I guess I am missing something here
I have a Magellan 2200 -
waterproof
Rechargeable, gets 8-10 hrs off a charge
paid $90 and have seen them for less

So what am I missing, yes bluetooth, but what else?

 

No flame, but I just checked mine on the car and bike, and it charges when it's plugged in. It displays a faint message that it's charging and to turn it on if you want to use it. Initially it powers on when I plug it in, then I turn if off and it goes into charge mode. Maybe you need a firmware update?

 

Yup,
And mine came with the car cradle and a little plastic disk with stick on the back never had it pop off yet and it's hotter than heck down here.

 

If it fits your needs, sounds like you have just what you want and you aren't missing anything else.

My favorite feature of the Zumo 550 (other than the navigation) is the ability to play mp3's. I have every song I own loaded in an sd card and my entire library of music is available at the touch of my finger, sorted by genre, song, album, artist or whatever, everywhere I travel.

We don't NEED gps at all. I agree that is gps is all you want, there are other cheaper models out there that will do just fine, but the added features of the Zumo 550 and it's motorcycle convienence puts it over the top for me.

Dennis

 

You must of gotten a defective unit, mine and my buds both charge in the mount when turned off! There is also the option of charging AC, even with the unit off. Page 52 of the manual is a little vauge but doesn't say the unit is to be turned on. When hooked to the power, it will automatically come up but it will power down or you can shut it off and still charge. Also you might want to look on the back of the 550, the battery is very easy to swap, one screw, or are you saying that having the ability to swap batteries in the field is a huge fault?

 

1. It's a great price, I'd buy it
2. The Zumo is made to be biker friendly, meaning it is dust/water/vibration proof. It is also glove friendly. If you wear gloves all the time, like I do, just walk into a Best Buy with your gloves and try getting some of the cheaper units to work with your glove. I did, most of them never worked with my gloves and the ones that did took repeated taps or pressing to get it to recognise my touch
3. Between the road noise, wind noise, radio noise and exhaust noise, you can't hear it anyway. I got the 450 before they discontinued the line, and it has no speaker and it's no big deal. I tried abuddies GPS that talked and I couldn't hear it from 45 mph and up. I just look down, see how many miles to my next turn and I take it. Easy enough for me