Fess Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 The BMW GPS is a bit expensive. I've heard it is a Garmin 2610. Now I see a new company called Tom Tom has one out. Any thoughts or advice on this? Thanks Link to comment
Amac Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 My experience: I had a Garmin GPS V and replaced it with a Garmin 2610. The V was a great unit, and if they had ROM updates with new basemaps or a larger built in memory for CD updates, it's likely that I would not have replaced it. Unfortunately as the basemap aged reality began to diverge further from what the GPS thought should be going on and the provided system memory was insufficient to load enough updates to solve the problem. Also the processor was slower so redrawing or recalculating longer routes was a pretty painful process. The 2610 is, I suppose, a better unit but I'm not particularly thrilled by the touchscreen operation. My 2610 has failed once and had to be sent back to Garmin for a screen replacement. Whether this was due to the higher vibration environment of a motorcycle or not, I do not know. Furthermore, touchscreen operation is nearly impossible when wearing gloves. If I had to do it over again, I would get a 276c/376c and bypass the 2610. Link to comment
DavidEBSmith Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 The tocuhscreen-gloves problem can be worked out by attaching a stylus from a PDA to a string and using that for data entry. (Need I say that you shouldn't be doing a lot of data entry on the GPS while moving anyway?) The BMW Navigator is a rebadged Garmin with the addresses of BMW dealers built in (and how useful is that with the number of dealers closing and opening) and a fancy mount with extra buttons and the price jacked up. You can get the same effect for less money with a Garmin 26xx or 27xx series, the downloadable list of BMW dealer waypoints, and a stylus on a string. 26xx / 27xx vs 276/376C? The x76 has a better screen but uses proprietary memory that can't fit the whole U.S. , the 26xx/27xx can hold all the maps for the whole U.S. but uses the touchscreen. Tom Tom? I can't even see the screenshots on their website, so who knows what it looks like. Link to comment
BMWGreenRT Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 Went from Garmin V to a Garmin 276C...have not looked back Link to comment
FIRST_BEEMER Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 I use the Garmin 2720 and love it. I`m in the process of mounting it to the left bar over the clutch reservoir. Link to comment
Brimoon Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 The BMW GPS is a bit expensive. I've heard it is a Garmin 2610. Now I see a new company called Tom Tom has one out. Any thoughts or advice on this? Thanks My Garmin 276 is the third and by far the best GPS I have owned. It has a very readable screen; a built-in rechargable battery; it's weatherproof; it's quick at recalculating; and it integrates well with a PC for route planning. The 376 is really cool, but the XM subscriptions for it's weather mapping capabilities are pretty expensive. I've not read anything particularly positive about the TomTom unit for motorcycles. Brian Link to comment
velomoto Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 Bad news - there is no "best" but there are several very good units to pick from. Units with internal hard drives, instead of flash memory, generally are not recommended for motorcycle applications. IMHO here are the most popular (talked about) Garmin models on this board: 1. 276/376 - Most common complaints: uses Garmin memory cards, program times, no touch screen (tho many consider this an advantage/feature). 2. 2610 - rebadged for BMW. Most common complaints: touchscreen difficult with gloves, brightness of display, required memory card, program times. 3. G2720/30 - New models. Most common complaints: touch screen difficult with gloves, operation features missing from 2610. For simplicity it's hard to beat the 2720/30 as the basemap for the entire US is preloaded. No external memory cards to buy or program. BUT there are some features on 276 which may sway you that direction (built-in battery, no touch screen, marine capability, more). From what I've read, if one gets the 276/376 with a 256MB or larger flash card you'll want to get the Garmin flashcard reader as program (download) times are really loooong if the card is inside the 276. Cheers, Greg Link to comment
scottcon Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 I just bit the bullet and ordered a garmin 2730. gpsnow says that they have them in stock on thier web site. I cant wait . Now all I need is a mount. Scott Link to comment
SkidMark Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 The 2730 is the one I have been looking at, can't wait till you say ya or nay...cause I like to school off of other peoples misshaps Link to comment
jakfrost Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 I'm with Duane on this one...waiting to see a little more feedback before I decide. I have had both units (376/2730) in my 'shopping cart' on different occasions in the last couple of weeks but chickened out. Just couldn't decide and its a big ticket to choke on afterwards... Waiting in suspense... Chicken Little Link to comment
