GPS mapping and GPS units you use

**monchopper** · 24th February 2009, 21:09

I'm trying to get an idea of what the most popular mapping software being used and what kind of GPS devices people use.

I currently use Memory map along with the Freshmaps Cadastral to find, research and map new routes. Just wonder what other people use. Does anyone know of a product that has the cadastral (basically shows paper roads) and the topo map in one?

**reofix** · 24th February 2009, 21:16

great ... still a computer though ... so sometimes dumber than a sack of hammers

**Hitcher** · 24th February 2009, 22:11

Use the site search facility to search for such things as Garmin or Tomtom, etc. You'll find that there has been much discussion on this topic before.

Garmin zumo 550 FTW.

**Gremlin** · 25th February 2009, 00:01

Zumo 550, Mapsource, NZ Open GPS Maps.... easy

**NordieBoy** · 25th February 2009, 06:52

Garmin, MapSource, Open GPS NZ Maps, Google Earth, GPSBabel.

I had a play with a Topo of the Nelson area but was too difficult.

**2much** · 25th February 2009, 08:56

The Zumo 550 is old, fat and over priced... check out the Nuvi 550, not perfect, but none of them are. Don't bother with Tomtom

**Hitcher** · 25th February 2009, 09:16

Originally Posted by 2much

The Zumo 550 is old, fat and over priced.

The price is coming down all the time. But I am curious as to your comments about its age and fatness and the issues these appear to be creating for you.

**Finn** · 25th February 2009, 09:21

Are there any compact size GPS units that are rechargeable?

P.S. I bought one of the first Navman GPS units that I want to sell if anyone wants to make an offer...

**2much** · 25th February 2009, 09:51

Originally Posted by Hitcher

The price is coming down all the time. But I am curious as to your comments about its age and fatness and the issues these appear to be creating for you.

It's an old design plain & simple, compare it too any of the current automotive units out there and it's bulky. It's looks like the units of 5-10 years vintage. Perhaps this isn't a problem on a large cruiser/tourer, and if it suits your needs then great.

My personal choice of sportbikes provide less space in the cockpit, therefore the more compact the unit is the better. I also don't like to leave the GPS on the bike (or in the car) and the Nuvi is the size of a wallet, it'll easily fit in your back pocket. The nuvi is designed to be swapped between bike and car (as well as walking, cycling and boating), a feature that I find particularly convenient. All this for €200 cheaper (incl mounting kit) than the Zumo (sorry euro market here but imagine NZ is comparable).

My question to you would be, with the new Nuvi 550 available now, why wouldn't you recommend it over the Zumo at that price? Unless of course you really must have the MP3 player and Bluetooth

**Hitcher** · 25th February 2009, 11:47

The zumo 550's size would on most bikes be a non-issue. It should be located where it can be easily seen and used. There's usually no room in a sportsbike "cockpit" for anything, including the OEM instruments, so that consideration is a bit of a non issue. A nice big easy to view screen comes with space considerations, I guess. Also adding to its "bulk" is the weatherproof mounting bracket. The two combined would probably force a sportsbike rider into having to sit on the pillion seat.

The great thing about the zumo compared to nearly everything else is its weather protection (you don't need to wrap it in cling film in case of rain or get some nutty drop-over cover that means you can't use it). Also a big plus is the easy use of its controls with a gloved finger.

**NordieBoy** · 25th February 2009, 12:02

The Nuvi 550 does look like a good deal but if I was getting a GPS with money no object then the Zumo would be the one.
MP3 and Bluetooth a big+

I would actually go out and get a 2nd hand Quest though.

**Eddieb** · 25th February 2009, 14:39

I have a Garmin Colorado 300 mounted in a RAM mount. It gives a very good amount of screen real estate for a relatively small size, it's fractionally larger than a 60Csx but with probably 40% more screen area and costs about 30% less than a Zumo.

It's waterproof to IpxV7 or whatever the standard is called, does all your routing etc, plus handles off road where the car ones don't tend to so well, and has tons of other features like tide times, area calculations, descent rates, temp etc.

My one problem with it has been a suspect power socket and it's currently with the dealer to get that resolved. I'm not sure if thats a single production run issue or all of them have it. Anecdotally I've heard the first run had a couple of issues like that that have since been resolved.

**Skinny_Birdman** · 25th February 2009, 16:45

Originally Posted by monchopper

I'm trying to get an idea of what the most popular mapping software being used and what kind of GPS devices people use.
Just wonder what other people use. Does anyone know of a product that has the cadastral (basically shows paper roads) and the topo map in one?

The ones already mentioned are probably much cheaper, but we use Terraview Platinum at work (just checked, $1000 per annum for a single license

), which has cadastral boundaries, MS260 topo and street maps and lots of other nice layery things, with the option of high-res aerial photography as an add-on($2000). For navigation we use the Garmin 60CSx, which is smallish and light, but probably a bit limited in functionality for most people's tastes.

Cheers
A

**SPman** · 25th February 2009, 17:36

For the car , we've got a Navig8r....4.3 inch screen, SD card, bluetooth, earphone jack, plays music, videos, etc etc, - $168 from Harvey Normans, with Australia wide map......and a sodding speed limit alert that tells you to slow down when you're 15k over the limit! Apart from that, it works great -
Mst. likes it, though...we're still figuring out how to adapt it to the bike......