Satnav advice please

I know this was discussed last week, but it was mainly car-related,
so...

Good burghers of UKRM,

I'd like to get a replacement satnav system that I can use on the bike
but transfer to the cage as and when.

Garmin 2610 for me or the newer 2720 if you are feeling more flush.
The TT Rider is relatively unproven re its weather-proofness and
bouncibiliy for use on a bike.

The Garmins are a little pricy. I may have to find somewhere selling
them and have a bit of a play before making a decision. Thanks for
the recommendation.

Garmin 2610 ideally in a shock proof mount such as the Touratech - the
combination gives you go anywhere ability that is waterproof in the worst
conditions and plugs straight into a cage as well, I use an external ariel
as well on the bike as sat coverage in some parts of Europe is sketchy in
gorges and deep valleys. Coverage on the mountains is good and Andorra
showed as better than 2m accuracy.

Trouble is you don't get a warning - just have to be watching as they come
up - which if you are busy with traffic you can easily miss...

Having had the convenience of satnav in the car for a few years, I
would like to extend the facility to two-wheels - mainly for touring,
or those occasions where I become temporarily uncertain of my location
because I decide to try out some new roads and invariably end up
somewhere I don't recognise.

My cage has utterly appalling integrated satnav, which I only use if
I'm *really* desperate - I prefer to use my ancient iPaq with a wired
GPS and TomTom 3. This works, but it aint pretty. It's not fast
either - route finding can take several minutes, but once it's going
it works well enough.

I love the TomTom interface too and want to stick with it - unless
someone can tell me about a much better option.

As I see it, I have the following options:

- TomTom Rider
- TomTom Go (and risk it with the lack of weather-proofing)
- New PDA/GPS and a TomTom upgrade
- New Smartphone with BlueTooth GPS and TomTom software

Anybody know about the weather vulnerability of the TomTom Go units?
Or for that matter about weather-proofing a PDA?

I've seen some pictures of PDAs affixed to bikes, but it looked kind
of abusive. I'd prefer a one box solution, so I'm leaning away from
the SmartPhone option - which probably isn't gloved-hand friendly
anyway.

I use an Ipaq with TomTom3 on it in one pocket with an earphone for
directions and a bluetooth GPS in another pocket.

Does this work well enough in areas if you're in an area you don't
know? I figured that the voice prompts would be more useful on the
bike, but I'm not sure I'd want to dispense with the screen.

On my current set up I'm in the habit of turning the voice prompts off
(I find them a little annoying - and if you go the wrong way, "Jane"
can be a little threatening before she eventually relents and replots
a route).

I don't want to look at the screen when riding - I'm generally busy so
the spoken stuff is OK to let me know I've missed my turning when SWMBO
is not there to do it.

Does me for around 6 hours riding without a charge, I find spoken
directions give me enough hints to get me to places.

Any 'Rider' users care to comment about it?

I've had one for a couple of months and found it to be good. Invaluable
on an epic trip to Scotland where I wanted to use Bike magazine's
recommended cross-country route without faffing about with maps. So far
no problems other than finding my speedo over-reads by about 15%. Oh,
and being able to overlay speed camera positions is nice.

What about the Garmin? Quest/Quest2? They're a bit cheaper than the
Rider.

I've got a Rider, but as it's the only satnav gadget I've ever used I
can't really compare it to anything else.

It does what it says on the box, it has stood up to rain and V-twin
vibration with no problems, it's easy to use, instructions are clear and
there's no noticable lag, and it works just as well in the car with a
car mount.I'm pleased with it.

And before someone suggests... I do carry a map on the bike, I'd just
like a new toy.

TomTom's RIDER works well and there is a car mount accessory available as
well. Got one on my Pan.

A very good idea and nice for seeing the 'bigger picture'

The combination of GPS and a local map has seen me OK over most of Europe
over the last few years

Gadgets are good, aren't they? You can never have enough gadgets.

I always struggle with maps. A leftover from my childhood ADHD is a very
poor working memory, and though I can work out my route on a map as well
as anybody, within a few seconds of looking away from the map I've
forgotten it. With my satnav I no longer get lost.