GPS?

No experience with a TomTom, but I have a couple handheld GPS receivers, a palmtop computer with a GPS module, and a vehicle mount unit which has voice prompts. I like 'em. Loaded with topo maps, the handhelds are great for general outdoorsing. Street-detail maps are good for driving directions, but programming a destination address can be a pain using the unit's data input interface - the palmtop computer shines there. If you do get one, make sure its easily updatable and that its memory capacity is up to whatever you expect of the unit. A fixed, unreplaceable mapset is not very handy. One of my handhelds is really tiny, fits easily in a shirt pocket, has fixed memory only, and is only updatable via computer link (though you can load custom mapsets, and the onboard memory is plenty for a highly detailed mapset of any area in which you're gonna be on foot or horseback for days), the other handheld, the palmtop computer, and the vehicle mount unit all accept removable memory - very handy for plotting a detailed treck from the comfort of your desk then just plugging it in to the unit and hitting the trail. Color screens are nice but not necessary, and the same can be said of voice prompts. Screen legibility is a huge factor. Cold weather really eats batteries, so if you're gonna be outdoorsing in the winter, keep that in mind and be prepared for it; a GPS with dead batteries is an expensive paperweight.

Wow, thanks for all the advice timberlandko! Definitely gave me some things to think about, and the handheld sounds like a great gadget - maybe something to think about when the holidays roll around, I have a few relatives that would be into something like that!

I'm looking specifically at GPS for cars, and the TomTom has a removable SD card, so it seems like it would be really easy to update and transfer new info - which sounds like it's important. Other than that I think I'm looking for a color screen, and the voice prompts - I've driven in some cars with them and enjoyed both those aspects... I'm going to keep hunting around online for info, but if anyone else has GPS I'd love your opinion!

Look at the marine GPS units also. Im not familiar with the Tom Tom, , but I assume its more like the "never lost" systems that Hertz used to put in its rental cars.
Most of the units make you take your eyes off the road for too long . Nobody is gonna stop and check their GPS . Hell, I see people reading the paper while theyre driving

GPS system I like
I bought the Magellan 300 from Radio Shack last month. It's on sale for $399 and I'm very happy with it.

It has a nice size color screen with touch-screen capability. It also includes every thing my honda accord navi has except you can't talk to it and the screen's not quite as big. It even uses the same female voice when it talks to you.

You can download your local region into memory (80mg) via USB cable from the include disc. (I got the tri-state of Ky, OH, and IN in my local region). You can also get a FREE 250 mg SD from magellan which is already preloaded with a region of your choice. I got the SE states which is basically every state south of KY and east of the mississippi.

It also comes with a gooseneck suction cup mount that attaches to your windshield and works very well and a cigarette lighter power cord. One of the biggest advantages, other than price, is you can easily move the system between cars. I frequently travel to other cities and always take my magellan with me.

As for accuracy and ease of use, I rate it about an 9. It always gets you to your destination, but sometimes will take a route that might be your 2nd choice. I really like the way you get a warning when approaching a turn and a chime sounds when it's time to actually turn. This is great when you get close to a destination and have to make several successive turns. Unlike using a printed map, instead of having to take you eyes off the road at the worst time to study a map, you can simply listen to the prompts until you hear the "You have arrived!". It's a beautiful thing.

I use mine a LOT. Just got back from the daytona 500, and it was great not having to worry about how to get to places I wanted to find. Try driving in a FLorida fog; late at night and having no idea where you're going. The magellan took me straight to my rented condo which was 55 miles from the airport. The next day, it even took me to the right parking lot in Daytona.

It also has POI which is Points of Interests. You can find tons of places to visit by city or by nearest location. I found restaurants, library's, ATM's, gas stations, and lotza stuff with the POI feature.

Oh well, I didn't mean to write a novel- Hope this helps, but I do recommend you check out the magellan. For the price and features, it's pretty hard to beat. If you want to spend a little more, you can get the Magellan 700 which has a hard disk and the entire US and Canada already loaded.

Good Luck,
Bud

can you aswk it to give you a scenic route? (an option not available in New Jersey). In New Jersey I suppose you could ask for the least toxic route.

LOL

Well, there are some similar options. When routing you get 4 choices.
(I'll see if I can remember them...)

1. Quickest route
2. Avoid toll roads
3. Avoid Freeways
4. Most use of freeways

Also, there's a neat feature. Let's say you pick #3 and realize "Toxix Road" is to be avoided. You can have it display all the turns and different routes for your trip, then select "Toxix Road" and it will ask you if you want to remove it from the route. Select "Yes" and it will re-route you around it. That's also handy if you hear there's an accident ahead- you can have it reroute you even when you're driving. Just don't cause your own accident while you do that.

