GPS

[sandman2234]

Detour feature?
Did go a different location then what I told it to do, and it kept telling me to make a U turn several times and re routed my original route when I got too far for a u turn.
I do like it, thanks.
David from jax

Yes, they do make them with small screens, especially small for people over 40 who really hate to put on reading glasses...
David

 

[shvl73]

Detour feature?
Did go a different location then what I told it to do, and it kept telling me to make a U turn several times and re routed my original route when I got too far for a u turn.
I do like it, thanks.
David from jax

Yes, they do make them with small screens, especially small for people over 40 who really hate to put on reading glasses...
David

David,
When navigating, try pushing the left button, a list of options will appear. Scroll down to detour and push in on the scroll wheel. You'll find that you need to be near the reason for the detour, otherwise it'll re-route you off the route and back onto it as soon as it can. For instance, if you hear of an accident 20 miles up the road and you select detour, it'll detour you off the highway at that moment, and back on, and the accident will still be ahead of you.
Torin

 

[Jagmandave]

Billy P,
The small screen size has been a hangup for me too.......

The Lowrance I-way 350 that someone mentioned above has a much larger screen size, but that unit is really heavy (felt like about 5 lbs to me!)

I've been looking for one with about a 7" screen for my tired old eyes (Garmin makes one now for about $1500), but then you run into problems on how/where to mount it. The best bet is to get a new car that already has a factory system fully integrated into the dash, but I'm not buying a new car just to get a GPS!

We bought a TomTom Go last summer, and I mostly liked the way it worked, at least till it sent me 16 miles the wrong way down a hiway! We took it back for a refund.........

We're still searching for that "perfect" unit at the right price, but I think this holiday season we'll see some real bargins on these, so I'm just gonna wait a bit more.........

 

[sandman2234]

I have seen GPS units that integrate with mapping programs on laptops, and if you already have a laptop, you might look into one of them. That way you can have you large screen and most of your money.
David from jax

 

[shvl73]

Billy P,
The small screen size has been a hangup for me too.......

The Lowrance I-way 350 that someone mentioned above has a much larger screen size, but that unit is really heavy (felt like about 5 lbs to me!)

I've been looking for one with about a 7" screen for my tired old eyes (Garmin makes one now for about $1500), but then you run into problems on how/where to mount it. The best bet is to get a new car that already has a factory system fully integrated into the dash, but I'm not buying a new car just to get a GPS!

We bought a TomTom Go last summer, and I mostly liked the way it worked, at least till it sent me 16 miles the wrong way down a hiway! We took it back for a refund.........

We're still searching for that "perfect" unit at the right price, but I think this holiday season we'll see some real bargins on these, so I'm just gonna wait a bit more.........

The Lowrance I-Way 550 is larger still and I believe it has larger touch screen buttons. I find the touch screen on the 350 is a little on the small side and I frequently need to correct spelling from hitting the wrong button.
I think the Garmin 2720 is a nice unit but at around $1000+- it should be.

 

[_RaT_]

It really depends what you want it for.

I have two Garmin units, a Streetpilot c320 (upgraded as I will explain) for use in the car, and a GPSmap 60 CSx for hiking, hunting and other hand help uses. Both are very good.

In car is a totally different application than handheld, and there is not one unit which will do both jobs.

For a handheld unit, don't settle for anything less than the Garmin GPSmap 60Cx. It has a new type of antenna/integrated circuit which will pick up a signal even in moderately heavy tree cover -- a huge improvement over anything else on the market. The 60 CSX has an altimeter and a magnetic compass built in. I consider the extra cost for these features a waste of money. A $10 compass is vastly superior to the built in one, and the altimeter needs calibration to work correctly, using information about barometric pressure which is not readily available.

For car navigation you can spend an awful lot, but I really like my c320. I added a 1 GB secure digital card ($20-30) and can now store all the maps for the entire US and Canada. It has voice prompts and it takes a lot of stress out of driving to hear the voice say "turn left in two miles" instead of my wife say "you should have turned left a mile back there".

All the reviews I read say that Garmin has the best human interface. A GPS is a very complex device and a good interface is really quite helpful.

Dave, how big is the screen on the C320? I have found that to be my first hurdle to deal with. I am at a point of using glasses to read some things or skipping it. It's a rough stage in life. I never bring glasses with me anywhere but often times wish I had. 1.5X magnifiers for now. I appreciated your comments about the compass and altimeter and wondered if my eTrex Vista was the only one with these issues. I agree with your comments on that. Rat.

 

[Jstpssng]

Bird, if you haven't bought one yet you might consider one of garmin's "76" series. If you're anything like me, the first thing you'll do is drop it into 50 feet of water. While there are many other good units out there, these have the added advantage of floating.

The disadvantage of the E-trek series is that they don't differentiate between "2D & 3D" reception. This often results in some serious errors in location.

 

[Bird]

the added advantage of floating

I've forgotten the model number now, but one of the Garmins that I really liked would float. The problem was that they didn't have the #1 lake I like to fish in the maps available to load into it. And to get something I like, they're expensive enough that I may wait awhile; maybe just hope Santa Claus brings me one.

 

[RayH]

The problem was that they didn't have the #1 lake I like to fish in the maps available to load into it. And to get something I like, they're expensive enough that I may wait awhile; maybe just hope Santa Claus brings me one.

Is it the Mapsource softwear that doesnt have your map or was it a preloaded map that doesnt have it?
Garmin has Neoprene covers for some of there GPSs that allow the GPS to float. We have one for our GPS12. It works as it should, it keeps it afloat and also protects it against abrasion and contusion.

 

[Bird]

Ray, I still can't claim to know what I'm talking about, but . . . they said the GPS unit came with the cables to hook it to my computer, and they had a CD for $100 to put in the computer, and download the maps you want, but their CD didn't include all the right lakes. They had a Lowrance unit that supposedly worked the same, their CD was $150, but had a $50 rebate, and that one did have the right lakes.

 

[RayH]

Ok, I know mapping GPSs come with basic map programs already loaded then you need to download more detailed maps.
Like was said earlier, Garmin, Lowrance, Megellan, it doesnt matter as long as it has the options you are looking for and you are comfortable using it.