Editor
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posted December 20, 2006 12:45 PM
 Edited By: Editor on 20 Dec 2006 12:52
How not to get lost, or I spent a bunch of money and I got what I paid for!
Bikeland tests the Garmin 2820
Have you ever been lost? I mean really lost, like you have absolutely no idea where you are and you can't find anyone to help you? Even worse, have you ever been lost because the map you have is totally useless? No one speaks English, and there's no where to pull over and ask for directions.
I've only been truly lost twice in my life. The first time was a few years back in the German city of Köln. What should have been an easy trip directly through the city via the Autobahn turned into a nightmarish two-hour experience of missed turns, unmarked roads and total confusion. Armed with three maps we brought with us from our local AAA we still couldn't navigate our way through the city, surprising to us because PK and I consider ourselves to be seasoned travelers who next to never have a problem finding our way around. We've successfully driven all throughout Mexico, Europe and Eastern Europe (even though my father still insists it's called "Central Europe"). We've navigated through Budapest and driven through the bowels of Paris, but for some reason Köln was our undoing. I'm not sure if it was the fault of the map, or the fact that the Germans were lacking in personality and assistance, but Köln was our nemesis.
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The second time I was hopelessly lost was when I got off the plane in Washington DC last year to attend our very own Grudgerace. Arriving at Ronald Reagan International at about midnight, carrying AAA street level maps and a list of driving directions I'd printed out from Mapquest turned out to be pointless. In the darkness the city seemed to be all rearranged, scrambled and with a total lack of street lighting and signage. A trip that should have taken me half an hour ended up taking two hours. I'm not sure if it's because of a post 9/11 lockdown on the city in an effort to confuse the Taliban, but it damn well confused the heck out of me.
A year later the tables have turned on getting lost as Bikeland has spent months testing one of Garmin's most sophisticated offerings, the 2820. Now, I've never been one to even consider using a GPS, it's what I would call a "crutch", so when the offer of a long term test came from Garmin and Autoland, we were skeptical but since we were headed on a 5000 mile road trip we thought it was the perfect opportunity for us to see if an expensive gadget like this is really worth the coin.
The 2820 isn't cheap. Buying one will set you back just under a grand. In the Garmin lineup, the 2820 is what I would classify a "crossover" unit. Designed to work on both a motorcycle and a car. Garmin claims the 2820 is waterproof up to one meter of water and comes equipped with some extremely powerful mapping and navigation aids including an unbelievably extensive point of interest (POI) database. Unlike its motorcycle specific counterpart, the Zumo, the 2820 has right hand controls and does not have an internal battery which means that if you want to take it inside your tent, in your hotel room or into the bar at the end of a long ride, you'll need to bring the AC adapter with you and have access to a power source of some kind.
As a GPS newbie, I was disappointed by the overall size of the unit. The 2820 (and the Zumo for that matter) remind me a bit of the original Motorola "Shoe Phones". Garmin offers smaller, more compact units but they simply don't have the mapping and Nav capabilities that the 2820 offers, and as an important note for a motorcyclist or boater, the majority of the other units aren't waterproof.
We mounted the 2820 to several motorcycles including our long-term test ZX-14s from Kawasaki Motors Corp. USA using a Techmount from High Gear Specialties and the Garmin motorcycle mounting kit. The only complaint we had about the Garmin mount was that to securely lock the unit in the cradle, Garmin wants you to close the upper clasp on the cradle and then tighten it down with a tiny tamper poof torx screwdriver (provided). This was pointless as we simply didn't feel safe leaving a high dollar item like the 2820 (that we didn't own!) permanently mounted to the bike (that we didn't own!). Stealing the 2820 would be a breeze. Consequently we never tightened down the locking screw - this led to another problem; on two separate occasions the unit launched itself out of its cradle while traveling at high speed. Good thing PK has quick reflexes!
Techmount is prototyping a fix (below) but it's still being tested.
So does the Garmin deliver as promised? We weren't sure so we packed a huge stack of paper maps just in case. They turned out to serve a purpose as one of the only downsides we could find with the Garmin was the lack of a "tactile feel" that a map offers. There's something to be said for being able to unfold a map on a table and look at it. Since the Garmin is limited to its screen size you can't really look at a whole state or city in the same way you can on a paper map. This takes some getting used to, but once you're over it this is really a bit of non-issue because the rest of the unit's features are so unbelievably cool that it just doesn't matter.
You'll never get lost again.
