after market gps system?

[mathjak107]

im starting to do some homework on an add on gps system for my car.....i looked at tom tom and the garmin street pilots..so far i like the garmin nuvi 350...what are you all that have them using?im hoping they work better than my garmin handheld...in tree cover,,,blocked by buildings,,,mountains,,,wrong exposure it works pretty poor .

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

My garmin experience is a bit dated, but I bought two of them and the maps they provided stunk. Old, out of date and frequently wrong. They admitted the maps were awful and sent me a different vendors maps to use, which were only slightly better.

Later I bought a larger flash module for one of my units that said "compatible with all x, y and z models" and mine was one of those. Didnt work properly and after a week of trying to raise tech support they said "yeah, that doesnt work with that, and....ha ha!". Wouldnt take it back without a restocking fee.

No more garmin for me.

Hardwares robust though...my first one's gotta be 5-6 years old and its been kicked around and left on the dashboard in 150 degree direct sun and it still works great.

 

[BunsGettingFirm]

Has anybody tried one of GPS units for laptop PCs? It is the cheapest solution because I already own a laptop. Amazon has one for $119. I'm concerned with a) the accuracy of such a system with no wheel pick up for speed and b) finding a secure location for my laptop in my car.

Mapquest is nice, but for driving to unfamiliar places, and that could be as close as 15 miles from my house, looking at a paper map while trying to steer the car can create its own expenses. Think medical bill and a new car.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

im starting to do some homework on an add on gps system for my car.....i looked at tom tom and the garmin street pilots..so far i like the garmin nuvi 350...what are you all that have them using?

Got the Nuvi. It is awesome. Consumer Reports rated them this month -- Nuvi won.

It's the GPS that Apple would have designed.

It's very simple, reliable, and sensitive to signals. Gotten me out of a few jams. FYI - it does not measure altitude, and does not accept coordinates, just locations. But for routine in-car or walking use, I think it's great.

 

[larry]

Nuvi is a great product. I use an Etrex for hikes and a Streetpilot C330 for the vehicles. Had no problems with maps here. They do need to be updated every so often. We used a Streetpilot (can't remember the model#) when BIL and I went down for Katrina relief, it had satelite radio capability (that worked really well as there wasn't much on at the time). I don't know anything about Tom Tom or others but am pleased with Garmin products.

 

[bpp]

I'm still navigating with 10-years-out-of-date paper maps...

 

[d]

10-years-out-of-date paper maps...

... mine a closer to 20 yrs old

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

In my neck of the woods, about 25% of the roads werent here 10 years ago.

My favorite "gps moment" was the garmin unit that tried to have me drive through an enormous train yard...

 

[audreyh1]

Garmin Streetpilot 2610 - couldn't function without it. We are on the second generation. Have used these baby's since 2001 or so. Before that tried the handheld combo laptop solutions - got old REAL quick.

Of course we drive our big rig all over the country - so top quality navigation is verrrrry important to us.

Don't use the ones that require a laptop. They are very unwieldy, not good UI while driving, and usually impossible to see anyway with the glare coming in the windows. The standalone units have a great UI, are nice and compact and easily sit on the dash in the driver's view, great readable screen, so easy to set up and use.

We get new data every year or two.

Audrey

 

[larry]

Although I do use a gps unit when traveling in unknown country, I do question the fact that it almost forces you to "not think" about what you are actually doing.

Many years ago an older couple along the roadway flagged me down and asked me where a certain town was as they were almost out of gas and weren't quite sure where they were.

I gave them a couple gallons of gas and told them about how far the town was ahead of them. I also asked where they were going. "We're heading to California and we got computer directions" was the reply.

I sure couldn't justify their route when they had just pulled off the interstate and were heading down what amounted to backroads.

Their "computer directions" were absolutely correct but they made as much sense as a Twin Peaks dream sequence.

 

[greenhm]

t's the GPS that Apple would have designed.

It's very simple, reliable, and sensitive to signals. Gotten me out of a few jams. FYI - it does not measure altitude, and does not accept coordinates, just locations. But for routine in-car or walking use, I think it's great.

Yes the NUVI is the ass! It DOES show altitude and it DOES accept coordinates.... Just install the latest update and your set!

Garmin is constantly updating the NUVI with feedback from customers...

 

[audreyh1]

I do question the fact that it almost forces you to "not think" about what you are actually doing.

That has not been my experience. We know to review the routes the GPS picks, and modify if we decide there is a better way. It DOES occasionally make mistakes due to mistakes in the data, so you have to be alert to these.

It's greatest value is in "talking" you through the route in real-time. Alerting you 1 - 2 miles before an exit, or several hundred feet before a turn. Letting you know to prepare for left or right exit. Priceless!! Makes traveling so much easier.

And then really useful things like figuring out how far to next rest area, nearest gas station, which restaurants are in the vicinity (the restaurant info is particularly prone to error - but it is still way better than nothing).

Audrey

 

[larry]

Oh, Audrey, I agree, it's the neatest thing since sliced bread. But like I said, some people can become complacent and toss common sense out the window with technology.

have a safe fourth

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Yes the NUVI is the ass! It DOES show altitude and it DOES accept coordinates.... Just install the latest update and your set!

