is it just me....?

[Tomtom defector]

or have 'dedicated motorcycle GPS devices' gone backwards by trying to go forwards? I bought a used Tomtom Go 920 'car' satnav for the princely sum of £20 from fleabay as a stop gap until I could afford a 'proper' motorcycle sat nav. It took me all over europe last year, never dropped a signal, never miscalculated a route, I could listen to MP3 audio, plus vox, it booted up within seconds and worked flawlessly (based on the old maps that were installed). I had the inevitable 'adventure' on a couple of new roads, but for a 15 year old device, it was a joy to use and totally trustworthy. Sadly, the maps are no longer current and TT don't support the device so I'm in the market for a new unit. Reviews for the the latest Zumos and Riders are disappointing to say the least. These feature-heavy devices seem to be riddled with issues, and I'm not referring to complex, esoteric features, but basics like routing, bluetooth connection, postcode search issues etc. (the list is quite long). Sure I'm not the first motorcyclist to wish that a manufacturer would bring out a 'once and for all' unit, that we could just pay to update with new maps as and when.
As soon as opensource offline mobile apps get the postcode search nailed down, there's absolutely no reason to buy a dedicated gps unit, assuming you own a decent (rugged) smartphone with a good processor. If the 'What three words' search is widely adopted it looks set to be even more accurate than postcode (down to a 3m square, anywhere in the world!)....anyway, first post and rant over. I've registered on the forum since I reckon late model Zumos have the edge on similar aged Riders (at least they're actually waterproof! )

[rbentnail]

No, it's not just you. I believe the more Garmin makes a device capable of doing, the less it does well. I used a "car" nuvi for a lot of years. It had more hardware features, less software features and did everything I asked of it flawlessly. I thought I was moving up by buying a very expensive, water proof, motorcycle designated gps when I got my 595LM but sadly it does nothing as well as my very inexpensive nuvi did.

[Dusty ST]

Years ago I used to use a Nuvi 360 on the bike, and if you just want to let it choose your route they're OK - as long as it doesn't rain.
So I spent several weeks on Mapsource planning a trip across France only to find the Nuvi doesn't work with planned routes.
I managed to sort of follow the route I wanted by using favourites as destinations, which wasn't easy or brilliant.
Then I hit torrential rain. So I managed to keep the Nuvi dry with a plastic bag, but the bag kept misting up, and trying to clear it changed screens and zoom level, then I'm guessing the Nuvi thought the clip securing the bag was the traffic info antenna so every five minutes I had to cancel a warning telling me I'd not subscribed, please visit garmin.com. Then I entered the wrong favourite as the next destination and ended up on the peage headed in the wrong direction trying to figure out what went wrong. All this with trying to clear my visor and see where I was going...
So the torrential rain turned biblical and everyone - cars, trucks, everything on the peage turned into a service station as the standing water on the carriageway made it impossible to see where the road was, proper scary stuff. So I followed a car into the services where the only shelter, over the filling station part, was jam packed with cars. So I had to sit it out in rain so hard it was painful, despite my bike kit, and figure out where I was supposed to be heading.
I ended up letting the Nuvi take me direct to the ferry port, which involved another 20km in the wrong direction. The rain eased off from painful, but didn't stop all the way... I remember the girl in the peage toll booth handling my soggy notes for payment as if they were infectious .

First thing I did when I got home was order a Zumo!

[vanorak]

Sounds like a fun experience, dusty! I doused my old tomtom Go in that liquiproof stuff (some kind of 'nano tech' polymer coating, and it worked like a champ rain or shine. The problem with satnavs, and tech in general, is that we become progressively more reliant on it, so when it fails we feel lost and vulnerable, not ideal when riding in terrible conditions or running late. I just wish a tech company would bring out a product that does the basics exceedingly well and 100% reliably, but this doesn't shift units in the marketplace....