Is the zumo 665 worth upgrading from 550

[cali_beemer]

I have a zumo 550 and it just got sent back to Garmin and getting replaced with a refurb unit. I have considered upgrading to the 665 when it gets back. Is the 665 worth upgrading to from the 550? I like the smaller XM antenna and the lane assist looks cool... But is it worth spending that much more on?

[Firefight911]

When you come over you can try my 665 out.

[cali_beemer]

Sounds good!

[Danny caddyshack Noonan]

Shop patiently while casting a wide internet search net and deals can be found.

[MikeB60]

The antenna for the 665 is not much different externally, if at all from the 550. The antenna also needs some separation from the GPS or the XM will drop out. The 665 is a better system (much faster) and the lane assist is a good feature. However, I was very comfortable with the 550 and not sure it was worth the money to "upgrade" to the 665 but I just got the 665 and am still figuring out how it functions.

[awagnon]

I have a zumo 550 and it just got sent back to Garmin and getting replaced with a refurb unit.

 

A little off topic, but what does Garmin charge for fixing or replacing a 550? The screen on mine is crapping out after three years, but I really like the unit and don't want to change.

[cali_beemer]

I have a zumo 550 and it just got sent back to Garmin and getting replaced with a refurb unit.

 

A little off topic, but what does Garmin charge for fixing or replacing a 550? The screen on mine is crapping out after three years, but I really like the unit and don't want to change.

 

It's a flat rate regardless of what's wrong outside of warranty. $150 and you send them your unit and they send out a fresh refurbished unit. It also has a 90 day warranty on it.

[wbrissette]

A little off topic, but what does Garmin charge for fixing or replacing a 550? The screen on mine is crapping out after three years, but I really like the unit and don't want to change.

 

Depending on what's wrong with it (digitizer or actual screen), you can get the parts via flea bay and do it yourself for a fraction it costs to send to Garmin.

 

Wayne

[Jaguar]

I have a zumo 550 and it just got sent back to Garmin and getting replaced with a refurb unit.

 

A little off topic, but what does Garmin charge for fixing or replacing a 550? The screen on mine is crapping out after three years, but I really like the unit and don't want to change.

 

It's a flat rate regardless of what's wrong outside of warranty. $150 and you send them your unit and they send out a fresh refurbished unit. It also has a 90 day warranty on it.

 

It also comes with the most current map upgrades

[Zaasu]

I faced the the exchange the 550 or upgrade to the 665. I chose to exchange rather than upgrade. I could not see the value of spending the price difference in the two units. Maybe in the next generation there will be great differences and I will pull the triger. The 550 has always done what I have asked of it.

[w2ge]

665 uses A2DP BT... If you listen to music via MP3 or XM only true stereo with 665. 550 is old tech Bluetooth. Faster processor. Bigger screen.

 

@awagon, as was said, you can get a new screen with digitizer for the 550 (easier than swapping just the digitizer) for 30 bux shipped on fleabay and the total repair takes maybe 10 minutes... EZ-PEAZY Google it..

[awagnon]

@awagon, as was said, you can get a new screen with digitizer for the 550 (easier than swapping just the digitizer) for 30 bux shipped on fleabay and the total repair takes maybe 10 minutes... EZ-PEAZY Google it..

 

Thanks for the info. I'll look into it. Are there instructions anywhere or is it just obvious once you get inside? ( Edit: I found the instructions online. Looks pretty simple. )

 

Edit: I looked on eBay and all of the replacement screens ship from Hong Kong. Are these OEM screens?

[w2ge]

I think the screen I got was not OEM.. but can't remember the exact details.. It worked perfect however, I did this was for a friend, I often repair laptops so felt very comfortable doing it.. It is very simple.. Only tool needed was the very small torx to open the case.. HomeDepot has a Husky with interchangeable bits for $5.99, think it was a #6 torx(?)

 

Shipping, BTW, took maybe 10 days or so.

