GPS for Bike & Car

[Dannog]

I'm looking to get a GPS unit and was thinking of having it interchangable between the bike and car.

Is the TomTom Rider the way to go?

Does anyone have one of these?

[ptooey]

The other option is a Garmin Zumo 550, which I personally would be leaning towards, but I haven't used the TomTom before.

I was on the market for a GPS too a couple of months back, so did a bit of research and found the Garmin better (can't remember why); in the end my mate ended up buying the Garmin for our road trip so I didn't have to.

[bazz20]

have ran garmin gps for years but the tom toms are better there maps are easier to keep up to date and have better map system than garmin and cheaper

[techno]

Hey Bazz, do you really need a GPS in St Helens? 

I think I could get by without one just about anywhere in Tas.

I can see the use for one if your trying to get about Melb for example.

[Dannog]

I'm planning a trip to the US next year so want a GPS for that. I'll buy the North American map for the trip.

I was thinking of get the TomTom Rider so that I have covered all bases and be able to use it on the bike and in the car.

The cost difference between the TomTom standard and Rider is an $350 or so extra so it might not be worth it.

[bazz20]

Hey Bazz, do you really need a GPS in St Helens? 

I think I could get by without one just about anywhere in Tas.

I can see the use for one if your trying to get about Melb for example.

st helens is a big place , jeez i still get lost in launceston 

[MonsterDorf]

I've used a bunch of different GPS over the years and they all have pro's and con's.

Right now I use both Garmin and TomTom. Both work great, but I like the ability to download maps from TomTom. You simply load "TomTom Home" and away you go. Sometimes a little hard to navigate but the mapping side is a piece of cake. Somewhere in the region of $120 for the various country maps which is cheaper than Garmin.

You can't go wrong either way.

[Dannog]

Mick, do you think that it is worth while getting the TomTom Rider or just going with one of the standard ones and buying a seperate bracket to mount it on the bike?

[MonsterDorf]

I'm currently using my Palm Treo with the TomTom software and a Bluetooth GPS receiver. I have it mounted in a RAMS case which is waterproof.

I could use a Bluetooth headset, but don't.

The only problem I have with it is that in direct sunlight it's a bit hard to see, even with the brightness turned all the way up.

My wife has a Garmin Nuvi 310 which I have also considered as it's a lot brighter.

In the end my setup works and I don't have to carry a GPS, Phone & MP3 player.

A friend of mine uses a similar setup with a Nokia phone and it work good too. He's currently in Europe and plotting his way along using that setup.

If you already have a phone with a big screen, check out the TomTom site to see if supports your phone. A Bluetooth GPS is only $100 on Ebay, TomTom software $100 and maps $120. You also then have to get the mount $100 (directly from RAMS and you get local delivery!). So now you've spent $400 if you have a compatible phone.

Only you can decide if that's a good deal. If you had an iphone then all you'd need is a mount!

Options options options.....