Garmin Montana

Looks like what I need to replace the 276...I wonder how long it will take before a good off-road mount is available...I'm guessing the Ram mount won't be practical due to the increased weight and size of this model...

The Montana [with AA bat's] is only 2oz heavier than the zumo660. If you use the short arm RAM with the above "rugged" AMP mount, you should be ok - except for Moto-X type activities.

You'll probably see a TT (or other) mount for these as well.

Cheers,

Garmin put this GPS into their On Trail segment. Yet they are marketing it's use in ALL segments: Marine, Automotive and On Trial. The unit is of very little value in either the Marine or Automotive without maps. In the On Trail segment (650t) you can pay a premium for preinstalled-limited-Topo maps (save your money and buy US TOPO 24K map Regions) that will cause you grief trying to update them.

I'd like to see Garmin actually step up and reward customers who purchase a high-end device like the Montana 650 with Free Lifetime Maps (CNNA/CNEU) or a significant discount on US TOPO 24K maps.

Unfortunately, I don't ever expect that to be the case. Garmin only has programs like that for some mid-range nuvi units.:huh

There have been more and more units coming out with lifetime map updates. I would expect a $700 device to include those lifetime updates. Too bad it doesn't. The Montana does have a motorcycle profile which is interesting. It also supports the heart rate monitor and bike cadence sensor along with CHIRP for us geocachers.

GPS City has a bunch of videos going through various modes on the 600.
http://www.youtube.com/user/GPSCity#g/u

After watching the videos I'm probably going to do a pre-order. Unless Garmin really screws the pooch on this it should be a really great unit. Boo on the lack of lifetime maps.

GPSCity have also already included it in their comparisons page.

I set it up to the compare the Montana 650t to the 62ST, Zumo 550 and Zumo 660 here as three of the more popular Garmin options for motorcycles.

You can't take all that the comparison lists, as it says no to a headphone jack, but then they show a headphone jack on the Montana 600 in the videos

I'd imagine that some of the red crosses against features are due to them not being listed by Garmin yet.

It does look like an intriguing option for a GPSr though.

Personally I don't like touch screens on a bike. It never fails that I hit a bump just as I'm trying to do something on the screen. I want buttons.

Might as well start the PriceWatch activity.

If you are interested in the Montana and you're an AMA member, Garmin gives an 11% discount currently on the Montana 650. Discount + Tax & Shipping = $615.80 (in my case - your Tax/Shipping may be different).

Lowest price I've found so far (pre-orders) for the Montana 650 is:

Ultimate Passage @ $559.55 incl. Shipping.

Maybe an enterprising vendor will consider a "group buy price"?

P.S.

The above pricing does not include Accessories: e.g, Rugged Mount, Marine Mount, Automotive Mount, Maps, etc.

Cheers,

Must be going down by the minute as it's now $549.56.

Notice the "incl. Shipping" That means I added the shipping cost (~$10) to the price.

CHIRP support = YES.

Nice of GPSCity to post these vid's.

Cheers,

Well I never add shipping onto a quoted price, or tax for that matter, as if I do, I often talk myself out of the item I was looking at.

Maybe when the price drops a bit on it, I found a comparable replacement for my aging XOG.
I love my touch screen, but it is hard to see in direct sunlight.

For those of us in or on the edges of the GIS biz, these new higher end GPS units and "my smartphone is better than a Garmin anyway" products are hitting a price point where I would just as soon go all the way and buy a Trimble Juno and quit messing around with recreational/personal devices.

Not saying the new Montana is unfairly priced, not that at all, but neither it nor any i-whatever have anywhere near the GPS/GIS oriented capability available in something like a Trimble. For that kind of money, I'll just go buy a Juno

The big downside for your average user is you don't just buy a Trimble and fire it up; you need the software side... Pathfinder Office, Terrasynch, and a GIS program like ArcMap or Manifold. But I would far rather be using shapefiles instead of routes and tracks for my kind of travels.

Considering the way consumer demand is driving recreational GPS development, the gap between professional GPS capabilities and recreational GPS is narrowing quickly. I expect we'll see the first recreational GPS units able to use multiple SV constellations in the next few years.

According to my web search, a Juno and the software is near $2000.00...I don't think you're going to find many casual users in the recreational GPS market that are even remotely interested in spending that kind of money...not to mention the misery of learning yet one more user interface/software/ etc...

I pre-ordered the Montana from Garmin. I also ordered the AMPS rugged mount with audio/power cable.

After I ordered it, I noticed they said, "AMPS arm/ball socket sold separately."

Does anyone have an idea of what arm/socket I need? The RAM mounting kit Garmin has on their site https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=8130 doesn't list the Montana as a compatible device.

I have an e-mail in to Garmin, but I am totally new to the GPS world. So, if anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate it.

And yes, I know since we haven't seen the units yet, it is all probably just a guess.

"AMPS" refers to the mount hole pattern spec. The base ball-mounts from RAM are AMPS compatible. You can use this one (click on the photo's):



Then you'll need something like this (depends on how long you want the Arm component):

Dan,

Thanks for the info. I am new to the GPS thing. I spent weeks researching this, and I know I have to get one in my hands to learn how to use it.

I look forward to figuring this out and finding all the great off-road areas in Washington State.

27 years of riding, and I feel I am learning all this stuff from scratch, now that I have a GS. This board has been a great wealth of information.

Looks like this will address the disappointment that I have with my Zumo 550. I don't like the MP3 player, but I will miss the telephone interface.

But the GPS functions and options seem to be available.

I'll be watching this with lots of interest.

You were thinking of saying something like this comment in my post you were replying to?

Some of us DO work in GIS related professions or know somebody who does, so the software is already there. I am equally sure that all the users here who have no qualms about pirating MapSource, map data, etc through bit torrents are not going to suddenly suffer an attack of conscience when it comes to pirating Trimble's software. In other words, for a lot of users, software cost is not an issue to begin with, no matter what they choose.

There is also the issue of "what is your time worth to you"? If it was faster and easier to transform, edit and manipulate data in .gpx using a host of utilities, professional users would do just that.

Terrasynch and Pathfinder are considerably less complicated than the data dance so many users do here laying out trips, transforming data, etc. My guess is that, when our CIMIC teams can teach Afghans to use it in just a few hours through a terp, anyone here who finds it a daunting task should probably not be allowed anywhere near a motorcycle.

It's like a lot of things in the motorcycle world: you makes your choices and then you live with them. Thats why some people own tire changing stands and and all the related tools and some other people own a couple of tire spoons. It does occur to me that some of our more dedicated GPS users are spending one hell of a lot of time and effort trying to make a recreational GPS environment give the results easily available in the professional GPS/mapping environment.

It's not about "this is better than that". It's about different tools that offer different capabilities.

Well, as the Juno series are quoted on the Trimble website as being IP4X compliant (meaning objects greater than 1mm in diameter), it doesn't appear that they are waterproof to any real degree, which is a backward step from the Garmins, which are all IPX7, as far as I can tell.

You'd have to go to the Yuma tablet or Nomad handheld to get IP67 coverage (sealed against dust and has been water immersion tested for 30 minutes at a depth of one meter or 3.28 ft).