I looked and looked but couldnt find one. It would have been a nice way to do it but 'the chicken is interested in the egg, the pig is committed to the bacon.'
So it is what it is for this bike....
New Garmin Zumo XT
- Thread starter bdalameda
- Start date
So it is what it is for this bike....
Michael - thanks for the suggestion. Its in there with a nut on the other side and some locktite but I will keep an eye on it for sure.
The Cheese
Anybody here with a 660lm get an XT? Regret it? Thoughts on how the two compare? Thinking of replacing my 660lm with an XT.
Even if you didn't have a previous GPS I'd like to hear what you think of the XT.
Might even get a 595lm to have tpms and replaceable battery. I know there are stand alone tpms systems. Please don't recommend any. Not worth it to me to install yet another gadget. Heck, I'm running out of room as is.
Thanks
Even if you didn't have a previous GPS I'd like to hear what you think of the XT.
Might even get a 595lm to have tpms and replaceable battery. I know there are stand alone tpms systems. Please don't recommend any. Not worth it to me to install yet another gadget. Heck, I'm running out of room as is.
Thanks
I had a 595LM till it departed from the bike, so I'm familiar with that. Bought a TomTom Rider 550 to replace it; I'll be returning it tomorrow. Bought the Garmin Zumo XT to replace it. Buy the XT.
Don't buy the 595LM.
Chris
Don't buy the 595LM.
Chris
jfheath
John Heath
I've had the 550, 660, 590 (with which I have dabbled with 595 software) and I have the XT.
For sheer usability, the 660 was (in my opinion) the best of them. By that, I mean that the way that it navigated and how it behaved when going off route, was so much more predictable. As long as you returned to the magenta route, it didn't care that you didn't ride through every single route point. It just got on with it and directed you from there. The battery lasted for hours, and it had a speaker in the unit itself, which made setting it up in the comfort of you armchair very easy. But it had its foibles. Figure-of-8-routes could be interesting if you were not paying attention, especially if the cross over point shared the same section of road. It would happily navigate you down either direction. Turn back and take the other direction and it would happily navigate you along that. It caught a lot of people out.
My 660 used to require a reboot every now and then on the route - the map would not redraw - I knew when it was about to do this - it would start to go slow, as if it had run out of memory. Resetting it would solve the problem, until the next time. One thing you will notice with any of the later units, is the speed of the processing.
The 590, 595 and XT will not work reliably with Mapsource. You would need to make the move to Basecamp. But that is not the big issue that it was when I had my 660, when Basecamp was really bad (my opinion). And there are lots of on line videos to help nowadays.
The 590, 595 and XT all have the Trip Planner App, and this does things very differently from the way that the 660 operated. When I moved to the 590 from the 660, it was a choice. I traded the 660 in with Garmin, and for a few weeks I regretted it. Seriously. I really thought that I had just thrown away a few hundred pounds. The 590 didn't behave as I expected. I hated it. But once I worked out what it was doing, everything became predictable again - but it was a very steep learning curve.
The 590/595 has a few serious gotchas which will make you believe that buying it was a bad move - but once aware, you can make them work for you. I like the wiring that comes with the 590/5 - but I liked wired communication. It has power, mike in, sound out, USB charger, all long enough to reach towards the rear of the bike. But serious flaws are the changeable battery. It has never had much of a life when away from a power supply. 20 minutes - often much less, after which it dims the screen to the point where it is often unreadable. I've recently changed the battery with a new one from Garmin, That was better, but it still doesn't give much time to do things with. It doesn't have a speaker, so testing out phone connections and music and volumes is impossible unless wired in. And the screen is not very bright. You have to remember to check the brightness setting, but it is a weak point.
Although the 595 has some better features, it is essentially the same unit - and indeed the software for the 595 will work in the 590. Some versions of the 595 do not allow it to be used in portrait orientation. I think this may be a regional variation, reading the manuals. I have never felt the need for tyre pressure monitors - not at those prices anyway, so that would not be an issue for me.
The XT has its software very much developed from the 595, but improves on much of it, and takes away some of the annoying features. Currently the XT has a few things which make it behave oddly, but they keep updating the software to address those.
