GPS

[Andrew Revering]

I recently purchased a TomTom One LE, and I'm going back and fourth on how I like it. There are a few issues with the TomTom that I'm considering purchasing an alternative:

1) Its routing seems less than effective. On many occasions it seems to want to route you the most a** backwards way.

2) Its ETA calculations are completely useless. Usually an hour or more off.

3) It has 'neat idea's' for traffic and weather through bluetooth internet, but the weather doesn't display current conditions like it was advertised, and the forecasts show the wrong day if you're looking at it before 00z, yet the temps are then offset by 1 day. Very confusing.

I'm wondering what others have purchased and specifically what their experiences are with routes and ETA calculations. I used a Garmin for the past 10 years and really liked it, but you can't really compare those old GPS's to the new touch screen ones. Completely different animal.

And before anyone starts with the argument about using your laptop and DeLorme StreetAtlas... I have that too, but sometimes you don't want to hook up all of that and just want something to navigate to someone's house or find a restaurant.

 

[Dan Cook]

I've got the Garmin nuvi 350 and it seems to do a good job with the ETA estimate give or take a few minutes.

 

[Blake Michaleski]

I use Delorme Street Atlas USA 2008 along with the Delorme USB receiver. I use it even for day to day navigation and such. While it won't tell me where the nearest pizza joint is (at least not as far as I know) it does pretty good with ETA estimates and routing. I never really liked the small screen of those stand alone automotive GPS units that have become so popular recently.

 

[Jayson Prentice]

I also use Delorme street atlas for my GPS, I'm pretty happy with it as you can have a very large screen that way to look at instead of that small one. Although it doesn't have the 'live' weather or traffic stuff, being in Iowa I don't really need that too much.

Oh... Blake, you could indeed find where the nearest Pizza place is on Delorme. I would recommend having another person running it though, as it require you to do some navigating and typing. In my version at least you can go to the 'Find' tab, under 'GPS Radar' you can search for things with many options including how far to search and if you want to look only in the direction of travel.

 

[Laura Hedien]

Garmin Street Pilot 2820 here. Very happy with it. Est. usually dead nuts. Interfaces well with other programs, Bluetooth, routes are good- recalculates with "not so wild" options.
There's an update disk you buy every year or so but it has updated streets, stores, etc so it's worth it.
Very happy with it. Feel free to PM with specific questions.
Laura

 

[cedwards]

I use Delorme Street Atlas as well. I recently bought the Garmin C330 I like it a lot for general navigation. I travel quite a bit other than chasing and it is very portable and easy to use. For chasing I still prefer Street Atlas for its big screen, and ability to save logs. Next year I will be using it along with the Garmin. The portable Garmin is easier to find some local attractions, hotels, restaurants...

 

[Kurt Hulst]

I have Street atlas 2006. I thought about going with the 08 update but looking through reviews it has been counted not so good. The reviews state that the maps are not as updated as they say. Can anyone tell me how there 2008 compares to the older versions?


I like using my laptop GPS its easier to see. So i do not know much about the smaller type GPS systems out there.

 

[Jason Foster]

Garmin with XM WX

I found that a few of the new Garmin units now include XM WX.

The StreetPilot 7200 and 7500 plus the Steet Pilot 2820, plus a few others.

I like the idea of getting the XM radio, WX, and a GPS in one. I'm not sure though if all the weather products are available on the Steet Pilot. I looked around the Forum, but didn't see anyone with one of these.

 

[Andrew Revering]

Yeah but there are some issues with those Garmins... 1) they are expensive models, 2) XM is minimum $50 a month. To me its not worth those costs. I considered it though.

The Garmins themselves are good GPS's though, don't get me wrong. Just more than what I think I need to spend.

Thats why I went with the TomTom. It has a Traffic and Weather service, although both are pretty much useless, especially the weather part... it just shows a 5 day forecast. Whoopdy doo.

 

[Laura Hedien]

http://www.xmradio.com/shop/subscriptions.xmc

I'm seeing cheaper prices for the subscriptions..... I do not have the service so are there "hidden" costs? I was thinking of adding traffic to my GPS and I thought it was about $12 a month?
Laura

 

[John Erwin]

http://www.xmradio.com/shop/subscriptions.xmc

I'm seeing cheaper prices for the subscriptions..... I do not have the service so are there "hidden" costs? I was thinking of adding traffic to my GPS and I thought it was about $12 a month?

Those prices are just for XM "Radio".

The Traffic service alone is $9.95 /month or add $3.99 to an existing radio package. You need to have a car or GPS model that is compatible with the traffic service. Details here: http://www.xmradio.com/navtraffic/get_nav.xmc

Weather is a whole other matter, and is priced separately. Much more expensive! Weather package info here: http://www.xmradio.com/weather/get_xm_wx.xmc

 

[Jason Foster]

GPS with XMWX

Yeah, I agree it can be expensive. The Mobile threat net was running $100 a month, with a $100 activation charge. All the software was $1000 or less.

So when I saw the GPS with XMWX for $1000 figured it was like getting the GPS part for free. But I would have to see one in action well before purchasing one.

Maybe Best Buy has demo. Would never buy from them, but I like looking at electronics in their store.

 

[Jon Person]

I'm planning on using a Magellan Maestro 4000 this year out in the field. The laptop/GPS combo has proven to be cumbersome for me, especially when I have to look towards the passenger seat while driving. The suction cup mount lets the device hang from the windshield and the touch screen lets me tap in a route without looking away from the road. I'm planning on going light on devices, using a Cingular 2125 Smartphone for nowcasting; the laptop would only be used at the hotel at night for downloading videos, pics, and doing forecasts.

 

[Brandon Sullivan]

Dont personally have one. But my chase partner has a GPS MAP 376c.

MSRP is around 2200.. But believe they have came down significantly.. Around 800-1000.... WX is very nice on it, and you can cancel it in the winter. Has current fronts/surface obs/very very fast warnings, and hardly ever lost service.. Just good all around!