That's pretty much a given, because this unit is really wild and what it can do will floor you. Entering information is easy with the touch screen controls. Type in your destination and you're off. Turn by turn voice instructions follow and we jacked the 2820 into our helmets using the external input on our Chatterboxes so that we could hear them while we rode.
The voice commands can be pretty hilarious as you try to get used to the pronunciation errors the computer spits out. Errors in pronounciation were often attached to abbreviations, an example was "Marine Drive" (displayed in text on screen as "Marine Dr") being called out loud as "Marine Doctor" or "Burrard Street" (displayed in text on screen as "Burrard St.") being called "Burrard Saint".
Some of the other pronunciation errors might be enough to get you killed if you're pegged as being a starry eyed tourist. Don't rely on the Garmin to teach you how to say something. "Robson Street" is pronounced "Rob-sun" not "Robe-sun". Walmart is "Wall-Mart", not "Whale-Mart". Either way it is a source of entertainment and is guaranteed to make you laugh.
The 2820 is unique in the Garmin lineup in that you can insert multiple waypoints in a route, meaning that you can add in several destinations and ask it to calculate the shortest distance between all of them. This is a really cool feature. The only other unit to sport this feature is the newly released Zumo, and we were disappointed that other Garmin units (especially the Nuvi series) didn't offer this capability.
The 2820 also sports the totally amazing XM Nav feature. This requires the purchase of an external XM antenna and a special $4 a month XM Nav subscription. Using the (sadly) large magnetic hockey puck size XM antenna provided, the Garmin pulls rich traffic data off of the XM satellite and then builds it into its route calculations.
We tested the XM Nav feature in 4 major West Coast cities: Los Angeles, Sacramento, Portland and Seattle. In LA the Nav feature was worth its weight in gold and shaved hours and hours off of our daily driving. With the XM connected, the Garmin had the uncanny ability to guide you to off ramps and steer you past traffic slow downs, then drop you right back on the freeway when the traffic was moving again. Its accuracy in LA was unnerving. The Garmin would indicate traffic stopped ahead, and was bang on every time. The Nav feature did not work as well in Sacramento or Seattle, and in Portland wasn't much help at all. If you live in LA or another major city it's worth checking into XM coverage for this feature, and if you're in LA it's a must have.
We wish Garmin would make a smaller XM antenna. The antenna that came with my Delphi RoadyXT is miniscule, but the heavy giant Garmin version was so cumbersome that at one point it even flew off my car and was left dangling from its cord. The other downside to the XM antenna is that its connector is trapped in place by the power connector for the 2820 making it slightly unfriendly to disconnect. We never left the unit in an unattended vehicle, and I don't know if you would want to either. This meant some level of inconvenience in disconnecting the 2820 when taking it with you.
For added features the 2820 has a built in XM receiver so with the XM antenna and a full subscription it becomes your XM radio. It's also a built in MP3 player and has a huge amount of onboard memory if you want to load in a ton of songs, maps or audio books (another good idea for long road trips).
The power connector for the unit is a shoe that slides into the back of the unit sideways. Curiously, the connector (bucking standard convention) appears to have the live male leads exposed. In the car this isn't an issue as the paddle shaped cigarette lighter plug (equipped with a speaker for the audio commands) would most likely have its power shut off when you turned off the ignition. Car interiors are plastic so the chances of shorting it out are next to none, but this isn't the case on a bike. Bikes are made of metal and we were really worried about the exposed connectors grounding out on the triple clamp or gas tank. PK solved the problem by attaching the cord to the Techmount with a hair elastic. Granted, Garmin supplies a little plastic boot for you to cover the connector with when not in use, but we lost that almost immediately. How many things does a person need to carry around these days? It would be great to see a different kinda of connector that didn't have this potential issue. Voice commands in your car are issued through a speaker built into the cigarette lighter adapter.
The Garmin has become a part of our everyday lives, providing us with travel information we thought we'd never need. Where's the nearest Starbucks? Ask the Garmin and it'll send you there. The next rest area? The nearest hotel? It does it all, and on top of it, it not only takes you there but it also give you the full address and phone number of where you're going AND if you have a Bluetooth enabled phone, it will call the number for you! No more 411! POI coverage in the US was fantastic. In Canada it was fantastic in major cities, but pretty sketchy in nowheresville. This may be solved in the future with a specific Canadian POI database (if offered), but hey... who lives in Canada anyways, eh?
