GPS Recommendations?

[Chicago Jake]

I've got a new project coming up that will require me to do a lot of driving to unknown places. I'm thinking of getting a GPS navigation device to help out. Any recommendations? Any thoughts on what features are necessary? or unnecessary? or nice if you can get them? Anything to watch out for? Favorite brands (or brands to avoid)?

I'm sure some of the gadget freaks around here must have experiences to share. Thanks!.......Jake

[♥ COVID-19♥]

I don't currently own a GPS, but was considering a purchase a while back. I used to think that the Mio provided a good value, but I was talking to someone who owns one and he said that he's had problems downloading new and/or updated maps for his device.

[Tex]

bukkakeboy said:

I don't currently own a GPS, but was considering a purchase a while back. I used to think that the Mio provided a good value, but I was talking to someone who owns one and he said that he's had problems downloading new and/or updated maps for his device.

I own one, it was a good price, but I have the same complaint about outdated software. Another caveat, these things are quite good for telling where you are, but are shit for directions. For example, I was driving from here to Conroe (Houston suburb) and the damn thing was telling me to take a route that was 25 miles longer than the one I took.

[Hank]

Jake,

I have only used a land based GPS once (and don't remember the brand) and only had one flaw or option I wish it had.

I was sitting in a parking lot perpendicular to the road and punched in an address, the response was "continue for .7 miles...." I'm sitting perpendicular to the road, continue in which direction? If the response had been "continue East" and given me a small compass (or for that matter my truck has a built in compass) things would have been great. As it was I started to work my way out of the parking lot and the GPS told me several times I was going in the wrong direction and tried to re-calculate the directions, by the time I got to the exit I still didn't know which way to turn onto the main road and of course picked the wrong way. It took about a block before the GPS finally re-calculated and told me I was going in the wrong direction.

Short answer:

The GPS I used was a "narrative only" inexpensive one and mapping or at least compass reference points would have been a great option.

Hank

P.S. My marine GPS gives me a compass heading and all I do is point the boat and go.

[Exildo Wonsetler Briggs III]

I have a GPS in both of my cars. The Lexus came built in. I have an out-boarded one in my SUV that is about 7 years old or so. It doesn't even calculate the route for you. I have to remove it from the car and hook it up to my computer to "download" the route. The next higher model would do the route automatically, but hey, this was *years* ago and these things were pretty darn expensive then.

I'm partial to Garmin units, however. They have several models and you can find one that will fit your needs. Bear in mind that somewhere in the "preferences" section sit several options, such as "avoid tolls," "avoid highways," etc etc that you must set correctly, otherwise they can calculate strange routes to where you want to go.

I've used the one that comes in Hertz rentals quite a bit all over the country and found it to be excellent, but I don't know who makes it and whether or not you could get one cheap used from Hertz.

You *definitely* want one that will recalculate your route in case you miss an exit, etc. I suspect most do that now, but check and make sure. Depending on money, you might also want one that lists local attractions, hotels, restaurants, etc. I found that to be very helpful when traveling to cities I wasn't familiar with in order to find restaurants, etc. Very nice!

I never did find what category strip clubs were listed under, however. Most disturbing!! ;D

[Bif St Lou]

I'd be lost without my GPS. ;D

I have a Magellan that works just great for me most of the time. When it doesn't, it's generally 'operator error.' Last week, we were in Indiana and heading back to the hotel. The GPS instructed me to "turn left here' which I dutifully did. Everyone else in the car (who , unlike me, HAVE a sense of direction) knew I should be making a right turn. If fact, it SHOULD have been obvious -- but when a female voice tells me to "turn left here" ... well, I've learned it's best not to argue!

We recently bought a Tom-Tom brand for one of our kids. It allows for celebrity voice downloads. Now he has Mr T instructing him to "turn left in 500 feet, fool!" (I'm not arguing with Mr T either)

[Irish Stu]

I have GPS in my Nokia N95 cell phone. I find it very handy as I can use it when I am on foot in London as well as in the car. It has only let me down once when I was trying to find a restaurant at a farm, and as I drove along a road miles from anywhere with only fields around me as far as the eye could see it announced that 'You are now at your destination'. A great help that was!!

Simon

[carbuff]

After moving down under we got the Garmin Nuvi 660, based upon a local recommendation. While it comes pre-loaded with the mapping software, Garmin is good at providing updates which can be downloaded onto your computer, which the GPS can them be connected to the computer.