Awesome. Got a link?

 

[larry]

try this. http://www.garmin.com/products/nuvi360/

 

[BunsGettingFirm]

Garmin Streetpilot 2610 - couldn't function without it. We are on the second generation. Have used these baby's since 2001 or so. Before that tried the handheld combo laptop solutions - got old REAL quick.

Of course we drive our big rig all over the country - so top quality navigation is verrrrry important to us.

Don't use the ones that require a laptop. They are very unwieldy, not good UI while driving, and usually impossible to see anyway with the glare coming in the windows. The standalone units have a great UI, are nice and compact and easily sit on the dash in the driver's view, great readable screen, so easy to set up and use.

We get new data every year or two.

Audrey

Audrey, can you elaborate on your experience with laptop-based GPS solutions? You said that the glare makes the laptop screen hard to read and that the UI is unwieldy while on the move. I have never used a GPS unit at all, so is having to use the UI while en route a common occurrence?

I saw the advantage of using a GPS system when I tried to navigate by Mapquest maps a narrow two-lane road only 10-15 miles from my house.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

BTW -- the voice feature is almost a necessity for me. It sounded really goofy when I first heard about it, but the ability to watch the road in city conditions and have the voice read the next turn is a great feature.

After a while, you get a feel for just how far you have to go before turning based on the consistent timing of the voice instructions (e.g. "In zero-point-two miles, turn left on Kennedy Boulevard..." and then, 30 feet from the turn, "Turn left on Kennedy Boulevard."

When I deviate from the route and the system figures out an alternate set of directions, the sexy female voice named Jill says, "Recalculating..." with just a hint of an attitude - half bitchy and half disappointed. I'm starting to form a relationship with Jill.

Is that so wrong?

Oh -- sorry. Get the Nuvi. You won't regret it

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Consumer reports just hit my mailbox and has a review.

Their order, make, model and CR's test score.

garmin Nuvi 350 81
garmin Streepilot 350 79
magellan roadmate 760 79
tom tom go 300 71
tom tom go 700 71
garmin streetpilot i5 69

The streetpilot i5 gets their 'best buy' at $350 vs the nuvi's $800. Only thing it lacks that they like is a touchscreen.

So rich, is that what you meant when you said the nuvi was the gps apple would have designed? Nice but overpriced?

icn 550

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

So rich, is that what you meant when you said the nuvi was the gps apple would have designed? Nice but overpriced?

Exactly.

BTW, Sam's had Nuvi's for $694 2 weeks ago.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

$609 at amazon and buy.com. Some coopuns are around to knock off 50-75 if you get a buy.com visa and/or do some other funny business...

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/mes...threadid=629698&highlight_key=y&keyword1=nuvi

 

[mathjak107]

i decided on the nuvi 350.....699.00 locally here in nyc....considering bmw wanted 1800.00 for the factory one 699 isnt bad...of course the factory one is tied in to the cars speedometer and is able to fill in the blanks if you loose the satellites but thas\t isnt 1200 bucks better!

 

[Martha]

Looking at the Nuvi GPS as it seems that GPS systems have improved a lot in the last few years. The Nuvi 360 has "bluetooth" for a $100 more than the Nuvi 350. What does that mean?

I remain the technoidiot.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

A search would have solved your question...we are becoming the SOAK (source of all knowledge)

http://early-retirement.org/forums/index.php?topic=5822.0

Presumably (capability not necessarily implemented in this product, as i dont know anything about it) you could 'beam' an address from your cell phone to your gps to 'find', or your gps could 'talk' to your XM radio device to incorporate real time traffic information or to your radio to send voice directions over your car stereo, providing all were bluetooth capable, all had each others 'profiles' and all had been tested to work with each other.

 

[Martha]

A search would have solved your question...we are becoming the SOAK (source of all knowledge)

  Not that there is anything wrong with that

http://early-retirement.org/forums/index.php?topic=5822.0

Presumably (capability not necessarily implemented in this product, as i don't know anything about it) you could 'beam' an address from your cell phone to your gps to 'find', or your gps could 'talk' to your XM radio device to incorporate real time traffic information or to your radio to send voice directions over your car stereo, providing all were bluetooth capable, all had each others 'profiles' and all had been tested to work with each other.

Thanks for the info.  At first blush it looks like a waste of a $100 to me.  However, I have wondered if a GPS system like Nuvi would pick up the satellites in our motor home.  The windshield is "shaded" by the cab-over design of the motor home.  I'll have to read up more on it.  Maybe the bluetooth system could pick up a signal from a remote GPS receiver on top of the motor home and "beam" it to the Nuvi?  I think I don't know what I am talking about and should shut up and do some research. . .

 

[BUM]

Got the Nuvi. It is awesome. Consumer Reports rated them this month -- Nuvi won.

It's the GPS that Apple would have designed.

It's very simple, reliable, and sensitive to signals. Gotten me out of a few jams. FYI - it does not measure altitude, and does not accept coordinates, just locations. But for routine in-car or walking use, I think it's great.

Rich,

If you make a few house calls you could write the thing off