GPS and auto system info needed

[escavader]

HI,
Iwas in a buddys truck headed snowmobiling ,and he had a GARMIN guidence system on the dash.I have never seen one[i come from the hills]before,it told exactly where you were ,every little street name ,and tiny drive etc.Ithought it was neat.He had never been to my house ,i gave him my address and it brought him right to me.Igotta have one!!
Id like alot more knowledge before i purchase,i havent a clue about them .
Im a diehard outdoorsman who snowmobiles and atvs in the remote areas of the state,and currently only navigate by the seat of my pants ,and sometimes a map in the vehicle.
Is there a PORTABLE unit i can take from car to car,on my atv or snowmobile etc?WHATS the best/ Where do i get one /Whats the simplest to use?Where did you get yours?
alan

 

[Reg]

I usually run Street Atlas on a laptop in the truck, it is by DeLorme & they KNOW maps/cartography.
Most of them will "direct" you according to some preferences, e.g. favor highways, avoid toll roads, avoid fire roads & forest roads.
You can usually (at least) pick shortest route or quickest.
It is my IMPRESSION that there are more setting options with the all software systems.
These are ROAD routes, so you will get a lot of "off route" warnings if you ask for directions to Joe's house but go via rail beds.

I also have a Garmin Zumo 550 for the motorcycles.
This is a weatherproof unit, most of the car/truck units are NOT.
For off-road (snowmobiling, hiking, etc) you probably want topo maps more than street maps and "bread crumb traces" of where you've been, also the option to mark worthwhile places that you want to remember.
Also consider the usefulness (or not) of being able to upload your journey to a computer and send it to friends via e-mail.
Somewhere there is an interchange program that understands all GPS file formats, it can read any of them and spew them back out for any different format.
I can't find it right now, but it has a name something like "GPS babel".

EDIT:
PS try here;
http://www.gpsbabel.org/download.html
:END EDIT

Another edit:
You can do some WEIRD things with Street Atlas, e.g. if you WANTED TO favor woods roads you could set your expected speed on fire roads and forest roads to some higher speed than your expected speed on interstates.
THEN it would take you through rough brush as the quickest route to somewhere.
Just know that people will often "assume" land that isn't strictly theirs, so you might find fences across what your GPS says are roads, this seems especially true near town or county borders, neither jurisdiction much cares about who is doing what on the odd bits of land on their borders. Also, info about those roads doesn't get updated as often as the highway data, so don't be too surprised if you find developments straddling fire roads.

 

[IXLR8]

I have lost track of all the models that Garmin makes. But they have a few models that are battery powered that you can load in what ever database you want. You can load in a street map and use it to give you turn by turn directions, load in a topo map and go off into the woods, you can even load marine maps and go boating. The units are not terribly expensive... but buying all the maps will bankrupt you. That is true for any make. Head on over to Garmin.com and have a look. More and more of the auto GPS units depend on vehicle power... so make sure you get one that is battery powered. If you find one you like, try to find somebody who has one so you can 'test' drive it. I like the software interface the Garmin has, others like the Tom-Tom or the Magellen better. All are good units, each has their own quirks, do your best to try before you buy.

 

[kenmac]

Check out the hand held garmin 1,2,3. They also have 5 . All were rated by consumer reports feb. 2009

 

[Sigarms]

Just my experience, hopefully will be helpful.

Some time ago, bought a "mid tier" GPS from Garmin, at the time, got it for a great price in the high $300 range (best price I could find it for at the time, which was at Abe's of Maine).

Long story, but do to my own stupidity (trusting someone), I had to buy another Garmin (yes, I did like using it that much for work, as well as the wife).

This past Christmas, I ended up getting the Nuvi 260W for $189 at Best Buy (think the unit is discontinued, perhaps a reason for attractive price).

Like all technilogical products, prices come down, and features increase.

I actually like the 260 better than my older Garmin, and it was a lot less money.

That said, I personally know of four people including myself who have had to send their GPS unit back to Garmin for a "new" refurished unit because for some reason or another, the unit wouldn't "track" anymore. I had my older unit for 18 months when I had to send it back. Garmin (like most other makes out there) usually come with a standard one year wrty. My refurbished unit cost me $100 plus shipping. Talking with Garmin, my understanding from them is that the newer units have a built in attenna that reduce the chances of the unit failing to "track" over time. My older unit that I had to send back had the "flip up" attenna. I can't help but think that an "outdoor" unit will get more abuse, so depending on what type and cost of extended wrty someone offers, I seriously think about it.

As mentioned, check Garmins website. Needless to say, Waterproof will be a must for outdoor use (as well as battery powered) but my 260 unit will also run for a decent amount on its battery without having to use a car charger (you can buy an optiontional wall charger).