The 660 also has bluetooth, giving you the ability to use a bluetooth capable phone where the GPS can be your hands-free speaker. Really handy and safer. And if you prefer, you can choose a radio frequency for the GPS to be heard through your speaker system.

Price is higher than most, yet you get plenty of useful features.

Trace

[Tex]

samnsi said:

I have GPS in my Nokia N95 cell phone. I find it very handy as I can use it when I am on foot in London as well as in the car. It has only let me down once when I was trying to find a restaurant at a farm, and as I drove along a road miles from anywhere with only fields around me as far as the eye could see it announced that 'You are now at your destination'. A great help that was!!

Simon

Maybe the restaurant burned down. I mean how the hell is the phone supposed to know?

[Ardbeg... innit]

Which brings up a good point. The GPS hardware technology was mature about 10 years ago, what makes current GPS technology usable to most, is the mapping database that comes with it. Be sure to get a GPS unit that is EASY to update.

Edited: I dont own what most people would consider a "GPS", I have 3 highways in and out of here, one to go east, one to go south, and one to go SW, and beyond that, I have the routes to every significan town memorized within 200 miles.

I do own a surveying quality GPS, which produces coordinates that I can take into any mapping software package back in my office.

[Tex]

Gordon, does the surveying GPS do accurate elevations? I have noticed that the cheapies are almost always off 30-50 feet on elevation.

[edie2u]

A friend of ours was just telling a story how his GPS in his big rig told him to turn the wrong way onto a one way road... (He drives for an International trucking company.)

Tex, the GPS we had (Magellan) which was really old (like 2nd generation or so) is really accurate at elevations.

I was just talking to someone about a week ago about their Tom-Tom and they said they loved it.

[Ardbeg... innit]

tex said:

Gordon, does the surveying GPS do accurate elevations? I have noticed that the cheapies are almost always off 30-50 feet on elevation.

Yes, but you have to sit on the location for a few minutes to get small residual errors. Its difficult to get good z values, and if you think about the geometries involved its not difficult to understand why.

[Ardbeg... innit]

edie2u said:

A friend of ours was just telling a story how his GPS in his big rig told him to turn the wrong way onto a one way road... (He drives for an International trucking company.)

Tex, the GPS we had (Magellan) which was really old (like 2nd generation or so) is really accurate at elevations.

I was just talking to someone about a week ago about their Tom-Tom and they said they loved it.

Edie, just curious what you were using as the basis for comparison, USGS maps?

[Tex]

In oil and gas exploration, even a couple of feet is a big deal. Generally a surveyor will work off of a point of known elevation to establish the wellsite elevation. A few folks have been using survey grade GPS equipment.

[Ardbeg... innit]

Its called "levelling" in the surveying world and fairly simple, especially if you have a "bench mark" nearby. Its pretty easy to level in an elevation from miles away if you have clear lines of sight.

[Chicago Jake]

Thanks, everyone. I'm leaning toward the entry-level Tom Tom. It seems to have all the features I need and it's under $200. And I like the celebrity voice idea. It would be cool to have Captain Kirk giving me directions as I pilot the craft!

[Irish Stu]

tex said:

samnsi said:

I have GPS in my Nokia N95 cell phone. I find it very handy as I can use it when I am on foot in London as well as in the car. It has only let me down once when I was trying to find a restaurant at a farm, and as I drove along a road miles from anywhere with only fields around me as far as the eye could see it announced that 'You are now at your destination'. A great help that was!!

Simon

Maybe the restaurant burned down. I mean how the hell is the phone supposed to know?

I'd seen the restaurant a couple of weeks before as it was featured on a TV show that sends a 'troubleshooter' to businesses that are failing... kind of like 'Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares.' It's a Mexican restaurant on a 'chili farm' and the owner had contacted the show because whilst the farm was thriving the restaurant, where they use chilis grown on the farm, was dying on its feet. It came across on the show that the food was excellent, but the place was badly run, and they were given the help and advice they needed to turn it around and make a success of the venture.

So as I love Mexican food, but Mexican restaurants are a bit thin on the ground around here, I decided to drive the 40 miles there for lunch on a Saturday. After getting lost for half an hour because of the GPS we finally found the place, parked the car and went in... only to be told they stop serving lunch at 2.00 o'clock and didn't re-open until 7.00 in the evening!! The fucking idiot's business deserves to fail

Simon

[Ardbeg... innit]

samnsi said:

tex said:

Maybe the restaurant burned down. I mean how the hell is the phone supposed to know?