dyvking Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 The BMW GPS is a bit expensive. I've heard it is a Garmin 2610. Now I see a new company called Tom Tom has one out. Any thoughts or advice on this? Thanks Another vote for the Garmin 276C. I really like this unit. Link to comment
Mainuh Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 Another vote for the Garmin 276C. I really like this unit. Walt, I agree, but everyones wants and needs are different and there's no one perfect solution for all. My 276C is my 5th GPS unit and I'll probably hang onto it for some time. I have the 256mb chip and I can get all New England and still have plenty of room for detailed maps of any other areas I plan to go to this summer. Now they have a 512mb chip out for $150 (www.gpsnow.com) which is tempting. Some of what I think it's best features are: * large clear color screen, easy to see in all lighting conditions * super fast auto-routing and re-routing when you choose to deviate * fast USB loading (especially compared to the old V serial port! * audio help available if you want it * Battery operation for handheld use (a must for me) No, I can't put all of North America details in, but, I'm not an Iron Butt nut and don't need them either. Althought, with a 512mb chip you could probably get most of the whole eastern seaboard (as an example). I think they said all NA was about 1.2gig. Ultimately, the one paying the bill is the one who has to like it. I'm happy with what I got and would buy it again. 2 different friends I've loaned my 276C to for different trips have both subsequently gone and bought one. Link to comment
eruff Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 Here's a vote for the overpriced BMW Nav II (lowest I have seen was one on ebay for $995). The color will match your bike better than the 2610 I think. The bracket will fit your bike with no modifications. The bracket has a set of extra buttons for zooming in and out plus an enter button, plus another. It has all of the U.S. and Canada as well built in. It supposedly is a bit more resistant to gasoline than the 2610 and "may" be extra water proof or shock resistant, I can't remember which. The 12RT is prewired for it, (this may also work with the 2610 too) but the dealer installed mine, I didn't try it myself. I have no complaints and it works like a charm. Great toy! Link to comment
velomoto Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 Call me lazy, but I like the concept of not having to load new detailed maps. For little more than the Garmin 512GB card one can buy a 2GB Compact Flash which will hold the entire NA. Perhaps loading the maps is "easy" once one gets used to doing it, but it seemed like it would be like so many other "techno-tasks" which I'll figure out and then forget long before the next time it needs doing. In a couple years I'll figure out how to update my 2720's maps - or I'll buy the next generation GPS because of some new must have feature!!! Greg Link to comment
malibu Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 A comment about using the optional USB datacard programmer to load maps instead of loading them to the datacard while it is in the Garmin 276C/376C unit. I bought one and here is my experience (YMMV) Loading maps onto the 128MB datacard using the datacard programmer seemed to be faster than loading through the 276C/376C. Didn't time it, just played with it a couple of times until I ran into the main problem I encountered. It seems that the datacard programmer will not work with data cards larger than 128MB. I tried a 512MB data card and had an error on my computer indicating an unknown data card type. Called Garmin and was informed of this limitation. The 276C/376C unit has a USB connector built into it and no longer uses the much slower serial connection that really made using a datacard programmer a necessity. That is probably why Garmin is not working on a way to ‘fix’ it to work with the larger datacards. Link to comment
Eureka Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Garmin 2720. Excellent display, easy to program, audio feature very handy. Link to comment
Fabbrisd Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 I want to know if the 2730 gets the same XM features as the 376... 2730 also has builtin XM.. Supposedly starting shipping this week... Anybody ? Link to comment
Heck Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Been using a Streetpilot III for the last year and a half- use it on the bike and in the cage..With a 256MB card, can load most of western US at once- can cover the whole US with 3 cards...Price vs reliability and no touch screen. Deals on ebay daily....Who says that older is not sometimes better?? Link to comment
jakfrost Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 And if you want XM radio you can...well I guess the same as with all the other 'older' technology...just wire up another device Jim Link to comment
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