The following is an example of why the Garmin is an indispensable travel tool (and this really happened to us this summer)
PK and I were somewhere on the coast of Northern California onboard KMC's ZX-14s when the fuel range indicator began flashing 30 miles left to empty. We pulled into the nearest town, and it was a one-horse town. No one there, most stores boarded up and a run down garage was doubling as a no-name gas station. Preying on tourists running out of gas, this place couldn't have been any more of a stereotype than it already was. The only thing missing was the screeching vulture and the tumbleweed rolling down the street to complete this picture. We pull up to the decrepit old mechanical gas pump and out walks the gas station attendant. Living up to the stereotype (this only gets better, so keep reading because I'm not making it up) the grungy guy is covered in grease and a few missing teeth. He walks up to us and says "Gas is 3.90 a gallon but the old pumps wont go that high so I've recalibrated them to pump in half gallons" as he lifts the handle and brings the hose towards the ZX-14s. PK and I shoot a glance at each other. Can this be real?
"So, wanna filler up", snorts toothless guy.
"Give us a sec to talk", I tell him and I motion him away. We look down at the Garmin and enter this simple sequence of commands: "FIND" > "FUEL" > "NEAR HERE". In two seconds the Garmin spits out the data. Thirteen miles down the road is a Chevron and a 76.
"No thanks", I tell toothless guy as we leave him in the dust. He looked so disappointed. You'd think this was the first time someone didn't buy his half gallon recalibrated gas! We smiled as we pulled into the real town and the 76 where gas was 70 cents a gallon cheaper and people had teeth.
Fast forward to today. I'm sitting on a plane headed to Washington DC and the Grudgerace. This time I'm not worried about getting lost at all. Thankfully Autoland let us keep the Garmin for one extra week so I could use it in DC and find my way around. I didn't even bring a paper map this time. With the 2820 I'm golden, whether I'm in a car or on a bike I know I'll get there and I wont get lost. Granted some of the directions aren't as intuitive as they might be if you knew the area like the back of your hand, but to show up in a part of the world you know nothing about and to be able to drive around not looking like a lost tourist is a Godsend.
I'll never travel without a GPS again. Now I have to go buy one. Just placed my order. I hate that!
To find out more about the Garmin 2820 and other Garmin products, visit their website at garmin.com
To find out more about GPS mounting equipment, visit High Gear Specialties at techmounts.com
To find out more about other cool GPS stuff, check out autoland.ca
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Source: Bikeland.org
   
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MadMike
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posted December 20, 2006 01:20 PM
very nice read... just what I need.
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zerMATT
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posted December 20, 2006 02:10 PM
Thanks for the review fish. 
Got any feedback on how it stacks up against the zumo 550? Seems like that one has several more features that are motorcycle-specific, and it's the same price.
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'06 Passion Red ZX-14 | Black D&D Slip-ons | Speedo Healer | V1 | zumo 550 | Heli-Risers | PhantomX
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Wideout
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posted December 20, 2006 03:24 PM
Excellent review as usual.
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stevewfl
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posted December 20, 2006 03:28 PM
Wow, I asked a while back if we could expect a GPS write-up and was told yes...
THANKS
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ZX14 gone!
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Tool man
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posted December 20, 2006 03:29 PM
Thanks Fish. I have an older Garmin, won't leave town without it 
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fastestbusaaround
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posted December 20, 2006 03:58 PM
Edited By: fastestbusaaround on 20 Dec 2006 16:00
zerMATT. I can tell you everything you wanna know about the Zumo...you've got my number...call me. Happy to share what I know with you. Have a lot of experience with all of these including the 2820 and the Zumo.
Fish - great review...well done (fer a  Canuckster) 
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smiddy1
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posted December 20, 2006 05:15 PM
I guess having gps on my phone IS the shit.
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fish_antlers
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posted December 20, 2006 05:41 PM
Matt, when we tested the 2820, the Zumo was not available. It's shipping now, but we havent had a chance to fully evaluate it. From what we know so far, some issues that the 2820 has have been addressed with the Zumo, and others have not.
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osti33
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posted December 20, 2006 08:19 PM
Great review Fish. I thought that was the same unit you had in the car in Maryland when You, Harry and I were driving around jammin to some Cher. 
*Way off topic* What ever happened to that video?
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fish_antlers
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posted December 20, 2006 08:20 PM
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What business is it of yours where I'm from, Friendo?
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rudebwoy
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posted December 20, 2006 11:08 PM
Edited By: rudebwoy on 20 Dec 2006 23:11
although the zumo is newer the 2820 is the most fully featured motorcycle/auto unit garmin has.
zumo has no scrolling map (use your finger to explore and move map), also no Audible audiobook player. Both are great units and easily more than any biker barring a Goldwing rider will ever need out of a motorcycle oriented GPS. Like what was stated the XM-30 antenna is needed to utilize the XM radio and traffic features. It's actually the Antenna that has the xm radio ID number, it's the actual antenna and XM-radio, the GPS unit is the control interface.
