Car GPS navigation

[Walt34]

I first saw one about 12 years ago in a rental car in FL and wanted one then but they cost $4K+ at the time, more than it was worth given the limited travel that we do.

Picked one up for $230 and immediately saw how this device would vastly improve our marriage. (I love her dearly, but she can't read a map or Mapquest directions in a moving car.) "It would be so much more helpful dear, if you would tell me which street to turn on before we got to it".

Ever had that conversation?

Anyway, this thing may make it a lot easier to see more stuff in DC or Baltimore, since usually the first thing I do upon crossing a city line is get lost.

 

[UncleHoney]

Ever had that conversation?

Never. Just like we never have one about asking directions.

Whatever you do, be sure you take the GPS out of the car when you park it. Even go to the trouble of wiping the window smudge off where the little suction cup was (if you have one).

GPS's are known for growing legs and walking away while you're not looking. The smudge on the windshield is a telltale sign that it might just be worth smashing a side window just in case you hid it under the seat.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Yep be really careful about leaving any signs that you have one. We recently purchased one and love the darn thing. Makes traveling in areas you are unfamiliar with a breeze. Strange though I still carry a map.

 

[Fireup2020]

I LOVE my Magellan 760 Roadmate It takes a couple minutes when I plug it in on opposite coast (put in CA address - it tells me I have 3,435 miles to go - because it still "thinks" it's in NJ...but recalculates before I get out of the rental car lot!) Like a cell phone, how did I manage before this gizmo?

 

[travelover]

I have had a Garmin for about 4 years. Can get to be a crutch though - so easy to let it direct you rather than planning and executing the route yourself.

Does save on the "discussions" with the DW!

 

[cantlogin]

I really like my Garmin and I use a beanbag mount. No suction cups for me!

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

I have had a Garmin for about 4 years. Can get to be a crutch though - so easy to let it direct you rather than planning and executing the route yourself.

I get real lazy when travelling out of town knowing I have the Nuvi with us. Usually I get away with it. Where it has failed me is in areas with complicated intersections with overpasses, bridges, etc. It doesn't know if I'm on the topmost highway or the ones below. Major confusion.

OTOH it has gotten us out of a few jams, and really helps the DW find specific addresses in her work as a realtor.

 

[cantlogin]

Another nice thing about the NUVI is that it plays mp3 files. I have about 400 songs loaded on mine so I don't need any CDs in my car. That wasn't a factor in my decision to get it but I really like that feature now.

 

[FinanceDude]

Can you request them in a rental vehicle while on vacation??

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Can you request them in a rental vehicle while on vacation??

With Hertz you can not sure about the other companies.

 

[tibbar]

We use our cell phone and Verizon Navigator for $10 a month. Works great for us when on a trip. I swear the voice gets an "attitude" when announcing "recalculating route" if you miss a turn!

 

[tjon72]

Yeah, love that 'recalculating' I have a garmin street pilot , have noticed the data base seems to be outdated, is it possible to update it via internet ?

 

[theHundt]

Yeah, love that 'recalculating' I have a garmin street pilot , have noticed the data base seems to be outdated, is it possible to update it via internet ?

Try this for map updates => Garmin: Map Updates

I love my nuvi but the relationship between betty (my nuvi) and my SO is strained at times. My SO has come around quite a bit, but still refuses to let me use the nuvi in situations where she supposedly knows where we are going. I myself have absolutely no sense of direction, so I leave betty on almost everywhere I go. I think the voice name was karen (a sweet australian accent that I downloaded from the internet), but I have defaulted to calling her betty which was the name of my original gps (garmin ique 3600).

I also have a beanbag friction mount. I just tuck it under the seat when I leave the vehicle. It's pretty well hidden and without the telltale rings on my windshield there is no reason for a thief to look any further (at least that is my hope).

 

[donheff]

I too have a Nuvi with a beanbag. These things are great in cities you don't know well. You can MapQuest directions but then if you get off track you are lost. With a GPS you can detour any which way you please and then get right back on track. I like to have a paper map as backup and so I can get a birdseye view of where I am going -- it is nice to be oriented in the place sphere.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Bean bagger too! Since in CA its against the law to have a window mounted cup thing. Anyhow the beanbag is really easy to hide.

 

[Walt34]

Whatever you do, be sure you take the GPS out of the car when you park it. Even go to the trouble of wiping the window smudge off where the little suction cup was (if you have one).

Yes indeed. BIL had one - for about an hour. One police department was giving away small microfiber towels to wipe the smudge off the window in an effort to reduce the thefts and raise awareness.

Anybody had issues with the bean bag mount sliding off the dash? I'd be concerned about that and breaking it.

The one I bought was the Garmin nuvi 200. Not much in the "bells & whistles" department but that's okay. It's not like I'll be using it every day. More like twice a month.

Even though no updates are available it doesn't "know" of our address and we've been here over five years now. That's a little disappointing, I expected a more current map than that.

 

[Walt34]

I swear the voice gets an "attitude" when announcing "recalculating route" if you miss a turn!

I bet the designers had a ball kicking around what to have it speak when a turn is missed. "Make a U-turn you *%$#* moron!" I'll have to look around and see if there are any "easter eggs" in the software that make it do that.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Walt, the bean bag is so heavy and sticks so well I cannot see it slipping off unless you get into some kind of hard accident.

 

[travelover]

..............Anybody had issues with the bean bag mount sliding off the dash? I'd be concerned about that and breaking it..........................

