New GPS or still the same ol stuff ?

My 550 I got for $100 off Craiglist pretty much brand new, is still hummin along, but wouldn't mind investing in something newer or bigger... I generally use it as a backup, and run my phone with google maps as my main stay using it for music via bluetooth....
I'm very familiar with the pro's and con's of phone vs dedicated, and I won't be without a solid backup, if I lose cell signal.


I don't really have an issue with what I got going..... but I guess I was curious if there was any news about upcoming models.
I am not interested in the massive bulk of wires on the 595LM, and I'd have thought they'd upgrade this unit by now since its a few years old now......

When is garmin going to update the 595LM without all the cables and unnecessary stuff....

Well, thats a question for Gramin and not for us....or?

Well perhaps.... sometimes you get on the forum and some people may have inside information on upcoming schtuff....

I mean its not like a secret spy hidden ferrari... or something.... its a gps...

Well you asked "When is garmin going to update the 595LM without all the cables and unnecessary stuff...."

Is that for the forum or for Garmin to answer?

I would say Garmin dude...

Garmin has a sad history of planned obsolescence and it is more because (historically) they can, not because of giant leap in technology. How many different models have they produced in the past decade or more?

As evidence from the phone and tablet industry, the hardware (processors, storage space and displays) is all it has to be for the applications, now and in the future. It is long past time for them (or their competitors) to come out with a whiz-bang GPS that is capable of software updates. Put 100 GB of memory in it and a decent processor and put it in a package that is big enough and a screen bright enough. Bluetooth, waterproof and robust. Doesn't have to be thin or light - we aren't typically carrying it in a pocket.

I have toyed with the idea of tossing the GPS in favor of my phone but I would rather a purpose-built GPS. I am surprised that Google hasn't gotten into the market. I think they could blow Garmin out of the water.

Paper never goes out of style.

Warpdrv said:

I am not interested in the massive bulk of wires on the 595LM, and I'd have thought they'd upgrade this unit by now since its a few years old now......
When is garmin going to update the 595LM without all the cables and unnecessary stuff....

Click to expand...

Well if size doesn't matter ( ) maybe their 395/396 units might be of interest.

Edit: Poking around some I just learned about Garmin's Live Track feature. Seems sorta new, most I saw pertained to bicycle riding, and of course some early bugs. Probably also doesn't have most of the features of a stand-alone subscription tracking device but still, for basic tracking when riding alone it seems like a nice feature to have.

BOAN said:

Well you asked "When is garmin going to update the 595LM without all the cables and unnecessary stuff...."
Is that for the forum or for Garmin to answer?

I would say Garmin dude...

Click to expand...

Perhaps, but do you think you'll ever get a straight forward answer from Garmin !?!? Much less an answer at all..

Honestly - I don't waste my time asking those stupid questions of companies that generally have lack luster customer support, or seriously rely on a company to give you an honest answer about future models that will potentially put a dent in their current model sales.....

BigOgre said:

Warpdrv said:

I am not interested in the massive bulk of wires on the 595LM, and I'd have thought they'd upgrade this unit by now since its a few years old now......
When is garmin going to update the 595LM without all the cables and unnecessary stuff....

Click to expand...

Well if size doesn't matter (

) maybe their 395/396 units might be of interest.

Edit: Poking around some I just learned about Garmin's Live Track feature. Seems sorta new, most I saw pertained to bicycle riding, and of course some early bugs. Probably also doesn't have most of the features of a stand-alone subscription tracking device but still, for basic tracking when riding alone it seems like a nice feature to have.

Click to expand...

I'd prefer the larger screen honestly....

RossKean said:

Garmin has a sad history of planned obsolescence and it is more because (historically) they can, not because of giant leap in technology. How many different models have they produced in the past decade or more?
As evidence from the phone and tablet industry, the hardware (processors, storage space and displays) is all it has to be for the applications, now and in the future. It is long past time for them (or their competitors) to come out with a whiz-bang GPS that is capable of software updates. Put 100 GB of memory in it and a decent processor and put it in a package that is big enough and a screen bright enough. Bluetooth, waterproof and robust. Doesn't have to be thin or light - we aren't typically carrying it in a pocket.

I have toyed with the idea of tossing the GPS in favor of my phone but I would rather a purpose-built GPS. I am surprised that Google hasn't gotten into the market. I think they could blow Garmin out of the water.

Click to expand...

I agree 100%...... Unlike the boating world, the GPS options are plentiful and very much up to date and on the cutting edge.... Big screens, waterproof multi function units (radar, depth finder, GPS, engine data etc) that are very robust.... though they don't have much in the way of anti-glare screens, or gloved touchscreen.....

I agree - the market is RIPE for an Android takeover in the Motorcycle dept....

JamesW said:

Paper never goes out of style.

Click to expand...

Touche !!

Well I just payed off my house so I got some financial room - I don't know, might just pull the trigger on a 595LM.....

I did see that a guy was a Garmin Truckers GPS - although I think a dedicated bike / waterproof unit is preferred....

I agree that the larger screen is more betterer.

Warpdrv said:

Well I just payed off my house so I got some financial room - I don't know, might just pull the trigger on a 595LM.....
I did see that a guy was a Garmin Truckers GPS - although I think a dedicated bike / waterproof unit is preferred....

Click to expand...

FWIW, I've had the 590 for awhile now and guess you can say I'm content with it. It's had its issues though. It'll drop out the rear wheel TPMS sensor at will, more so on the FJR than my V-Strom for some reason. The battery life will appear to be for crap but there's a known fix out there. And it did crash on me earlier this year at the end of a week long ride but to Garmin's credit they did replace it out of warranty after spending some time on the phone with them. That said it's been through heavy rain and a fair amount of dirty roads and other than that one time it does its job. So not perfect but I've been happy enough with it that I'm not looking for anything else.