 

I use the Zumo 600.

 

[back on topic] ;-)

[cali_beemer]

Well, after playing around with the 665 for a few short minutes, I am thinking that staying with the 550 may be a good choice. The 665 has a nicer screen and is bigger, would be nicer with gloves on. I missed the quick buttons on the 550...not sure why they took those off. The XM antenna was nearly the same size, seems different than the pictures I have seen. I mainly use my zumo for music and Xm radio. It didnt seem like there was any reason to upgrade from that. I dont use the GPS part very often, but the 665 seemed lik a nocer unit and the display was much sharper than the 550 so it seemed. This was absed off the 5 minutes of playing with it. I relaize there are alot more differences but I didnt see anything that made me feel like I need to immediately upgrade

[tsp]

I have the 660 and like it and my brother has the 550 and likes that one.

 

He has a write up here: www.swriding.blogspot.com

 

I still need to had my comments to his post. I will try to do that and post some pictures tonight.

 

HTH,

tsp

Blog: www.swriding.blogspot.com

 

[VTBeemer]

I have always wanted the Zumo 665, but always flinched at the cost. Did pop one recently for the Harley Davidson version of 665 called the Road Tech Zumo 665. Cost $640 at Hales Sport Center. Other than the pre-loaded Harley shops POI and the HD screen logo on the intial power-up, it is the same device. Beats the other $725 and up prices I found. Also has a 2 year warranty period instead of 1 year and Garmin support.

[Nesbocaj]

Was that with the $90 rebate that expired on 12/31/2011?

[cali_beemer]

Well I got my fresh refurb 550 back from gamin. Alot if problems out if the box... They are sending me a 660 in it's replacement... Looking forward to giving the new unit a try. I may miss the XM capability though.

[Jaguar]

Well I got my fresh refurb 550 back from gamin. Alot if problems out if the box... They are sending me a 660 in it's replacement... Looking forward to giving the new unit a try. I may miss the XM capability though.

 

Wow, what kind of problems are you having with the 550?

The reason I'm asking is, I contacted Garmin about my 450. It's well used and ready for replacement. Garmin said that they are out of stock of the 450's and will replace mine with either a Zumo 550 or a Zumo 220. Either one for $175.00. I've been real happy with my 450 over the years and decided to upgrade to the 550. Haven't contacted Garmin yet with a decision. Would like to hear your issues first.

[cali_beemer]

Well I got my fresh refurb 550 back from gamin. Alot if problems out if the box... They are sending me a 660 in it's replacement... Looking forward to giving the new unit a try. I may miss the XM capability though.

 

Wow, what kind of problems are you having with the 550?

The reason I'm asking is, I contacted Garmin about my 450. It's well used and ready for replacement. Garmin said that they are out of stock of the 450's and will replace mine with either a Zumo 550 or a Zumo 220. Either one for $175.00. I've been real happy with my 450 over the years and decided to upgrade to the 550. Haven't contacted Garmin yet with a decision. Would like to hear your issues first.

 

 

The one I got back crashed twice in the first ten minutes requiring the battery be pulled to restart. The touchscreen was having problems where the button I pressed wasn't what was brought up. Anytime I tried to go into the setting the gps was trying to reset to default settings. The touchscreen needed to be pressed hard against to type. The letter you typed isn't the one that would display.... This unit was a mess! The one I returned worked fine but it stopped taking a charge on a cradle. I hope the 660 works well

[VTBeemer]

I have always wanted the Zumo 665, but always flinched at the cost. Did pop one recently for the Harley Davidson version of 665 called the Road Tech Zumo 665. Cost $640 at Hales Sport Center. Other than the pre-loaded Harley shops POI and the HD screen logo on the intial power-up, it is the same device. Beats the other $725 and up prices I found. Also has a 2 year warranty period instead of 1 year and Garmin support.

