The other upgrades look nice, but arent "critical" to my use case (like the routing issue). i can wait and get those anytime.

please advise and thanks again for your input. its greatly appreciated.. P.s. - I like your edits at the beginning (vs. the end)...

GreyGoose

 

[HaulinAshe]

... Also, would you recommend i stay at 3.50 untill they get this "shutdown" thing worked out? i've never had my device shutdown on me with version 3.50 (but then again it hasnt been through 1000 miles of testing). The other upgrades look nice, but arent "critical" to my use case (like the routing issue). i can wait and get those anytime.

The "shutdown" thing tends to occur in two situations:

* Whenever the previous versions of firmware tended to "lockup" or become painfully sluggish due to various Bluetooth activity.

* Whenever there are multiple waypoints in a very tight area, resulting in numerous navigational voice prompts that overlap each other.

Highly complex routes, combined with playing MP3 music, combined with a Bluetooth headset will almost certainly earn you a couple unexpected shutdowns per day. The 660 restarts and resumes the routing with no problem. BUT, because the shutdown error tends to occur at complex route points, you've probably missed a turn or two and will do some U-turns to get back on route.

Me, I do that anyway because I was looking at turtles in the road or the RD was going off in my ear. Just circle your finger in the air to let everyone know you own a 660 and need to make a U-turn.

I still love it over the 550 and would not go back.

 

[GreyGoose]

... Also, would you recommend i stay at 3.50 untill they get this "shutdown" thing worked out? i've never had my device shutdown on me with version 3.50 (but then again it hasnt been through 1000 miles of testing). The other upgrades look nice, but arent "critical" to my use case (like the routing issue). i can wait and get those anytime.

The "shutdown" thing tends to occur in two situations:

* Whenever the previous versions of firmware tended to "lockup" or become painfully sluggish due to various Bluetooth activity.

* Whenever there are multiple waypoints in a very tight area, resulting in numerous navigational voice prompts that overlap each other.

Highly complex routes, combined with playing MP3 music, combined with a Bluetooth headset will almost certainly earn you a couple unexpected shutdowns per day. The 660 restarts and resumes the routing with no problem. BUT, because the shutdown error tends to occur at complex route points, you've probably missed a turn or two and will do some U-turns to get back on route.

Me, I do that anyway because I was looking at turtles in the road or the RD was going off in my ear. Just circle your finger in the air to let everyone know you own a 660 and need to make a U-turn.

I still love it over the 550 and would not go back.

Haulin,

whats your recommendation on the upgrade. Stay with 3.50 or bite the bullet with 3.80? The route import thing seems to be the big issue for me and BF claims its still not fixed anyway. Other than some cosmetic stuff, i dont know if its worthwhile......

GreyGoose

 

[HaulinAshe]

Haulin,whats your recommendation on the upgrade. Stay with 3.50 or bite the bullet with 3.80? The route import thing seems to be the big issue for me and BF claims its still not fixed anyway. Other than some cosmetic stuff, i dont know if its worthwhile......

GreyGoose

The 3.80 firmware fixed some badly-needed Bluetooth pairing issues for me, so in my case it has been worth the weird, occasional shutdowns.

I'd say that if you are NOT having BT pairing issues or something similar that impedes some basic functionality, I'd sit this one out and wait for 4.x firmware.

 

[GreyGoose]

Haulin,whats your recommendation on the upgrade. Stay with 3.50 or bite the bullet with 3.80? The route import thing seems to be the big issue for me and BF claims its still not fixed anyway. Other than some cosmetic stuff, i dont know if its worthwhile......

GreyGoose

The 3.80 firmware fixed some badly-needed Bluetooth pairing issues for me, so in my case it has been worth the weird, occasional shutdowns.

I'd say that if you are NOT having BT pairing issues or something similar that impedes some basic functionality, I'd sit this one out and wait for 4.x firmware.

any idea what they mean by "Corrected to allowed routes to be imported from matching maps on MapSource without recalculation". I'd really like to get an explanation of this since it could have some major impact on my upcoming trip.

GreyGoose

 

[HaulinAshe]

any idea what they mean by "Corrected to allowed routes to be imported from matching maps on MapSource without recalculation". I'd really like to get an explanation of this since it could have some major impact on my upcoming trip.
GreyGoose

Garmin must now read the Map Version tag in the route file. If it matches the map version loaded on the receiving GPS unit, then the route can be imported as-is, without recalculating. Up until now, every route imported was automatically recalculated by the GPS unit.

