Garmin 2610: on Motorcycle, F250, Camaro, & Cherokee
Written: Jul 02 '05 (Updated Dec 03 '05)
Product Rating:
Pros: Entire US map, touch screen, voice directions, speedometer, works on cars & motorcycles.
Cons: Takes hours to initially load maps, software hangs, difficult to find some details.
The Bottom Line: Driving with a GPS is great, and this one is better than most. The touch screen & voice directions really set it apart, and it's worked well on my cars/trucks/motorcycles.
graphics_guy's Full Review: Garmin StreetPilot 2610 Car GPS Receiver
Men don't like to stop & ask directions - with this device they don't have to! ... ergo, man's best friend :)
This is the greatest/favorite toy I have -- and I have *lots* of toys :) I'm including any/all of my negative experiences here, but that's just because the info might be useful to others. On the whole, I would not trade this GPS for anything, and am *very* happy with my purchase...
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I'll not re-hash all the technical details, because they've already been covered. I'll just focus on my personal experience with using it...
When I first got the unit, I assumed I could take it out on my back deck and it would find the satellites and show my location. I guess there are too many trees around my house, and I guess it's also better at finding your position if you're actually moving. So, when I first got it I was a little frustrated that it kept showing I was in Taiwan or somewhere (but that quickly changed after I actually put it in a car and started driving with it :)
With the 2610, the first step is to load all the maps. I bought a 2.2Gb CF card so I'd have enough room for the entire US. It was hard to find info whether a CF1 or CF2 was better -- I think (not 100% sure) that CF2 is really a microdrive, and maybe more sensitive to vibration, and maybe less desireable for use in cars(?), and maybe it's also slower(?) In any event, since the specs claimed to support either, I opted for the CF2 memory, since it was considerably cheaper. Every once in a great while (more likely in cold weather) I get a 'read error' when I power on the unit - maybe this is the CF2 card not liking cold weather, and not liking vibrations(?) - I'm not sure.
While loading the maps from cdrom to the GPS unit, it took *forever* (I'm talking hours!) I finally left it running all night, and woke up at 3am to change CDs. At that point the software was 'hung' in some strange state, and finally with a bunch of clicking I somehow got it out of being hung, and to accept the next disk. (Maybe it was just a problem for me since my laptop came with Windows ME?)
I bought the GPS to use in multiple vehicles, so the 'beanbag' dash stand is a nice feature (even though it would go flying around in a wreck ... but I still like it). It has a 'grippy' bottom, so it grips your dash (as long as you haven't used something like armor-all on your dash to make it greasy/slick).
There were rumors that the antenna wouldn't work through some certain kinds of windshield tints - I had no problems with my vehicles ('95 Cherokee, 2001 Camaro SS, 2000 F250, and Honda motorcycle).
Truck:
With the F250 though, I have an add-on windshield visor/light thing sticking out, so I had to place the GPS way up towards the windshield to get a good signal. That was too far away to reach comfortably, so I got a mounting bracket to mount it on the left corner of the dash, and used it with an external antenna on the room (this works quite well).
Car:
In my 2001 Camaro SS convertible and my Cherokee, I use the beanbag stand, and put the GPS in the dash. It works very well that way, and I don't plan to put mounting brackets in those vehicles.
Motorcycle:
It's almost impossible to use paper maps on a motorcycle, and using this GPS was super-convenient...
On my Honda Shadow motorcycle, I bought a mounting bracket that has a u-bolt that connects a 'ball joint' to the handlebar. Then I have a bracket that clamps onto the back of the GPS that also has a ball joint. Then I use a 3-inch special clamp thing to connect the 2 ball joints (it has a big thumb-screw to tighten it). I guess it would be more secure from theft to have something that more permanently mounts everything from the bracket-on-down to the handlebar, and then when you clamp the GPS to the bracket using the special security-screw, it would be harder to steal. (I just never leave mine unattended). They sell special motorcycle wiring kits to wire power directly to the battery, and lets you plug into the motorcycle communication system, but I just wired up a cigarrette lighter, and use the standard car plug with speaker. I have an open-face helmet, and I can hear this speaker just fine. On one occasion, the special security-screw/clamp thing came undone while I was riding (sitting at a light) - I'm not sure if it was the bracket's fault, or my fault for maybe not clamping it on right that time(?) Luckily the cord held on, and the unit did not hit the ground. I bought the special sun-visor to shade the screen from direct sunlight - this is not 100% necessary, but makes the screen easier to read. The garmin also has a reputation for being more weather-resistant, which I think makes it the best choice for motorcycles.
Map Updates:
In the 1 year that I've had the gps, there's only been 1 map update. It was somewhat hard to tell exactly what versions of maps I had, and if the 'upgrade' version that was available was what I already had, or if it had newer maps. This is one area they could probably improve on.
Loading the updates was not too bad (but I also used a different computer - not my laptop with Windows ME).
Success Stories:
Heading from NC to the Florida keys, one of my buddies had some ebay items he needed to mail out asap. So, at 8am, in the middle of nowhere GA, I did a search on the key word 'POST', and we found a post office 1.5 miles away :)
Once we got to our hotel in FL, I set a waypoint for our hotel, and then no matter where we went 'exploring', we could always find out way back to the hotel easily.
I often drive old/classic cars that have broken speedometers, and this GPS gives you a pretty accurate speed based on your horizontal travel distance/time (it's a little off if you're going up or down a steep hill). Without this, I had to drive slow/paranoid to make sure I didn't get a speeding ticket when I didn't have a working speedometer in the car.
Numerous times, I've been going to someone's house - I already knew how to get there, but when I plugged their address into the GPS it would find an even better/shorter route :)
And, when I'm traveling around, I frequently use it to find my favorite fast food (BoJangles fried chicken) -- admittedly, sometimes the closest one is 200 miles away, but at least I know ;)
I hope this info is useful!
In the 1 year since I bought the 2610, Garmin has come out with a 2620 which comes standard with the 2Gb memory, and all the US maps pre-loaded -- this probably eliminates most of the problems I encountered.
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Nov 2005 Update:
I have recently bought another round of map updates.
Thankfully the map updates (for entire US) only cost
$75 this time (the updates last year were $150).
Also, I recently bought the dedicated power cable
to wire up in my F250. I wired the power into the
fusebox, and I added a dedicated speaker to the post
between the front & rear doors (I ran the speaker wire
down the post, under the trim/step plate at the bottom
of the front door, and then behind the trim at the
front side foot/kick panel behind the parking brake
pedal, and put one of those micro-plugs on the end
so I can plug it into the garmin dedicated power/speaker
cable). This works pretty well, and is more elegant
than running the original cable across the steering
wheel to the cigarette lighter. The cable is kinda
expensive ($30-$40?) but that's the way most specialty
items/toys are, eh :)
Comes with alphanumeric remote control and external speaker; includes USB interface with cable Bright, automotive-grade 8-bit color LCD: 3.3 x 1.7 inc...More at Amazon Marketplace
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