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Darren Frequent Visitor
Joined: 11/07/2002 14:36:40 Posts: 23848 Location: Hampshire, UK
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 12:13 pm Post subject: Garmin Zumo 660 Coming to The UK Soon |
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The latest in Garmin's range of navigation devices aimed at bikers is rumoured to be coming to our shores next month.
The Zumo 660 looks a lot like its Nuvi cousins with a wide-screen 4:3 display format but it is very much designed for the tougher environment of the handlebars of a motorbike.
Alongside features such as Lane Assist and 3D City View come Bluetooth with enhanced A2DP stereo connectivity to compatible Bluetooth equipped helmets or headsets. Listen to navigation instructions or use a connected hands-free telephone.
Kudos to Garmin for also recognising that many bikers are also car drivers. The Zumo 660 comes with both bike and car mounts in the box as well as a carrying case, USB cable and dash disk.
No official pricing has been announced as yet but e-Retailers are doing the usual guessing game on pre-order adds with prices ranging between £380.00 and £499.00. I'd hedge my bets at a price somewhere in the middle, perhaps £449.00.
www.garmin.com _________________ Darren Griffin |
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chastreo Occasional Visitor
Joined: Mar 27, 2007 Posts: 42
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 4:14 pm Post subject: |
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Like the Nuvi 550 before it, the Zumo 660 has a built in rear speaker which is also waterproof, see the YouTube video of a Nuvi 550 quite happy for 15 minutes doing a demo route from the inside of a fish tank, c/w gold fish.
The built -in speaker is one reason why the Zumo 660 will be cheaper than the previous top of the range Zumo 550, which came with a car kit c/w with integral speaker. For the Zumo 660 the car kit will be the standard type Nuvi window sucker
The 'next turn' graphic box, which doubles up for Lane Assist, is also a welcome addtion for bikers, for whom more time is needed watching the road !! |
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MaFt Pocket GPS Staff
Joined: Aug 31, 2005 Posts: 15258 Location: Bradford, West Yorkshire
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 1:47 pm Post subject: |
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hmm... they seem to have got rid of the hardware buttons? pretty certain one of the 'selling points' of the first zumo's were the left-hand friendly hardware buttons you could manage with gloves on?
MaFt |
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chastreo Occasional Visitor
Joined: Mar 27, 2007 Posts: 42
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:06 pm Post subject: |
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MaFt wrote: | hmm... they seem to have got rid of the hardware buttons? pretty certain one of the 'selling points' of the first zumo's were the left-hand friendly hardware buttons you could manage with gloves on?
MaFt |
Perhaps they took the view that if TT Rider users were happy without the hardware buttons ...
There are LH screen buttons, plus the on/off hardware button on top doubles up as a mute & screen brightness button.
One USA user said of the 660 against his previous 550 that it was like b/w TV v's Color, in the 600's favour ( I know, it should have been colour)
11th May is the suggested date for UK shipping |
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pwrycroft Occasional Visitor
Joined: Mar 04, 2006 Posts: 19
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Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 5:07 pm Post subject: |
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The Zumo 550 lost a lot of functioinality when compared with the Streetpilot 2720 or 2820. Some of the features are really useful such as time ot waypoints and being able to customise the display of information to exactly what you want. Once setup you rarely ned to touch the GPS which is a big bonus on a bike - I am told that the 660 will reintroduce these features but I think I will wait until I have read a manual to make sure! |
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Steven-f Occasional Visitor
Joined: Oct 14, 2004 Posts: 45 Location: NE Hampshire, UK
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Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 8:52 pm Post subject: |
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I just got my Zumo 660 delivered from Autocom and used it on the drive home. Very impressed - the speed camera alerts are very good.
Interestingly, as soon as I connected & registered it I was informed that a new map was available, so an hour later I'm still updating! |
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Darren Frequent Visitor
Joined: 11/07/2002 14:36:40 Posts: 23848 Location: Hampshire, UK
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Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 9:01 pm Post subject: |
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Steven-f wrote: | Very impressed - the speed camera alerts are very good. |
I know you're a subscriber but are you talking about ours or the Garmin trial OOI? _________________ Darren Griffin |
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Steven-f Occasional Visitor
Joined: Oct 14, 2004 Posts: 45 Location: NE Hampshire, UK
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Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 9:16 am Post subject: |
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The Garmin standard warnings are very good - much like the ones from Ash10's CM. A big black warning if you're under the limit, which changes to red if you're exceeding it, with chimes.
But still no voice alerts, no 10% ACPO margin, and above all, the Cyclops database of camera positions isn't as good or up to date as PGPSW so I'll keep both sets live.
I've also got a TT940 which is my main SatNav - I bought the 660 for my motorcycle, and I still feel that the TT routing, maps, flexibility, and traffic (IQ routes and Live) make it far, far better than the Garmin's. The only thing the Garmin does better is the speed camera warnings - I hate the fact that the TT always warns you even if under the limit - and only warns once (except for Specs) why doesn't the menu bar change to red if over a limit with a speed camera present (and maybe amber if within the 10% ACPO limit)...that would be good on both Garmin and TT. |
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tomthompson Frequent Visitor
Joined: 26/08/2003 15:43:37 Posts: 386 Location: Southampton, UK
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Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 6:54 pm Post subject: |
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But still no voice alerts, no 10% ACPO margin, and above all, the Cyclops database of camera positions isn't as good or up to date as PGPSW so I'll keep both sets live.