However, I always wonder how waterproof something is unless it's meant for scuba diving.

I'd check online for information on the units that interest you, try to find unbiased reviews of the unit that holds your interest, then see if you can play with one at a electronics store. Check the best prices online as well just to make sure you're not paying too much if you go to a store.

I will note that I really do like the moveable "sand bag" mount (to actually hold the GPS unit) that you put on the dash. I didn't see them out when I got my first unit, but when I got my second unit, found them. This way, you can remove the mount for the unit with no problem and store it out of sight. Personally, leaving the standard windshield mount stuck on the car glass when the car was left unattended for a decent amount of time (like at the airport) was only a greater invitation for someone to break into your car. Needless to say, with an ATV or snowmobile, this will not be an option

I really don't know of anyone who is not really happy with their portable GPS, and I've heard nothing but good things about the Tom Tom (although I don't know if they have an outdoor unit, but would make sense that they would).

 

[IXLR8]

However, I always wonder how waterproof something is unless it's meant for scuba diving.

Most of Garmins GPS units have a NEMA rating for waterproofing. I spent alot of time discussing with a Garmin engineer just what that rating meant, as I used my GPS on my motorcycle, sometimes in the rain. Water can get into a lot of places at 70mph. Bottom line at the time, 3 years ago, if Garmin labeled a unit as waterproof, it meant that it could be submerged to 10 feet for 30 minutes and still work. I have no idea what they have for waterproofing today.
Although I did find on my Garmin 2610 that if the USB port connector got wet it would lock up. Based on my experiance and Garmin examining my unit, they made some changes to the software that eliminated the problem. Water didn't get in the unit, just the water across the USB connections locked up the unit and as soon as it dried.. it worked fine. Garmin would not tell me what they did, I suspect they 'isolated' the USB port unless a connection was detected.

 

[shvl73]

Alan, I also have a Garmin Nuvi 260 in my car. I like it alot, I'll stop by next time I'm up there and show you how it works, if you haven't bought one already. I just bought a Garmin 205 for my truck, $99 @ Ritz Camera. I made the mistake of letting Nancy try it in the Explorer, and now it stays in there. I took the Mio 310x she had and put that in the truck. I prefer the Garmin. None of the ones I have are suitable for ATV or Snowmobile use. The 260 is text to speech (speaks street names), the 205 just says turn right, left, etc...

 

[Greenrancher]

You may want to do some research at this site:

GPS Receiver Information, Software, and Hardware Reviews of Garmin, Lowrance, Magellan and other GPS Receivers

There are reviews for many GPS models along with reviews of software. They have links to informaiton sites, vendors, tutorials, etc.

My personal choice is Garmin - I'm currently using a Nuvi 350 and a Nuvi 750. Both are for use in a car and not appropriate for outdoor use. I also have a couple of Garmin eTrex models which I use on my bike and boat (and tractor to check speed when spraying).

Good luck.

 

[SnowRidge]

I have a Garmin GPSmap 60Cx. It is a hand portable unit that can be used in a vehicle with a car kit. Like any portable unit, the screen is really too small for in car use unless you have a second person along to do the navigating, then it is just fine. I still use it when I am traveling alone, but it is far from ideal.

I bought this particular model because of its sensitivity. It is much higher than the average GPS, which will not work well in tree cover. My unit works fine under the forest canopy. That was very important to me, as I intended to use it to help me conduct a rough survery of some property that we eventually bought.

I own three Garmins. The other two are older marine models. They are all built to a level of quality that you will not see elsewhere. They have beautiful clear screens, day or night. They simply look, feel, and ooze quality.

Depending on how they are being marketed at any one time, and perhaps the phase of the moon, you will find this model with and without car kits and/or the kind of mapping software YOU want. Shop carefully. I bought mine from Amazon.

Now a little rant. Garmin uses MapSource mapping software/data. It is pain in the rear to go through the unlocking procedure, and the user interface on the PC sucks. The user interface on the GPS itself is fine. Even so, if I had to do it all over again, I would probably buy the same unit.

 

[Sigarms]

it meant that it could be submerged to 10 feet for 30 minutes and still work

How much time does that make for riding on a motorcycle in the pouring rain?

The 260 is text to speech (speaks street names),

For myself, I find that feature somewhat annoying (added to the fact that I'm partially deaf). I just look at the map and street name where I need to turn, and follow it. Usually never have an issue.

One thing I do notice is that sometimes the unit (anyone I've seen) really does not take you the faster route, no matter if you have it set on that or "shortest distance". However, if you have no clue where you're going, particularly in a city, those units are really hard to beat to getting you to the front door of the location your looking for in any town.