GPS Systems

Bob Clayton · #1 11-12-2008, 06:50 PM

there was a thread or two on these before, but all people said for the most part was "use a map and your brain"

i'm thinking about getting one, i don't need anything extravagant, but know nothing about them, so i'd like some info an pointers in a good direction.

Phalex · #2 11-12-2008, 06:53 PM

We borrowed one for a trip we took last week. It was a Garmin Nuvi. It worked very well, but it did try to kill us twice. I liked it better than a map, but they aren't infallable.

gold_member_321 · #3 11-12-2008, 07:00 PM

I have a Tomtom One XL, and I love it. I've never gotten lost with it and it also has some cool features like telling you points of interest in your area like restaurants, gas stations, lodging, etc.

You can pick one up for about $150 give or take, depending on where you buy it.

**Eric Perry** · #4 11-12-2008, 07:24 PM

I use my BlackBerry. No complaints at all other than the time it takes to lock on a satellite.

steve21 · #5 11-12-2008, 07:29 PM

I go to school in La Jolla (which, as part of San Diego county, is forced to have terribly confusing streets/multiple streets adjacent to each other with similar names, etc) so I see a LOT of these things with students who drive.

Stay far away from Magellan.
TomTom is good
Garmin is legit

That's all I can think of right now.

Tim Cole · #6 11-12-2008, 07:49 PM

Maps? No way.....too time consuming if you travel much at all.

I've used a few different ones, and the Garmin's have the best mapping software by far. There's a TON of things these can do that a map cannot....points of interest, nearest gas, food, etc....search by name....automatic rerouting if you miss or make a wrong turn, etc.

I couldn't do without one.

MJ5150 · #7 11-12-2008, 08:12 PM

We used to have a TomTom One. It was great. It somehow accidentally went through our clothes washer, so it died. As a replacement, we went with a Magellan Maestro. For us, the Magellan is loads better. It was more accurate with the turn by turn directions, and the maps track better than when driving with the TT.

All the big box electronics stores have them now, so go grab one. You normally get 15-30 days on the return policy, so take one for a test drive.

-Mike

Chunk-O-Funk · #8 11-12-2008, 08:14 PM

I bought a Garmin Nuvi for work. One of the more affordable models.

I started going on the road and make quite a few stops in one day. I'll cover a good deal of Rhode Island and some of Massachusetts.

So far it's been great help. There were only a couple of instances where the address were not exactly on it's mark, but more than close enough to figure it out. I would have to say it's about 98% dead on accurate and brings you right to front door of where you're going.

One thing I would make sure of before buying one is if it's a newer model and you can update the maps. I am suppose to be able to update the maps on mine, but so far I haven't had any available. Today I was driving over some new highway construction where a new bridge has been up for some time now. It wasn't' a big deal as I new exactly where I was, but it was funny to see my car icon driving over the water and listen to the voice command "recalculating,.. turn left,..in .2 miles..." To late lady, I'm in the drink!

One other time I was in a rural part of RI and greeted with a left or right option at the end of the road and the navigation unit showed the street going straight off into the woods. I turned into the direction where I believe I should be going and it recalculated and got be back on track.

A local map book is probably the most accurate thing to use, but so far I haven't used the one which is right next to me in the truck.

It's really easy to use as well. If I was only making a couple of stops a day I would just use google maps. It takes less time to enter an address in this thing than it does to look up a map on google or use a map book.

It does have some useful features like mentioned above. Points of interest, shopping and restaurants. It will also get you to the nearest police and hospitals too. Haven't uses any of that, but I do like how it will calculate your ETA and adjust your ETA to the speed your driving.

I'm glad I purchased one and find it indispensable.

Scarlet Fire · #9 11-12-2008, 08:17 PM

My mom has a TomTom. Not terribly expensive, very easy to use, and has been more accurate than the directions from Google Maps and Mapquest every time. It can also reroute automatically if you take a wrong turn, which got us out of a couple of tight spots.

DigMe · #10 11-12-2008, 09:13 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yyKrS8jwSY

bc

**Eric Perry** · #11 11-12-2008, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DigMe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yyKrS8jwSY

bc

RedemptionBass · #12 11-12-2008, 09:40 PM

Call me crazy....

Something about having a device in your vehicle that knows exactly where you are, how fast you are going and where you are going just doesn't sit well with me. How long will it be until we start getting speeding tickets mailed to us based on data collected from our GPS?

I know, I've heard the ol' "I don't care, I don't have anything to hide because I'm not doing anything wrong." justification before. Call me a kook, but shouldn't you be able to do something "wrong" if you want to and are able to get away with it?

Thanks for the heads-up, Mr.Orwell.

Skeletomania · #13 11-12-2008, 10:01 PM

I use a tomtom after the garmin was stolen. The tomtom is a waste of money. The directions are inaccurate, and whenever it rains, it loses signal. I droved for 2 hours to get back home, and the damn thing is still searching for a signal.

Armueller2001 · #14 11-12-2008, 10:08 PM

+1 on the Garmin Nuvi

jrthebassguy · #15 11-12-2008, 10:40 PM

My family has a TomTom we all share when we need it. I love it for the most part...only con is when you miss your turn, it often takes too long to update, so then you may miss your next possible exit, and then it has to update itself a 2nd time, etc.

My model has a bluetooth capability than can get live traffic updates - however I don't have the proper device to utilize the feature, so I dunno how well that works.

**bassybill** · #16 11-12-2008, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric618

I use my BlackBerry. No complaints at all other than the time it takes to lock on a satellite.

I hae a Nokia phone with GPS that works well apart from this same issue. It can take 15 minutes to lock on to a signal. After that, though, it's fine.

I use a TomTom that I can borrow for some trips and it's much better in this respect. I went on a trip to Belgium and France the other week and it found every destination I wanted and took us straight there, no problem (as the Nokia would, I'm sure, once it got a signal).

Absolutely great little gadgets - something that really does work and really does make life a lot easier. I was one of the "just use a map" crowd until I realised how convenient these things can make travelling. They're especially helpful (for obvious reasons) when you're on your own or have no competent human navigator in the car with you.