[davidr]

Over the last few weeks I have been comparing a newly acquired Garmin Zumo 500 with my old favourite, the 276C with the following comments:
Main Advantages of Zumo:
(The Zumo 500 and Zumo 550 are largely the same apart the text to speech, the in built in memory size and the car mount that comes in the box with the 550. The 500 I have, has a 2GB SD card with it)
Touch Screen, also works with gloves
MP3 Player
SIRF 3 Antenna
Blue Tooth
SD card compatible
Speed Camera Database available
Maps very colourful and visible
Satellite Estimation in Tunnels lasts longer than with 276

Main Advantages of 276C:More Comprehensive Mapping capability - Fewer waypoints available but more on-the-fly tracking capapbility, therefore better where little or no mapping is available. Distance measuring between points easy, Avoid Areas can be custom set in rectangle
Screen slighty larger and much better in direct sunlight (no touch screen)
Battery life longer
Easier to swap batteries over when using without power
Picks up satellites and new locations faster than Zumo
Many Marine Functions that do not exist on Zumo
Easy to measure distance between to points on a map
Many route avoidance options, avoid particularly streets (by map selection) or by drawing a rectangular area to avoid of your choice on a map
Tracking capability more powerful (Reverse track, navigate track and 15 savable tracks available)

Main Disadvantages of Zumo:
Touch Screen is poor in direct sunlight
Tracking points can be stored and recorded but not readily used without uploading first to mapsource on your PC
Cannot choose large selection of vehicles, pedestrian and cyclist, for example, are not available at this time
When running on battery, the first warning that the battery is low comes when the battery is actually unusably flat (with 276C you still get about an hour of use)

Main Disadvantages of 276C:
SIRF 2 Antenna excellent at picking up satellites but very quick to lose them in tunnels, indoors, etc
Appearance dated
No Touch Screen
Poor Quality Power adapter socket breaks easily with regular use
Speed Cameras cannot be downloaded (although with 278 this is possible)
Limited, Propriety, Garmin memory cards must be used, limiting max available mapping memory to 512mb at a time (278 has improved this, now all of Europe is available on built in memory)
More to come as I find it . .