Do you use a GPS? huh, huh, well do you

[PineRidge]

Wasn't aware that Garmin made a unit for dogs called the Astro. Interesting concept for hunters.

 

[WayneB]

I have two Garmins, One is the Ique-3600 with a Palm interface. It is really good for what I do. Have it interfaced with my database via the Palm and all I have to do is look up an address and then tell it to "find" and it will provide directions to the address.

The other one I have is the Ique M-5 that has my database and can also communicate with the internet for mail service.

Garmin has dropped both of these units and moved into the world of bluetooth bringing cell phone, internet database, and GPS in a single unit.

 

[ultrarunner]

My Rental car in Germany had one and it worked great... it even gave me directions in English.

One of my stops was a construction site, in an out of the way very wooded area. One of the guys told me to wait in the nearest town and he would drive out to meet me so I would not get lost.

Everyone was quite surprised when I showed up at the site. Some of the local guys ended up getting lost!

Mine unit was OEM in small 7 passenger VW Touran mini van with diesel... got great mileage and cruised nicely at 90 mph.

 

[shvl73]

I have a Lowrance I-350. It works well, though it has a hard drive and doesn't recalculate fast enough if you miss a turn from distraction (phone, passenger, traffic, etc...). I'm guessing its the drive, as I'm not really up to speed on this stuff. I was thinking a memory chip would be faster. I travel the 6 New England states and frequently to northern VA and it always finds my way. It sure beats the old way of folding maps!

 

[Ken_CT]

I have the Garmin Nuvi 350. Love it. I agree it's one of those things you don't need, until you have one, kind of like a microwave oven. Somehow it got nicknamed "Alice". When you don't go the way she wants, she will recalculate a new route from where you are without having to do a U-turn. When this happens she says "recalculating" in a disgusted tone that might as well say "recalculating, you idiot". Somebody at Garmin has a sense of humor.
Ken

 

[Tdog]

I agree that the female voice sounds utterly put out that you missed that turn she told you to take. I have the Nuvi 660. Garmin refers to the female computer voice as 'Jill' - - they also have a masculine voice, 'Jack'. It is probably sexist of me to say so, but when he says, "recalculating", it doesn't sound nearly as disgusted as Jill does. My wife even agrees. We also agree that he is easier to understand.
The computer generated speech [TTS, text to speech] is sometimes awkward and may be hard to understand if you didn't have some idea of what they are referring to. For example, it might say "turn lef ton highway 437", instead of left on 437. Still, it has been a great help when I'm in unfamiliar territory.

Jack

 

[onsight]

When you don't go the way she wants, she will recalculate a new route from where you are without having to do a U-turn. When this happens she says "recalculating" in a disgusted tone that might as well say "recalculating, you idiot". Somebody at Garmin has a sense of humor.
Ken

I had to laugh when I read this...I had both of my girls convinced that if I made a wrong turn, along with the "recalculating" voice, a pair of hands would come out of the dashboard and take over the steering wheel to get us back on route

 

[Travelover]

I also have the Garmin iQue. One of the greatest features is the ability to have it route you to the nearest hospital, police station, McDonalds (bathroom!) etc no matter where you are. I take it with me when I travel in other cities and have a rental car, as well as everyday in my own car. Having a detailed map of the surrounding area is nice for alternate routes when faced with traffic backups, even in areas where I drive everyday.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I have an older GPS unit that I can upload street maps onto but it doesn't give turn by turn directions. I would use it at times when I was visiting farms in the Lake Ontario area as I could easily get my bearings without having to look for street signs (you know the signs are never there when you are looking for two intersecting streets )

I have some nice maps of WNY and the Finger Lakes also just in case I don't have the GPS or something happens to it.

Another nice use for GPS units is if you change tire sizes on your truck you can find out your speed before the police do I went up one size on my 98 F150 and when my speedometer showed 55mph the GPS registered 60mph.

 

[keving]

I should get a free system from Garmin for promoting their GPS Systems over the years. I started with a handheld unit that was something like a GPSIII and graduated to a Street Pilot 2610 and that was amazing with the routing maps. I recently purchased a nuvi 670 that includes the European maps...AMAZING. It even tells you where the speed cameras are! (in Europe). I can't imagine traveling without one. It is a huge timesaver and a great way to find new places to eat and other points of interest. I travel just about every week all over the country and drive about 25-30K miles per year.