I'd seen the restaurant a couple of weeks before as it was featured on a TV show that sends a 'troubleshooter' to businesses that are failing... kind of like 'Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares.' It's a Mexican restaurant on a 'chili farm' and the owner had contacted the show because whilst the farm was thriving the restaurant, where they use chilis grown on the farm, was dying on its feet. It came across on the show that the food was excellent, but the place was badly run, and they were given the help and advice they needed to turn it around and make a success of the venture.

So as I love Mexican food, but Mexican restaurants are a bit thin on the ground around here, I decided to drive the 40 miles there for lunch on a Saturday. After getting lost for half an hour because of the GPS we finally found the place, parked the car and went in... only to be told they stop serving lunch at 2.00 o'clock and didn't re-open until 7.00 in the evening!! The fucking idiot's business deserves to fail

Simon

Youve got a problem there Simon, the Atlantic is a bit of a swim, so only the most determined actually make there as an illegal.

[wareagle]

I'm from the old school. I use a compass and a map.

[♥ COVID-19♥]

Aren't you afraid that map will get wet while you're swimming across the Atlantic?

[dave not signed in]

The entry level Tom-Tom and the Garmin are very close to the same. Since the Garmin is an American company and the Tom is European, the Garmin tends to have more accurate maps. The Garmin is also slightly more user friendly. I have the Garmin and my Dad has the Tom so I have played with both of them.

Just stay away from Navigon. It takes an engineer to operate one of those things ;D

[Irish Stu]

bornagaindruid said:

samnsi said:

I'd seen the restaurant a couple of weeks before as it was featured on a TV show that sends a 'troubleshooter' to businesses that are failing... kind of like 'Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares.' It's a Mexican restaurant on a 'chili farm' and the owner had contacted the show because whilst the farm was thriving the restaurant, where they use chilis grown on the farm, was dying on its feet. It came across on the show that the food was excellent, but the place was badly run, and they were given the help and advice they needed to turn it around and make a success of the venture.

So as I love Mexican food, but Mexican restaurants are a bit thin on the ground around here, I decided to drive the 40 miles there for lunch on a Saturday. After getting lost for half an hour because of the GPS we finally found the place, parked the car and went in... only to be told they stop serving lunch at 2.00 o'clock and didn't re-open until 7.00 in the evening!! The fucking idiot's business deserves to fail

Simon

Youve got a problem there Simon, the Atlantic is a bit of a swim

Very true, but you'd work up one hell of an appetite.

Simon

[wareagle]

bukkakeboy said:

Aren't you afraid that map will get wet while you're swimming across the Atlantic?

Surely you jest. You must not be aware of the fact that only the bottoms of my feet would get wet.

[Irish Stu]

wareagle said:

bukkakeboy said:

Aren't you afraid that map will get wet while you're swimming across the Atlantic?

Surely you jest. You must not be aware of the fact that only the bottoms of my feet would get wet.

You got holes in the feet of your wet suit?

Simon

[Ardbeg... innit]

Actually, for a swim that long, he's probably peeing in his 'wet' suit.

[Irish Stu]

That will keep him warm at least.

Simon

[wareagle]

samnsi said:

That will keep him warm at least.

Simon

You guys ain't gettin it. I got plenty of JD to keep me warm and I only pee in the pool if a liberal(male)is in the pool with me. They scare the hell(piss)out me.

[Ardbeg... innit]

Thanks for the warning, I will give you a wide berth ;D

[gps luvr]

I currently own both a garmin nuvi 200 and a tom tom one 3rd edition. They both work very well, but if i had to choose between the two i would definitely go with the garmin because it is a little bit smaller, has a much better battery life, and i feel it's a better design (much more intuitive to use).

additionally, the garmin's suction cup windshield mount works a bit better than the tom tom's.

the tom tom does have one possible advantage in that it includes maps of canada whereas the nuvi 200 doesn't.

generally speaking, the more expensive models offered by both garmin and tom tom offer additional features that may or may not be useful to you (ie. text to voice instructions, bluetooth phone connectivity, mp3 playback, and ability to display photo slide shows). None of those features are of use to me so that's why i chose the less expensive models.

Good luck....and let us know which one you end up choosing.

btw, i bought my Nuvi 200 from a place called buydig.com for a pretty good price. you might want to check them out if you go with that one.