With Ash's camera software the voice and 10% come with an updated program from Ash after a donation, seems fair to me ,in fact its also possible to have a voice warning for overspeed as well instead of those annoying bongs.
If you keep both databases active it will get very confusing as Garmins and this database will duplicate warnings often. _________________ Asus Zenfone 2 twin sim, Garmin Zumo 550, 660 and pocketgps speed camera database
I keep on learning but they invent new things faster ,How do I keep up ? |
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grumpygit88 Occasional Visitor
Joined: May 23, 2009 Posts: 1
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Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 9:50 pm Post subject: |
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I received my 660 yesterday (after several months wait and missed delivery deadlines by Garmin), and although I'm reasonably happy with the device itself (its very different to my old TomTom ) - I have to say that the software that came with it is a complete waste of time.
I installed the mapsource software, but can't unlock it. There's no 8 digit unlock code supplied. I (eventually) managed to register the device and found an unlock code online - 25 digits and it still won't unlock the mapsource software.
I tried downloading the free map update. Maybe that will install a working version of mapsource?... Over 3 gigs (and 8 hours) to download... TWICE because that doesn't bloody work, either. Just causes the computer to grind to a halt. There's no Garmin support available at the weekends, so that'll be tuesday now before I can sort anything out, and no doubt two hours stuck in a phone queue.
Is Garmin stuff always this bad? Or is it just me? Anyone here recently downloaded a map update and got it to work? |
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Feek Lifetime Member
Joined: Mar 04, 2008 Posts: 173 Location: Englandshire.
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 10:32 am Post subject: |
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grumpygit88 wrote: |
I tried downloading the free map update. Maybe that will install a working version of mapsource?... Over 3 gigs (and 8 hours) to download... TWICE because that doesn't bloody work, either. Just causes the computer to grind to a halt. There's no Garmin support available at the weekends, so that'll be tuesday now before I can sort anything out, and no doubt two hours stuck in a phone queue.
Is Garmin stuff always this bad? Or is it just me? Anyone here recently downloaded a map update and got it to work? |
Very harsh. I've downloaded two map updates from Garmin and each one has worked perfectly each time.
I've also had to call Garmin a couple of times for support and each time I've not had to hold for more than a few seconds and they've been incredibly helpful. |
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chastreo Occasional Visitor
Joined: Mar 27, 2007 Posts: 42
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Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 3:39 pm Post subject: |
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Received my Zumo 660 yesterday.
First impressions, I'm very pleased with it. So far I've only done a short journey in the car to try it. I hope to get it mounted on the bike this weekend.
The wide screen is great. Next Turn and Lane Assist indicator box is good, as is the real time clock.
The Bluetooth finds my Palm Treo 680 no problem and enables access to the phone book & call logs etc.
Being a brand new model, it has a few bugs/omissions, which the various forums are pressing Garmin Support to fix/update asap.
However, coming from a Nuvi 250 I'm more than happy with the extra features. Interstingly, Garmin MobileXT on my Palm PDA has more features and 'bells & whistles', but useability make the Zumo much better.
If you currently have a Zumo 550, you might be upset at some missing features / map details, so unless you really want the wider screen, you might be better off hanging back from buying for now, and wait for a few updates.
But if you are wanting a new bike GPS, and are not currently using a Z550, then I'd go for it now. |
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tetrode27 Occasional Visitor
Joined: Mar 23, 2006 Posts: 2
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Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2009 6:02 pm Post subject: |
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Hi Grumpygit,
You may have the same problem with the 660 that I did. The 660 has City Navigator NT 2010 installed, but I received 2009 in the box...and it won't unlock, because it knows that the software is different.
Why 2009 was in the box I don't know...stupid mistake by Garmin really.
Anyway, if you speak to Garmin support, they will send you a copy of 2010, which will install and unlock no problem.
Hopefully, that's all that's wrong.
I'm pretty impressed with the 660 though, very smooth in operation and the media player is very useful on long rides.
All the best,
ken... |
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chastreo Occasional Visitor
Joined: Mar 27, 2007 Posts: 42
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Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 10:26 am Post subject: |
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tetrode27 wrote: |
... The 660 has City Navigator NT 2010 installed, but I received 2009 in the box...
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That's interesting, as you are the first person I've heard of who has received the 2010 maps pre-installed on their 660.
I bought mine on the 2nd June and it still has the 2009 maps installed. You then get a free upgrade to 2010, in a 3mb download, when you register the unit on-line.
As Garmin are updating their months quarterly now, it may not be unusual to get the previous version on the DVD in the box. I've not heard of the 2010 being available on DVD yet, just by download. |
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tetrode27 Occasional Visitor
Joined: Mar 23, 2006 Posts: 2
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Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 5:58 pm Post subject: |
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Well,
The support guy sent me the copy of the 2010 maps on a disk he'd burnt himself!
So maybe it isn't available as an official disk as yet.
Best Regards,
Ken... |
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