Garmin 590

jonjonboo said:
You can't go wrong with a Garmin nuvi 500
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Agree if you can find one at a good price. You can get a Zumo 660 for $309 these days, so I don't think I'd pay more than $150 or so for a Nuvi. 660 has alot more bells and whistles AND a larger screen.
 
kendoo said:
Agree if you can find one at a good price. You can get a Zumo 660 for $309 these days, so I don't think I'd pay more than $150 or so for a Nuvi. 660 has alot more bells and whistles AND a larger screen.
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You could a couple weeks ago, but now I am finding the 660's for $340 to $350. You can get refurbs for $309 on ebay.
 
jonjonboo said:
I also bought a new 660lm but he wants a nuvi cheap without bluetooth
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I just got a 660LM this week. What did you do with all those mic, speaker, and USB cables on the wiring harness? I just want the power supply hard wired for the mount. That cabling is going to be a pain/mess to hide under the left inner cowl.
 
I have the same on the 590 harness. I routed the USB up to my left handlebar. I plan to power my 2nd gps off that for use in rallies. All the audio and mic connections I just zip tied under the seat by the lower gas tank. I don't plan to use those. I agree though, it would be nice to be able to disconnect what you don't plan to use versus trying to hide everything.
 
Ken, that is a great idea using USB for secondary unit power. I just picked up another 660 for a backup and was not looking forward to installing a second hardware mount. And I was already adding to my USB ports anyway. I don't care what they say about you, you're a good man! ;)
 
jonjonboo said:
since the Zumo 660lm wire harness comes out the right side of GPS, I ran the harness down the right handle bar (zip tied) and brought the harness forward of steering neck. Then zip tied the bundle of wires and cables to the left cowling frame tube. It is tight but it fits in there with al the other mod wires I already had routed there. Good luck
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That's pretty much what I ended up doing. Although I had the power hooked into the accessory harness using a Hitachi connector. I filled the mic and headset outlets with dielectric grease. Left the USB outlet alone since it was covered. What a mess!
 
jabbott said:
Ken, that is a great idea using USB for secondary unit power. I just picked up another 660 for a backup and was not looking forward to installing a second hardware mount. And I was already adding to my USB ports anyway. I don't care what they say about you, you're a good man! ;)
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Not often I get a good idea Jim, I usually do things the long/hard way. LOL
 
My Zumo 550 bricked today when I tried to update the maps :censored. I'm pretty sure It's pooched. I can't get it to boot up past the initial start screen, It won't soft reset, It won't master reset, I've tried reloading firmware, it won't reload maps, and Garmin no longer will even entertain fixing the old girl. So... the 590LM is the comparable replacement but $800 is pretty steep. Has anyone gotten 20% off from Garmin on the 590 lately with a dead 550 "trade in"? I'm going to call Garmin Tech support Monday and see if they can offer any type of help but if my trusty "Lola" is truly gone for good, I'd like to know what my odds are of Garmin giving me a deal on a new unit. Otherwise, Amazon seems to have the best price of $789.
 
Have you considered the 660? It cam be had for around $330. Or the 665 is now selling for around $450.
 
Landon said:
Have you considered the 660? It cam be had for around $330. Or the 665 is now selling for around $450.
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I have... The problem is, I watched a bunch of youtube videos on the 590 including some explaining why you need to upgrade from the 665 to the 590... Other than that, it bothers me that it has been discontinued. I bought my 550 brand new just before they stopped making them and while admittedly, that was many years ago, it still sucks that now I have an expensive paper weight. (I do realize this will also be true of the 590 one day) I am definitely much more agreeable to the price of the 665... looks like I have some more thinking to do. A lot will depend on if Garmin will give me a discount, 20% off MSRP for the 590 is $640. While still an outrageous amount, much better than 8 bills! It also doesn't help that I have my annual Florida trip coming up in another week and whatever I decide, it needs to be in the mail and on its way here now!
 
Slasher said:
I have... The problem is, I watched a bunch of youtube videos on the 590 including some explaining why you need to upgrade from the 665 to the 590... Other than that, it bothers me that it has been discontinued. I bought my 550 brand new just before they stopped making them and while admittedly, that was many years ago, it still sucks that now I have an expensive paper weight. (I do realize this will also be true of the 590 one day) I am definitely much more agreeable to the price of the 665... looks like I have some more thinking to do. A lot will depend on if Garmin will give me a discount, 20% off MSRP for the 590 is $640. While still an outrageous amount, much better than 8 bills! It also doesn't help that I have my annual Florida trip coming up in another week and whatever I decide, it needs to be in the mail and on its way here now!
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I have a 450 that you can borrow for your Florida trip if you wish, it will give you some more thinking time so you don't have to make a rushed decision. I am over just north of Louisville.
 
