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Zumo 660


RED RUNNER

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Garmin unveiled its new Zumo 660 at the Consumer Electronic Show over the last few days. 4.3" sunlight-readable, customizable touchscreen; waterproof; six million points of interest; speaks street names; built in speaker/bluetooth; advanced routing; multiple view routing; microSD; more. $799. It doesn't look as fun as the old one.

I don't own one. How does it measure up to its predecessors?

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I don't see any reason for someone to upgrade. Looking at the comparision on garmin's site. I really don't see much difference. I really like my XM radio piped through the GPS, and the 660 doesn't offer that. And I also don't see the left-hand buttons the they speak of either.

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I like the pushbuttons on the 550, easier to use than touchscreen IMHO. Then the 660 uses microsd cards rather than the SD cards my 550 uses so I would have to get those too? Naw I like the 550 just fine. I like the larger screen, the shape would seem to be easier to set on a table and manipulate the gps, if your sitting in a resturant and want to change your route while you eat lunch, the 550 isnt flat anwhere you have to hold it with 2 hands. I dropped mine a couple of times on the road cause it wont just sit strait.

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Good, I'm glad the new 660 is out. Perhaps that will lower the 550's price to something I can afford :fing02:

+1!

+2... I'd love to upgrade my Nuvi 660 to the Zumo 550, but unlike the Nuvi line, which seems to be easy to find at greatly reduced pricing, the pricing on the Zumo has held firm.

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Check "Costco.com" they carry Garmins and I snagged a Zumo for less than $400 delivered recently...

:fing02: I've never seen a Zumo 550 for less than $600. Oh yeah and I just searched with 'zero results for Zumo' via costco's website. Sorry but I'm tired of not finding deals :pissed:

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Check "Costco.com" they carry Garmins and I snagged a Zumo for less than $400 delivered recently...

:huh: I've never seen a Zumo 550 for less than $600. Oh yeah and I just searched with 'zero results for Zumo' via costco's website. Sorry but I'm tired of not finding deals :dry:

I've seen the Zumo 450 in the sub-$400 price range, but I agree with you, the 550 seems to be $600+ from any reputable dealer.

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Check "Costco.com" they carry Garmins and I snagged a Zumo for less than $400 delivered recently...

:huh: I've never seen a Zumo 550 for less than $600. Oh yeah and I just searched with 'zero results for Zumo' via costco's website. Sorry but I'm tired of not finding deals :dry:

I've seen the Zumo 450 in the sub-$400 price range, but I agree with you, the 550 seems to be $600+ from any reputable dealer.

Right, it was the 450, no need for XM or Bl tooth. Costco=very reputable!

Already a lifer on Sirius before the merger-doubling xm tunes would be more $~

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I like the pushbuttons on the 550, easier to use than touchscreen IMHO. Then the 660 uses microsd cards rather than the SD cards my 550 uses so I would have to get those too? Naw I like the 550 just fine. I like the larger screen, the shape would seem to be easier to set on a table and manipulate the gps, if your sitting in a resturant and want to change your route while you eat lunch, the 550 isnt flat anwhere you have to hold it with 2 hands. I dropped mine a couple of times on the road cause it wont just sit strait.

I haven't used one on the bike, but it seems like the pushbuttons would be harder to use than just tapping the screen. What do the pushbuttons do exactly? i think XM would be a nice feature, but theres another what....$10-12 a month? I hope to get a Zumo of some sort in the next couple months before rriding season starts again.....550 or 660??? guess it just depends on how the 660 ends up being priced at retail. I like the larger, higher res screen of the 660, but I don't think I'd pay much more than what you can get a 550 for ($600)

Ok,so i was just looking on garmins website and it lists the 660 at $799.99 but 550 at $964.27!! This could be good news. Maybe the 660 will end up being a little less expensive thn the 550 currently is. That would be nice!

I also just saw while comparing the two, that the 660 has bluetooth with A2DP, which allows music and such to be transmitted in true stereo sound via bluetooth. Says the 550 dosen't have that. Must just have mono transmitting on it. Thats a worthwhile upgrade.

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I think the prices will drop now. I waited and waited and ended up paying over $800 for the Tom Tom Rider when it came out (version I). Then the Zumo came out and I bought one.... but did not sell my Rider fast enough (lazy.) I ended up getting less than $400 for a unit that had been used 3 times and not a scratch on it. I think the Zumo 550 will drop quite a bit as soon as the 660 ships (which looks to be in April from what I have seen.)

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I like the pushbuttons on the 550, easier to use than touchscreen IMHO.

I haven't used one on the bike, but it seems like the pushbuttons would be harder to use than just tapping the screen.

As far as the push buttons go, it's similar to a familiar TV remote, where you know where the button you want is by feel, rather than sight.

