Can Anyone Recommend a Good GPS?

[Tom]

Wow, it never dawned on me to try turning it on in the plane. I never would have guessed it would work. I always thought it'd be cool to have a railroad version that would know all the sidings, speed restrictions, and station locations. THAT would be killer. The DS could send all of your temporary speed restrictions to it and it could alert you to Form B's, Form A's, etc. Would be pretty cool.

[RobertInOntario]

I do a lot of hiking and I would also like to get a hiking GPS sometime. But I understand that these are several hundred $ more than "Car" GPS's. Hiking/wilderness GPS's have detailed trail maps. In addition to providing the most detailed, up to date trail maps, it would also be cool to know exactly where you are on the trail and exactly how far you have walked.

Rob

[RobertInOntario]

Well, I just went out to buy my new GPS but got lost trying to find Future Shop!

Just kidding! I actually bought a Garmin Nuvi 255W. I purposely bought one of the cheaper ones. If GPS's are anything like the digital cameras I've bought recently, they'll either be outdated within a few months or something on them will break! (... We're on our third digital camera now because the other two were easily damaged through regular use. The technology of these electronic gadgets is great but the quality is questionable.)

I hope to experiment with it tonight. Thanks so much for your feedback on this thread.

Rob

[boppa]

My sister discovered something funny about the Garmin, I don't know if it is also true of the Tom Tom. Our typical annual rainfall in So. Cal. is 13 inches per year. This year we are at 15 so far, but for the last two or three years we have averaged less than 2 inches. The rest f the state has also been below normal so that when we went to the Oregon Coast on vacation a couple of years ago, Lake Shasta in the extreme North of the state was very low.

Anyway, my sister lives in Sacramento, and they have a boat that they usually use on Folsom Lake, but for the last few years the lake has been almost a mud puddle! They went to the lake and started driving toward the boat ramp with their Garman turned on. They passed the first boat ramp and were approaching a second ramp farther into the lake that is used for low water conditions. Suddenly the Garman started warning them to turn around immediately. As they kept driving the warnings seemed to get more frantic until the screen started turning blue until eventually the screen was entirely blue. The Garman didn't know how low the water level was, and was presuming that they had just driven under water!

Wow, the GPS's can obviously only take in so much! So obviously they can't keep up to date in terms of traffic and geography, but I'm sure they'll invent some really smart ones in the future that can. Rob

all gps's rely totally on the onboard stored maps
they dont have updates sent via the sats- you have to plug the gps into a internet connected computer to get updated maps
and the maps themselves are only based on the most recent info the map makers have

my country trips show roads that havent existed in over 50 years- because they are still what here is called a `gazetted road' ie the land may be resumed at any time the govnment feels its required- it is still marked as a `road' on surveyors maps (which is what most gps maps are based on in country areas)- but as for actual tar (or even gravel) roads at that point simply doesnt exist- its a `road' purely in a legal sense only, not a physical road

so any maps shown on a gps are on the first hand- age based and on the second hand- legaly based

and on the third hand (????) only as accurate as the origin maps (and in country qld- its often 2 or 3 km out!!)

[boppa]

I do a lot of hiking and I would also like to get a hiking GPS sometime. But I understand that these are several hundred $ more than "Car" GPS's. Hiking/wilderness GPS's have detailed trail maps. In addition to providing the most detailed, up to date trail maps, it would also be cool to know exactly where you are on the trail and exactly how far you have walked.

Rob

actually- once again- its a question of maps

if your `car' gps can import `hiking maps' and can run off its own internal batts (my old tomtom1 can for a couple of hours) or you can rig an external 12v supply for it (a SLA 6Ahr batery in a pocket in the backpack for eg) then you can have a `hiking' gps for no more than 5 bucks and a lead from the gps to your backpack

I recently had an `arguement' with one of the 4x4 club members I belong to, he had spent over 1200 bucks for a `walkabout' gps that he claimed could do all sorts of magic things

a personal meeting at a club meet where i showed him my old gps and ten minutes of soldering with less than 10 bucks of bits had something his actually couldnt do- display a `usable' map of offroad trails and it could do so for days rather than hours like his

[RobertInOntario]

I do a lot of hiking and I would also like to get a hiking GPS sometime. But I understand that these are several hundred $ more than "Car" GPS's. Hiking/wilderness GPS's have detailed trail maps. In addition to providing the most detailed, up to date trail maps, it would also be cool to know exactly where you are on the trail and exactly how far you have walked.

Rob

actually- once again- its a question of maps

if your `car' gps can import `hiking maps' and can run off its own internal batts (my old tomtom1 can for a couple of hours) or you can rig an external 12v supply for it (a SLA 6Ahr batery in a pocket in the backpack for eg) then you can have a `hiking' gps for no more than 5 bucks and a lead from the gps to your backpack

I recently had an `arguement' with one of the 4x4 club members I belong to, he had spent over 1200 bucks for a `walkabout' gps that he claimed could do all sorts of magic things

a personal meeting at a club meet where i showed him my old gps and ten minutes of soldering with less than 10 bucks of bits had something his actually couldnt do- display a `usable' map of offroad trails and it could do so for days rather than hours like his

Thanks -- I might try this then, or contact some of my hiking organizations and ask if they have GPS trail maps. Cheers, Rob

[boppa]

google has many maps ;-)

[boppa]

all gps's rely totally on the onboard stored maps
they dont have updates sent via the sats- you have to plug the gps into a internet connected computer to get updated maps
and the maps themselves are only based on the most recent info the map makers have

my country trips show roads that havent existed in over 50 years- because they are still what here is called a `gazetted road' ie the land may be resumed at any time the govnment feels its required- it is still marked as a `road' on surveyors maps (which is what most gps maps are based on in country areas)- but as for actual tar (or even gravel) roads at that point simply doesnt exist- its a `road' purely in a legal sense only, not a physical road

so any maps shown on a gps are on the first hand- age based and on the second hand- legaly based

and on the third hand (????) only as accurate as the origin maps (and in country qld- its often 2 or 3 km out!!)

bump- remember the maps are only as good as the info the map makers have....

[P5se Camelback]

My brother has a Magellan which he is basically pleased with. He has a sales rep organization that covers Maryland, Virginia and "The District." His only complaint to me was illustrated thusly ...

While driving down to Florida to visit over Thanksgiving, rolling down I-95 in mid-afternoon, his wife reached in a small cooler, pulled out a container and asked, "Would you like a snack?" He answered in the affirmative. She then asked, "Apple slices or Melon balls?"

The GPS device on the dashboard "woke up," saying, "Say a command."

So, except for having to watch what you say ... he likes it.

biL

[BR60103]

Rob:
one feature of my GPS: if you don't put in a destination it displays the current road and the upcoming intersections and also give the direction you're travelling.
Oh, and put it out of sight when you leave the car -- you should even unplug the power cord from the cigar lighter.

[TrainNut]

Oh, and put it out of sight when you leave the car -- you should even unplug the power cord from the cigar lighter.

...for two reasons. One, simply having a cord plugged into the power outlet is a tip off that there may be electronics hidden elsewhere. Two, because most of those have a small LED to show that it is plugged in and if your power outlet does not shut off with the key, it COULD run a weak battery dead.

[boppa]

if a car battery is that weak that the tiny current from a gps flattens it, then you really need a new car battery anyways ;-)

one thing the local police around here recommend is spit on your finger and rub out the `circle' that the suctioncap on the holder leaves on the windscreen- many cars are broken into even if the gps and holder and powerlead are removed (and normally chucked under the seat or in the glovebox)- but that circle on the glass is a dead giveaway that there is probably a gps inside the car