Community poll forum: GPS: which form would you prefer?

We just recently completed a 10,000 mile trip around the country on mostly back roads. We were using MS Street & Trips software on my laptop. Whoever was navigating kept the driver informed although the voice would do the same (in zero point two miles turn right). By zooming in with a 15" screen even the trickiest intersections became understandable. There are many features with this program but the ones that we used most for navigating were either having the car move across the map (the one I preferred, of course if you dozed off for a few minutes you might wonder what happened to your car.); my partner liked the option of keeping the car centered on the screen and let the map move. For trip planning there were three options which we used. 1)allowed you to go from point A to B in the quickest way, 2)allowed you to go from A to B in the shortest and 3)allowed you to create you own route by pinpointing on the map "way points". We used this one the most often. They also have an update service for road construction which I found quite usefu.

The best option is to get a dedicated Navigator! I use the Garmin and the 910 Tom Tom, only so i can compare the two excellent systems.
Garmin is great for my global seaborne navigation and i prefer the Tom Tom for land lubbers and visiting unfamiliar lands. with T/T its even possible to log NEW speed traps and to have it speak out not only directions but street names and warnings of speed traps and the speed you are travelling. On top of all this it will answer your blue tooth phone and allow hands free conversation and scroll your favourite photo' with music as well

what more is there to say about it ?? Glad i Have one.

Very intersting comment, but tomtom is not suppose to alert you from speed trap. On there web site it says;" Alerts you that youre speeding" unless you have a radar detector? Would like to know more about your set-up please

We have a Street Smart 330 by Garmin it comes with built in maps its ready to go out of the box, this model will not give road construction updates but it will recalculate to get you back on track on its own (it gives voice commands). It also comes with built in points of interest, hotels, restaurants, zoos, gas stations ect it can be used outside walking around as well. It is very helpful and kind of fun on trips plug it in to the cars power supply and go. I would buy this again.

I am a road salesman and each time I change companies I get them to buy me a new unit. I just purchased a TOMTOM One and I couldn't be happier. It's small enough to fit into my pocket yet has all the features you need to get to where you are going accurately. I had it re-route me around a 7 hour traffic jam (Hole in bridge) the 1st week I had it. The best part is it was under $500 dollars with a carry case. (Online)

Kevin

I own two handheld GPS units; my first was a Magellan SporTrak Color and I currently own the Garmin 60CSx. The SporTrak had a better antenna as it was able to pick up satellites under heavy cover. With this unit, on a couple of occasions, I picked up satellite reception in a closed, windowless room because of the plumbing stack!

The software left much to be desired. Summits and points of interest (POI) were often not where they should have been on the map - often they were as far as a few hundred feet away. For example, if I was hiking in a fog or in a blinding snowstorm, the mapping software may show me descending when I'm walking on the level. Yet, the POI was right on target. Elevations were often off: Mount Marcy, in the Adirondacks, was listed at 5266 feet above sea level when it's correct elevation is 5344 feet.

The Garmin unit has far better mapping. It is accurate and the POI's are where they should be. The problem I have with that unit is that often I lose satellite reception. I may have to invest in the optional antenna.

The problem with GPS units is that too many hikers rely solely on this method for navigation. I often carry back up batteries and I always keep mapandcompass (intentionally written). If the batteries fail, if the unit is damaged, if any variety of mishaps occur, mapandcompass work far better than any GPS unit. Often I hear hikers complaining that they cannot use a compass, but, it's so easy to learn and is useful even in the dark or in a fog. I wear my compass on a cord around my neck and in a coat pocket, along with a map or section I printed out from TopoZone.com, for easy access. Lightweight conscious outdoorspeople can greatly benefit from carrying M&C. While it's nice to have a GPS unit, when it's not operating, it's just dead weight.

I really love how the car companies are building more and more vehicles with integrated GPS systems.
What really disappoints me about them is the fact that they want to charge $2000 for an integrated GPS system.
I think that's just way too much. I have a portable unit that I can put on my dash which works OK, but it just doesn't look as "cool" as the built in units.

The technology has dropped in price, it should drop in cost when installed in automobiles as well.

I use two different vehicles and move my Garmin 330 between them. I find it hard to justify the $1500-2000 for the auto accessory. They might add to the resale, but that's iffy.

You can take the Garmin with you, even when someone else is driving.

I have been using GPS's since I had one in a 1998 Lexus GS. Almost every car I have leased or purchased since then have had GPSs. I have had GPSs in a BMW, a Mini Cooper, a Toyota, a Honda, an Acura, and a Pontiac. Automobile GPSs have improved a lot over this period. My first GPS had very poor map coverage. Both my current GPSs have excellent map coverage but there are still some small towns not covered well where I drive. I use the GPS whenever I drive anywhere. I never take off without putting in a destination first. In my opinion the system used by Toyota/Lexus is best by far. The Honda/Acura system is good because its screen is largest but still the Toyota features make it best in my opinion. The BMW sytem is worst. The Mini Cooper has a variation on the BMW system. Both are poor in thier operational features. They Toyota system has an outstanding feature that switches the screen back and forth from audio, HVAC, or energy use to the map by pushing a button on the steering wheel. This is very useful.

I cannot see using a portable system in a car or for walking because both use streets and roads as reference points for navigation. While driving you often need to change the scale of the map and reaching to a a portable unit and changing scale would be difficult while driving. You might drop it or have trouble manipulating the controls on a portable while driving.

You are right auto zoom on your Tom Tom 910 unit is a valuable feature. Thanks for the feedback.

How could a survey like this abt GPS units leave out the most ubiquitous, most purchased types??? CNET, you need to better understand your issue, apparently you dont. Most chose the hand held as it came closest, but geeze....lousy survey.

GPS units are all well and good and I would get one as soon as I could afford one but because of several drawbacks in accuracy and usability I would still go the old school route with a map and compass. GPS units would be great for driving on well traveled roads with a clear view of the sky, but some "scenic" roads are not as well mapped and usually covered so therefore don't have an exact GPS mapping. Also there is the issue of batteries when you are backpacking. That's why i say in some cases it is better to have knowledge of navigation and orientation using a map and compass so when a situation exists in which a GPS becomes useless, well then you won't get lost.

I think 90% of the GPS units are mobil type that plug into car lighter.

There is no choice of this type in your questioneer.

I own a Magellan 760 and it is flawless.

jakie k

Well, for me, it's simple; since I spend a lot of time outdoors, backpacking, fishing, etc.; I wanted a unit that would be practical in the backwoods and in Silli Valley. I bought a Garmin Rino 120 GPS, actuallly bought two of them; one for me and one for my kids to use when we go camping. The nice thing about it is that in addition to the standard GPS features assocaited with most of the units on the market today, it also has two way radio features that work well within about a 3 mile radius.
It doesn't have a color screen, the new units do; but it has everything else you could want, map, compass, trip tracking, waypoint features, lots of memory for a small unit, and you can upload maps from a CD for anywhere in the world, including marine use. Downside, it doesn't have the speech feature, and you do have to read the manual to become familiar wiht the unit.
On a scale of 1-10, I would rate the Rino 120 an 8.0.

In an effort not to look like I am walking around with Batman's utility belt I have moved all my 'stuff' to a single device.

I am using an Orange SPV M2000 (which came from GB). On that is my Cell Phone, Wireless Internet (802.11b) , GPS (With an external ant), Camera, voice recorder, video camera, video playback, PDA and external virtual Keyboard.

Now put a phone into an ultra-PC and I would trade for that, until then this will do nicely.