There are a few other minor differences, and the Zumo is smaller but really as full sized as the 2820 looks it feels good on the bike, the smaller Garmin units like the Quest and GPS-Map series have the earlier 2D only map view and the smaller screens means you often have to spend more energy reading the screens which takes you away from watching the road. That said they are very good units also in their own right.
You can use the new Garmin units (with the available 3D-maps) and navigate to your destination quite easily and reliably without ever looking at the screen, following the voice prompts are very easy and intuitive.
Nice writeup Fish, whenever I travel to unfamiliar areas I always have a GPS device on my person just in case and although I dont always use it, I also never feel lost anywhere I go, no matter how off the beaten path it might be.
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jeroen
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posted December 21, 2006 03:28 AM
Since this summer I've got a 2610 with 'perfect pilot', so I can operate it left handed:
http://www.perfectpilot.nl/html/het_toestel.html
It's a lot of fun too to create your own route and upload it to the Streetpilot so you can follow it without having to wonder which way you have to go. So you can concentrate on riding in stead of reading charts.
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Jeroen - BMW R850R
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fish_antlers
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posted December 21, 2006 08:32 AM
thanks for the link Jeroen! Very cool accessory!
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redelk
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posted December 21, 2006 09:17 PM
Edited By: redelk on 22 Dec 2006 04:52
From Waypoint's website http://www.perfectpilot.nl/html/switch_to_english.html
Perfect Cradle RED - Perfect Pilot combined with the Streetpilot 2720 - $1,880 US
A complete Garmin Streetpilot 2720, incl. City Navigator v8 mapping; Europe-preinstalled, mapsource software. Complete with mounting, speaker cable and remote for in-car use and all mounting material for bike-use, incl. 12V cable and helmet-speaker set .
Perfect Cradle BLUE - same as above with built-in Bluetooth transmitter and seperate Bluetooth-receiver - $2,110 US
*****************************************************************
Following prices from GPS on Sale http://gpsonsale.com/garmin/index.htm
Garmin 2820 - $730 US
Garmin Zumo 550 - $730 US (motorcycle mounting hardware and wiring included)
Garmin 2720 - $620 US
For the "cheapskates" (like me), smaller units without many of the super cool features (no XM, Bluetooth, touch screen, etc.) with a smaller screen, but still waterproof...
Garmin Quest 2 - $490.00
Garmin Quest - $330.00
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fastestbusaaround
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posted December 22, 2006 07:45 AM
Guys, the 2820/2720 are nice units...but there are big differences between those and the Zumo 550. The Zumo includes battery operation, car kit with charger, full bike kit with RAM mounts and charger/power supply...also, it uses the SirfStarIII GPS chipset, which is about 1000 times more sensitive to GPS signal than the prior chipsets Garmin used. SirfStarIII is now the industry standard and is appearing on all Garmin units as they come out. It means GPS signal where you may not have had it before...and that makes a difference. Screen real estate is about the same on all units with dimensions changing on width and height, but all about the same amount of real estate in total. The older units like the 26xx/2720/2820 are based on older technology but have a few more bells and whistles, like configurable information tabs on the front screen, but these units are going to go by the wayside in favor of the Zumo style product, as it's far more advanced technologically. Another important thing you'll see on the Zumo is the screen intensity and brightness, which unlike the older series, does not wash out in direct sunlight and is much brighter than the previous models. The Zumo is also "glove friendly" unlike the previous generation of Garmin product.
The Zumo is the 1st unit by Garmin that has been specifically designed for bikes 1st, but does a great job in the car and on the bike. If you include all the bike mounts it comes with in the box, it ends up being cheaper than the 2820. I've used all of them extensively (some for years now) and for my money knowing what I know technically about these units, I'd only buy the Zumo.
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zerMATT
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posted December 22, 2006 08:04 AM
That Zumo sounds like a pretty sweet unit. I've been keeping up with the feature list on the Garmin site, it sounds like they have really made this unit the answer every problem. I have been trying to figure out how I can buy one without the wife finding out! She just doesn't understand gadgets... even if they make a road trip more interesting (and she loves road trips).
These nav devices have really come a long way in the last few years. It makes you wonder how they will improve them again in a year or two, but I'm sure they'll come up with something.
