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| Garmin Zumo 550 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Motorcycle Navigator | 
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| Brand: Garmin
Category: CE
List Price: $964.99
Buy New: $655.00
You Save: $309.99 (32%)
New (81) Used (3)
Avg. Customer Rating:  140 reviews
Sales Rank: 558
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Native Resolution: 320x240
Display Size: 3.5
Includes MP3 Player: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 6.1
Dimensions (in): 12 x 9 x 9
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: 010-00567-00
Model: 010-00567-00
UPC: 753759061753
EAN: 0053759061754
ASIN: B000H2W4E6
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 New gps user learns on the zumo February 14, 2007
19 out of 19 found this review helpful
The zumo is awesome. I knew I would like having gps with me while I ride, but I never knew how much it would change the way I ride. I use it to find small twisty back roads, make a route on the fly, and spend more time on my idea of nice roads than ever in the past.
The controls are easy to use and intuitive. I have only had to look a couple of processes up in the owner's manual.
The mounting systems are spectacular. It is so nice to be able to swap the unit between my car and bike effortlessly.
I purchased a 1G card to put music on while I ride. It works very well when it pauses the music to give verbal directions.
Compared to the prices of other systems, if you ride a bike, this is the best.
Garmin Zumo 550 Great Positioning System February 7, 2007
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
In the case of this superb Garmin product, that's what GPS should stand for. I've owned multiple GPS systems in the past. This one is the best. Out of the box, I put it on my dashboard and conducted a nighttime tour of WASH, DC for my wife's family. With precision the ZUMO 550 took me from one monument to the next. If I missed a term, before it could say recalculating, it cut itselft off at "Recalc.." Turn Right... it would give new directions. That's FAST. Sure it has options I will never use, like XM radio and FM traffic but the Bluetooth comes in very handy with my cell phone and bluetooth enable headset. Price was great, delivery was quick. Highly recommend both Amazon and GARMIN GPS 550.
 Zumo 550 - A Few Thoughts February 4, 2007
160 out of 161 found this review helpful
People complain about the Zumo not having a built in speaker. Well, you wouldn't be able to hear it while riding your bike it if it had one, so it's a bit of a moot point.
On a side note, I think there are some features the unit lacks that can be somewhat annoying. First, and definitely the most annoying for me, the elevation by which you view your position on a GPS determines the amount of detail you see, i.e. POI's, street names, distance of road to travel, etc. The units I have used previously (factory nav in a Honda, other Garmins and the Mio 310 to name a few) had the ability to select zoom/elevation from the main nav screen allowing you to choose your "view" of the road so to speak, at anytime. With the Zumo, you cannot change elevation/zoom from the main nav screen, you can only adjust it while in map mode searching for a destination. The second you go back to the main navigation screen you loose the elevation you chose and go back to a default level of zoom, which for me is real irritating.
Another annoying feature is the keyboard for text input does not offer a QWERTY layout. I have not had to type on an ABCDEF style keyboard since the invention on the PC. In fact, I have a Garmin IQue 3600 that's 4 years old and it has a QWERTY keyboard?
Also, the search function on the Zumo is relatively slow at times. I once waited 4+ minutes while searching for a popular restaurant. It found it eventually, but for a while I thought the unit just froze up. I happen to be sitting in my driveway so it was only a minor annoyance, but if you were parked on the roadside with cars buzzing by it would seem more like an eternity.
One other issue, the built in hard drive is pretty much full with maps right out of the box, which isn't that big of a deal with the open SD slot. The SD slot lets you slip in a SD card for expanded memory capability (MP3 storage etc.), but when loading routes from your PC (which is a great feature I'll touch on below) you must save the data directly to the units hard drive in order for the Zumo to be able to read it. Well, that's going to be an issue when the hard drive fills up from firmware updates, etc.
While I'm at it, I think the icon that marks your position on the map is annoyingly large. It makes your car or bike look the size of a lake, or some other large map detail.
On the plus side, I believe that all of the issues I mentioned are correctable via a firmware update and a few bugs are to be expected to some extent given this is the 1st generation of a new model. Although, you can also argue that with the price this thing sells for combined with the experience Garmin has building GPS devices there is really no excuse for the Zumo lacking anything.