That was mainly a problem when the Route Preferences did not match between MapSource and the GPS unit. The route might take one path on MapSource, but after being imported and recalculated, took another on the GPS.

 

[GreyGoose]

any idea what they mean by "Corrected to allowed routes to be imported from matching maps on MapSource without recalculation". I'd really like to get an explanation of this since it could have some major impact on my upcoming trip.
GreyGoose

Garmin must now read the Map Version tag in the route file. If it matches the map version loaded on the receiving GPS unit, then the route can be imported as-is, without recalculating. Up until now, every route imported was automatically recalculated by the GPS unit.

That was mainly a problem when the Route Preferences did not match between MapSource and the GPS unit. The route might take one path on MapSource, but after being imported and recalculated, took another on the GPS.

What i'm hearing is that if you have not upgraded to 3.80, and the maps versions are the same, you will get a recalculation from whats seen in mapsource (your just not sure if it will change the route or not though). Since i'm running the same versions on gps and mapsource, i should hopefully see very little if any route changes (but theres no guarentee). When you say "route preferences" , are you referring to map levels or some other setting? Will the unit tell me about a recalculation, or just do it? any idea if number of waypoints set will mimimize the changes made durin automatic recalc during the transfer? I'm interesed in why bramfrank states this issue is not resolved in his last post? Is there a way for me to identify whether or not my mapsource route was changed in the zumo during the recalc? I wonder if i load the route from the gps into mapsource if it will show me the route thats stored. any ideas there?

thanx

GreyGoose

 

[GreyGoose]

any idea what they mean by "Corrected to allowed routes to be imported from matching maps on MapSource without recalculation". I'd really like to get an explanation of this since it could have some major impact on my upcoming trip.
GreyGoose

Garmin must now read the Map Version tag in the route file. If it matches the map version loaded on the receiving GPS unit, then the route can be imported as-is, without recalculating. Up until now, every route imported was automatically recalculated by the GPS unit.

That was mainly a problem when the Route Preferences did not match between MapSource and the GPS unit. The route might take one path on MapSource, but after being imported and recalculated, took another on the GPS.

What i'm hearing is that if you have not upgraded to 3.80, and the maps versions are the same, you will get a recalculation from whats seen in mapsource (your just not sure if it will change the route or not though). Since i'm running the same versions on gps and mapsource, i should hopefully see very little if any route changes (but theres no guarentee). When you say "route preferences" , are you referring to map levels or some other setting? Will the unit tell me about a recalculation, or just do it? any idea if number of waypoints set will mimimize the changes made durin automatic recalc during the transfer? I'm interesed in why bramfrank states this issue is not resolved in his last post? Is there a way for me to identify whether or not my mapsource route was changed in the zumo during the recalc? I wonder if i load the route from the gps into mapsource if it will show me the route thats stored. any ideas there?

thanx

GreyGoose

I just got off the phone with garmin (after a nice long 60 minute holding period) and got the following information (note: note sure if its valid or not):

When transferring custom routes into your zumo with firmware 3.50, if you have any preferences enabled (i.e. avoid highways, u turns, etc), the device will recalculate your route during the transfer. if you were to then disable those preferences before using the route, you will probably end out with something very different than what you intended. Thats the bug that was fixed in 3.80. The 3.80 firmware will now take your route as its shown in mapsource and download it into the device "as is" no matter what preferences you have set. The preferences can then be put into action when the route is loaded. So those of us that want to wait on upgrading our firmware from 3.50 to 3.80 because of the shutdown issue but were concerned about the import issue, should turn off all preferences before transfering the custom route from mapsource into the device. The preferences can still be applied to the route after their enabled, but the route will come into the device without change.

Thats the story i'm getting from garmin. IF anyone see's anything different, let us know. I aint upgrading untill that shutdown issue is resolved.

GreyGoose

 

[bramfrank]

Unfortunately, the CSRs at Garmin give advice based solely on what they BELIEVE to be the situation. They aren't real big on accuracy.

I can't begin to tell you how much wrong information their telephone support has provided to me when I've called. I think they just like to feel the wind on their gums from the flaping of their lips.

I take anything provided by Garmin's support people with a huge boulder of salt.

 

[GreyGoose]

FYI, for those of you who've updated to 3.80 and hate the music icon on the screen because you dont use your device for music and cant get if off of there, do the following;

simply delete all the files in the "audible" directory on your unit (And don't have any music installed on the unit or your sd card).

GreyGoose