Advantages: good alround sat nav for bikes
Disadvantages: need to buy a blue-tooth ear peice

...I have just purchased a \"Garmin Zumo\" bike sat nav this is the one aimed at bikers, it clames to be submersible in water for 30mins good job in this country. Having used sat nav in cars before this unit has some obvious differences firstly most of the buttons are on the left for rider convenience, being easier to use your left when riding. (although you shouldn\'t operate it while riding apparently) as with most units you have to wait after start up for if to find 3 satellites to triangulate a position. Again the next step of entering your destinations is different as the 3,5\" screen is designed to be used even with heavy winter bike gloves on. The navigation selects a group of letters which are then enlarged and refined down to your selection. The Zumo 500 differs from the 550 in that you provide map is of a limited location i.e UK... Read review

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Advantages: quality biker sat nav
Disadvantages: no ear peice

...I have just purchased a \"Garmin Zumo\" bike sat nav this is the one aimed at bikers, it clames to be submersible in water for 30mins good job in this country. Having used sat nav in cars before this unit has some obvious differences firstly most of the buttons are on the left for rider convenience, being easier to use your left when riding. (although you shouldn\'t operate it while riding apparently) as with most units you have to wait after start up for if to find 3 satellites to triangulate a position. Again the next step of entering your destinations is different as the 3,5\" screen is designed to be used even with heavy winter bike gloves on. The navigation selects a group of letters which are then enlarged and refined down to your selection. The Zumo 500 differs from the 550 in that you provide map is of a limited location i.e UK... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: quality biker satnav
Disadvantages: no ear peice

...I have just purchased a \"Garmin Zumo\" bike sat nav this is the one aimed at bikers, it clames to be submersible in water for 30mins good job in this country. Having used sat nav in cars before this unit has some obvious differences firstly most of the buttons are on the left for rider convenience, being easier to use your left when riding. (although you shouldn\'t operate it while riding apparently) as with most units you have to wait after start up for if to find 3 satellites to triangulate a position. Again the next step of entering your destinations is different as the 3,5\" screen is designed to be used even with heavy winter bike gloves on. The navigation selects a group of letters which are then enlarged and refined down to your selection. The Zumo 500 differs from the 550 in that you provide map is of a limited location i.e UK... Read review

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Advantages: Very "customizable"
Disadvantages: Bit pricy compared to similar

...The good: The Zumo 550 provides text- and voice-guided directions to motorcyclists the unit has a built-in MP3 player and integrated Bluetooth for hands-free calling (works great with Bluetooth helmet). The interchangeable faceplates give you some customization options to fit the look of your bike or car. The unit is waterproof so river crossings and rain will not stop you from finding your way. The touch screen can be optimized to suit your needs i.e. Font sizes and layout. All options and buttons are clearly marked and easy to use. The feature I like the most is the display colors switching from day to night color automatically at sunset. Maps can be viewed in 2D or 3D, the choices are endless!! The bad: The software database is a bit outdated and needs updating; also, there is no MAC support. Compared to other ‘Off... Read review

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Advantages: Literally plug in and go
Disadvantages: Expensive, and Garmin has a strange map sale policy

...Garmin won't sell me UK maps (!) so this is a review of the US version. I bought my unit when I was on holiday in Canada to help me find my way around. I needed one that was "ready to rock" as I had no access to a computer while I was there. It came with City Navigator North America pre-installed. The kit consists of the GPS, glue pads, a portable bean bag mount, a permanent mount (for use with the glue pads), a 12V power lead with speaker (they have no internal batteries, so can only be used in a car or via mains power supply), a manual, remote control, and *no seperate maps* The GPS unit itself which has a decent sized touch-screen display complemented by four buttons giving access to other features. The bean-bag mount allows you to sit it on your dashboard without a permanently glued fixing, and the remote control to allow... Read review

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Advantages: Easy to use, does what it's suppsed to do!
Disadvantages: Satellite pairing takes ages, no mains charger!

...of the past, much like tv's. After extensive researching, price comparison and review reading, I came across the Garmin Nuvi 200w, and a sat nav system that seemed to impress greatly, so i decided to take the plunge and bought one. Much like many of the reviews I had read on the Nuvi 200w, my first impressions of it were very good. I bought the system off the Littlewoods website, as it had been reduced in a seasonal sale that they were having. This meant that the system was on offer for around £30 less than on any other reputable site that I could find it on. The product was well packaged, securely and compactly fitted to an inner cardboard shelf, that meant that the sat nav was unable to move or rattle within the box, therefor limiting the chance of damage during postal delivery to a minimum. Included in the box was the Nuvi 200w sat nav system... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Clear navigation, easy to use
Disadvantages: Camera alert noise gets on your nerves!

...is a little difficult to spot, but once you know it's there you'll never need to look for it again! The settings menu though is very easy to use. It has large buttons with clear colour pictures on and easy to read wording. In the settings menu you can change to kilometres, choose the faster or shorter route, select avoidances etc. There is a "toggle-type" button on the side to change the volume, it's a sort of wheel that you turn up an down. (Apologies for not knowing the correct term!). The off button is also located at the side, which is easy to access. Unlike many of its counterparts, the Garmin does not come attached to the suction pad. It depends on your view as to whether this is an advantage or not, but I personally feel that it is. The suction pad has a good hold on the device and because where the Sat-Nav fits on the back... Read review

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Advantages: wireless, accurate, can analyse data, water proof - Excellent
Disadvantages: Sometimes a loss of GPS signal, still quite expensive

...Why I chose the Garmin Edge 205 **************************************** Being a bit of a gadget 'freak' I stumbled across one of these on a cycling accessories website but instantly dismissed it because of its price tag of £149.99. Being a recreational cyclist who would never enter a cycling competition of any discipline there was no way I could justify the price. However, after being introduced to the Fat fingers concept on Ebay, and seeing the bargains a close mate of mine was enjoying I decided to scour the Ebay search engine in hope of finding one of these at a 'reasonable' price. All brand new units (I will not buy second hand electrical items/gadgets off Ebay since I have been stung before) were retailing between £95.00 plus P&P of £25 and £169.99 plus P&P of £5.95. Using the Fat fingers finder I found a "buy it now... Read review

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Advantages: Does everything you expect, accurate
Disadvantages: small screen

...Having recently passed my driving test, i decided to buy a navigation system off ebay, i looked around and found that these particular ones are bought new for around £130, which is cheaper thanmost of the tom tom units. I have used it now for almost 6 months and it has never let me down, and has always got me to where i need to go. Garmin: Garmin is part of a group of campanies that design and manufacture navigation and comms equiment for the aviation and consumer markets, they have been in the industry since 1989. So it is safe to say that Garmin know what they are doing with these satelite navigation systems. The Screen: The screen is quite small, being only 2.5 inch screen. However, i have never found this a problem as the voice commands are good and clear, you only have to look at the screen of you miss one... Read review

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Advantages: Small size, light weight, works brilliantly, price
Disadvantages: not as customisable as the more expensive models

...for many people. Looking around for alternative devices I stumbled across an artical that mentioned that Garmin were close to releaseing a new model in their Streetpilot range. On further investigation I discovered that this was aimed at the 'first time' GPS user. Garmin have an excellent reputation in the GPS market, I was myself an owner of one of their earlier models, but this didn't have the navigation facility. I bought my unit from Maplin, at the time of writing they were the first reseller in the UK and offering a deal on the I3 - £199. So, that's the background, but how have I found the unit? In Summary - I love it! Controlling the Device: The device is so easy to use. There are only three buttons to control the device. The main method of control is via a clickable scroll wheel. You use this to Enter destination... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful