So what to use? I began with a mad idea of using a Galaxy Tab 10.1..this kind of worked but involved a lot of faffing about, so i quickly ditched the idea.

Next up was the Garmin/TomTom argument and which one was ' better ' on a bike.

The Garmin won as it has an MP3 player...for me this is a must when riding! I cannot enjoy the sound of wind after all these years...it has to be a plethora of classic rock ringing in my ears instead ;)

I use in ear buds for my music and GPS voice...it has an 3.5mm extension lead from the unit to just by the seat which i then plug my earphones into. These help eliminate background noise and give a lush sound to the music...very important! Bluetooth is no way near producing the same result from flat speakers in a helmet!

We looked at new and used Zumo 500/550 & 600 models and a 500 came in at the right price for our budget, so that sorted that.

Pro's for the unit are that it does exactly what it says on the box. Cons are that it has limited marker points ( 200 ) when creating your own route. For those that know nothing of what this means, it is all to do with ' points ' you select on your map when planning a route. If you select more than 200 it wont show them, instead you will see a line go from A to B as the crow flies and not your wonderful route you had planned on google maps or even basecamp...In it's defence though, you just have to be more careful when planning and think ahead abit. I've got the hang of it now and it does what I want it to!

We have done a few trial runs with the Unit now, and a few more will be done until i'm 100% happy with the routing and i can then plan the various routes for the trip ( 1 for each day )

That's the Prep done for the GPS, a good all round unit.