My beanbag was super sticky when new, then started sliding around. I smeared clear silicone caulk on the base, let it cure, then it got back its grip.

 

[Goonie]

I have a Garmin StreetPilot c530.....love it!

I never knew about the bean bags! I just now ordered one from Amazon to use it in my rental car in FL in a couple of weeks. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Ronstar]

I got my screenname by always giving directions to people. It escalated to the point where I would sometimes get several phone calls a day from family/friends/coworkers asking for directions. I also get asked a few times a week by strangers on the street, whether in Chicagoland or traveling. My wife, some friends and relatives now have GPS and direction requests have diminished.

 

[thefed]

First off, let me clarify.... I LOVE MY MAGELLAN MAESTRO 3100!!! It was a present from SO, and its my FAVORITE GADGET EVER.

I go to about 400 addresses per year that I have never gone to previously (work). It's been great for these situations.


Where I see a weakness is when I KNOW how to get to point B, but the GPS says otherwise. At times, I've followed blindly (without checking the route beforehand) and got BURNED. Once it sent me 9 miles out of the way on a 29 mile trip (shoulda been 20)! I was FURIOUS. I'm sure it does that more often, but since I don't know where I'm at....it doesnt matter!


I can alos see GPS causing accidents. On occasion, I find myself driving by looking at the green arrows as opposed to the road! Even if for a second or two, it is dangerous. Sometimes it tells me to keep going straight and there's a bridge that's been out for 20 yrs, or most recently, a lake in the way!!! Once it sent me down "unnamed road' which turned out to be a back entrance to city property for the parks department...I popped out behind city hall, kept following directions, and there without a hitch.


I also like LEARNING how to get places....but I now no longer look at street names,pay attention to direction, etc.... if the GPS were to die I'd be LOST 99% of the time.

But now I have a backup with ALLTEL's internet access on my phone...so I'm covered!


MY PREDICTION FOR GPS'S FUTURE: First, you will see some written adverts while driving...say a Big Macad when you are approaching an exit with McD's. Then it will spread to advertising in general. Then I think we will see REAL commercials on the GPS...maybe audio first though. These GPS companies will have to generate some revenue...especially with no monthly fees like XM or Sirius. Can someone convince me otherwise

Long live GPS!!

 

[skyline]

I know this is only sort of related to the thread, but I recently got a new Moto phone (9h?) with GPS built in. Although it isn't feature packed as the dedicated devices, I have to say it's pretty darn close. I've tried using both Windows Live Mobile and Google Maps Mobile, and both will show you a map, with your exact location - plus the map will move with you as you drive around. About the only thing you miss is the actual turn-by-turn directions, but I find that the map with my location is actually more useful for me...

Again, not nearly as good as a dedicated device, but this one lets you make calls on it and play music too!

 

[SteveR]

GPS? A bunch of them:

My car...has one built in.
DW's car...has one built in.

Motorhome..I have several:
A Garmin Steetpilot 2370 on a beanbag right in front of me. It has a remote control and I can do all kinds of stuff while driving. It also has XM radio, traffic and weather.

The Motorhome has a built in computer (12volt) with a 14 inch square LCD monitor. It is used for the side and rear cameras as well as the computer. The computer has a GPS receiver and software and I have a USB modem that allows for internet service while we drive through an Aircard Topglobal wireless router. I run all three computers through the router and I have internet about 90% of the time. It also picks up hot spots so I can use it for that too.

The two other laptops both have Microsoft Streets and Trips on them...each has a USB GPS receiver so we often have three of them going at once while we are cruising down the highway. We still have maps (mostly the Motorcarrier Atlas) and a stack of state maps too just in case.

Even with all this highpowered stuff you can still get the wrong directions from them if they don't know the "correct" coordinates. We were led into a very narrow set of streets once while looking for a campground. Not a good thing with a rig that is over 63 feet long and can't back up. As it turns out the GPS corrdinates for the campground were not yet in the database so the software picked a street that has a very similar name.

Trust....but verify.

 

[RonBoyd]

I have had a Garmin Nuvi 680 for over a year now and wouldn't think of going anywhere without it. (I, too, use the "beanbag.") It has been particularly handy when in unfamiliar large cities. I shudder to think of how bad it could have been that early morning (before sunrise) in San Francisco when it was raining so hard I couldn't read the road signs. I challenge anyone not familiar with Honolulu to take less than an hour longer to get anywhere without GPS. Chicago is the worst... No! maybe it's Salt Lake City. Charlotte NC/Columbia SC was made much more comfortable because of GPS.

Another advantage to the Nuvi is its ability to find nearby POIs. In addition, the MSN network that comes with it allows me to find the lowest price gasoline no matter where I am -- a savings of about 10¢ a gallon on average. And restaurants and the nearest Wal Mart... the list goes on.

Now there is a new model (780) that has everything they forget to put in the earlier model:

Multi-destination routing
Automatic sorting of multiple destinations to provide an efficient route
Tracklog recording
Speed limit display for many interstates and highways
The newer internal antenna found on the nuvi 200 series
Automatic marking of your last position when the unit is turned off (to help you find your car in mega-mall parking lots) (with the neat nickname "breadcrumbs")
A "Where am I" safety feature that gives your current location, nearest address, nearest intersection, along with quick access to POIs for the nearest hospitals, police stations and gas stations.

And it is voice activated -- no more punching the screen.

Who could ask for anything more?