Got a couple of PMs on my email above. The $640 price was as of last week for the Harley Davidson branded version of the 665 (Road Tech Zumo 665). Arrived Friday and happy so far, but single digit Vermont temps and weather has my bike in its annual Winter hibernation and so no bike road miles yet.

[UberXY]

I am usually quick to upgrade when a new improved version of something comes out, but I passed on the 665 and kept my 550. Just could not see enough reason to justify the cost.

 

BTW when my 550 came back from Garmin after a little warranty work, it would always start up with an error involving loading maps, but would then function 100% ok. Turns out there is a little file on the 550 that needs to be deleted to fix this. Did it, and now there is no more error message.

[Runnor]

I'm thinking of getting a zumo 550. Where would one find this unit? Are they still available?

John

[Runnor]

I'm thinking of getting a zumo 550. Where would one find this unit? Are they still available?

John

[cali_beemer]

I'm thinking of getting a zumo 550. Where would one find this unit? Are they still available?

John

 

Still offered by Garmin. Just go to pricegrabber online or amazon and type in Zumo 550 but if you haven't bought one yet I would look at the 665, or 660 if you don't want XM radio. They are newer units and will most likely be current for a longer period of time. They also seemed to have some improvements but the selling point for me is the larger display. I always wanted a bigger screen with my 2730 and Zumo 550's.

[w2ge]

As well as (550 vs. 66X series) 550 is older technology, slower processor and older Bluetooth technology. Not A2DP... Is the 660 perfect? No, but it is a pretty stable GPS now and many of the bugs have been fixed over the years. 550's BTW, are starting to get old enough that a screen digitizer failures are starting to occur (bit relatively easy to fix)

 

Would I upgrade if I already had a 550? no....

[cali_beemer]

w2ge has some good points. The 66X series also is not limited in how big of a memory card you can install. The 550 I believe will not read any more than 2GB. If you plan to add alot of mp3's the space gets filled up fast. The 66X also has features like the, "where am I" feature, lane assist with junction view, allows playlists for the mp3 player and seems as if they may have fixed some of the cradle issues. After using itunes for many years the garmin mp3 players have always been a bit of a dissapointmet by not allowing playlists. I havent tested some of these features out but many are areas I found the 550 to need improvment of. I cant wait for my new unit to get here. As he stated, I wouldnt upgrade if I already had a 550, but for a new purchase it seems like a better way to go to me. In my case Garmin is upgrading me since my 550's have had problems.

[Nesbocaj]

I have <=8gigs of MP3s on a 16gig card in my 550.

[Runnor]

Thanks Cali Beamer and w2g2,

This is really helpful. It has been several years since I have looked into these units, and from the information you have provided, it is clear the technology has improved. I'm not especially interested in XM, although that was a benefit of the 550.

Now the $64 question, where is the place to buy one?

John

[cali_beemer]

I have <=8gigs of MP3s on a 16gig card in my 550.

 

You can put them on the SD card, but the 550 can only recognize 1000 songs.

[w2ge]

http://www.gpscity.com/garmin-zumo-660.html

 

generally pretty good prices.. $649 for the 660

[hopz]

Since this thread seems to live on... I have some specific questions about the 550 vs 665.

 

1. Does the new unit come with two mounts like the 550? Meaning one for the car with speaker built in and imbedded microphone so you can pair to the phone in the car and go hands free? And of course the wall charger, dash charger tools?

 

2. Does the mount for the bike have a weather- resistant cover like the 550 so you can dismount at night and cover the connectors? Does it plug and play to the same power source on the BMW?

 

3. Does the mount have both audio IN and Audio Out sockets?

 

4. Were there any changes/deletions/additions in the functionality of the unit software? For instance on a route I like the ability to touch the top bar and see a miles to destination figure. Do you still have the 2D/3D options with Route Up or Track Up choice?

 

5. Does the new unit plug and play with Mapsource (and its legacy routes) or do you have to go to Road Trip or some other program?

