[Ahmad Pervez]

Ahmad Pervez

December 8, 2010 at 6:55 am #861

The Desert, the Cars and now even the GPS systems are being urbanized :-s :-s :-s

So where do we go?

There has been a real lack of GPS systems which can be used for our applications after the Garmin GPS276c was discontinued.

There are a lot of confusing options available on the market but very few of them will pass the grade for our extreme off road applications.

Do not ask me names, but I have seen some trying to use their phones & Blackberries navigation applications!!!

I have been doing some re-search & there seems to be beacon of hope in the Garmin Nuvi 550, detailed specifications as follows

Physical & Performance:
Unit dimensions, WxHxD: 4.21″W x 3.35″H x .9″D (10.7 x 8.5 x 2.3 cm)
Display size, WxH: 2.8″W x 2.1″H (7.2 x 5.4 cm); 3.5″ diag (8.9 cm)
Display resolution, WxH: 320 x 240 pixels
Display type: QVGA colour antiglare TFT with white backlight
Weight: 215 g (7.6 ounces)
Battery: user-replaceable, rechargeable lithium-ion
Battery life: up to 8 hours
Waterproof: yes (IPX7)
High-sensitivity receiver: yes

Maps & Memory:
Basemap: yes (Europe)
Preloaded street maps: yes
Includes lifetime map updates: no
Ability to add maps: yes
Built-in memory: internal solid state
Accepts data cards: microSD™ card (not included)
Waypoints/favorites/locations: 500
Routes: 10

Features:
Voice prompts (e.g. “Turn right in 500 ft.”): yes (internal speaker)
Speaks street names (e.g. “Turn right ON ELM STREET in 500 ft.”): yes
Voice-activated navigation (operate device with spoken commands): no
Lane assist (guides you to the proper lane for navigation): no
trafficTrends™ (calculates routes based on predicted traffic flow): no
myTrends™ (predicts routes based on user’s navigation behavior): no
3-D building view (displays buildings in 3-D): no
Auto sort multiple destinations (provides most direct route): yes
Auto re-route (fast off-route and detour recalculation): yes
Choice of route setup (faster time, shorter distance, off road): yes
Route avoidance (avoid highways, tolls etc.): yes
Bluetooth® wireless technology: no
Garmin nüLink! Services: (receive accurate real-time travel information): no
FM traffic compatible: yes
XM® compatible for U.S: no
Speed limit indicator (displays speed limit for most major roads in the U.S. and Europe): yes
Where Am I? (find closest hospitals, police & gas stations, nearest address & intersection): yes
Garmin Locate™ (marks position when removed from windshield mount): no
ecoRoute™ (calculates a more fuel-efficient route) : no
Qwerty or ABC keyboard (choose keyboard layout): no
Custom POIs (ability to add additional points of interest): yes
Garmin Garage™ vehicles compatible (download car-shaped icons to your device): yes
Garmin Garage™ voices compatible (download custom voices to your device): yes
Photo navigation (navigate to geotagged photos): yes
World travel clock, currency & unit converter, calculator: yes
Picture viewer: yes
MP3 player: no
Audio book player: no
FM transmitter: no
Headphone jack/audio line-out: no
Garmin Lock™ (anti-theft feature): yes
Touchscreen: yes
Motorcycle-friendly: yes
Trucking-friendly: no
Geocaching-friendly: yes
Marine-friendly: yes
Additional: This USB mass storage device is compatible with Windows® XP or newer and Mac® OS X 10.4 or later.

The most important for us being
Waypoints/favorites/locations: 500
Routes: 10

Does any body have any more information or practical user experience on this product?

I have asked for a demo piece from AMIT to see if it practically works in real life situations & will update this forum when there is more info available.

[renegade]

renegade

December 8, 2010 at 1:40 pm #13202

the Garmin 3790T has an option of
Waypoints/favorites/locations: 1000
Routes: 100 . Also has a bigger screen

but not sure which version of this is available in the middle east.

[caprihorse]

caprihorse

December 8, 2010 at 2:38 pm #13203

Can it record the track, like GPSmap276C does? It is very important feature.

[wrangler]

wrangler

December 9, 2010 at 12:17 pm #13208

The Nuvi 550 was essentially designed for motorbikes, however it can be used for offroading as well. There is another unit that can save way points and tracks and has been quite handy as I’m using it myself. The model is Nuvi 705/710/715 (either one of them).

[pat]

pat

January 6, 2011 at 7:44 pm #13391

i’ve got the 760 and it works like a dream, i can download the tracks straight into google earth which is cool for seeing what was over ‘that’ mountain. I think all the more advanced models come with the tracks/waypoints feature, the only annoyance is the fortune they charge for updates considering how quickly the roads change here however there are ways around that! 🙂

Anyone who has the iphone, there is an amazing app called motion x GPS, it’s a full on terrain navigation system, it’s not a road route navigator! You can put in waypoints, record tracks and publish to fb and google, it’s better than my nuvi as you can pre-download for free terrain maps/google maps/bing maps and even marine maps. It’s also cool because it records separately on bar graphs speed and altitude, i also use it on bike when going around the autodrome as a lap timer. It’s about $6 to download and worth it.

[Author]

Posts