It has no wired connections, other than a power lead. Everything is done by Bluetooth - which means if you have rider/pillion communication, you may well be restricted to what connections are made between the Zumo and the rider / pillion devices. I have a Bluetooth module which plugs into my wired autocom, and that makes all of the connections for us. The XT continues to offer the smartphone links for phone calls, music, traffic and weather data that was present in the 59x series, and that set up works well. It seems to be capable of getting traffic date through the power lead, as well as from the smartphone, but I haven't experimented with that yet.
But the big plus points with the XT - the battery life away from power is almost as good as the 660 was. The screen is large and it really is very bright and clear, and it introduces some additional mapping displays - which include satellite (birds eye view) imagery. It removes the start of route hassle of the 590 and 595. Odd screen display could result in selecting the wrong start point of a route which would end up with you following a different route from the one that you plotted. That feature still exists, but more prominent is a new option to start from the closest point of the plotted magenta route from wherever you are. It now seems to do an excellent job of finding this - although you need to ensure you update the software as soon as you get the unit as the first two releases did not get this right at all. It talks to Garmin by Wifi - for updating software and maps - but not for transferring routes, unfortunately - not that I have found anyway. That is still done by wired USB connection.
The 590/595 were very robust in construction having a rubberised surround that protected the screen. Drop a 59x and it bounces. The XT has the appearance of a smartphone design. The screen is very close to the edge. Maybe Garmin have designed the case using shock absorbent materials - but my personal feeling is that I really wouldn't want to drop this at the side of the road.
I think the XT is well worth getting - but moving from the 660 to any of the 590, 595 or XT, you will have the same steep learning curve to climb. But really, once you have the idea of how the basic routing points behave, you have cracked the main issues. Personally, with the XT now available, I wouldn't give the 590s a second glance - it is cheaper for a start, and (apart from the pressure sensors) offers much more. I still have my 590 / 595 depending which software I have on it - and I am putting the XT through its paces, so it is not actually fitted to the bike yet. I have discovered a few oddities, reported a few issues which have since been addressed, and noticed a few other things - which it turned out also existed on the 590 and 595, but I never noticed. Must be the brighter screen !
Read this - the pdf attached to the first post. I wrote it for the 590 and 595, but the first two sections are broadly relevant to the XT. It also contains some links to Basecamp videos which illustrate some of the routing features.
www.st-owners.com
For sheer usability, the 660 was (in my opinion) the best of them. By that, I mean that the way that it navigated and how it behaved when going off route, was so much more predictable. As long as you returned to the magenta route, it didn't care that you didn't ride through every single route point. It just got on with it and directed you from there. The battery lasted for hours, and it had a speaker in the unit itself, which made setting it up in the comfort of you armchair very easy. But it had its foibles. Figure-of-8-routes could be interesting if you were not paying attention, especially if the cross over point shared the same section of road. It would happily navigate you down either direction. Turn back and take the other direction and it would happily navigate you along that. It caught a lot of people out.
My 660 used to require a reboot every now and then on the route - the map would not redraw - I knew when it was about to do this - it would start to go slow, as if it had run out of memory. Resetting it would solve the problem, until the next time. One thing you will notice with any of the later units, is the speed of the processing.
The 590, 595 and XT will not work reliably with Mapsource. You would need to make the move to Basecamp. But that is not the big issue that it was when I had my 660, when Basecamp was really bad (my opinion). And there are lots of on line videos to help nowadays.
The 590, 595 and XT all have the Trip Planner App, and this does things very differently from the way that the 660 operated. When I moved to the 590 from the 660, it was a choice. I traded the 660 in with Garmin, and for a few weeks I regretted it. Seriously. I really thought that I had just thrown away a few hundred pounds. The 590 didn't behave as I expected. I hated it. But once I worked out what it was doing, everything became predictable again - but it was a very steep learning curve.
The 590/595 has a few serious gotchas which will make you believe that buying it was a bad move - but once aware, you can make them work for you. I like the wiring that comes with the 590/5 - but I liked wired communication. It has power, mike in, sound out, USB charger, all long enough to reach towards the rear of the bike. But serious flaws are the changeable battery. It has never had much of a life when away from a power supply. 20 minutes - often much less, after which it dims the screen to the point where it is often unreadable. I've recently changed the battery with a new one from Garmin, That was better, but it still doesn't give much time to do things with. It doesn't have a speaker, so testing out phone connections and music and volumes is impossible unless wired in. And the screen is not very bright. You have to remember to check the brightness setting, but it is a weak point.
