GPS Digital Assistants

[Kent I]

Reading posts on this forum has prompted me to inquire about the Digital world with respect to GPS. I would appreciate comments to learn what features I should consider in a GPS unit? Some mention using Streets and Trips, I do not have a laptop, would investing in a small laptop be beter than a GPS unit. Any one here use GPS in late model Volvo. My Volvo has a "Smart mount"on top of the dash supposedly for a Nuvi 760 that was discontinued. Local Volvo dealer suggests a Nuvi 1390 and four hours to intall. Seems excessive. Open to info.
I use and wear out Road Atlases, present hard copy is Mapquest, a gift. I may have a three month extended trip in the fall and looking for help in cities rather than just travelling through on a major highway.

[Kevin K]

I use a Garmin 255w
Amazon.com: Garmin nüvi 255W 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator: Electronics
Very good GPS. Can pickup used for about 50-60 bucks

I use it with Google maps.
Google Maps

[HikeSticks]

Originally Posted by Kent I

Reading posts on this forum has prompted me to inquire about the Digital world with respect to GPS. I would appreciate comments to learn what features I should consider in a GPS unit? Some mention using Streets and Trips, I do not have a laptop, would investing in a small laptop be beter than a GPS unit. Any one here use GPS in late model Volvo. My Volvo has a "Smart mount"on top of the dash supposedly for a Nuvi 760 that was discontinued. Local Volvo dealer suggests a Nuvi 1390 and four hours to intall. Seems excessive. Open to info.
I use and wear out Road Atlases, present hard copy is Mapquest, a gift. I may have a three month extended trip in the fall and looking for help in cities rather than just travelling through on a major highway.

Hi Kent,
I have been using GPS units for years; all of them Garmin's. Your Nuvi 760 is probably all you need to start if you've never used a GPS before. Learn how to use it and check the specs and features of the current units and you'll soon be able to decide which features you use and which you don't currently have and would appreciate. One thing I like about the Garmin's is the ability to download current maps and I'd be surprised if you couldn't do that with yours. You can always call the Garmin customer service number and ask them how to go about downloading the current maps.
Enjoy!
Barrie

[Ed Harris]

A Smart Phone might be a Smart Choice too.
I ALWAYS have my phone with me and I use the Google Voice app constantly to just ask a question. The answers are unbelievable and helpful more than you can imagine I promise!

I also use a Nuvi 660 in each car and I will be happy to "Install" it for 1/2 that price?
It takes about 30 seconds to get it stuck to the windshield and plugged in to the lighter socket,who knows what they are talking about?

I also have and use ALL other manner of laptop,iPad and PDA all the time but there is no real substitute for what you have ready at the time it is needed.
For me the phone is that for quick info and a small dedicated GPS is that for direction.

[Alf S.]

Hi: All...I have a GPS(Generally pleasant spouse) Sometimes her "Shortcuts" are a little hair raising for sure. I think I need to buy some topographical maps to show her the ups& downs...YIPPIE!!!
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[Ray N]

I've used GPS units for years. I would suggest getting one with lifetime maps, this feature doesn't add much to the cost, but updating a map, if you don't have that feature, costs almost as much as a new inexpensive GPS. As Consumer Reports says, almost all units are easy to use and offer the same accuracy, the difference in cost is features, - most of which I wouldn't use, such as listening to MP3s, looking at JPGs, or talking on a phone through the GPS. I've used both Garmin and Tom Tom and they are both fine. Consumer Reports also says that a dedicated GPS is more convenient and useful than a laptop or app on a handheld device, which I heartily agree with. My son always resisted a GPS in favor of his app on his iTouch, but after I gave him a Tom Tom for Christmas he had to admit it was much more convenient than his iTouch. The lifetime Traffic feature is also nice, it will alert to to any delays in your route and suggest detours or tell you if your original route is still the best. It will also change your route based on time of day and traffic patterns. Check our Amazon for some great deals; my latest GPS with lifetime traffic and maps cost $120 (a TomTom XL340TM).

