GPS advice

[spatman]

i've been thinking about picking up a simple GPS for the car (mostly for marking shore diving sites, but i'm sure it'll be handy for other things too). i honestly have zero experience with GPS units, so i don't know what i don't know.

i'm looking in the $150-200 range. my only requirements are good response time to changes and relative ease of use. the ability to export or extract coordinates would be a plus.

anyone have any recommendations? garmin vs. magellan vs. tomtom vs. ???

thanks!

[Maverick]

My BUsiness partner and i have a tom tom and it is so simple to use, i would recommend that one. It also has BC in it.

[divernick]

You've seen my Garmin, it's fairly simple to use. i think you can get the coordinates off of it, but it takes a little finageling.

[Sounder]

Dude. We can give you directions to any site you need. I think you should buy more tanks instead.

[BUZO71]

I have a Garmin Nuvi for the car. I have a Magellan Gold for hiking, boating, diving, etc......both are great and easy to use..

[Maverick]

I kinda like sounders Idea, use a F&%&ing pen and paper and buy more tanks.

[spatman]

Dude. We can give you directions to any site you need. I think you should buy more tanks instead.

i know, i know. i've been using google maps and such. what it would really be good for is that last minute change of plans. if i have print out of direction to 3tree and we get there to find the the conditions suck (ie currents), then that print out is useless for an alternate site.

so it's either a GPS or i'll be calling 1-800-SOUNDER-WHERE-THE-F^&K-AM-I-GOING

[Dusty2]

The choices are mind boggling! There are at least a half dozen manufacturers and each one has dozens of models! Make sure you get one that is WAAS compatible and that it has a memory card slot for additional memory. The card slot virtually guaranties the ability to upload and download maps and coordinates from a PC. The GPS store is a good place to look for ideas as they carry all the major brands so you are more likely to get unbiased info.

My 2 pennies worth.

[scottsax]

Dude. We can give you directions to any site you need. I think you should buy more tanks instead.

i know, i know. i've been using google maps and such. what it would really be good for is that last minute change of plans. if i have print out of direction to 3tree and we get there to find the the conditions suck (ie currents), then that print out is useless for an alternate site.

so it's either a GPS or i'll be calling 1-800-SOUNDER-WHERE-THE-F^&K-AM-I-GOING

What, you don't want to blindly follow Joe as he navigates every side street between TTN and Redondo?

[spatman]

thanks, dusty. good advice.

[spatman]

What, you don't want to blindly follow Joe as he navigates every side street between TTN and Redondo?

i want joe to follow me as he watches nickeodeon on his cell phone.

[Sounder]

so it's either a GPS or i'll be calling 1-800-SOUNDER-WHERE-THE-F^&K-AM-I-GOING

Dude, 1-800-SOUNDER-WHERE-THE-F^&K-AM-I-GOING is a resource you're going to use anyway, you might as well buy more tanks... you could also consider a really cool little glowing-face computer instead too.

[spatman]

you could also consider a really cool little glowing-face computer instead too.

i am. it's called a GPS.

you X1 pimp.

[rjarnold]

I have the TomTom Go. The usability is fantastic, the redirecting (when you purposely or not-so-purposely veer off path) is also great. The biggest problem I have with it are incorrect directions (obviously a problem). Sometimes it 'says' (via voice) to go left and on the map to go right. The map has always been correct in these situations. There is a spot downtown where it has all the one-ways backwards. Sometimes it's just plain wrong (though never by much, and fairly rarely).

I also demo'd the Magellan Crossover. The idea is fantastic - great for both driving and hiking (I <3 hiking, though not as much as diving of course!). However, though I didn't use the topographic maps myself, I'm told they're poor resolution and the overall usability of the topographic maps is poor. But the road maps were never wrong and the usability was great. If you want a GPS for both situations, the expensive Garmin handheld (I forget which model it is now) is probably best, but of course it doesn't have the voice directions (which was big for me at first, a couple of months after getting the TomTom I hardly listen to them anymore).

