Nuvi 550 (500 series)

[Jan]

Need the experts advise. I plan to buy hardware for logging tracks. Please recommend brand and good set-up. Thanks.

it all depends what you want.

you just want a datalogger?

you want it to be able to route?
i presume you want unlimited (within reason) tracklog capabilities?
sirf III gps chipset?

the last three you can get with a csx (60, 76, maybe the etrex vista not sure)

or you want all bells and whistles fully customizable but limited tracklog (10000 points) and old type gps type? :276c

why dont you downgrade the firmware of the nuvi you are selling so it can record tracks, use it without maps for a while and see whether that satifies your need.

or if you have really enough money to burn: google timble
HTH

[pokz]

Thanks Jan. That's the main reason I am upgrading to a higher model, to be able to record tracks. I'm not sure if I can still downgrade my firmware. I did some searching on the net and I cannot find a hack for 200w. I did try to downgrade to ver 3.40 used by the 200 series but my unit won't accept the rollback (btw, I have the latest firmware).

I'm thinking if upgrading to 205w or 255w would satisfy the demand to record tracks of some missing roads here in the city (usually barangay roads). I'm not inclined to buy a unit outside motoring use since it is where I use it primarily.

If it's possible to downgrade the firmware, that's the best option for me now. Please advise if something can still be done. Btw, what's the difference in using nuvi with tracklog capability and the models you mentioned above (accuracy etc)?

[Jan]

Btw, what's the difference in using nuvi with tracklog capability and the models you mentioned above (accuracy etc)?

nuvi sticks to roads, the other models you can switch it off, to see the difference, check the compare.gdb earlier in this thread.
also the other models are more accurate for track recording.

[phtraveler]

but all of the nuvi tracklogs are "stick to road" and hence are quite useless as they only record what is already there, unless you switch off the map while tracking.

just for info details. on Garmin XT version 5.00.20 it has this options.

greets,

nono