Although the 595 has some better features, it is essentially the same unit - and indeed the software for the 595 will work in the 590. Some versions of the 595 do not allow it to be used in portrait orientation. I think this may be a regional variation, reading the manuals. I have never felt the need for tyre pressure monitors - not at those prices anyway, so that would not be an issue for me.
The XT has its software very much developed from the 595, but improves on much of it, and takes away some of the annoying features. Currently the XT has a few things which make it behave oddly, but they keep updating the software to address those.
It has no wired connections, other than a power lead. Everything is done by Bluetooth - which means if you have rider/pillion communication, you may well be restricted to what connections are made between the Zumo and the rider / pillion devices. I have a Bluetooth module which plugs into my wired autocom, and that makes all of the connections for us. The XT continues to offer the smartphone links for phone calls, music, traffic and weather data that was present in the 59x series, and that set up works well. It seems to be capable of getting traffic date through the power lead, as well as from the smartphone, but I haven't experimented with that yet.
But the big plus points with the XT - the battery life away from power is almost as good as the 660 was. The screen is large and it really is very bright and clear, and it introduces some additional mapping displays - which include satellite (birds eye view) imagery. It removes the start of route hassle of the 590 and 595. Odd screen display could result in selecting the wrong start point of a route which would end up with you following a different route from the one that you plotted. That feature still exists, but more prominent is a new option to start from the closest point of the plotted magenta route from wherever you are. It now seems to do an excellent job of finding this - although you need to ensure you update the software as soon as you get the unit as the first two releases did not get this right at all. It talks to Garmin by Wifi - for updating software and maps - but not for transferring routes, unfortunately - not that I have found anyway. That is still done by wired USB connection.
The 590/595 were very robust in construction having a rubberised surround that protected the screen. Drop a 59x and it bounces. The XT has the appearance of a smartphone design. The screen is very close to the edge. Maybe Garmin have designed the case using shock absorbent materials - but my personal feeling is that I really wouldn't want to drop this at the side of the road.
I think the XT is well worth getting - but moving from the 660 to any of the 590, 595 or XT, you will have the same steep learning curve to climb. But really, once you have the idea of how the basic routing points behave, you have cracked the main issues. Personally, with the XT now available, I wouldn't give the 590s a second glance - it is cheaper for a start, and (apart from the pressure sensors) offers much more. I still have my 590 / 595 depending which software I have on it - and I am putting the XT through its paces, so it is not actually fitted to the bike yet. I have discovered a few oddities, reported a few issues which have since been addressed, and noticed a few other things - which it turned out also existed on the 590 and 595, but I never noticed. Must be the brighter screen !
Read this - the pdf attached to the first post. I wrote it for the 590 and 595, but the first two sections are broadly relevant to the XT. It also contains some links to Basecamp videos which illustrate some of the routing features.
Article - Zumo 590 & 595 Trip Planner & Basecamp - What Goes Wrong and Why | Articles
A detailed analysis of how the later Zumos (with the Trip Planner App) work together. This is the result of many hours of working out how my Zumo 590 and 595 behave with routes created in Basecamp and results in some recommendations for trouble free route planning. The on-line Issuu version...
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jfheath
John Heath
Two answers to that question.
1) Assuming you have auto recalc turned on, and you keep the same route running: If you deviate from the planned route while navigating, all Zumos will find a new way to get you from where you are now to the next point on the route - whether that is an alerting Via point or a non alerting shaping point.
If auto recalc is turned off, the magenta route stays where it is and the satnav goes quiet until you rejoin it at some point. When you do, if you have missed only shaping points, it doesn't care about those. It takes you to the next point on the route. If you have missed via points it will try to take you back to them. I believe that it will try to take you to the first missed Via Point if you have missed a few of them, but I haven't tested this. The 590 has a skip button for such occasions. The 595 and the XT also have a skip button, but they also automatically display a prompt if you ignore the instruction to go back more than once - asking if you want to skip the missed point and it displays the name of the point - which is a big help.
