BMW Navigator II vs. Garmin 2610, 2620, 2650, 2660

[fish]

I want to get the killer GPS for my new R12RT. There's a significant price difference between the BMW Nav II and the Garmin versions. Is it worth the price? Any and all advice is most welcome.

tia,
fish

[RT_guy]

As far as I can tell, the Navigator II is the 2610 with a 512 card.

IMHO, the 2610 or 276C are the best bets.

The 2610 and a 2GB card is cheaper than the 2620 and you don't have to worry about vibration damage to the 2620's hard drive.

The screen of the 26xx will wash out in bright sunlight. The 276C won't, but it uses a proprietary memory card so you can't get the entire US in memory. The 276C will also run on batteries and will be at home in your boat too.

None of them seem to have all the features we motorcyclists need, but in my book, the 276C is very close. If it used Compact Flash cards, I don't think anyone could beat it.

As a side note, if you don't travel much (fat chance with a R12RT, huh?) you cannot beat the old GPS V.

[billyfields]

Not sure of the 2660 as I have not heard of it. As was pointed out earlier the 2610 with the 2 Gig memory card takes all of North America without the moving parts (hard drive) of the 2620. Otherwise they are identical. The 2650 is a 2610 with a dead reckoning system that needs to be hooked up to your speedo and reverse lights - so its probably not suitable for a bike or really needed for that matter since its only used for brief periods when you drop the satellites (tall buildings, deep canyons, etc.).

I have had a 2610 with the 2 gig card for a few weeks now and can honestly say that (in this case at least) money can buy happyness - wow is it fun and so very cool!

[Mudbug]

Save your money and get the Garmin 2610 and a 2GB CompactFlash card. I did. The 2610 is a great unit.

I do not recommend the 2620 because it has a harddrive. My personal experience is that these units can be effected by road vibration. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise.

Also, there has been some discussion regarding the screen washing out on the 26xx units. I do not have the experience. With the proper mounting hardware, I have a lot of adjustment of the viewing angle of my 2610. If that is not enough, there is a visor that can be attached to the unit. I don't remember the URL for it though.

[dzimbric]

Get the 276. I left IN in FEB, loaded the entire southwest part of the country into mine and havent had to touch change anything. I have IL,AR,OK,TX, LA, NM, CA, AZ, NV and CO loaded right now and it does a fine job in snow, rain, bright sunlight and you don't have to wait all day for it to calculate the route. As for the V I upgraded from, it is a major improvement, especially in the city or areas where you have to make a lot of turns.

[CHPBike]

I bought the Navigator II and I'm very pleased. I got it from Chicago BMW for somewhere around $1,100 (no sales tax). It included a very nice mounting system and all connections. The mounting bracket has nice buttons for IN, OUT, ENTER, and ESC that are easy to use while wearing gloves. It also has an audio out jack. Included is the listing of every BMW motorcycle dealer in the US. Makes it easy if you're on the road and need to find the closest place. Also included was the bean bag mount and cables for the car along with the remote.

You can see it here at http://www.bmw-motorrad.com/com/en/index_frameset.html?content=http://www.bmw-motorrad.com/com/en/products/navigationsystems/bikenavigator2/bikenavigator2_main.html

See ya in Lima! :thumb

Scott

[Ghostryder]

I have had the 2610 for a couple of months now and I love it. I have ridden in cold, rain, bright sun and no problem. The problem with the screen washing out happened once when the sun was directly at my back, adjusted a little problem solved. I had a friend that had the 2620 and had nothing but problems with it. Get the 2610 and a 2g card and you will have everything that you need.

[fgunde]

I just installed the BMW Navigator II. I paid a little over 1100.00 for it and think it's great. It has every thing you need for use on the bike or in car.

[BklynPete]

i have the street pilotlll and just ordered the 2610 from gps city for $825, that includes the unit and all the items to start you up, 2 gig card and the accessory wiring to hardwire the unit to my bike. you can use the anonomous book to get the address of most of the dealers (many open and close over time) in north america.

pete

[JR356]

Hi,

Looking for a deal on a 2610,go here:

http://www.tvnav.com/reman2610.htm


TVNav has a good reputation.

JR356

[grw]

A couple of things....

1. Where does the factory mount place the Nav II on the R12RT?
2. What is that extra row of buttons for (the ones in the photos on the BMW web)?
3. Is there anyway to pull the Nav II and use it off-bike? Say like in a restaurant?

Finally the main issue seems to be price. My guess is that the convenience of rolling the Nav II into one's bike payment will make the choice for many.

[SHAG]

I got a 2610 for X-mas with the bike adapter kit that includes power cable with headset audio jack & a quick release mount platform that I screwed to a stitch handlebar mount.. I like it so far. Nice thing about it is that it comes with the beanbag mount for the dash of a cage & another hard mount, remote! Easy to flop from one vehicle to the next.