 

6. Does my lifetime map update transfer and play for the new units?

 

7. Does the new unit have enough internal memory to load all the North America Maps or do I have to segment them and use an SD card?

 

8. Does the new unit come with the same removable internal battery in case of freeze-up can you remove it? Do you get the tiny Hex key?

 

etc?

[Firefight911]

Since this thread seems to live on... I have some specific questions about the 550 vs 665.

 

1. Does the new unit come with two mounts like the 550? Meaning one for the car with speaker built in and imbedded microphone so you can pair to the phone in the car and go hands free? And of course the wall charger, dash charger tools?

 

Yes

 

2. Does the mount for the bike have a weather- resistant cover like the 550 so you can dismount at night and cover the connectors? Does it plug and play to the same power source on the BMW?

 

 

Yes

 

3. Does the mount have both audio IN and Audio Out sockets?

 

 

Yes. And much easier to use as teh cables are all there in a long enough length to accomodate most motorcycle set ups.

 

4. Were there any changes/deletions/additions in the functionality of the unit software? For instance on a route I like the ability to touch the top bar and see a miles to destination figure. Do you still have the 2D/3D options with Route Up or Track Up choice?

 

 

This is the greatest area of upgrade/improvement that I have found! All the user info fields are customizable. You determine what you see and it is infinitely adjustable for the information you want. All 2D, 3D, track options still available with additional lane notice.

 

5. Does the new unit plug and play with Mapsource (and its legacy routes) or do you have to go to Road Trip or some other program?

 

 

Mapsource is plug and play. It's what I use.

 

6. Does my lifetime map update transfer and play for the new units?

 

 

Not sure as I don't have this option but my 665 was transparent in use for all my old 550 routes, etc.

 

7. Does the new unit have enough internal memory to load all the North America Maps or do I have to segment them and use an SD card?

 

No SD card here and all N. America, Canada, and Mexico are on my unit.

 

8. Does the new unit come with the same removable internal battery in case of freeze-up can you remove it? Do you get the tiny Hex key?etc?

 

Differnet battery. Flat pack but easily removable. I feel the new platform is much more stable and have had no issues to date. No hex key. The mount has been completely redesigned in its function.

[w2ge]

^^What he said...

 

The Zumo 660 internal memory is certainly bigger than the 550. No need to "pick and choose" what areas of maps you want.

 

I really don't think there is/was anything the 550 does, that the 660 can't do.. and/or do better. and again, the Zumo 550 does not have stereo BlueTooth, the 660 uses true stereo A2DP profile. (that is significant if you use it for wireless music)

[Nesbocaj]

I have <=8gigs of MP3s on a 16gig card in my 550.

 

You can put them on the SD card, but the 550 can only recognize 1000 songs.

 

Not true, try joining multiple MP3s from an album into one MP3 "song"

[cali_beemer]

I have <=8gigs of MP3s on a 16gig card in my 550.

 

You can put them on the SD card, but the 550 can only recognize 1000 songs.

 

Not true, try joining multiple MP3s from an album into one MP3 "song"

 

I am familiar with the trick but is a pure band aide for a dumb limitation. You have essentially created one song that consists of many. This makes the skip button useless, not to mention the amount of time required to create the files. A bad workaround as far as I am concerned. At that point I would just pull out my iPhone and listen 16gb on separate playlists or do what most 550 users do and have multiple SD cards and use those as playlists.., switching the SD for different genres.. However; it appears that Garmin has given you playlist capabilities on the 66X.

[VTBeemer]

Just picked up a Road Tech 665 and used the following site for a lot of questions I had like those poised above. Decent forum filter to find answers. http://www.zumoforums.com/ .

[w2ge]

Zumoforums is -the site- to use, I think I posted that earlier.. I'm pretty active on there.

[cali_beemer]

I hang out there as well but mostly lurk. One must be able to see past the overly picky people on there. If you took some of the posts there one might think the zunos are the worst gps ever... Alot like a BMW final drive thread.

