Garmin zumo 550

Pros: Small, Powerful, Bright display, 4+ hour battery operation. Very sensitive. Car & Bike mounts included.

Cons: Fuzzy display graphics. Poor TTS quality. Not configurable.

The Bottom Line: I still recommend the 276c over this model for the knowledgeable motorcyclist. The 550 will be better when they resolve some of the flaws. Maybe the 450?

Review:
May 31, 2008

A note on the various versions of the Zumo series;

The Zumo 400 series is similar to the 500 with the exception of satellite music/traffic support, the supply of the car mount bracket and the exclusion of...

Pros: Easy to see and use.

Cons: User manual is not extensive enough.

Review: I recently purchased a zumo after seeing it at the Garmin Store in Chicago. It will replace my Garmin 2610 which replaced my Garmin V.

By far this is the best Garmin GPS unit I've owned. It has a large easy to read screen. It has all the...

Pros: For motorcycles, but also great for car and handheld usage; Works for geocaching

Cons: No Mac OS X support yet; Routing sometimes takes you onto very secondary roads

The Bottom Line: The best GPS I ever had, don't be fooled into thinking it's just for motorcycles, or just for navigation.

Review: Introduction
My review of the Garmin Zumo 550 is from the standpoint of a longtime Garmin user. My first Garmin GPS receiver was a 45XL bought in 1996, and I also own a Garmin V and a Garmin Streetpilot i2.

I bought it to use...

Pros: water resistant, shock/vibration resistant XM Radio ready, Bluetooth, MP3 player

Cons: SLOW at bootup, slow at USB transfer on PC, expensive

Review: I have been using this unit for several months on my motorcycle.

This unit is great for a motorcycle if you want MP3 player, XM Radio, and/or Bluetooth integration with your phone. It is water resistant, vibration/shock resistant, dust...

Pros: Rugged construction, bright display, good support, large POI database.

Cons: No audio while on battery, limited control over route legs.

The Bottom Line: Definitely a must have for motorcyclists needing a GPS. You can't go wrong with the Garmin name brand; they stand by their products and the support is excellent.

Review: This ZUMO 550 is my second car GPS navigation system. I briefly owned the 450, but then realized I'd spend more money buying the additional accessories (mounting brackets and cables) to bring it up to near 550 capability, so I sent it back for the...

Pros: super fast routing, very bright display, preloaded US detailed maps.

Cons: There really aren't any worth mentioning.

The Bottom Line: I would highly recommend this unit because of its great features, is easy to use, and expansion capabilities for XM, NEXRAD, and traffic data.

Review: I bought the 550 to replace my trusty Garmin GPS V that I've been using for about 3 years now. I bought the V so I wouldn't have to worry about getting lost on the motorcycle in the North Georgia mountains. Compared to the V, the 550 is nothing...

Pros: Excellent display, good mounting hardware provided, nice array of capabilities.

Cons: Auto-routing software chooses non-intuitive routes. No audio functions on external power. Weak speaker audio.

Review: I've owned a number of Garmin units in the past and still have and use a GPSV. The Zumo hits most of the targets and functions one could want in a land vehicle GPS but does have a quite few weak quirks.

The audio (spoken directions)...

Pros: Bluetooth, MP3, JPEG's.

Cons: No altitude readout, no compass, no heading indicator on route page.

The Bottom Line: Provide altimeter, compass and heading indicator in route mode.

Review: I purchased a Zumo 550 to go along with the many motorcycles I own. I thought it would be a nice tool to help navigate on my trips. It is a GPS and should be able to provide basic navigational information, right. Wrong! While Garmin added a lot of...