[LSChilders]

I've used Garmin GPSs for years. But the maps always go out of date with changes and additions to streets and highways all over America.

My latest purchase was a TomTom GPS. They now have multiple models with "Lifetime" Traffic and Map updates. These new updates are posted 4 times a year, and are free to download to purchasers of these select units.

Check your local GPS dealer, .... or QVC, ... http://www.qvc.com/qsearch/search.aspx
................... Search QVC for TomTom.

[Brian Van Snell]

We use a Garmin 265WT which I bought last year for $149 from Costco in the US. It came with one free map upgrade, but lifetime upgrades are available from Garmin.
www.garmin.com/products/nuvi265wt

The feature which I like the best is the ability to put in names and addresses and save them so that in arriving in an unfamiliar city all I need to do is select the name from "favourites" and be guided to the spot. My wife likes visiting quilt stores, so I can load up the GPS with all the places, then it is easy to find the way from one to the next. The map feature gives you a visible picture of where the next place is. The lookup feature on favourites sorts the list by proximity to where you are. If I make a wrong turn the GPS quickly gets me back to the right place. The estimated arrival time is usually quite accurate. The indication of posted speed limit and actual speed is useful. The unit automatically dims at night.

I have found the navigation feature less useful in cities I know because the route the GPS selects sometimes does not make sense. It appears to select the shortest route even if some of the roads are not very fast or logical. I don't like the voice feature, but it is easy to turn it off. I can manage on visual indications.

Brian

[Darnelle]

We have a Garmin and really like it. Use it as above with same experiences.

The Garmin has a "walk" feature and this can be handy, too. Have also used it to locate our car in a very busy, unfamiliar area. Just save the coordinates where your car is parked, enjoy the day/event, then use the GPS to tell you how to get back to your car.

Get the dash-mounted holder, do not ever use the suction cup and stick to window. Criminals look for that tell-tale smear on windshield, break a window, and steal your GPS and anything else of value. We put our GPS away blocks before stopping so nobody can see us stash it or we carry it with us

Also do not ever put your home address in the "home" file. As soon as a thief has your GPS, he/she calls criminal friends and whoever is closest to your home breaks in, steals all your goodies with little fear -- they know where you are and will know when you leave (and you will be tied up even longer if your car window is broken and call police). Either put your address in the destinations file or enter an address that is nearby, like a gas station or intersection (not your neighbor's address, they don't want a break-in either.)

[Darnelle]

Oh, and when they take your GPS they'll take your garage door opener, too. No one available to break in right now? No problem. With address and opener your home is in their plans.

[Roland H]

Hello, you had also asked about using a Laptop... if you need email access with family/friends then it is great, also a laptop may help to locate camping sites online and/or read reviews of them. Free internet access at most Starbucks and some other locations. The price of laptops has dropped greatly in the past two years, however it will be another item to hide when you are parked somewhere.
We use the Garmin 1390 for GPS and have also used the Pedestrian mode it has... so it can be used in some cities while walking. As someone has previously mentioned, the Lifetime Map feature is now included with some models and is a great feature as you can download new maps up to 3 or 4 times per year for free.

[Donna D.]

I have four digits at the end of my palm, used as pointers and a document that folds compactly and is placed in the jockey box.... does that count as a digital assistant?

When I was a kid and we'd get lost on a drive, my father would tell my mother to sit back, relax and enjoy the scenery because "we may never comes this way again." Good philosophy I think.

[Ron Stewart]

If you can afford one, get a smartphone with the Google Android operating system. It will include Google Maps. When you get to your destination, it will display a picture. Never needs updating, but can sometimes be out-of-date.

In addition to the high initial cost, you need a data connection while you are travelling. This means expense, and potential trouble in area with poor cellular reception.

I write this with no personal experience, though. But I want one.

[honda03842]

We bought our cell phone before Android but do have a Blackberry with a GPS program, our only GPS. It works better than a handheld we used to use for Geocaching. It acquires satellites much better and faster than the old handheld device.

We rarely use it except when we're looking for a specific address, not for general directions prefering to choose our own route either by map or Microsoft Streets and Trips.

