MGPS - GPS systems - good technology or just technology that slows you down?

[maverick73]

You've heard the saying... technology has created so many ways for us to be more efficient and quicker that it has actually slowed us down...

Locally, I'm a huge fan of those $11.95 "street wise" maps and my brain to get to any location in greater vancouver... no GPS for me thank you very much. It'd probably slow me down and annoy me hearing all those "turn left here, turn right there"

I am planning to visit some friends in Toronto who are having their 2nd child... since I have never been to Toronto, and I want to break in my new car, I thought I would drive out instead of fly out. I'm leaving in April. I thought it might be useful/cool to get a GPS navigation system with Canadian maps instead of getting a whole bunch of maps for each city along the way. Fuel and restaurant listings are also a huge bonus that is not offered in something like a "street wise" map.

So... those of you who have one, what's your advice?

Looking to take the plunge into the world of GPS...

 

[visiting]

I travel a great deal around North America and 1 year ago I decided to purchase a portable GPS system so I can put it in my car rentals. Those things are awesome. The price has really come down in just 1 year my unit is almost 50% off the price I paid. I noticed Canadian Tire had a unit around the 400$ range.

If you travel a great deal, this will save you time, as you can enter the location were you want to go, and even if you get off course, it will figure the shortest or best route according to your settings. Never look at a map again. The more $ you spend the more options you have. My system tells me where to find hotels (gives phone numbers) restaurants, ATMS GAS, whatever you need..... Not sure about SP's..... It also has a version of the yellow pages in it. ... You can search almost everything. You can zoom in on your map, from thousands of KM (shows all of North America) or as close as 8 yard away... KM or Miles, change time zones, etc etc. The directions are given in 10 languages including english, so when you are driving your told you have to turn right ahead, and the faster you drive, the longer ahead it will tell you. It even tells you what speed your going. It calculates the time of your trip, and if you don't have to stop, it's pretty good! You can search for attractions, and it will direct you to any local attractions...

Here is the newer version of my model:

http://www.garmin.com/products/sp2720/gallery/image01.html


The negatives.....
Once in a while you will notice mistakes, example it will tell you to turn the wrong way on a one way street... or in area's where the streets have changed.....
You need to buy updates from time to time.
Sometimes you loose satellite connections, in tunnels, or near tall buildings, maybe downtown major cities.

The new model shown above will start something new. They want to be able to warn users about traffic delays on the roads..... That would be sweet! Also on the newer models, you can get Satellite radio. Some car rental companies do rent GPS units. There are also some palm pilots that are pretty good GPS units, they just don't offer all the bells and whistles.



Take a look at 2 online retailers.

http://www.gpscity.ca/

http://www.gpsmart.ca/

 

[BC visitor]

I have had 3 cars with built-in nav. I love it. Obviously when you are in unfamiliar surroundings it is great but I also like it around town. I find that when I’m running errands I usually know the best way from my house or work to where I’m going but I’m not so good at stringing several locations into a loop in a very efficient way. The GPS is really outstanding for that.

All the units do basically the same thing. The key is the interface/software. If you have ever used a Neverlost in a Hertz rental car you will know what I mean. Using a directional pad to select letters to spell out street names is totally hokey. Touch screen is the way to do. Also look for a system that will let you synch with your computer for saved points. Making & saving key points on your computer is much easier than through the device.

Also think about what you’re going to use it for. Just navigation in your car or also hiking & geo-caching?

Check out www.gpspassion.com

I’m very interested in the Garmin Nuvi right now or the Magellan explorist 500. But they are very different toys. I have also heard good things about the Tom Toms. Unfortunately, it can be hard to find somewhere with a really good selection where you can really play with them.

I hope this helps

 

[MissingOne]

GPS navigation

I use a Garmin IQM5, which is a PDA with a GPS built in. It has Garmin's maps for North America. It comes with a vehicle mount. It's not as full-featured as a dedicated vehicle GPS navigation system, but pretty good.

I love it, but there is a caveat. It's not always correct, so you have to stay alert. You can't just follow it blindly. The most problematic feature I've found is street addresses. The first time I used that feature, in Reno, it got us to the correct street, but the location was actually about 3 miles off. In subsequent uses of that feature, I've found the street addresses to be significantly off about 10% of the time.

It's pretty good about highway routing. It helps a lot through the spaghetting of freeways in some US cities. Even in my home city, Vancouver, I find that it will identify point-to-point routes that I never thought of, but turn out to be better than the habitual routes I've used all my life.

On the other hand, where I now live, in a small town near Vancouver, it's not much use at all. It has the main highway and a few local streets, but not many. It doesn't even know that the street I live on exists, even though it's existed since about 1980.

Hope this is of some use.

 

[gravitas]

I travel a great deal around North America and 1 year ago I decided to purchase a portable GPS system so I can put it in my car rentals. Those things are awesome.

Ditto and couldn't agree more! I have a Garmin Quest II that I take with me when I'm on the road. Upside of the unit is its small and doesn't take much space, downside is its small and the screen can be a little hard to see. I picked up the 2730 a few weeks ago and its AMAZING. The 3D views are pretty trick and very easy to navigate.