My Garmin Street Pilot GPS 2720: "Aarrghh!"

Ron, there's no external jack - that's one of the things yo0u don't get on this lower price unit.

And I have never hooked up a bluetooth anything to anything - so I'm not the girl to answer questions about it. :)
 
Steve try looking at (GPS City) They have just about any thing you would need for mounts to hold any GPS.
 
elizilla said:
Ron, there's no external jack - that's one of the things yo0u don't get on this lower price unit.

And I have never hooked up a bluetooth anything to anything - so I'm not the girl to answer questions about it. :)
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I didn't see anywhere in the specs where you could connect via BT thus my question. Good to know. I already have a Magellan Maestro and though it isn't water resistant either, I'll just use it till it dies before upgrading. I like the Zumo's, however, I really don't want to spend >$500 for the feature rich ones.
 
elizilla said:
Steve, I just got a Ram mount.

Have you used Ram mounts before? The way they work, is you buy a plastic holder that the GPS snaps into - it doesn't increase the size of the unit by much, and they sell them for every device imaginable. Then you buy a ball that screws to the back of the holder, and another ball that attaches to your bike somewhere (they have dozens of kinds that mount in various places). And an arm of whatever length you prefer. The balls are like little tiny trailer hitches. You move the arms to hold the device at the angle you prefer, then you tighten them down and they hold in place. No one piece is super expensive, and most of them are generic, so I bought more pieces than I needed, a few extra arms and balls, so I could try different configurations until I decided which was best for me. I saved the extras instead of sending them back - I'm sure they will be useful for future gadgets and bikes.

I don't know how long it runs on the battery. I've never had it run out, but I've never used it on battery for more than an hour or two. When it's not plugged in to the bike, the screen dims to save power, and becomes hard to see in sunlight. So I mainly use it on battery, only when I carry it in to a restaurant to play with over lunch.
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I've used Ram mounts on a few bikes, they're great! I tried the Garmin handlebar mount once on my KDX and it about wrecked my Etrex with all the vibration it transferred. Got the Ram mount and never had another issue. Singletrak, twotrak, road, I've never had a problem with them and have never had anything wear out, amazing in these days of planned obsolesence!
The Garmin website says the batt life is up to 8 hrs, Jarod will find out soon enough.
I'm running the frugal special on the NT: Take the Nuvi 205 out of the van and use the cup mount in front of the tankbag, doesn't seem right but it works great! Thank again Katherine :)
 
MAC said:
Steve try looking at (GPS City) They have just about any thing you would need for mounts to hold any GPS.
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Thanks, I'll let Jarod know. I'm saving that site too, might come in handy.
 
Dave FL. USA said:
The Nuvi 550 is a IPC7 water proof version of that unit. Same software, think it is the best poor man's motorcycle GPS.
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What won't the Nuvi 550 do? Can you enter "routes" from the screen? My kid has a Nuvi that wouldn't let you enter waypoints or "vias" (whatever they're called). Can you pick options which avoid certain kinds of roads? I like to avoid unpaved and sometimes interstates.
 
Phil Tarman said:
It's been telling me since late July that it was time to update the maps. I had purchased the "lifetime" map subscription so decided that New Year's Eve was a good time to do it.

Took me a while to get everything downloaded that I needed to do the job, but finally it was underway. IIRC, downloading the maps took about 70 minutes, preparation took five or six, then loading the maps took 89 minutes. After all that, it told me the maps were downloaded to my device.

But then, when I tried turning on the GPS to see if I could spot any map changes, it wouldn't finish the start-up process. I'd see a red line along the bottom of the screen, and then it would shut down and start all over. When it was plugged into my computer, I kept getting the little "ding" that tells you the computer has detected a new device or the removal of a device just about every five seconds.

I tried resetting the GPS, losing all my landmarks in the process, but it still does the same thing.

I emailed Garmin and I'm sure that they'll sort it out for me -- at least if all the stories I've heard about their customer service are true -- but in the meantime, I'll be without my GPS for probably three or four days. I hope I can manage to find my way around Ft Morgan (pop: 11,000+/- and I've lived here for 15 1/2 years, so maybe I'll be OK) until it gets back online.

Any suggestions from the peanut gallery?
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I don't know what happened to your GPS but don't sour on Garmin. I've had my GPSMap60GS for 6 years and have sunk it in a lake, dropped it off a cliff....several times. Thrown it at a rock. Thrown it as a rock. Drove it on a bike 700 miles through a hurricane, downloaded or uploaded hundreds, maybe thousands of maps, tracks or routes. It looks like a wadded up piece of aluminum foil and it just keeps on going. It cost me $500 new and $300 for software then another $100 for two different vehicle mounts but it's been one of the greatest electronic values I've ever had the pressure to experience.
 
bish79 said:
Maybe I'm old fashioned ;) but I have never owned a GPS unit and I still have no intentions of owning one. To me it takes the "thrill" out of traveling and feeling self sufficient.

Instead what I do if I am going to a new/unfamiliar place I will study (and I mean STUDY) google maps of the area until most people would have gone insane. I look at street views, alternate routes, places to eat, read the reviews of the places to eat, etc. etc. etc. So far, every time I have gone somewhere new, I feel like I have been there already.

My fiancee is amazed by my determination and ability to retain it all. Also, she was amazed at the months (not kidding, it was months) that I spent planning our trip out to Oregon in 2009. I created an itinerary which included waypoints, places to eat, places where we would need to stop and get gas, bio-breaks, approximate times that we should be hitting certain waypoints so we could keep track if we were ahead or behind schedule, etc.

The best part is, google maps is free. All I ended up buying was a US road atlas and a book called "The Next Exit" ( http://www.thenextexit.com/ ). Plus, I just know that if I had a GPS and relied on it at all, it would quit working in the middle of nowhere and I would be completely lost. Or maybe I just have OCD? :shrug1:
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I use my GPS as a trip computer but moreso I use it to overlay what I've done on to computer map software. Locally, I have a Topo map of my area of Lake Mead the has a spider web of my cris-crossing over peaks and through canyons. I have a full record of my Grand Canyon exploits except for a few I did before GPS that I have never gone back to hike again. And the greatest reason I use one is I now take off in great mazes of canyons and peaks and never fear that I can't find my way back....though I've never used it to find my way back. Best of all, I have thousands of USGS 7.5 and 15 minute maps going back 40 years and I am an orienteering expert and have no real use for a GPS, I just love'm.
 
Dave FL. USA said:
Phil you have the standard avoid options with computer link you can plan a route and I have a Garmin Beta program that adds photos and Sat photos of way points. You can add waypoints manually it is just easier via the trip planning software linked from a computer. There is an easy Mod to the Nuvi 500 550 to add an external audio output posted on-line I have not done it but it should not compromise the water resistance. The Nuvi 550 does not play music it Navigates. My MP3 player plays my music. Total cost including mounts is around $375 for my set-up. I added some photos....
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Nice setup there Dave.
 
Yeah, I really like my magellan ram mount as well. I think I'll end up getting the MCL top clamp with powerlet and ram ball(s).
 
Love the Ram mount stuff and love my Garmin, Igo. They couldn't have been better about helping me through my Global Positioning travail.
 
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