Garmin Zumo vs Nuvi?

Zumo's are waterproof and more robust than Nuvi's. That said, I did what you are doing and ran a Nuvi for a year or two with no problems. The Zumo will allow you to download routes made on Basecamp and call up either the route for turn by turn guidance or as a track which simply shows the route and allows you to go astray. In other words, the Zumo gives an advanced user more options. It will also lighten your wallet significantly and that translates to less weight on the bike and faster acceleration. :rofl1:
 
ST-Traveler said:
Zumos are waterproof and can handle shock of being on the bike. They are glove sensitive and have pretty good screens that are not affected by sunlight.
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That's the biggest reason for me. Some will say they don't care if the GPS is waterproof or not because they will never ride in the rain. I can't tell you how many rides I've taken where the weather didn't cooperate ...and that's in May and June.

When I was planning my post-retirement ride, I was trying to make a car GPS work. I gave up. I had visions of trying to work out the route on the side of the road somewhere, spending more time doing that than riding.

Chris
 
Daboo said:
That's the biggest reason for me. Some will say they don't care if the GPS is waterproof or not because they will never ride in the rain. I can't tell you how many rides I've taken where the weather didn't cooperate ...and that's in May and June.
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Mine is suction-cupped to the bottom-center of my windshield with an extra-long ball mount. I would have to be moving backward for rain to hit it.

When I was planning my post-retirement ride, I was trying to make a car GPS work. I gave up. I had visions of trying to work out the route on the side of the road somewhere, spending more time doing that than riding.
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When planning a trip, I'll enter each destination before starting out. Even if I alter routes, each stop is saved in Recent places, and can be selected easily.
 
Another Nuvi user here- I do carry a big quart size ziploc to cover it in the rain.
Generally, if it rains, I remove it and put it in the l/h side glovebox, and use my iPhone, which is waterproof.
The Zumos ARE nice, but hard to justify the coin.
 
I had a 1490T that I used for 3 - 4 seasons until I drop it and cracked the case......... Have had a 2555LMT for 4 - 5 years and it works well on a RAM mount. I download GPX files to it and then Trip Planner imports each file and creates a route. I use a sandwich size baggie to protect it from driving rain as required, which is seldom.

I got both units as refurbs and they are great value where compared to the cost of a Zumo.
 
I used a 7" Nuvi for several years. Just put a plastic bag over it with a rubber band when I had to ride in the rain. It worked but made reading the screen a bit harder in the rain.

Now I use the onboard GPS and Android Auto to navigate.

JohnConner
:bluegw:

:usflag1:
 
Not true that all Nuvi units are not waterproof. I used a Nuvi 550 for many years. Sometimes in torrential rains. It was the same waterproof spec (IP67) as all the other Zumo units at the time. I think the spec was improved to IP68 now. Only that last number is how waterproof something is. The number before that is solids penetration like dust, grit and sand, etc. The Nuvi 550 was also made for motorcycle riding and worked well with gloves and would upload routes. But mine was not BT. Zumo units have more features, and the price to go with, like BT, phone connectivity and control, music storage and playback, etc. Some Zumo units also have special mc specific options for controlling routes like curvy roads, Rt 66, and some others.

I replaced my computer with a Chromebook and need nothing more than that... except for Garmin updates. Maps were getting too big to fit the entire USA on my Nuvi 550. I could only get a portion of the Midwest. So I sold it and decided to exclusively use my Pixel cell phone. It is also IP68 waterproof. Only issue I've found is that if it rains really hard sometimes the rain drops get interpreted by the touch screen as finger touches. I haven't decided what to do about that. But I've gone swimming with it before with no problem (less than 1 meter deep for maybe 15 minutes before I realized it was in my pocket). I've learned how to manage with Google Maps limitations for how many stop points per route. Many Waze features have been added to Google Maps Navigate since Google bought them so most of the navigation features of a dedicated GPS unit are included like posted speed limit, actual speed, lane assist, warnings about upcoming speed traps, gas stations along the route, etc. No more need to update maps. And I can download maps for my entire trip locally to my phone so I don't need a cell signal, only the same GPS satellite signal any other GPS uses.
 
I used Nuvi’s for many years. Put a small piece of tape over any orifices to keep out rain. Had the screen on one freeze on me so I did a little experiment. Put it in a bucket of water to see how long it would stay on until shorting out. Made it over 30 minutes. Impressive.

Greg
 
That one's not bad and good price. Map updates are via WiFi so no need to have any certain computer or program to do it.
 
Daboo said:
$249 for a Zumo 396 is hard to justify? And that is new, not refurbished.

Chris
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I paid 72$ for my Nuvi, 10 years ago. Lifetime maps, I update it every quarter. So , yes, $249 is more than I need to spend on something that has no more utility than my present unit.
According to my calculations, that's 177$ more for gas......
 
rjs987 said:
Not true that all Nuvi units are not waterproof. I used a Nuvi 550 for many years. Sometimes in torrential rains. It was the same waterproof spec (IP67) as all the other Zumo units at the time. I think the spec was improved to IP68 now. Only that last number is how waterproof something is. The number before that is solids penetration like dust, grit and sand, etc. The Nuvi 550 was also made for motorcycle riding and worked well with gloves and would upload routes. But mine was not BT. Zumo units have more features, and the price to go with, like BT, phone connectivity and control, music storage and playback, etc. Some Zumo units also have special mc specific options for controlling routes like curvy roads, Rt 66, and some others.

I replaced my computer with a Chromebook and need nothing more than that... except for Garmin updates. Maps were getting too big to fit the entire USA on my Nuvi 550. I could only get a portion of the Midwest. So I sold it and decided to exclusively use my Pixel cell phone. It is also IP68 waterproof. Only issue I've found is that if it rains really hard sometimes the rain drops get interpreted by the touch screen as finger touches. I haven't decided what to do about that. But I've gone swimming with it before with no problem (less than 1 meter deep for maybe 15 minutes before I realized it was in my pocket). I've learned how to manage with Google Maps limitations for how many stop points per route. Many Waze features have been added to Google Maps Navigate since Google bought them so most of the navigation features of a dedicated GPS unit are included like posted speed limit, actual speed, lane assist, warnings about upcoming speed traps, gas stations along the route, etc. No more need to update maps. And I can download maps for my entire trip locally to my phone so I don't need a cell signal, only the same GPS satellite signal any other GPS uses.
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I used a Nuvi 550 for years as well. Finally got tired of the dreaded "lost external power" message due to the flaky mini-usb power interface. Bit the bullet and went with a Zumo and a 276cx
 
Larry Fine said:
Mine is suction-cupped to the bottom-center of my windshield with an extra-long ball mount. I would have to be moving backward for rain to hit it.
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Sorry, I just can't let that sit there because it's so wrong. You obviously haven't ridden in the rain much. Rain water goes in all directions and gets everywhere on a bike, depending on wind, traffic, trucks, windshield, etc. Nothing under the windscreen stays dry for long. And there's that big hole at the bottom of the ST11 windscreen to consider.

Regarding Nuvi vs Zumo, I believe a waterproof GPS is worth it. I've had several Nuvis and they worked well until they got wet. I was able to dry them out once in a food dehydrator, but eventually they both died. I even 'waterproofed' one with silicone on the screen edges and packing tape over all the holes on the back. I thought it was pretty sealed up, but several hours of riding in a pretty heavy rain damaged the display permanently. I ended up getting a Zumo 396 LMT-S when they were selling for about $250 when the new XT came out. I also have a Chinese waterproof GPS that works well.
 
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