iPhones are not waterproof

[daboo]

There are times when it is just better to bite the bullet and pay the money needed.  If I never went on long distance trips, I'd try to go cheap, but I do.  When I look at the compromises and risks associated with using a smartphone, the additional cost of a Garmin Zumo XT is not much.

I lost my Zumo 595LM last year when I didn't have it snapped into the mount on the handlebars properly.  I've taken that GPS over 63,000 miles and never had a problem...till I did.  One time of not mounting it securely, and that's all it took.  I saw it later in the dash cam footage from my Halocam M1.  The first bounce...and this was only at 35 mph...sent the GPS up in the air at least four feet.  I never saw it again. 

Imagine if that had been my Note 9.  

I've used both Zumo GPS's in temps exceeding 100F for hours, and both have been dependable.  

FWIW, I think Garmin looked at the market they were losing to smartphones and the Zumo XT is their answer to that.  It's more rugged than any smartphone, with an incredibly bright screen and just does what you want it to do.  If you travel a lot, it is worth the money.

Chris

 

[PhotoAl]

Phones are expensive!  Today it was raining and since I'm retired drove to Scottsboro to the Unclaimed Baggage store.  They had a number of used iPhones some unlocked and some locked to a carrier.  Was a bit surprised at the prices but I'm always looking for cheap :-) I picked up a Amazon Fire 7 32GB tablet to run diagnostic software on - it was $40 but in very good condition.  Should have looked for a cheap Android phone that I could mount on the handlebar - use my iPhone as a WiFi hotspot.  
It is possible to run CarPlay with a Raspberry Pi and then could keep phone and Pi off the bars and in a tank bag and the screen in a waterproof case.  Hummm, I need to look into this.

[petshark]

14 hours ago, daboo said:

There are times when it is just better to bite the bullet and pay the money needed.  If I never went on long distance trips, I'd try to go cheap, but I do.  When I look at the compromises and risks associated with using a smartphone, the additional cost of a Garmin Zumo XT is not much.

...

FWIW, I think Garmin looked at the market they were losing to smartphones and the Zumo XT is their answer to that.  It's more rugged than any smartphone, with an incredibly bright screen and just does what you want it to do.  If you travel a lot, it is worth the money.

That looks like a good solution and I agree that the ruggedness and bright screen are great features. It's not about the money for me, it's about live rerouting and map updates (in Western Europe). If they can get that fixed I would buy one in a second.

6 hours ago, PhotoAl said:

It is possible to run CarPlay with a Raspberry Pi and then could keep phone and Pi off the bars and in a tank bag and the screen in a waterproof case.  Hummm, I need to look into this.

Keep us posted if you do. Great project!