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Garmin Zumo 660 built to guide bikers
Garmin Zumo 660
(Credit: Garmin)In addition to the Nuvi 885T, Garmin introduced the Garmin Zumo 660 at CES 2009, a GPS designed for bikers by bikers. It's one of the few motorcycle-specific portable navigation devices available on the market (TomTom also makes one called the Rider), and brings a much-needed update to the Garmin Zumo 550, which was released almost two years ago.
The Zumo 660 sports a sleeker design similar to the Garmin Nuvi series but keeps the ruggedized and waterproof casing. It also features a larger 4.3-inch touch screen and has oversize icons so you can still use the device even with gloves on.
Inside, the Zumo 660 is loaded with maps of the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico and 6 million points of interest. Like the Nuvi 885T, the GPS also has lane assist with junction view; plus, there's a new multiple routing feature that will give you a preview of the shortest, fastest, and off-road route so you can choose from one of three options.
The Zumo 660 provides text-to-speech directions, meaning you'll hear specific street names, and since the GPS has integrated Bluetooth, you can have the audio piped to your Bluetooth headset. Of course, you'll also be able to make and accept calls and there is stereo Bluetooth (A2DP) support.
The Garmin Zumo 660 is expected to ship in Q1 2009 for a pricey $799.99.
Bonnie Cha is a senior editor for CNET, covering smartphones and GPS. When she's not testing the latest gadgets, you can find her chasing after her crazy lab or surfing in the chilly waters of Northern California. E-mail Bonnie. 
- by V6valkrider June 19, 2009 10:18 AM PDT
- Caution!!!! Garmin Zumo 660 is crap. Well maybe crap is a too strong of a term; Garmin?s customer service is crap! Before you buy one call the customer service hotline, after you have been on hold for an hour think about what you doing. I bought the Zumo 660, and every now and then, it will shut down wile in use (bike or car) the only way to get the power back on is to pull the battery. So, I called customer service?this is where things deteriorated. It took two weeks to get a RMA number, then I had to foot the bill to send the defective unit in, two weeks later, they cannot seem to find what is wrong so they are sending the defective unit back. Am I wrong to think Garmin should have sent me a new one? (I only had it a week before the problems started). Am I wrong to think they should have sent me a UPS slip for returning it? Am I wrong to think customer support should not mean wait on hold for an hour only to be told, ?I can?t help you, hold please?. <br />Now at the same time I was dealing with this, my sisters kids Wee game station broke down, she went online, typed in the SN, and what do you think happened?she got a RA # and a UPS slip with directions on how to ship it back.
<br />Try the Garmin website help line; it took a day just to get a generic answer that sent me into a loop on the site.
<br />Use caution and think twice before buying the Zumo 660!
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