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'06 Passion Red ZX-14 | Black D&D Slip-ons | Speedo Healer | V1 | zumo 550 | Heli-Risers | PhantomX
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fish_antlers
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posted December 22, 2006 08:47 AM
quote:
...also, it uses the SirfStarIII GPS chipset, which is about 1000 times more sensitive to GPS signal than the prior chipsets Garmin used
what does the Nuvi 660 use?
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redelk
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posted December 22, 2006 10:35 AM
Edited By: redelk on 22 Dec 2006 10:41
Garmin say all Nuvi, Edge, 60C/CS, StreetPilot c5XX, iQue M4 and Mobile10/20 versions use the SiRFstarIII chipset.
The chip supports 20 parallel channels, meaning that the chip can listen to, or search for, the signals from 20 different GPS satellites simultaneously. However, the current GPS system typically peaks at 12 satellites visible from one location plus a maximum of four WAAS satellites.
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fastestbusaaround
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posted December 23, 2006 03:27 AM
Yup Fish....he be 100% right on this. Oh, btw, new nuvi 680 coming out 1st quarter '07...same as 660 but features MSN Direct as well.
zerMATT, trust me, it won't be a year or 2...more like a few months. Look for more device convergence.
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robertinargyle
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posted December 29, 2006 08:03 AM
Great thread, thanks for all the info Fish. Any thoughts on the Nuvi 660 for motorcycle and car use?
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fish_antlers
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posted December 29, 2006 08:32 AM
Nuvi just arrived yesterday... I'll let ya'll know!
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zerMATT
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posted March 16, 2007 01:07 PM
Got my Nuvi 550 today... $714 from Amazon with free shipping available.
Haven't messed with it much yet, just took it to lunch and back in the car, but I'm already VERY impressed. I'll try it out on the bike this weekend. If it only came with a stem mount - that's where I want this since my V1 is already mounted to my left-side controls.
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'06 Passion Red ZX-14 | Black D&D Slip-ons | Speedo Healer | V1 | zumo 550 | Heli-Risers | PhantomX
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stevewfl
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posted March 16, 2007 01:25 PM
quote:
Got my Nuvi 550 today... $714 from Amazon with free shipping available.
Haven't messed with it much yet, just took it to lunch and back in the car, but I'm already VERY impressed. I'll try it out on the bike this weekend. If it only came with a stem mount - that's where I want this since my V1 is already mounted to my left-side controls.
Matt can you all please post-up how you like it? Also can you post whether it can come off the bike easily, like if we don't want to leave it on the bike while parked?
Thanks man
____________
2010 Concours14
'08 R1 YAMAHA
ZX14 gone!
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zerMATT
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posted March 18, 2007 06:37 PM
I wanted to start a new topic for the Zumo 550, but I wouldn't be able to cross-post it like this one is... 
Steve - **I LOVE THIS THING**. The thought and engineering that went into this little device is simply amazing. The amount of accessories that come with it makes you wonder how they could affort to even include the GPS unit in the price! It comes with a RAM motorcycle mount (control mount, or handlebar mount convertible), a motorcycle cradle & hardwire power cord, a car cradle w/speaker and cig lighter power cord, a home 110v charger cord, plus a few other minor trinkets.
The design of the car & motorcyle cradles is wonderful and extremely easy to use. Yes, you can quickly remove it from the bike and put it in the very cool & protective carry case for security. They want you to use a special "security screw" to lock the motorcycle cradle latch, but that wouldn't prevent someone from gouging the screen, or somply un-screwing the RAM mount wingnut and taking off with your GPS. I'll probably leave mine mounted, but covered with my jacket while eating lunch or something, but I'll definitely take it with me for any extended stops. I will NOT be using that little security screw, because you lose the ability to quickly remove the GPS if you tighten that screw. The car cradle & suction cup work great too. It's simplicity defined, plus it has a built-in speaker for voice instructions.
As for the GPS features, it does everything that I can imagine wanting, and then some. It's very flexible and easy to use. The touch screen changes modes when it's in the car versus motorcycle mount - it has a mode that works better with gloved hands versus bare fingers. It also tracks motorcycle fuel usage when mounted on the bike (you supply the fuel range and tell it when you fill up, then it warns you when you are getting close to running out), but it doesn't do that when you are in the car. The day and night graphics change colors to help - more contrast during the day, and subdued colors at night. The backlight level changes from day to night automatically, but you can easily override that with one button press.
The list goes on and on... it's quite amazing really...
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'06 Passion Red ZX-14 | Black D&D Slip-ons | Speedo Healer | V1 | zumo 550 | Heli-Risers | PhantomX
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