Zumo.....What's the big deal?

[Nitrobrother]

Educate me...I've never owned a GPS, but I've used a girlfriend's and it wasn't as user friendly as I would like. I've spent many an hour at Google Maps laying out routes, then copying the major turns and mileage into and Excel file that I print out and stuff in a pocket. Gotta be a better way! So here are my questions:

Can I create a route in Google Maps, with all my turns and waypoints marked out, and load them into a GPS?

Can I create a route in the GPS, then modify the route to override what it thinks is the best path or am I limited to only what's on the screen at the time (current location)?

[fltreagle]

To answer your questions as best I can, YOU can buy a Garmin unit (Zumo for motorcyles) and then dpownload the planning software (BaseCamp) it's for free, if you get a GPS or not. In BaseCamp you can create a route by putting in waypoints (turn spots, hotels, gas stations, whatever you want.) Then you can print a hard copy and you can download it from your computer to the unit. You created it sooyou can change it. No advertisement here, but Garmin has a rep for being the most user friendly, and best routing, according to GPS magazine!

[EdY39]

fltreagle is right on but be aware that not all Garmin units will accept routes that have been preplanned on a PC. As far as I know all the motorcycle units will though.

I've never tried Google Maps but I understand that the mapping file created has to go thru some kind of conversion to put it on a Garmin gps.

[Workman]

Mapquest routes can be downloaded to a Garmin 660/665 from a PC.