I need some input here. I have a 276c and I am thinking about upgrading to a Zumo 550. But, I see some drawbacks as well as benefits. The main reason to make the change would be to get the built in XM, MP3 and audible book feature. I am concerned about the screen being smaller and not as sharp as well as the basemap being the lite version. I would appreciate any comments especially from Zumo owners.
I am sure the Zumo has the same Mapsource Maps (City Navigator) as the rest of the garmins. Recent firmware updates allow you to see more detail than before .........at least I think so.
Sluggo, It's all relative. I got a Zumo a year ago. It's display is much better than my GPS V which I kept for off-roading. The Zumo comes with City Navigator North America (for US customers). I don't know that it has a "basemap". If it does, there's no need to use it since all of NA fits in the Zumo's memory. Since the Zumo has voice prompts for turns including notifications giving you ample timeot change lanes, I haven't found a need to stare at the map to tell me where to turn. There's also a way to have it tell you how far it is to the next turn at anytime in addition to the normal voice turn prompts/advance notifications. It mutes all music/books when it's giving the voice prompts. I'd advise borrowing a Zumo and comparing it to your 276 yourself. Like I said, it's all relative. I found having XM, MP3 and navigation invaluable... especially in one unit.
Great idea, I just haven't been able to find one that I can look at much less somebody who would let me borrow one. I just need to talk one of my buddies into buying one so I can try it out.
Something to bear in mind with regard to XM radio and the Zumo is that you will still need to buy the XM radio antenna in order to receive XM signals. The Garmin antennas used to be about $200. Not trying to sway you either way just wanted to make sure you knew. I actually have the Zumo setup with the GXM30 antenna and love it. The traffic integration alone is well worth the money add in the weather and radio and it is really cool!
I have yet to find a demo unit or someone who has one. I went to Fry's today, their demo unit didn't work. :huh Tell me about the traffic integration. What info does it give you and how does it display it? I assume that the XM subscription does not include traffic integration.
The XM sub does include traffic if you ask for it. You need to ask specifically for the traffic and weather package, XM throws in the radio channels with the package. I think I pay about 14/mo. I live in the Seattle area and commute 20 miles each way every day. I principally use the traffic integration to let me know what the approximate delay on my route is, based on that I can choose which route I would rather take. I don't however use the traffic "avoidances" setting to route me around traffic. That feature is sort of a mess as far as I am concerned. Given that you are in the Bay Area and have lots of traffic to deal with and lots of alternative routes you might find the traffic integration useful. Basically what you end up with is an additional soft button at the bottom of the main screen that allows you to view your XM data. One of the data points is traffic. For the Seattle area basically you see the I-5 and I-405 corridors with 520 and I-90 as well with color coding telling you what the congestion is like plus any known incidents. You can drill down into the incident listing to see the details. I have found that basically anything that NavTeq reports to XM gets listed which is pretty cool, even for places like Utah, Wyoming, etc. While you are moving and you are not running a route if there is a traffic incident in front of you an icon will pop up in the lower right portion of the screen to give you an idea of the problem. Additionally there is usually a "street sign" that will pop up on the virtual road itself that will show slow down, accident, or warning icons to give you a rough idea of where the mess starts. If you touch the icon in the lower right of the screen you are taken to the traffic details pane for a description of the issue. If you are riding a route then you will get the approximate number of minutes of delay between you and the end of your route, touching the delay icon will take you to the same details pane. In addition to all of that you also get severe weather and road alerts on your path if they have been reported to NavTeq. Weather alerts show up as a storm cloud icon on the screen. All in all I am really pleased with the XM integration into the Zumo. I am a LD rider at heart and do quite a bit of high mileage rides when I'm not commuting to work so having the extra data is great.
I'll probably make the switch from my 276 to a Zumo, but I'll wait until the follow-on product to the Zumo comes out.
doom, Thanks for that great information! I had not seen anything like that in my searches so far. I think I have pretty much decided to make the switch, I really appreciate your help. Sluggo
Try to find someone in your area that uses XM traffic. Here in the southeast, such as Atlanta it is nearly WORTHLESS. At best, the data is about 2-4hours behind. Of the dozen or so times I took backroads to avoid a area according to the traffic map, I only found that the road was flowing normal. Plus the times I have come upon a bad wreck that had shut down traffic, no such warning on XM. Then hours later when it is cleaned up and traffic is flowing fine, the accident shows up. I put this to be a data entry/reporting problem BUT When I check the DOT website that shows current road flow conditions, wrecks etc it tends to be very accurate where the XM information is a crap shoot at best, so they clearly are not using the same data. Of course during rush hour it shows all the correct areas that are slow or stopped but hey, we all know what to expect in routine rush hour. I do use XM radio so I keep the traffic which was a add on to the radio subscription as I do find the weather info useful and have hopes they will improve the traffic reporting in the near future.
As moderator of the Zumoforums.com I can only comment. Buy a 278C Who needs MP3 and above all, an Audio book while driving?? It's a F*** GPS for crist sake.
FYI, the wx that you get with the XM is good but basically the same as what you'd see on a TV forecast. It gives general conditions and you can see a forecast but doesn't have a nexrad wx radar pic like the 478. Still good poop.
XM gets it's traffic data from traffic.com (A Navteq company). Check their website for Atlanta before leaving work and compare it to what shows on the GPSR.
very interesting. I just traveled a area that Traffic.com is showing heavy congestion in both directions. It was completely clear in both directions 5 mins ago. Checking DOT website, shows it clear AND looking at the camera's shows that it is clear now too. I have no confidence in the traffic on the Zumo and will be paying attention to the 2 websites to compare AND send a complaint to Garmin about this.
278 is Euro-only, isn't it? 376, 378 and 478 are North America. 278 is very expensive though, compared to a Zumo - £600 v £360.
It's a 278, no 'C'. https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=148&pID=416 But as rallybug correctly pointed out it's European only, sort of like a 478 without XM.
