Garmin Zumo 550 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Motorcycle Navigator
Motorcycle GPS navigators aren’t as popular as car ones (I wonder why 
) as a result they cost more. Of course one can buy an ordinary GPS for his motorcycle but it wouldn’t fit as good (think of voice commands from a speaker when going at 200 MPH or the vibrations that this device has to survuve). Garmin Zumo 550 is one of the most popular motorcycle GPS devices and it is available at a bargain price of $670.81, which is 30% cheaper than the list price.
The navigation itself is very similar to the more traditional devices, although with a changed interface to better visualize the route. There are so called proximity alerts telling the user that he or she is near a school or a safety camera. The preloaded map is a City Navigator NT which has the map of the North America, with a set of useful POIs (motels, restaurants, bars). A popular feature that appears in the traditional nuvo’s Text-to-Speech is also available, allowing the “voice” of Zumo 550 to tell the street names.One can also add their own points of interest to further customize the Zumo. Another interesting feature is the Garmin Tour Gide which allows uploading POIs with MP3 and photos and then guiding the user while showing the picture and playing the MP3 (e.g. with a real tour guides speech).
One might ask, why an MP3 player when there is no speaker and here the Garmin thought of using Bluetooth, user can buy a headset or helmet Bluetooth enabled and listen to the directions (or music). The headset/helmet can also be use to speak and listen to a (again) Bluetooth enabled phone, but that’s probably too much and one could do it without this Garmin device.
Garmin also equipped Zumo 550 with the know feature of weather and traffic information, whith optional XM subscription and XM antenna. When user has those he/she can receive traffic and weather updates, and then with just one press of a button Zumo can adjust the route to bypass traffic jams. Oh, and with this antenna one can listen to the radio (once again Bluetooth enabled headset/helmet is needed).
As with other mid-range models the software included allows planning of the route on computer and upload it to the GPS device. Of course one can share those routes (and new POIs) on the internet.
The motorcycle edition of Garmin products are very durable, waterproof and made out of materials that can withstand the road test. The screen is bright, easily readable for the driver on a fast motorcycle. And Garmin didn’t forget about the appropriate mount that can be adjusted to fit on any two wheel vehicle.
Garmin Zumo 550 is a nice addition to the Zumo family, giving the Bluetooth capabilities to replace the missing speaker, allowing to plan the route ahead of time and allowing to subscribe to the traffic information and all this for not such a big price.
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