2) The XT has a new feature. If you Stop the route and then restart it, it will ask where do you want to go to next, and lists all if the alerting Via points ( but not shaping points) from which to choose - just like the 590 and 595. But the XT adds another option. Closest Entry Point. This finds the part if the magenta route which is closest to your current position, takes you to it, and navigates the route from there. You need to update the software for it to work correctly though, but this seems to work very well from the tests I have done.
Note that my 595 and the XT currently have a glitch. If I change a Via point to a Shaping point on the Zumo itself, it may move the point to a slightly different location with a new name, which will affect the route. I doubt the feature is used very much, but I have reported it to Garmin and they have acknowledged receipt.
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Just an FYI, some folks in Europe found a hack for the 590/595 where you can modify the display theme, darkening lines (roads), switching colours, or background. However, you can also play with the stock themes, I'm not totally sure which one I switched to (Finlandia?) but it does improve the contrast.
As for the battery, there was another fix where one has to remove and modify the battery connector to get a better connection... for those who couldn't seem to keep it charged. But yes, you got about 15 minutes on battery power only due to the increased needs of the much faster processor that previous models lacked.
As for the battery, there was another fix where one has to remove and modify the battery connector to get a better connection... for those who couldn't seem to keep it charged. But yes, you got about 15 minutes on battery power only due to the increased needs of the much faster processor that previous models lacked.
ST1100Y
Site Supporter
Damn... why does it not just acknowledge that I'm already on the route (or re-entering, like due roadworks/detour/overnight/stop) and continue the routing (as planned in MapSource by me and loaded onto it), instead of running bezerk and sending the user into a Sudoku of fat-fingering way-point listings... ?!!
amorley
Site Supporter
My new Garmin XT arrived!
Very first impressions after initial setup with Garmin Express and Basecamp
Positive
- Very nice display
Negative
- Basecamp on my Mac would not recognize the Zumo XT, but on my PC it would. Garmin Express on the Mac recognizes the XT
- The motorcycle mount has no lock to secure the Zumo XT to mount, just a latch. I am going to have to add a safety lanyard.
First experience with the Zumo XT will be on a drive to Virginia Beach later this month.
Very first impressions after initial setup with Garmin Express and Basecamp
Positive
- Very nice display
Negative
- Basecamp on my Mac would not recognize the Zumo XT, but on my PC it would. Garmin Express on the Mac recognizes the XT
- The motorcycle mount has no lock to secure the Zumo XT to mount, just a latch. I am going to have to add a safety lanyard.
First experience with the Zumo XT will be on a drive to Virginia Beach later this month.
ST1100Y
Site Supporter
There you go:
Nice and slim (compared to those Touratech Transformers)...
jfheath
John Heath
Damn... why does it not just acknowledge that I'm already on the route (or re-entering, like due roadworks/detour/overnight/stop) and continue the routing (as planned in MapSource by me and loaded onto it), instead of running bezerk and sending the user into a Sudoku of fat-fingering way-point listings... ?!!
It will. I was referring to when starting to ride a route.
But if you happen to stop the route in mid ride, the closest entry point is exactly what you need to continue it from wherever you happen to be.
Beware mapsource routes in these later devices. Mapsource uses route points before the ones used by the trip planner app were invented. There will be times when it will fail to recognise The point in question.
Waypoints are the favourites - which may or may not be part of a route.
ST1100Y
Site Supporter
Normally you cannot decipher what's "the closest entry point" within the list of gobbledygook displayed (played that routine on a friend's Zumo 340 just yesterday, also with zero success...), and on my ancient Garmin Quest-I I don't need to fumble with anything, I just call up the route, select [start navigation], and head on... once my vehicle threads into the bearing line/road it's on, the satnav prompts me like nothing happened...
Far more: I can even search and navigate to gas stations or accommodation while the route is active and running, once this diviation is reached/covered the original route is still up and running in the background... manually ride back to the bearing line, and *as above*...
I'd spent my share of adrenaline over quite a number of corider's Zumos, TomToms and alike in the past...
Safe as *.gpx, open with that (abomination) BaseCamp, recalculate there, send to (new) device... this is how it should go, as *.gpx is supposed to be a global format... so one would think...
Anyway, I'll keep lurking on the feedback on those "new devices"...
ST1100Y
Site Supporter
My point is: why on earth do I have to go through such agonizing procedures in the first place?!
