Just bought a sat-nav ...

[Stu]

Any use?
http://www.bestbikingroads.com/usefu..._Tutorial1.pdf

[embee]

The Zumo uses Mapsource for PC route planning, don't know if other Garmins use this too.

Mapsource isn't the most intuitive software, but a little practice gets you to do straightforward routing very easily. For example on the PC you can put in start and end points, then simply drag and drop the route in between to where you want it. Routing on the Zumo itself can be tedious, but if you have intermediate points saved as "favourites" it makes it a lot easier to send the route where you want it.

Zumos are pretty pricey, but they've got a lot better (Zumo550 can be got for around £350), and come with full Euro maps and cradles for both the bike and the car. You don't get a headset though. They have lots of good features but some shortcomings too. They are decent mp3 players, the higher spec ones do text-to-speech (TTS) so read out street names rather than just "turn left" etc, it'll do picture slide shows, in the bike cradle it has a fuel gauge function etc.

That bikingroads website is cool, but again, only gives you a start and end waypoint, not a pre-determined route the sat-nav will follow. From what I can make out (and I admit I haven't read the tutorial in its entirety) even if you use the software it won't make a route for the sat nav, just allow you to visualise and set waypoints. ... you would still need to plot that route by stitching the waypoints in the sat-nav ... the software is doing nothign more than I can do already in other (free) ways

embee, I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that what I want isn't possible ... for some stupid reason, you can't pre-plan a route and upload it to your sat-nave to follow ... I mean WTF?? I can't be the first person to want to do this surely?