Sat nav novice here and rubbish at tech stuff. Which is easiest for me to set up and use, montana, garmin 660, tom tom rider? Don't want endless hours downloading and trying to sort complicated set up problems. Thanks

To get a better concensus, could you please provide a bit more info?
A lot depends on:
- what do you want it for? aka postcode to postcode or a real need for accuracy/reliability and so on
- your budget
- your willingness to learn navigation!

I have been using Garmin units on foot, in boats, 4x4's, in aircraft, on bikes and even on a camel for a short while! for more years than I can almost remember and recommend them. It is the most reliable brand in terms of quality of build and service back up-
They offer a very wide variety of units to suit many needs-
I am currently using the Montana 600 and the 62S

I'm not far from you so if you need help, drop me a pm

Thanks Bertrand, I want it for touring in Europe. I'm an excellent map reader, but terrible with IT. All help very gratefully appreciated.

I love paper maps too and can spend hours looking over them.

To give you an idea of how I use a GPS.
I use a Garmin Zūmo 550, mounted in a cradle and mounted to bike with a RAM mount.

What I found is I like is to be able to hear the directions from the GPS as this allows me to keep my eyes where they should be and not distracted on the GPS. I have a stereo headset with mic in the helmet to hear.

I did this last year while traversing larger cities just to get through and out to the other side and was so much more pleasurable to ride than having to watch busy traffic and watch a GPS screen.

I am techy, (read: way too techy) and what I am doing over these past weeks is to look over the OSM maps rather than the maps Garmin maps as I prefer to support open source where I can, plus the OSM maps, I find fantastic. I am downloading the latest OSM maps for the areas I will travel this year. So this year I will set it up for both, visual and audio navigation. Plus the Zūmo will be connected to the Android phone via Bluethooth.

Some people have taken to trying out using a smartphone for navigation, is this something that attracts you?
I use the smartypantsphone as a backup, not for primary navigation as the GPS electronics is not as good as what you will get in a dedicated GPS unit, though still, it does work, albeit with less speed and sensitivity.

So, in addition to what Bertrand says, have you had any experience with GPS navigation before? Would you be prepared to to spend a few hours to learn their capabilities to gain the maximum benefit out of using a GPS.

I don't know anything on TomTom, just Garmin and navigation apps on Android, which Bertrand is also playing around with I believe.

The Montana is a newer unit and I believe can store multiple maps on it, whereas the Zūmo 550 and 660 series can only store one map in their internal memory plus one additional map on the SD card. If you buy Garmin, I guess you will get the European maps pre-installed. Garmin charges a fee for map updates. A reason I have moved to using OSM maps. The map for Europe/UK from Garmin is one map.
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Paul

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For touring about within western Europe, set up instantly without all the interfacing with OSM or whatever, I have found my second hand, ancient Tom Tom to be more user friendly than my second hand Nuvi Garmin. It is also faster at doing its work.

However, I was brought up on map reading so all this electronic gadgetry doesn't really do much for me - sometimes I use a gps to find a place in a new-to-me city/town/other location over the last leg of the journey - maybe the last few 100 metres, or thereabouts.

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Dave

Hi folks, new to the community,have found a lot of info on nav from chris Scott and his books. We are visiting Morocco and would like to use cheap car based garmin and load it up with Olaf system but am worried about glitchy interface problems were not bothered by voice commands and ithe ability to see when your chewing gum will expire. Can you guys confirm that phone systems are not up to the job(pity) we want to reduce the theft risk as well. We have ordered the Michelin map and I will laminate it. All help appreciated. We are in south London so maybe an educational visit would be possible if any of you guys are near?

It depends on which cheap car based system you ate using. Most are not weather proof, and probably not very vibration resistant.

I'm using a Streetpilot 2820, which is weatherproof and which I've loaded non-Garmin maps to for touring Asia. But they were in the Garmin format.

That's an older model, but they often come up on eBay. The sticker with any car based GPS is finding a suitable mount that can take the pounding a bike gives especially on rough roads.

I've had mine from new, so the mounting hardware was easy to find.

The system has most mod cons including bluetooth, voice output and so on.

I've used a phone to navigate before, but that was an older Windows phone running Garmin software loaded on a card. If you go this route you will need a waterproof and vibration isolating housing, as well as sorting out the software / map choices.

Still probably the best unit I've tried is the Montana series. Expensive, but rugged, multipurpose, two battery options, map flexibility, easy to use, decent-sized screen and a lot more.
You can use it for marine/boating, outdoor and automotive purposes.

You may save a few hundred going with a cheap car unit, but once you sort out the mounting system and potential replacement due to rugged conditions, the savings may not be as much as expected.
And most of them are limited to vehicle use.


Sent from my chinaphone excuse the spelling

Your header of "same problem" is not exactly the case; the OP refers to western Europe as the geographic area of interest.
You will be aware that Chris S has used more than one Garmin in Morocco, including a Nuvi.

For your general statement about phone systems, there are earlier threads in here about that subject - both the hardware and software considerations - such as this one:-
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...armin-et-63191
Opinions vary, but there are plenty of people navigating by use of smartphones,

to the HUBB with your first post by the way.

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Dave

???
My 2 GPS work anywhere, no matter what vehicle they are mounted upon.
Maybe this refers to the power supply?

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Dave

When seriously playing around with navigation Garmin (OSM) is always your best friend. (Be prepared to learn - a lot.)
When driving around europe on tarmac, TomTom will get you there every time. Simple, easy, reliable.

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Our website: tenhoope.net
Not all those who wander are lost. Usually, however, I am...

Correct. My 2820 has no battery, like most car GPS units . The Montana comes with a proprietary rechargeable, and AAs can also be used.

If you swap vehicle, go hiking, catch public transport or whatever, a battery option is very nice to have.


Sent from my Android chinaphone, please excuse the spelling

Thanks to you guys for your advice and options. The bike specific option would be nice but I don't feel too confident buying stuff second hand that I know little about. I think I will take a punt on a cheapie and get a waterproof case for it. The mounting system I can metalwork up in workshop and if it dies within three months then so be it. I navigate a boat happily off charts and hand compass so have some idea how to get home. I will keep hunting around. Do any of you know if the Samsung galaxy is any good as a nav device as my phone is due for renewal. May the Hubb be with you!
Jon.

Just looked on the link above and found it all very interesting. I'm still finding my way around the site and a lot of the abbreviations are confusing. But we press on relentless.

Hi, My first posting on HU! Been meaning to do it for a long time!!

I gave up on my Zumo 550 after three years of problems with navigating glitches and memory problems. Garmin were pretty helpful but I decided last month to try out the new TomTom Rider. It is pretty user friendly but the big downside is the fading out of the screen in bright light...something the Zumo never really suffered from.

Welcome JayEss,
I wonder what you have done with your old Zumo 550 then?
Not in a box collecting dust I hope :confused1:
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Paul

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