Lets see your GPS system

I have a Garmin Zumo. I love the abilty to AVOID highways, interstates, etc., and let the GPS just pick roads to get you where you want to go. A great way to find new roads!

 

There are a lot of GPS that run Win CE, you just don't know it because the task bar is hidden. To unlock a Clarion you just hold the volume button while powering up, and it boots with the Windows task bar visible! There are all kinds of hacks for all kinds of devices. There's a package called MioPocket for CE devices that includes a lot of PDA type apps. I'm just using a simple unlock that lets me run the four navigation apps, plus a calculator and music player. Anyway, here's some pics of my customized Clarion:

 

Cyborg, this was a good call. I followed your instruction and it worked like a champ and it looks great.

 

Glad it helped!:biggrin:

 

I went for a secondhand car TomTom on the grounds that I didn't want many hundreds of pounds worth of gear to carry about. Mine was sceond hand for £40 from Ebay

Secondly I went to the TomTom One V1 cause its got a headphone jack on it - so I can run a ear piece if I want too.

Skid - How much grief is it to use it in the tankbag then??

 

I have what I call a high tech/low tech setup. I already owned a Nuvi 350 and a BlackBerry. What I eneded up doing was find a deal on a Scala Rider Q2 and also purchased an inexpensive Griffin iTrp universal FM transmitter.

The BlackBerry is paired to the Scala and works fantastc for making and receiving calls at any speed I travel. Since the Q2 has a built-in FM radio, I plug the iTrip into my GPS. I can listen to MP3's on the Nuvi and the instructions will obviously override the music. What I also like is that a phone call overrides the FM. The GPS resides in the clear map pocket of my tankbag and can be operated with gloves on.

The downside...the music is in mono and doesn't sound the best...but still....I didn't want to break the bank and buy a new GPS.

 

I have the TomTom Rider 2. As a GPS, it is great. I wish it allowed me to create routes, but Tyre takes care of that. I used the included RAM mount to stick it to my front brake mount (and wired into the bike's system, soon to be connected via the VFRNess that is en route to me):



And this works great. I can see the instruments, and the display is as high and visible as it can be.

BUT: recently the mount stopped connecting reliably, and I called Tomtom tech "support." They confirmed that I was 11 months in to a 24 month warranty and that the mount should be replaced. I submitted my proof of purchase and waited to hear that the replacement unit had been shipped. Nothing happened, so a week later I called again.

"We should replace it, but that model has been discontinued and we have no replacement parts" I was told. "And we never will, so we are really sorry but there's nothing we can do."

After I scraped my jaw off the floor, I explained that having a valid warranty means that replacement or repair was not optional, but a fact of contract law. "You don't understand," I was told. "We don't have the parts and we will never, so I am really sorry."

I asked for the call to be escalated, and a day or so later I heard from a more helpful person who suggested that he had a mount, but "I don't know if it works." He offered to send it, so I accepted. It arrived in two days and to my pleasure it worked.

But I won't be buying TomTom again.