This thing is a map plotter, drawing a bearing line across the map tile there, as instructed by the route that's been loaded with... leave it like that.
Every time there is roadwork, a blocked intersection, one did not start the ride with a full tank (and there is always one)... any occasion you need to deviate from the original route for just that much, all those "new devices" start to run amok...
The Cheese
I know the 660/665 doesn't. I dint think the 590/595 either. Mine has never came close to leaving on a ride. Hadn't heard of anyone else having issue with it. Do you lose yours often?
ST Gui
240Robert
Once would be enough for me. But have these mounts ever lost a GPS due to it being shaken or tossed out? My concern would be somebody stealing it if away from the bike for lunch or whatever. Otherwise pop it out and stow it.The Cheese said:
I had my 590/595 on the bike for probably 5-6 years. The only reason I have a Zumo XT today, is because my 590/595 fell off the bike and was lost. Once was enough.
I'm not so worried about having a "lock" as much as finding a way to attach a safety lanyard. The mount on the Zumo XT seems secure...but I don't have a warm fuzzy feeling about how well I'll know it is locked in place each time. I'm not getting a sharp click when it fits into the mount.
Chris
NOTE: I cancelled the order. Even though it is only about $8, I decided to try some things I had around the house already.
I used some industrial strength black velcro to attach a thin lanyard I had around the house already. I think it will do the job just as well, or better. I suspect those black plastic attachments stick up some from whatever you attach them to. I didn't want that permanently stuck on my GPS. But I'm leaving the info below in case someone else wants to try it.
Chris
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ordered this a few minutes ago. I hate to do business with the evil empire of Amazon, but sometimes it is the only choice.
Camera Tethers for GoPro Cameras - Accessory Kit of 5x Straps + 5x Mounts W/ 3M Stickers - Secure Your Camera by Tethering to Your Helmet/Bike/Board/Car/Wrist - Fits ALL GoPro Models - 1 Year Warranty
Chris
I used some industrial strength black velcro to attach a thin lanyard I had around the house already. I think it will do the job just as well, or better. I suspect those black plastic attachments stick up some from whatever you attach them to. I didn't want that permanently stuck on my GPS. But I'm leaving the info below in case someone else wants to try it.
Chris
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ordered this a few minutes ago. I hate to do business with the evil empire of Amazon, but sometimes it is the only choice.
Camera Tethers for GoPro Cameras - Accessory Kit of 5x Straps + 5x Mounts W/ 3M Stickers - Secure Your Camera by Tethering to Your Helmet/Bike/Board/Car/Wrist - Fits ALL GoPro Models - 1 Year Warranty
Chris
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ST1100Y
Site Supporter
Another gripe of the XT raises it's head:
Audio alarm for speed limits cannot be turned off... (courtesy of the US product managers)
Maybe not such an issue in the vast wilderness of norther Murrica, over here in ze dense populated old world the thing pings every few hundred yards, putting serious strain on the rider's nerves...
Audio alarm for speed limits cannot be turned off... (courtesy of the US product managers)
Maybe not such an issue in the vast wilderness of norther Murrica, over here in ze dense populated old world the thing pings every few hundred yards, putting serious strain on the rider's nerves...
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ST1100Y
Site Supporter
Don't tempt me, got an old Honda Garmin NavKit (SP2820?) in my stash, which offers the big feature of a wired waterproof handlebar remoteNew doesn't mean better
Now this is something really useful they all still don't achieve on those oh so new devices...
Repeat [last audio prompt] as well as [zoom in/out] conveniently available at a slight push of your left thumb... now that's what I'd call an innovative concept...
jfheath
John Heath
I think I probably didn't explain it very well. The XT does its job very well, but the 590 and 595 (on which it seems to be based) presented users with problems when starting a route, and when jumping into a route part way round when the route was STOPped for whatever reason. (eg if the user pressed stop, battery went flat or was removed). The XT keeps the route loaded if it is turned off, but not if it is completely shut down.
The XT Closest Entry Point facility seems to address this self made problem in those situations.
Roadworks etc are not an issue either. Your choice. Either let the satnav calculate a different route to the next point - or set it up not to recalculate and you find your own way to pick up the magenta route - at which point it will start talking to you again. In both cases, the satnav takes care of it, you don't have to do anything.