BMW Motorrad Navigator III vs Garmin Streetpilot 2820

[davidr]

The main differences between these two units are that the Motorrad Navigator is petrol resistant (particularly handy for a motorcycle), has a different motherboard and has a special motorcycle mounting cradle which allows the buttons (which are on the right hand side on the Garmin SP series) to be operated with the left hand (particularly useful for motorcyclists)

[Fluppie]

But on the other hand misses a few items like beanbag, and 12 V for the car.
and the price tag is a little bit different

Philipe

[Rob Sprague]

I have a Garmin 2820 with the XM add on. This is attached through a Baehr Comm. system for K1200LT. When using the volume control on the touch screen, the increase/decrease steps are in 10% increments. This sometimes makes the output either too high or low. Does the Navigator III have this XM attachment and therefore the same issue.

[Hilton]

The Nav III hasn't the XM function. (To my knowledge. Neither the MP3 ) However volume control is in 1% jumps. As a kit in the UK it did include the bean bag car mount, the 12-volt power cable with speaker and a protective plastic screen ( All of which were not issued in Australia with my Na II )

Sorry, my "bad" Actually has 10% increments

[GSinEurope]

I would say go with the Garmin and save yourself a whole lot of money. I'm currently running the 2610 on my GS and absolutely love it. I will up-grade to the 2820 to use the blue tooth function which I already have for my helmet (Nolan N102) so I can get rid of the wire I currenlty use to get the voice prompts and be completely wireless.

[Hilton]

How's this for another difference !!!
Awaiting an answer.

Recently I purchased the European camping grounds poi's from MyPOIWorld. Around £14. Read that SP2820 was a compatible device, and assumed the NavIII (aka2820) would also be supported. Well after many failed attempts to load this data, imagine my surprise when I received this reply from Holland.
"Dear Mr. Hilton,
The issue is with the design of this unit which has been closed off for
receiving external POI's.
Garmin is not able to address this without the sanction of BMW as this
was a special purpose design for BMW.
Without their help and assistance we are not able to support this. Most
other Garmins are supported.
Our future products will more and more move in the direction that you
pointed out and more and more ext and pictures will be loaded in future
on navigation devices. "
MyPoi World Support

One good note, MyPoi World did refund my money. Thankyou.

I have emailed Garmin to confirm this and am waiting a response.
I am going to be one unhappy camper if I find out that after spending top $$$$'s to buy this unit from BMW, (and the NAV II previously) that Garmin have disabled my ability to add functionality eg camp grounds etc.
In all other respects I have been very happy with my BMW badged Garmins, but this "FEATURE" certainly isn't in any documentation or manuals I've seen.
Has anyone had experience with loading POI's onto BMW badged Garmins ?

[davidr]

Wow, that is surprising, I sincerely hope it's a mistake and you've been provided with the wrong information.

Very strange.

David

[Hilton]

Well it took some exploring but the good news is that the advise given was indeed in error. Just uploaded a data base of camping grounds in Norway to my BMW Nav III with total success. Seems all is well when the files are in the .csv format. All I can assume is that the interface MyPoi World uses to connect to this Garmin device is not supported as they said. Certainly not an issue when using POI Loader.
All is well again
Now just have to get to Norway before it gets too cold to camp

[davidr]

Nice one Hilton Glad that you managed to resolve the issue.

Interestingly enough, that is a distinct difference between the 2820 and the Nav III as 2820 can take gpi files, etc directly across a USB cable without using the POI loader. Very strange. The 2720 on the other hand, needs the POI loader like the Nav III you have.

The 2820 has a choice on startup to select the USB mode when plugged into a computer(presumably no such choice is presented on your Nav III), or perhaps this is in fact an issue brought about by the fact that you are using a Mac?

In any case, I'm pleased that you've resolved the issue

Enjoy Norway, it's amazing.

I'll be in Estonia for most of July, drop me a line if you're anywhere nearby.

All the Best,

David