Bud

Bud,
Thanks for the great review, sounds like you use your GPS a lot! I agree that being able to take it from car to car is handy - especially when driving in an unfamiliar city, I think it will take a lot of the stress out of situations like that.

After reading your post I checked out the Tom Tom I'm looking at on CNet, and it got a good review for a lot of the same pros you listed for the Magellan (good color, touch screen, SD card...). The other thing that is really appealing to me with the TomTom 700 is that it has a Bluetooth connection for your cell/PDA. Some of my buddies have this in their car and use it a lot, especially since it's against the law to drive with a cell in so many areas now.

Here's the reveiw if anyone is interested, we're all going to be GPS experts by the end of this thread!! lol!

http://reviews.cnet.com/TomTom_GO_700/4505-3430_7-31332483-2.html?tag=nav

The features mentioned are common to just about any of the large-screen talking/mapping GPS units from any major manufacturer, regardless of manufacturer or vendor. The 2 big names in the field are Garmin and Magellan, and at each price point, their respective offerings are more or less absolutely equivalent. One thing that I think bears repeating is that programming a destination or address into any of the units using its own data-input interface is a cumbersome task, one best not done by someone also trying to operate a moving vehicle at the same time. For overall handiness, I think mebbe the tip of the hat in that regard hasta go to the GPS modules for palmtops/handheld computers - the full keyboard makes a helluva difference (provided, of course, you have or are willing to buy a palmtop/handheld that will support GPS functionality). The trip-planning functions of my vehicle mount and my module units permit scheduling food, fuel, and rest stops by brand or type of accommodation or facillity, by driving time, and/or by distance driven - very handy if you take the time to set it up before starting out.

Of course, just about any of the mid-level on-up GPS units will interface with a computer - laptop, palmtop/handheld, or destop, and be programmed and or manipulated via the computer. Even with my vehicle mount unit (which is readily transferable between vehicles), I've often found it usefull to connect the unit to a laptop while driving - both for the laptop's bigger display, and for the ease of programming/manipulating the GPS unit itself. Another feature I like is that the unit can be used with mapping software other than its own - for instance, connected to a computer with the appropriate application installed and properly configured, it will operate with Microsoft's Streets and Trips, Rand-McNalley's various mapsets, and other navigation/mapping software. Using the unit with a laptop has another benefit; during stops, you can disconnect the laptiop, take it inside with you in order to review or revise your routing while looking at a full-sized display of your entire installed mapset - that's something I've found very handy, paricularly on long trips. Its nice to be able to adjust a route to accommodate unanticipated construction, traffic, or weather delays that may come up and of which you become aware while travelling.

Another important consideration for a unit intended to be used in a vehicle, boat, or aircraft is the capability of utilizing an external antenna; this feature in my mind puts my vehicle-mount unit way ahead of my others. The handhelds and the GPS Module-equipped units pretty much hafta be positioned at the base of the windshield in order for their built-in antennas to achieve and maintain a good signal lock. That can be inconvenient; my vehicle mount unit's main component sits very accessibly positioned on the console or armrest, its manipulation interface readily to hand and its screen very readable at even the highest detail level, while its antenna is magnetically mounted to the vehicle roof, with an unobstructed view of the satellites. The handhelds and the module unit sorta fall down there - they'll often lose signal when picked up in order to more closely examine their built-in display, and sometimes lose signal when the vehicle turns onto a new direction. Its a minor annoyance, and a temporary one (they'll regain signal eventually - usually a few seconds to a minute or so following signal loss, once their antennas again have the proper, unobstructed view of the satellites), but its an annoyance.

Another thing I like about my vehicle mount unit is that it has multiple power options; vehicle power, mains power, or self-contained batteries (it won't recharge them though - that's a feature I'd like to see). This, along with an antenna capable of remote mounting, and the ability to load a wide variety of specialized mapsets and to manipulate other vendors' mapsets while connected to a computer really enhance the unit's versatillity, IMO.


Again, just about any name-brand unit at a given pricepoint is going to be more or less equivalent to its immediate competition across all the brands - the market is highly cometitive, and there really are few if any "exclusive features" to any brand's offerings that matter in the interest of general operability. I think the thing to do is determine which features and functions are of primary importance to you, and evaluate your options from among the many, many units which offer those features and functions. The one that does the best job of what you want done at the pricepoint you want to pay is the best one for you.

And, it goes without saying that whatever you choose, read, understand, and follow the unit's user manual - make sure you know how to get the unit to do what you want it to do. Some important features will be accessible only via drilling down through on-screen menus. Many vendors offer video userguides; those can be an excellent idea as a supplement to the printed manuals, offering a good "quick start" lesson plan, in effect.

Hope this image works (my first).

Here's a discovery I made of using my Magellan roadmate 300 in the sun on a recent trip.

I wondered if my gps antenna would work throught a baseball cap.
It does!!