Two different kinds of GPS question.

[Igo]

I have two GPS. One is a TomTom something. It was called the best Black Friday deal to be found last Christmas and is a very high end GPS....but I don't know where I put it right now so I can't tell you what model it is. What it does that was its great selling points is it breaks off regular maps when you get close to a turn and starts showing you which lane to be in and how many yards to the next maneuver. It is a very detailed navigator.

I also have a "Hand Held" Garmin GPSMap 60CS. This GPS cost me $500 and then the 3 map programs I bought for it were $100 each. This GPS will record tracks as I move across them. It will also let me select what maps I want to install. It is still an amazing machine to me. When I get home from a Hike I can take my recorder track from a road map program and overlay it over a topographical map program and check my journey against elevation gains and losses.

The TomTom has excellent multi lane visual characteristics. The Garmin has no such feature. It just tells you turn left or right and at the top of the little window it has the directions in text. Both the Garmin and the TomTom will get you there but the TomTom makes me more comfortable in spaghetti/mix-masters and the like.

Now, from what I can tell, the Garmin will blow the TomTom away in every other sense for these reasons. The Garmin has both a barometric altimeter and triangulation altimeter. The Garmin has the mapping/ trip recording capabilities I just mentioned. The Garmin has the most extensive trip computer I've ever heard of and will record something like 170 different kinds of trip data. Top speed. Average speed. Average speed moving. Altitude. Altitude that day. Moving average. Down time. Course. Vertical speed. Distance to next. Distance to destination, heading. Bearing. Compass, average moving speed, la la, la la.....

The other truly GREAT thing the Garmin does is it allows me to pick my routes by the most efficient route then modify it at home on my PC so I can include side trips then upload the planned route as I have written it. The TomTom, and best I can tell, the rest, will not let you do this. Not easily anyway.

But I cannot argue how handy the TomTom is for finding my way from A to Z in major metropolitan cities.

I am thinking about retiring my Garmin to back packing duty only. The Garmin only has 64MB on board memory and with all the maps it ran out of memory before it could record my entire journey. I was very disappointed when I could not print out a graph of elevation changes on my 2300 mile California trip because it didn't have the memory capacity to record the entire journey.

OK. I've been using this trip computer for 6 years and it is great for planning future trips but I'm thinking of retiring this GPS to backpacking only as I only need to store but so many maps on it for backpacking.

What I am asking is, what GPS will record all my data like my Garmin but give me as mucg graphic detail and direction as the TomTom. Or is there such a beast. And what makes you like the GPS you use? I don't need music. I want me trip computer and trip recorder.

I am seeing the newer release of my Garmin and it can be had with a 2GB Mini SD card. Does anybody know anything about these kinds of GPS?

Thanks a bunch all.

[Igo]

I've done some reading (and some searching) and I have a more intelligent question to ask.
On my recent tour of California I rode 2300 miles. http://www.pashnit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29250 I recorded a track log of my route. I only got the last 719 miles. Very disappointed. Then I remembered a setting I made 5 years ago for backpacking where my available track points, 10,000, where two close together to record all my road miles.
Next summer I will be traveling 3500 miles on a bike trip throughout the western US. I want to record the entire route. I want to record track points more frequently than every 2000 feet. I can't do this with my Garmin GPSMap 60CS. Here are the questions:
If I purchase the Garmin GPSMap 60CSx with a 2 gig Mini SD Card, will I still be restricted to a total of 10,000 track points spread across all 20 track logs? Can I store 10,000 track points in each of the 20 track logs since I have 2 GB external memory? Can I save as many track points, on the SD Card, as it is able to hold after all the maps I'll install? or, How does all this pan out. or, Better yet, is there a tutorial for these questions someplace close by?
I really seriously appreciate the help. I have a new tourer, lots of vacation time and many grand plans. I appreciate it!!!!

[Belzybob]

As I think you've worked out, the two GPS are two quite different beasts. I have a TomTom and also use Nokia phone maps for street by street directions. For off-road use I have a Magellan Explorist XL that lets me tell it where I want to go, lets me retrace my steps and review the route I'v followed.

There are 'cross-over' GPS that try to bridge the gap between the two types, but I haven't found one yet that does the job of both. Can't answer your question about memory and the Garmin, but the manual or Garmin website should be able to help on that.

[jdgretz]

I have the TomTom Rider 2 on the Norge, and as you have discovered it is very good from point A to point B kinds of planning. This is what I use it for.
It is not good for custom routing, recording your ride for future replay or sharing, etc., etc., etc.

The best use I have found for it is to find the closest freeway when I'm in an unfamiliar area and want to head back to a known environment. The other thing the Rider 2 does well is blue tooth integration. My phone connects to the TomTom, transfers the phone book to the GPS and the GPS connects to my headset. I can receive phone calls, or at least see who is calling me so I can return the call when I'm off the bike (or make the decision to pull over and return an important call). It is not stereo blue tooth and does not stream music from the cell phone, nor does it have a wired I/O port (but my headset does).

If you get Tyre you can do a good portion of the route planning on the PC that Garmin does, but you are limited in the number of way-points you can have on any given route and you still don't get any of the additional information Garmin provides. Sharing routes is still not a pleasant experience. If I could justify the almost $1K for the Nuvi 665, I'd have one of those, but that's just a bit pricey for what I'm currently doing.

I doubt I'd ever recommend the TomTom Rider 2 to a fellow rider, especially now that TomTom has pretty much abandoned us here in the states as there are no motorcycle units listed on their website (unlike the UK site), and their customer support has be truly lackluster every time I've needed to call them.

jdg

[Igo]

I've pretty much settled on using the Garmin GPSMap 60 CSX for everything. The graphics are not as pretty as a large screen but it does everything.

[Tree Doc]

Originally Posted by Igo

I've pretty much settled on using the Garmin GPSMap 60 CSX for everything. The graffics are not as pretty as a large screen but it does everything.

I have a GPS 76CSx which is similar to your 60. It sounds like you need to install the City Navigator software necessary to give you the detailed routing info you desire. My 76 does all that you mention in your first post. I've used it on my M/C but that was short lived as I bought a StreetPilot 2820 specifically for the FJR and I use Bluetooth, mp3, XM Radio, and it's linked to my Autocom System.

As you have likely discovered, the 60CSx has the removeable storage capacity and about it's only downfall, IMO, is the small screen from a M/C use perspective. The 76 is about the same as far as display. It's relegated to back up to the 2 Garmin & Furuno panel mounts I have on my boat.

[Igo]

Though the graphics are small, it still gets me where i want to go. I do have the new City Navigator.
The trip computer is the real reason I love this GPS. I carry the TomTom when I need to get around in a big city I don't know but usually I leave it at home.

[fast4d]

I have a 60csx. I like it but setting up a route (not using hwy and with multiple points, etc) can only be done on a PC with city navigator then downloaded to the unit. not usually a problem since I plan my routes before a trip but a change mid trip can throw you off.

[Igo]

That's why I like to carry two GPS.