The push buttons serve more than one purpose as the 3rd from the top button will change screens, cycles through 4 screens: map, compass, speedo, and mp3. The top two are +/-, if on the MP3 screen, it advances and reverse songs, if on the map screen it zooms in or out, if on the speedo screen it cycles what is displayed with the speedo. The bottom button is for volume, when pressed you have x amount of time to use the +/- buttons to increase/decrease the volume.

All that without looking at the screen once you memorize the screen sequence button, much like a person would do with there tv remote.

I have nothing against Garmin for removing them on the new model, but I do use them on my 550. It is my understanding that Garmin issued the 660 as the lesser model first this time (as opposed to releasing the 550 before the 450 last time) and they have plans for a more feature rich stepped up model later this year. I will probably wait and see if they bring another model to the lineup, most likely dropping the 550 at that time, before I decided if I need/want another GPS for possible placement on my new VFR. For now I'll just swap my 550 between the 3 bikes as needed.

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It is my understanding that Garmin issued the 660 as the lesser model first this time (as opposed to releasing the 550 before the 450 last time) and they have plans for a more feature rich stepped up model later this year.

Wow, thanks for the info. I had written off the 660 since it didn't have XM, but now will wait to see what happens! I used to not care about XM, but since the merger with Sirius they have so many great channels that I was considering activating the radio in the Zumo. The wife and daughter are now XM junkies as well smile.gif

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I was curious bout the XM merger......does that mean even though it has an xm tuner, you get the sirius stations plus xm stations? Not really sure how it works since the merger. Or are they still sold as two seperate packages, just owned by the same company?

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I can only speak for the XM side as that's what have.... they basically added tons of Sirius channels and got rid of a few of the lame XM channels. You get the best channels from both services. I'm sure they did the same for the Sirius side. It really made the package worth the monthly fee and now I think I want XM on my bike.

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has anyone delt with this company before $299 for a zumo 450. (I don't need the bluetooth or xm). It doesn't say it is refurbished but it doesn't say it isn't. here is the link:

http://www.86photovideo.com/products.asp?d...&show=specs

If it seems too good to be true, it probably is...

I'd be willing to bet if you try to order one you'll get a call to "confirm your credit card" or somesuch nonsense, at which point they'll try to sell you a bunch of overpriced add-ons (like an SD card for $100). If you refuse, you'll find out that they are "out of stock."

Please note, that is pure speculation on my part based on other times I've seen items like this offered at insanely discounted prices.

Having said that, if you use a credit card you're pretty well protected, so you might want to give it a shot and see what happens.

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Garmin unveiled its new Zumo 660 at the Consumer Electronic Show over the last few days. 4.3" sunlight-readable, customizable touchscreen; waterproof; six million points of interest; speaks street names; built in speaker/bluetooth; advanced routing; multiple view routing; microSD; more. $799. It doesn't look as fun as the old one.

I don't own one. How does it measure up to its predecessors?

Fot that price I could get a:

Escort Passport 9500i ($380)

Garmin Nuvi 650 ($185)

Noise Cancelling Earbuds ($65)

iPod Nano ($150)

AND

Fill up my tank twice.

Oh, and don't forget $1.50 to buy ziploc bags to turn my Nuvi into a waterproof Nuvi.

I'd love to buy one of these things, but unless the price becomes MUCH more realistic, then it's just a pipe dream and I'll get my fancy new setup instead.

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can only speak for the XM side as that's what have.... they basically added tons of Sirius channels and got rid of a few of the lame XM channels. You get the best channels from both services. I'm sure they did the same for the Sirius side.

XM guys got the better part of the deal, you get Stern, Nascar, NFL and some other good stuff, us Sirius guys get Oprah and PGA Tour Network and some of the NHL Home Ice channels but not all. Sirius says at later this year they will have a new radio that will pick up both XM/Sirius signals so maybe Garmin is waiting to add a 760 once this new hardward comes out.

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....Sirius says at later this year they will have a new radio that will pick up both XM/Sirius signals so maybe Garmin is waiting to add a 760 once this new hardward comes out.

That's what I hear as well.

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has anyone delt with this company before $299 for a zumo 450. (I don't need the bluetooth or xm). It doesn't say it is refurbished but it doesn't say it isn't. here is the link:

http://www.86photovideo.com/products.asp?d...&show=specs

Call and make sure the items included "in the box" match with the Garmin.com site (disks, cords, ram mount, etc.) and whether refurbish or not

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has anyone delt with this company before $299 for a zumo 450. (I don't need the bluetooth or xm). It doesn't say it is refurbished but it doesn't say it isn't. here is the link:

http://www.86photovideo.com/products.asp?d...&show=specs

Call and make sure the items included "in the box" match with the Garmin.com site (disks, cords, ram mount, etc.) and whether refurbish or not

And fnd out how old the Maps are???????????

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