A nice feature, which is common on Garmins top units, is that you can map out routes on your PC, load it to the Zumo (again, on the built in hard drive though not the SD card) and away you go. This comes in handy if you're in sales for example and need to hit a few clients on a particular day or if you're going to be cruising on your bike and have a bunch of places you want to stop at during the trip. Rather than having to wait and program destinations one at a time as you make your stops, you can knock them all out the night before on your PC so you're entire trip is planned before it's even begun.
Also, the Bluetooth feature is sweet and works flawlessly. Pairing the Zumo with my Blackberry was a breeze. The Zumo was able to read my address book and displayed the contacts on the phone screen so there was never a need to touch the Blackberry once paired. When in the car, the speaker worked well and people on the other end seemed to have no trouble hearing me. I disagree with the one reviewer that said the mount looked weak. I think the mount would successfully support a cinderblock on rough road.
Installing the Zumo on my ZZR1200 took me about 30 min. It takes some time to run the wires and connect to the battery. You will need to crimp connectors (that are not supplied) on the end of the wires that go to the battery. The Ram mount is real solid. The Zumo does not move once you're locked in and on the road.
Now for the justification of the 4 star rating given I beat the Zumo up quite a bit. The build quality of this thing it second to none. It is literally built like a tank. I'd bet it would outlast anyone who buys it. Again, firmware updates will likely take care of all its shortcomings over time. And last but not least, Garmin tech support is second to none. No matter who you speak to they are knowledgeable, professional and will provide answers to anything you can throw at them (and I come up with some good ones) all without making you feel like you're annoying or a technological moron.
Therefore, I don't think you can go wrong with any Garmin, if you can swallow the price of the unit.
Zumo 550 on a Harley FLSTSC January 28, 2007
41 out of 41 found this review helpful
The 550 works very well. Specs say it works between 32 & 140 degrees. I ride all winter - so far it works at 15 degrees F. Surprisingly easy to use with heavy winter riding gloves. The motorcycle mount is much cleaner than I expected. Very flexible, allowing the unit to tuck in close and not look dorky. The car mount is clean with an acceptable albeit not great speaker. It's VERY easy to move between vehicles. I was somewhat disappointed at first about the lack of a built in speaker, but if I need to walk around with it, it's no big deal to use your cell phone Bluetooth with it. Maybe that's the price you pay for a truely waterproof unit. While riding, you can hear the alert tone using a cell phone Bluetooth, but cannot understand the audio. I plugged in iPod ear buds into the bike mount and it sounds great without being obvious about being "plugged in" (I ride a half helmet). If you use a full face with built in speakers you will be very happy with the audio.
Others complained about the lack of things like a real compass and satellite acquisition display and built in speaker. I have addressed the speaker issue. The compass displays eight points (like the one in the rear view mirror of your GM car). That's all I really need. Showing the satellites it has acquired is neat - but what do I really care - the thing is very sensitive. I get 5 of 5 bars IN my house. The MP3 player does work well although it does not have play lists. You can at least sort by album, artist and genre. To listen to decent quality audio, you will need ear buds. Displaying pictures looks good but the response is a little sluggish.
Storing up to 50 routes is great - and being able to download them to Google Earth and visualize them is very slick (it does take Google Earth Plus - a $20 annual fee to support this feature).
Overall I am VERY pleased with this unit - it does exactly what I need (and then some) - looks great - very sturdy.
 OK but not what I thought January 24, 2007
27 out of 36 found this review helpful
I purchased this unit after careful consideration of a lot of other models both by Garmin and other GPS manufacturers. I am somewhat disappointed about one major thing. No where in the write up about this product does it tell you that it does NOT have it's own speaker built in. Unless this unit is locked into it's AUTO (not motorcycle) windshield mount and plugged into a power source you have NO voice commands at all. That means that if you are not wearing your bluetooth headset you will not hear driving directions you can only read them on the screen. Even in the motorcycle mount you will not get voice commands through an external speaker, you must wear your bluetooth headset. This is a huge disappointment. You can't use the Zumo 550 in battery mode if you want voice commands. The speaker on the windshield mount is not as good as other Garmin units with the speaker built in. Another disappointment. The rest of the unit functions as advertised. Easy to navigate through all the options. For what this unit costs, it doesn't have all the features that other Garmin units have. You can't see the satellite reception by satellite, only the bars, like a cell phone signal, on the main screen. The unit is also quite heavy and I wonder if it will stay on the windshield in rough road conditions. I may send this back but I would like to hear the speaker a little more before I decide on returning it or not.
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