Garmin believes in planned obsolescence, They stopped supporting models as soon as a new model comes out. I have a Zumo 390LM. Shortly after the new models came out, the screen would lock up. I called Garmin to get an RA to send it back to get fixed. I was informed that it is no longer supported but they will give me a 10% discount on a new model. I asked how long that would be supported and was told as long as it is under warranty. After the new model is released they would drop the support. I found a third party repair shop from someone on this site and spent about a hundred bucks to replace the mother board. Works fine ever since. This is just my experience.

I suppose that there are some new features on the newer Garmins that might induce you to but one to get the new features, but the basic maps and route functions have been pretty much the same since I bought my first Garmin for the FJR over ten years ago.

BigOgre said:

Warpdrv said:

I am not interested in the massive bulk of wires on the 595LM, and I'd have thought they'd upgrade this unit by now since its a few years old now......
When is garmin going to update the 595LM without all the cables and unnecessary stuff....

Click to expand...

Well if size doesn't matter (

) maybe their 395/396 units might be of interest.

Edit: Poking around some I just learned about Garmin's Live Track feature. Seems sorta new, most I saw pertained to bicycle riding, and of course some early bugs. Probably also doesn't have most of the features of a stand-alone subscription tracking device but still, for basic tracking when riding alone it seems like a nice feature to have.

Click to expand...

I just took a look at the write up on Live Track. It looks like you need to pair your Garmin with your phone and then the phone does the tracking for you. I don't see how that is any better than any of the other cell phone based tracking apps that don't require a Garmin. Am I missing something?

Geezer said:

BigOgre said:

Warpdrv said:

I am not interested in the massive bulk of wires on the 595LM, and I'd have thought they'd upgrade this unit by now since its a few years old now......
When is garmin going to update the 595LM without all the cables and unnecessary stuff....

Click to expand...

Well if size doesn't matter (

) maybe their 395/396 units might be of interest.

Edit: Poking around some I just learned about Garmin's Live Track feature. Seems sorta new, most I saw pertained to bicycle riding, and of course some early bugs. Probably also doesn't have most of the features of a stand-alone subscription tracking device but still, for basic tracking when riding alone it seems like a nice feature to have.

Click to expand...

I just took a look at the write up on Live Track. It looks like you need to pair your Garmin with your phone and then the phone does the tracking for you. I don't see how that is any better than any of the other cell phone based tracking apps that don't require a Garmin. Am I missing something?

Click to expand...

You might be right but I saw it as the phone being just the connection to Garmin's network/system/whatever. With my current setup my phone in BT mode will automatically connect with the unit (or Navigator in Garminese) which will then automatically open up Garmin's Smartphone Link app on my phone. That'll give me weather, traffic, parking, etc. as found under the Apps tab from the unit's home screen even with the phone's Location mode disabled (which it almost always is). Without connecting my phone I loose that stuff. I assumed that Live Tracking would be a similar app as those others, noting full well the word assume.

Certainly don't want to offend any stalwarts in the must-have-geniune-GPS-receiver camp, but I can give a thumbs up for the solution I've been using since 2015: a well-made 7" Android tablet with real GPS circuitry - American GPS rx + Russian GLONASS rx chips.

Protected in a water resistant rugged case, attached to my handlebar base via a 1" RAM ball mount, and +5v USB constant power taken from a converter I built into the fairing.

• Beautiful, big 1200 x 800 pixel display, mine is kept at between 50% and 100% brightness during daylight hours
• Bluetooth pairing with my Sena for turn-by-turn + tunes with excellent audio quality
• choose from different open-sourced, OR modestly priced Android apps tailored to modern GPS expectations (though I've tried about 4, I've returned to the OSMAmd+ app)
• variety of aftermarket cases/accessories that actually fit - without necessarily forcing me to pay over the top prices from a specific old-school GPS equipment company
• end-of-day travel computer (store gigabytes of tunes, video / pics captured during the day's ride, use to upload to the cloud from my hotel room, check on emails, weather forecasts, etc)

I've watched the mediocre tablet-based GPS apps improve over the last couple years, and that's why I'm simply not going to lay down 2-3 times as much now for a dedicated GPS unit any more. My sensibilities and confusion on why companies like Garmin don't seem to invest in joining the rest of us in the 21st century appear aligned with RossKean's perspective.

I don't even have a SIM card installed in this tablet, can only use WiFi and Bluetooth. All navigation I do is based completely on actual satellite communications. I usually find my TTFF (time to first fix) is from ~30 secs to 2 mins. Through most of my trips over last couple years, I'll just leave the tablet running my favoured GPS application (whether still attached to the bike OR tucked securely in a saddlebag) during lunch or fuel stops.

Good luck in your quest for a solution that suits ya best...

There simply isn't a sufficient market for Garmin to invest big $$ in producing an updatable Motorcycle GPS.

They count on planned obsolescence to entice a small market segments customers to buy again and again and again.

Would you buy an updatable unit for $500 and then subscribe to Maps and Firmware updates/upgrades? How much would the upgrade subscription be worth to you?

I hear ya John.....

I hate going into a full price model that is likely going to be replaced in a short period of time....
Anyone know how often garmin comes out with new models. ?

Cyclepath.....

Incoming PM.....

RossKean posted: ... I am surprised that Google hasn't gotten into the market. I think they could blow Garmin out of the water.

Click to expand...

Me, too. As I've said many times, I ride with the Google Maps app on my iPhone. Google Maps has a simple, straightforward user interface, and the ability to create a very detailed route. You can also retrieve that route for reference or editing on any device that's connected to the internet.

However, using a phone will always leave you "driving while blind" when there's no cell service. Google will have to develop a satellite transceiver, or buy one, in order to truly provide GPS navigation.