[w2ge]

I hang out there as well but mostly lurk. One must be able to see past the overly picky people on there. If you took some of the posts there one might think the zunos are the worst gps ever... Alot like a BMW final drive thread.

 

HeHe.. So true! but for using, learning MAPSOURCE and of course, now... BaseCamp, it is THE place.

 

There are complainers for sure, but Garmin is the "only game in town"... And one has to admit, it is altogether (once you know what your doing) a HELL of a system. (that is creating custom routes and using them on your Garmin GPS) IMNHO!!

[hopz]

... One must be able to see past the overly picky people on there...

 

ahem.... as one of the first Zumo Forum Moderators... there were three of us... I can tell you that being picky helped hundreds (thousands?) of newbies figure out the 550 as well as Mapsource. You would not believe the number of users who get irritated when their units do what they were "instructed" to do rather than what the owner intended.

 

The entire concept of RTFM and "press this button here, before you do that"... is often lost on some...

 

Got frustrating enough that after two+ years I asked for and was promoted to Moderator Emeritus.

 

The original owner/founder is still there. A saint among men...

[w2ge]

You were an early adopter Hopz... AS you know, it is much better now.. Perfect, NO. But finally, Garmin has a programmer VERY involved with what exactly the motorcycling community NEEDS out of a GPS. ("Falagar" on Garmin Forums)

 

Sad they're abandoning MAPSOURCE< it was 90% "there." Like throwing out the baby with the bathwater.... shame.

[marcopolo]

While we're at it, the other very worthwhile online source of GPS-related info/help etc. is the Layin' Down Tracks thread at ADVRider.com, and it's been around for quite a long time.

[cali_beemer]

... One must be able to see past the overly picky people on there...

 

ahem.... as one of the first Zumo Forum Moderators... there were three of us... I can tell you that being picky helped hundreds (thousands?) of newbies figure out the 550 as well as Mapsource. You would not believe the number of users who get irritated when their units do what they were "instructed" to do rather than what the owner intended.

 

The entire concept of RTFM and "press this button here, before you do that"... is often lost on some...

 

Got frustrating enough that after two+ years I asked for and was promoted to Moderator Emeritus.

 

The original owner/founder is still there. A saint among men...

 

I wasn't to refer to it as a bad place. It can be a great place to go... And there are many great people on there with great tips to learn and understand the units. However, there are a few people on there that are not productive and seem to post alot. When someone asks a question and person replies that Garmin is junk and don't bother, I fail to see the value added by it. My comment was in reference to avoiding the negative people on their and their useless comments and to focus on the constructive comments. I suppose every forum has this same issue but I have found it a bit more common practiceon the zumo forums. I also think the Zumo forums were better in this regard in the early days. I have been on there since the beginning and I had my first 550. It's seems it's taking the turn that advrider has gone with the lack of staying on topic. Personal opinion though. My other question is if Garmin really looks at that forum site for feedback to change their products? Personally I doubt it. Just like I don't think BMW reviews this site for feedback... Otherwise we would have seen better quality and in turn I think it's still on a downward spiral. Just like with Garmin and BMW alike the older stuff was higher in quality than the newer... But I suppose this is similar to manufacturing as a whole where it's more about making items disposable with lower cost, higher profits and outsourcing to places like china.

[w2ge]

Does Garmin look at the Zumoforum site: NO. But, they do look at their OWN forum, Garmin forums.. and many from ZumoForums are active on both (cross-post)and have carried over, posted our "wishlist" to "FALAGAR" he is the Zumo, BaseCamp "liason/programmer" etc... and things have gotten better. How many years did we want the 660 to show the upcoming cross road!!?? Well, FINALLY we got it.. and it only seems as of late that things are happening for us... Personally I don't see that aspect of ZumoForums (i.e.the negativity..., maybe in years past, but I think just the opposite, it is BETTER NOW.) Much less bitchin, more people FINALLY satisfied with the product!