Never tried a Garmin but I've heard they're really good quality, and they've obviously been around for a long time. I think Magellan and Garmin have the majority share of that market, and they are some of the ones that have been around the longest, so their road maps might overall be better for that reason.

Now, I must grant some leeway to the TomTom. It has what could be a really great feature of going online and correcting problems with the maps that both the TomTom producers and other TomTom users find (when you find a problem while driving, a simple push of a button will store it in memory for you to manually fix later). I just never do it... No time, and when I can spare a little, I forget. It hasn't been 'updated' in forever, but I believe they recommend doing it once a month. I have no idea if the other GPS devices have this feature. Maybe I should go update mine now :P

Whatever GPS you decide to go with, be careful about paying extra for bells and whistles. For instance, it being an MP3 player - great, with the tiny speakers and sound from the road, you can barely make out that it's even playing anything. The TomTom also has a feature which enables you to connect your phone to the unit via bluetooth. This is a nifty little feature because when you find a POI (point of interest), you can simply push a button and your phone will call that place. Nice, huh? Except that it takes a lot of battery power to keep bluetooth enabled on your phone, and why not just dial in the number it displays yourself?

Lastly - I wouldn't want to be without my GPS. Best invention for the car since cruise control! =D

[Tom Nic]

Dude. We can give you directions to any site you need. I think you should buy more tanks instead.

I'm with Doug - buy more tanks!

[Dusty2]

One you might consider is DeLorme. They are not well known for there GPS units, in fact I think they are made by garmin, but their mapping software is awesome both on the unit and on a PC or laptop or even your palm pilot or PDA. Their GPS PN-20 includes street, topo and marine maps so it can be used for boat dives as well as shore dives and hiking also. It doesn't have a big screen but it can go just about anywhere.

http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELibeC ... site=10020

[airsix]

I just went through this about a month ago. I found a consumer-gps website with hundreds of reviews and owner opinions. Sorry, I forget what the site was. Anyway the reviews basically went like this:

400 reviews that said "I tried the Garmin Nuvi and it was a POS!!!! Exchanged it for the TomTom and LOVE it!"

and another 400 reviews that said...

"I HATE that **&^%$# TomTom!!!!!!! What a piece of garbage!!!!! I took it back and got a Garmin Nuvi. LOVE IT!!!!!!"



I ended up going with the Garmin and have been very happy. I went ahead and got a 600 series because I found a screamin' deal (under $300). It has removed a lot of stress from traveling in unfamiliar areas. For example I'd never been to Redondo before last month. I knew it was next to a Salty's so I just asked it to show the restaurants in DesMoins, tapped Salty's and it guided me right to it. Sweet.

One complaint I read in a lot of the reviews was insufficient warning time before a turn. However, this is adjustable in the system settings. Tune it to your personal taste.

Also, it saved me a couple of bucks this weekend. When looking for a gas station we'd just ask it to show nearby stations. It'll give you a list with direction and distance (eg. 3.5 miles ahead, or 1.2 miles behind). You can scroll down the list and when you find 3 or 4 that are only .1 mile apart you know you'll get a better gas price than the lonely one 8 miles from any other filling station.

-Ben

[spatman]

rachel - thanks for the info on the TomTom. i'll talk a closer look at that unit when i get a chance.

dusty - the delorme looking interesting, but is a little more than i'd hoped to spend. i'll take a closer look at that one, too and see if it's worth it to me.

ben - that's good to hear. the garmin is the one i've been leaninig toward.

[Dusty2]

You might also look at http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... Navigation as a source. They have some screamin specials on GPS's and carry several brands.

[spatman]

thanks for the advice, everyone.

i ended up getting a used Garmin Nuvi 200 off of craigslist. it's in good shape and was a good price, so i figure it's a great way to introduce myself to GPSs.

at some point if i'm wanting to upgrade, i'll definitely come back to this thread for reference.

thanks, again!