We do use it all the time for geocaching.

The BB is on Verizon's 3G network and it has worked every where we've traveled in the USA, places our normal cell phone would not work. When we upgrade in a few months we'll be going to 4G and probably an Android.

Norm

[Mike Magee]

I am pretty good at finding my way around, so I did not think I would get much use out of a GPS. But about 4 years ago I won a Garmin Nuvi 350 in a company drawing at the annual meeting (about the only thing of significance I've ever won, I think). Since then I find that I do enjoy and value the GPS. Especially for navigating through large, unfamiliar cities. But also it tells me the miles and projected time to my destination and displays an accurate speedometer... which let me know that my car's speedometer is consistently 2 mph low at highway speed.

Just take it with a grain of salt occasionally. Out in the country it can be flat wrong sometimes; I was looking for a rural address one time and it wanted to get me a mile over, so it routed me onto a dead end road that only went 1/2 a mile. And then there was the time I found a newly constructed expressway north of E. St. Louis, and the GPS kept trying to get me off it... ("recalculating... recalculating...") ...the display showed me driving on open space for about 5 miles.

I do like to take a laptop along too, for looking at topo maps with trails and such. Or I will spot what appear to be possible boondocking locations (short little side roads in national forests) on the laptop.

There are also GPS units made for hiking, but they are limited in road/highway info and lack the convenient voice prompts. I would definitely recommend one of the highway-navigation type GPS's, not a hiking one, for your stated purpose.

[Carol H]

I considered purchasing a GPS but realized that it was just one more thing for me to forget in the car or lose! ;-)

Had a Blackberry with GPS that worked pretty well but now have a IPhone that has a bigger screen and seems to work even better than my old Blackberry on those few occasions when I really need a GPS.

[Ron Stewart]

Originally Posted by Ron Stewart

If you can afford one, get a smartphone with the Google Android operating system. It will include Google Maps. When you get to your destination, it will display a picture. Never needs updating, but can sometimes be out-of-date.

In addition to the high initial cost, you need a data connection while you are travelling. This means expense, and potential trouble in area with poor cellular reception.

I write this with no personal experience, though. But I want one.

I just corresponded with a friend who recently toured from Oregon to New Mexico. She used a Garmin gps and an Android smart phone. She reports that if she could only have one for navigation, it would be the stand-alone gps. Too many back-roads with no cell service. But, when there was a data connection, the phone was easier to use. Garmin menus are not friendly, I can say from experience.

{Aside - This all comes down to Google's corporate philosophy that you should own a dumb terminal and use their mainframes for data processing and storage. The point of the PC revolution was to overturn that model. Remember Pournelle's call for one person, at least on CPU?}

I don't know if Apple, Blackberry or Windows Mobile smartphones need to download maps as they go along.

I understand that you can load alternative gps apps and map data into Android phones. This will let you use the device as a GPS without a cell connection, but I gather you need to be fairly techhy to do it right. The user experience won't be as slick as with the Google product.

[Carol H]

Over the 5 years I have had phones with GPS ability I have found that the cell service has improved a lot - even over the past 2 years. Last week I was driving in an area that I have never gotten cell coverage at all in the past - yet I had it all the way. Suspect that it will not be long before the blank spots for cell coverage are a thing of the past.

As mentioned you do need a data plan to get coverage and when traveling outside of your home country roaming charges can get expensive if you dont plan ahead. When I travel into the US I purchase an add on data plan that is good for 30 days of downloading in the US and if I remember correctly it is only an additional $10 on top of my main Canadian service agreement. Well worth it as that includes all my incoming emails and text messages as well so I dont need to hook up my laptop and look for a free wifi spot to read my mail.

Google does need to be downloaded as it goes along if using a Blackberry or Iphone so the data plan is a must using them.

[alan in alberta]

We borrow our sons tom tom and it is great. i dont really know too much about them but after the sun goes down it is a handy tool. Once you park the rig and go off exploring it gets you around quite well.
However we seem to get it in adventure mode once in a while and it has taken us off the beaten track. We found a few beautiful roads and parks that we have missed without it too