 "The zumo is great" | 2008-09-30 |
| - Reviewed By User: A30SPQSQ89IONQ |
| I just did a coast to coast ride on a vespa. the zumo 550 worked really, really well. |
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| "This is the one." | 2008-08-31 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1C8C5JCPWNQZY |
I own it...it is awesome. I don't use the bluetooth or listen to music with it, so if I had it to do over again, I'd buy the 450.
Works great, even in pouring rain, gets great satellite reception, MadMaps tours can be downloaded into it...it is durable, bright, vibration resistant, and works in my car and on my bike. I love it.
Garmin rules! |
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| "Amazing device that delivers everything it's supposed to" | 2008-08-31 |
| - Reviewed By stooxie |
I've read a lot of the critical reviews on Amazon and frankly I just don't see where they are coming from. The unit itself lives up to all the claims and THEN some. It is very intuitive and does many things that are surprising. For example, the bluetooth capability (which linked up to EVERY phone I tried it with when I brought it to the Sprint store AND the Apple store [iPhone]) automatically downloads your phonebook. It also accesses your phone's recent incoming call, recent outgoing call and missed call lists in real time.
Of course as a navigation unit it is excellent. The interface is equally intuitive and it contains 6 million points of interest. You can search for PIOs along your route, at a destination, nearest, etc. Lots and lots of features and options are useful.
One thing that really impresses me is the overall feel and responsiveness of the interface and the applications. I had a Magellan 4250 before this, and that was a fine unit for the price, but the Windows CE environment was rather slow and (what else?) prone to needing reboots. The Garmin Zumo feels like it's totally integrated and gives a great level of confidence. The BEST part is Garmin's web updater that detects the device, figures out your firmware levels and automatically presents the any newer software with a description of what changed. Garmin seems to be pretty active in fixing bugs and improving features and they come up with updates every few months. To me, that is critical. I need to know that my unit is actively supported.
In terms of being a motorcycle unit, I give this a very high score. The mounting hardware is beautiful and the kit comes with everything: cable to hardware the mounting cradle to the bike's battery (optional, of course, but SO great!), car mount, car power adapter, USB cables, additional plastic bezels for when you beat the heck out of the original ones. I've gone mine mounted on a Ninja 650R and so far so good.
Yes, the price is WAY higher than anyone wants to pay, but it can be had from an authorized dealer for far below the MSRP, and you need a ruggedized unit to survive the vibrations of a motorcycle (no matter how smooth you think your bike is). The feature set is huge and the quality top notch.
To the folks giving this unit one star because of seller issues, this isn't a seller rating system. To those giving this unit one or two stars because it didn't work with some bluetooth device XYZ, whattiya gonna do? I've tried a ton of devices just for kicks and they all worked. Garmin can't control what other vendors do or don't do. Many people have given few stars because of issues that were fixed by firmware updates 18 months ago.
Bottom line is that this is a beautiful unit that continues to surprise me with it's feature set, completeness and attention to detail. Well worth the (admittedly nosebleed) price. |
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 "BE AWARE" | 2008-08-28 |
| - Reviewed By tomanek01 |
| BE AWARE - Garmin advertises the 550 Zumo as providing high quyality MP3 music. They also promote their Bluetooth technology. Be aware that the MP3 quality through the Garmin Bluetooth technology is, at best, very, very poor. In addition, XM radio is NOT available through their Bluetooth. What Garmin does not mention is that to achieve better quality or XM radio, you need to use a wired headset (as well as a $200 separate antenna for XM). In addition, Garmin provides very limited and disappointing factory support for cell phones. Be sure to check their web site for capatibility for your particular cell phone or you may be disappointed to find your bluetooth phone is not supported. At close to $1,000 for this unit, it is simply unacceptable for Garmin to put out this product with these limitations and not disclose these limitations up front. As a navigation unit, it works fine. However, there are much less expensive units available to provide equal or better functionality for GPS. Overall, I'm satisfied with other aspects of this unit as it mounts nicely on my motorcycle and seems to be built to withstand the rigors associated with motorcycling. I pair the Zumo with a ChatterBox GRMS X1 and this combination works well except for the MP3 music functionality. Sorry - I would think twice before investing in this unit again as I sincerely believe that I haven't received adequate value for its cost. |
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 "Seller does't know their own products" | 2008-08-20 |
| - Reviewed By User: AHEGE510JWIYJ |
I asked the person who I spoke why there was such a difference in prices from one retailer to another. He told me that the differences where because of the different versions of the machines and that I would not be able to update an older unit with new software.
With this information I bought the unit from 17th Street Photo.
When I called Garmin they told me that there is no different versions and that any updates would be available to me after buying the unit. With this information I could have bought it from another store at a lower price.
I gave my review regarding my purchase, but after finding out from Garmin that there is no difference between years or (versions as I was told) I change my review.