Landon said:
I have a 450 that you can borrow for your Florida trip if you wish, it will give you some more thinking time so you don't have to make a rushed decision. I am over just north of Louisville.
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That is an awesome offer Landon, Thank you! However, I may have made my plight seem a little more dramatic than it really is. I actually have another Zumo 550 that, for now, is still working as it should. I will admit that I am a little terrified to attempt a map update on it though! I have gotten spoiled with the redundancy of two GPS's and have actually had to switch to the back up on occasion when the main locked up or whatever. So... while ideally I'd like to have two GPS's for Florida, I do still have one that should get me through if I don't get another by then. I should remember how helpful the members of this forum are before I go off on a "woe is me" rant next time!
 
Slasher said:
That is an awesome offer Landon, Thank you! However, I may have made my plight seem a little more dramatic than it really is. I actually have another Zumo 550 that, for now, is still working as it should. I will admit that I am a little terrified to attempt a map update on it though! I have gotten spoiled with the redundancy of two GPS's and have actually had to switch to the back up on occasion when the main locked up or whatever. So... while ideally I'd like to have two GPS's for Florida, I do still have one that should get me through if I don't get another by then. I should remember how helpful the members of this forum are before I go off on a "woe is me" rant next time!
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No problem. I only have the one GPS, but I sure have been considering picking up a 660 for my primary and the carry the 450 for a backup. I worry that the 450 will decide to crap out in the middle of a rally.
 
Sorry to hear about your 550 Don. I recently purchased a 590. I'm pretty happy with it for the most part. I just can't seem to get a decent ETA out of it. I understand it needs to "learn" my riding style but it's still way off with 1000 miles on it. In fact it gives me an ETA slower than google for the same roads. I've checked all the settings and can't seem to find anything that would cause this.
 
kendoo said:
Sorry to hear about your 550 Don. I recently purchased a 590. I'm pretty happy with it for the most part. I just can't seem to get a decent ETA out of it. I understand it needs to "learn" my riding style but it's still way off with 1000 miles on it. In fact it gives me an ETA slower than google for the same roads. I've checked all the settings and can't seem to find anything that would cause this.
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That is disappointing, I live by the ETA box on BBG rides! You can put speeds into basecamp but, at least on the 550, those speeds didn't transfer with the route. The 550 would recalculate the route as soon as it imported it and assign its own speeds. The 590 actually knows the speed limit versus assigning generic speeds based on road types so you'd think it would be more accurate.
 
Slasher said:
That is disappointing, I live by the ETA box on BBG rides! You can put speeds into basecamp but, at least on the 550, those speeds didn't transfer with the route. The 550 would recalculate the route as soon as it imported it and assign its own speeds. The 590 actually knows the speed limit versus assigning generic speeds based on road types so you'd think it would be more accurate.
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My Nuvi 550 shows like 90K miles on it. I never reset because I don't want it to lose any data. It "knows" I will be going 7-10 over and calculates accordingly. VERY handy for rallying. Not sure how others handle the difference between speed limit and actual, as you know with a BBG and rallies, its a game of minutes. I'm hoping this 590 will get more accurate with time.
 
Gizmo said:
Good memory! It hasn't met my expectations as I cannot load a route onto it. Very frustrating!
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**WARNING - Slight Thread Hijack - Got Gizzy going on downloading a route and it works fine. The problem was not the GPS, but GPSBabel (freeware) and a MS Streets and Trips issue. The lastest version of GPSBabel does not convert .EST to .KML and there were a bunch of waypoints in his MS S&T template. The new 5" Chinavasion running Primo is pretty slick - I love the 'discard waypoint' option. IGO8 and PRIMO are about the only GPS software I know that the interface can be customized (lots of skins out there). $135 + $45 for software for a waterproof, glove friendly (even Gerbing heated T5s) motorcycle GPS with a one year warranty ain't a bad deal. ;-) These units use .KML as routes (Google Maps), so you can actually plan routes there, or pick your own favorite mapping software, use GPSBabel to convert to .KML and go that route. Just another option if you are just wanting GPS functionality.
 
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UP was very kind and helpful in getting to the root of the issue! I was more than a little surprised to discover I needed an older version of GPS Babel to handle the file conversion...but once that was determined it was easy. Now I get to try using my Rage as a back-up to the trusty Nuvi 765 I've been using for 100,000+ kms. I look forward to that.

Great forum / people, eh?
 
Gotta keep your eyes open for UP. Before you know it, you just got the big bear hug and you're cured for a long time.:rx1::rx1::STOC:
 
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