Garmin Nuvi 550
Jul
22
2008
See our Garmin Nuvi 500 page for more information, the 550 is the same but adds full maps of the USA & Canada.
| Store | Rating | Best Prices |
|---|---|---|
Compare all prices on the Garmin Nuvi 550 Auto / Road GPS ranging from $248.44 to $499.99. | ||
 |  In stock at HSN.com | $299.95 |
 | In stock at MemorySuppliers.com | $399.00 |
 |  In stock at J&R | $249.00 |
 | In stock at Dell.com | $299.99 |
 | In stock at Kmart | $279.99 |
 | In stock at Sears.com | $279.99 |
 |  In stock at circuitcity.com | $269.99 |
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What is the difference between the zumo 550 and the nuvi 550?
Is it mostly the function buttons?, Do they have the same features otherwise? Considerable price difference, is it worth the difference. What can the zumo do that the nuvi cannot?
Thanks!
The Garmin Zumo GPS’s are designed for motorcycles.
John, the differences would be easier to point out if we knew what you were looking to use the device for. Otherwise we could spend a bunch of time listing out features that don’t make a difference to you and might skip pointing out differences that are important to you.
The Zumo devices are designed with plastics that are more UV resistant and the screen is designed to be more friendly when wearing gloves. The Nuvi has a longer battery life and is lighter. The Zumo can save more custom routes. The Zumo uses SD cards while the Nuvi uses microSD cards. The Zumo has Bluetooth. The Nuvi uses MSN Direct traffic (to be discontinued in 2012) while the Zumo uses XM traffic. The Zumo doesn’t have a “where am i?” feature nor speed limit information. You can do geocaching and other off-road type things on the Nuvi while the Zumo has an MP3 player.
That’s a stupid response. I posted an honest question hoping for an honest and intelligent response. Why waste my time and yours with a response like that? If you don’t know anything about how to answer the question, don’t bother. Hopefully someone on this forum actually knows something about these two GPS units.
Thank you for your informative response Tim. That is what I needed to help with my decision.
I want to use it on a motorcycle as well as in the car. (2009 Harley Ultra)
Many people use this nuvi on motorcycles as it is water proof. Because of the tremendous price difference, I wanted to determine if I could do without the specific motorcycle features of the zumo. It seems to me, the nuvi can pretty much do what the zumo can do but is lacking blue tooth and a speaker connection.
I imagine someone can help me add a 3.5 connection so I can connect the nuvi to the auxilary port on my Harley Ultra. I will do some more research on both.
I have also head rumor that garmin will be coming out with a new version of the zumo. When this happens, it would probably drop the price of the zumo 550 and 660 considerably.
Isn’t the \where am I\ feature the one that finds police/hospitals as well as marking your current location so you can go back to it? Seems like a nice feature to have. I don’t care about the traffic or xm radio that much, nice features but not to important to me. The blue tooth to phone is not that important either. Not that interested in talking on the phone while I ride. I check for messages/voice mail at stops
I currently have a Quest 2 and am familiar with its features. It seems there is no one solution for everyone and the wide selection of gps from garmin as well as others makes choices somewhat difficult and confusing. This is a great forum for learning more about gps!
Again, thanks for your help/info Tim. This is the kind of feedback I had hoped for. Any other advice/observations from you would be appreciated.
John
Can additional routes be stored on the M-SD Card? Thanks DRCDAC