Road Trips. I hate to take the same road every time I travel to Oklahoma. The GPS lets you see a whole lot more of the country than you otherwise might. I have a GPS antenna for a software package on my laptop. No squinting to see the display.

See thread.

I should point out that the GPS systems are not always right, and can get confused, ignore construction, new developments don't show up....etc. Try driving on a service road next to a highway.

One thing I'm not sure was mentioned above is the ability to show "POI's" (points of interest) i.e. restaurants, gas stations, airports, etc. That can be quite handy sometimes.

My car doesn't have (or need) a nav system but the wife's SUV does have the factory system and it's pretty neat for road trips or I suppose for roaming salespeople etc. but for most people doing a regular commute route, I don't see a huge day-to-day benefit.

Did you read the thread? ;)

Well ,I guess its good to see that people actually use them. and not just have one to keep up with the Jonses like most do.
Hell, I was one of the last people I know to get a cell phone! I'm still an old paper map hold out. I have a hand held and a gps chart plotter in my boat. But i still wont totally depend on them. a map and compass or chart dosnt have glitches or electronics to fail.
I feel that people depends on way too much on electronics and the like to get them out of problems. Guess i'm a old purist when it comes to things like that.

do any of these portable units have a screen dimming feature? i'm concerned that it would annoy the crap out of me if i had to have that bright colorful screen on for a nighttime drive

If you have a laptop just get Microsoft's Street and Trips with GPS. <http://www.microsoft.com/streets/default.mspx>

Great for planning trips and use as GPS when actually on the road.

I used it to plan 2 road trips last summer and laid out rest stops, milestones etc. It was cool that i could change my trip plans at the hotel/campsite in the evening for the next day.

Could not really see why i would need a GPS for daily driving though.

you see some fool driving down the street reading a map, and you will see GPS as a good thing. ME? naaaa, i got skills like a homing pigeon, never been lost...ever!

GARMIN? i gotta get one, errr, for my girlfriend.

Remember your GPS got us out of the Fallbrook area where we met Ross at Ross Lake. We got our cars so dirty on that run through the puddles. I remember leading for awhile because of my nice off-road tires, I think I found every pothole that day. After that I finally bought my own GPS. I purchased the Lowrance I-Way 500c and although I use it once/twice a month, having it has been a blessing when I have needed to go somewhere I don't know.

I use the HP IPAQ system and love it. You concentrate on the road, your company without a worry. Highly reccomend it. Also it does have an auto dim feature for night use. The new software also shows terrain features....very cool. POI features include police and hospital phone numbers and of course addresses.Very useful.

Yes, My Magellan 700 has a dimming control and a volume control.

really? . . .even the gps's found in a Lexus? :cool:


I imagine that private pilots aren't too quick to buy a car with gps -- they've already played the continued gps obsolesence game.

5 years from now people will look at current OE gps' as cute old technology . . .like a Pong game.

Got the $89 special. Cheaper than having the speedo/odo recalibrated when I change tires.

Uh, I call BS on you, Cliff. Who couldn't find the parking lot for our last Mines Road run on Monday????

Dave,

This was one of the things that blew me away when I first got my Garmin. Was driving at dusk and wondering how in the hell to dim the screen as it was getting darker.

All of a sudden the GPS screen popped up with a message saying that "this area was approaching night-time and that the GPS was switching to "night mode" on its own" ...

Yes, there are times that the GPS will try to take you on a different route than what you know is the best, but its rare, like 1% of the time.

As well, if you are driving and miss a exit or make a wrong turn, the Garmin recalculates and tells you so, then gives you an alternate method to get to your destination.

I still use maps in my work (flying) and GPS has changed our lives and world forever. Either you get on the bandwagon or you keep slipping backwards in the tech world.

Joe A

Well, I am a commercial pilot and one of my cars has it buillt in (the Jag) and I carry the Garmin SP3 in every one of my other vehicles, even the motorcycle.

Used the GPS on a ride from Denver to Phoenix two years ago on the bike and it saved my bacon when the bike ran out of fuel in the mountains. Gas tank was smaller than advertised BTW. Got the nearest gas stations phone number from the GPS, called and they brought me a gallon of gas. Try that with a map...

My Jag is now 5 years old and they provide updated maps for the GPS. It works as well as the ones sold in vehicles today...

Joe A

thanks guys, good input. i'm new to my area and almost weekly i have to go to some place i've never been to. i'm pretty sure i'm a good candidate for one of these.

as far as the units go, i'm leaning towards one of the TomTom models (no, not b/c of the commercials ;) ) but b/c it has gotten good reviews as well as high regard for its ease of use.

which units are you guys using and what are their strengths/weaknesses?

I have a GPS V that lives in the glove box most of the time. It was tempting to buy the in dash unit when we bought our new Mazda5, but at $2000 it was 10% of the price of the entire vehicle.

For $300 it does a lot, but without a lot of bling. We found it incredibly useful when we went to Hawaii. Where's the grocery store nearest to our condo? Search. How are we going to find the dive shop to return our gear? Set a waypoint. How far away is that great restaurant we read about? Too far.

Would we have survived without it? Sure. Did it make the trip more enjoyable? Absolutely.

found a good site for this stuff:
http://www.gpsinformation.net/

Yhat's what I'm talking about.

I wasn't saying pilots don't like gps . . . just that many have btdt; when it comes to expensive gps systems.

For me, I take my own set-up traveling . .. a notebook PC plugged to a moble gps. It works great, and has a MUCH better screen. Or, can use just the gps for navigating on foot -- I think that the in-dash screens are a bit of a joke. . .. like looking at a map thru a soda straw. (5 years out, I expect that to improve vastly.)