The following day a representative from 17th Street Photo called me asking me to change my review for a 20 dollar refund, I told them that I would have to think about it and to call me back later.
I found this to be insulting and when they called me back I told them that I would not change my review and that in fact I was going to change my review again letting other customers know what they were doing to gain a better review, they then offered me 30 dollars to remove my review, but I refused.
I believe that people should know what this company is doing to gain the trust of customer to buy their products. If they had no stars that's what I would have given them.Garmin 010-00567-00 Zumo 550 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Motorcycle Navigator |
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| "Zumo is the way to go!" | 2008-08-19 |
| - Reviewed By User: AE0OVRH9IHWMQ |
| I have owned this device for almost two months now, and find it to be a very well made product. Adding an 8 GB SD card makes it the only music player that I need for the motorcycle and the car. It's a damned fine GPS too. As usual, the mapping products supplied by Garmin leave a little to be desired, since there have been a few roads I've travelled that weren't in the maps (on four year old roads). But overall, anyone should be very happy purchasing this unit. |
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| "Great GPS" | 2008-08-13 |
| - Reviewed By User: ASJ631SO4DH8X |
Combined with the products offered from Kennedy Electronics, I was able to mount this on my Honda 94 Goldwing Trike and run it directly into my intercom/radio. I have a switch that allows me to flip back and forth between the radio and the Garmin so I can hear the output right on my speakers or through a headset.
It does everything I wanted it to do, and I will probably be purchasing a memory card so I can download some music for trips where my local radio station doesn't reach.
So far, it has been 100% accurate for all my needs and flawlessly led me to my destinations in towns I don't know at all, as well as any local places. I also use it on occasion in my car with the adaptor it came with for car use.
Very easy to install the mount on the bike, I would recommend this product to anyone wanting a portable GPS for their bike or trike. |
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 "Great navigator, marginal manual" | 2008-08-03 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1TKATT0WSCLPI |
| The navigator itself works wonderfully. I couldn't be more satisfied with the performance. The directions have been very good and the text to voice has very clear pronounciations. The manual is another story. Most of what I've learned with regard to operation of the device has been by trial and error. This biggest headache I had was getting the device to give me voice navigation prompts to my headset with bluetooth. Eventually, I noticed that there was an audio button in the bluetooth settings and this allowed me to set it up correctly. There is nothing in the manual about the audio button. The manual is next to useless. |
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| "Poor support for defective Zumo" | 2008-07-29 |
| - Reviewed By User: A5D2214ED7HWJ |
I paid around $800 for my Zumo and it was defective right out of the box. The features are great, but mine just wouldn't turn on sometimes. Unfortunately the unit waited 17 days to act up, too long to return it to Best Buy, so I turned to Garmin. Tech support couldn't solve the problem so they requested that I return the unit.
They wouldn't just send a replacement unit, they want ALL the parts, including the ones already mounted to the motorcyle. In addition, they rewarded me with the pleasure of paying for shipping to return it to them. Customer rep. said she didn't think it was right either, but it's "Company Policy". I used this unit on one trip, and it left me stranded. Thankfully I had maps. Now Garmin is taking a few more bucks out of me. Cheaters never prosper Garmin! I'm in a loose/loose situation. Pay the blackmail money, or be stuck with a defective unit. Not a happy camper! |
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| "A good purchase, but watch for the XM surprise." | 2008-07-21 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2QYQAFR5K0JRS |
I travel a lot on my motorcycle, and often to out-of-state locations that I haven't traveled to before. And I enjoy listening to music when I travel, so the Garmin Zumo seemed like a perfect choice. GPS and XM combined specifically for a motorcycle. Delivery was prompt, though the shipper called and advised that they would be delivering it "between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m." and that it had to be signed for... Yeah, Thanks.... Another day off from work... The unit came with two mounting options, which was nice. The Ram mount worked perfectly on my Harley. Running the wires wasn't too problematic. GPS worked well, which is to be expected with a Garmin unit.
Now the downside. As I said above, the XM feature was one of the reasons I bought this unit. A typical XM antenna (not included in the purchase of the unit) costs around $30 at Walmart. Imagine my surprise to find out the proprietary Garmin XM antenna retails for $200+. This was an unpleasant surprise... I did find a refurbished one on Ebay for $140 and it is working fine so far. Also, the antenna was huge by XM standards. About 3 inches in diameter. Not a problem for a car, but mounting it on the motorcycle was a challenge. Finally mounted it behind the rider's seat.
Also, the unit did not recognize the SD card and thus I could not load MP3's. Amazon promptly and courteously replaced the unit and everything is working fine now. Oh, and the unit will play MP3 ONLY. No windows media. Just be advised...
All in all, a good unit and I'm happy with the purchase.
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