Originally Posted by doc_cj

What features do you want?

The folks that have the Zumo line seem to be very happy. But then again, if I spent $700 for a GPS I'd probably never tell anyone I hated it either.

But seriously ... it's all about features and what you'll do with it.

I personally have been using a Nuvi 760 for almost 4 years and think it works just fine for what I need. I paid around $185 for it. It does everything I could want with a GPS. It also gives me hands-free, Bluetooth phone operation, syncs with my bluetooth headset, and plays MP3s. There are a few other features of the 760 that make it a great little GPS, and I'd have no problem buying another one.

I know ... some are going to argue that you need a "water proof" GPS for a bike, but I just don't use my GPS in the rain. Most of the time I only ride from point A to B whne in the rain. If I'm on the road for a long trip I normally try to plan well enough in advance that I avoid the big storms while on vacation. From time to time, though, I've been caught between two major points in a storm. In those conditions, I just plot my next leg while standing under an overhand at the gas station or while in a nice, dry restuarant. It's bad enough riding with lunatics in cars while on wet pavement, I don't need to be fiddling with a GPS while trying to ride in the rain.

A couple friends have Tom-Tom and Nuvis that they put in waterproof mounts on their bikes. I bought my mount from Mount Guys, and they had a box that looked like it would make it through a hurricane. I guess if I really wanted to use my GPS while riding in the rain that badly I'd get one of those boxes.

There are those who will claim that "auto" GPS systems are not made to handle the vibration of a motorcycle. To them I have one word ... Jeep.

Garmin has been putting their GPS systems in Jeeps (and other off road vehicles) for years, and that doesn't seem to bother them much. In fact, it's because I have had so much experience with Garmin while off road (an advantage of living in Utah) that I was confident in the unit for my bike.

So far the Nuvi has done just fine. Maybe someone has had one go out while on their bike, but for 1/3 the price of a Zumo I can just buy a new one ... and then another new one ... before I ever catch up on the feature to price ratio. Better yet ... buy a $100 Garmin Nuvi 255 and you'll be able to replace 6 of them before you come close to the price of just one Zumo 660.

The argument about having XM in one unit is a valid one, and that's probably the closest I could get to maybe wanting a Zumo. But I already have an XM receiving unit (about 1/8th the size of the Zumo GPS) that fits nicely in my lower fairing bag anyway, so there's no need for me. Even if I didn't, I get free radio with my Blackberry, and it's got pretty much everything I'd want to hear on the radio. I actually prefer to listen to the MP3s on the Nuvi, though. I can download a bunch of free MP3 books and then store them on my memory cards. I have 2 8gig XD cards that have 64 books stored on them, so I have pretty much a travelling library of audio books. I have another 16 gig XD card with approximately 2000 songs on it, so I'm pretty much set for entertainment. :-)

If the Zumo were 1/2 the price ($300 instead of almost $700) then I'd consider it. But for now, there simply aren't enough features on a Zumo that make it worth that much more than what I paid for my Nuvi 760. As I said, though, it is really more about features and what you want. For the die-hard Zumo fans, that is the ONLY way to go ... so you'll have to decide where you want to fit into.