[RYCeT]

I have a Garmin 2610. It's very useful to me considering I like to do road trip. I don't need to look map anymore, printing directions from the internet, got lost, or asking strangers. Even if I missed the turn, it's able to provide the new route. You can't get lost with this thing. All I need is concentrate on the road

The only complain I have is when I go to Manhattan, it's hard to get a signal due to the skycrappers building.
If you don't have a gps, get one.

 

[Spent&Bent]

I have a magellan meridian gold, in the city it's very useful up to the moment you get under heavy foilage or near tall buildings, I.E. often.......
Still with my poor sense of direction and almost total incapable of remembering streets etc. for me it's still very handy even in the city.

When going to the country on a trip, ofcourse then it gets very very useful and I would recommend such a device to anyone, just like you.

P.S. europeans can buy american models for cheap and still use european software when they get a memory card and download (or buy ofcourse) the european map software.
This tactic keeps such a gps very cheap.

 

[pedxing]

Most consumer GPS devices do not work well under heavy covering such as buildings or in a dense forest.

My ancient GPS just gives me back latitude and longitude - it doesn't have an onboard map like the new ones today.

 

[Thrasher]

Do you have to pay some fees to use GPS?

 

[darkfusion]

Thrasher - nope.

I have a Garmin GPS V Deluxe.

 

[erix]

I have a Magellan 315 and a Garmin Vista. The magellan locks on to satellites alot quicker than the Garmin but the Garmin is really loaded - 24Mb = I have the entire US map on there!

Does anyone Geocache?

Lot's of fun!

ok,
erix

 

[chosen1]

Yes I love geocaching. I have had my Garmin GPS 12 for several years, but I have only recently discovered geocaching. It's nice to have finally found a cheap hobby.

 

[Tuberoller]

I was gonna start a thread about this a few weeks ago. I don't have a portable unit but the GPS navigation in my car has me hooked and I'm gonna pick up a portable unit soon. This is the coolest thing I've used in a while and I have a ball finding stuff use latitude and long . I don't think most folks know how cool these things are. I'm teaching my 10 year old son how to map and I'm thinking a nice GPS unit might be a good thing for him to use. We play games using maps and he's become good enough to map fence posts in my back yard and find hidden objects using only map coordinates. Geocache sounds like fun and gives me further motivation to buy a unit.

 

[ProFingerSk8er]

me and my dad tested many GPS systems on lots of different cars, BMW was ok, iDrive system requires some getting use to. as for lexus, we only tested IS300, and we had to use a little joystick next to the arm rest, wasnt too east to use.

after about 7 different cars, we found Acura TL's GPS was the easiest to use, extremely useful and it was the only upgrade on the TL type S...so why not

 

[kentamcolin]

I'm considering getting a portable one to use on motorcycle trips this summer. It would save the hassle of using maps to figure out where the heck I am and would encourage me to take roads I would not otherwise take.

 

[Demolition]

For personal use, I have a GPS 12XL. Good for general survey, mapping, etc. Very rugged and dependable. Useful for Geocaching, of course.

For more intensive land survey, I use Lo-K-Tor and Trimble GPS survey receivers -- the ones that weight about 30 lbs. and fit in a specially-designed backpack with an antenna pole that sticks out the top. These are designed to provide instant sub-meter accuracy during real-time roving for forestry work, or kinematics for geological/seismological work. No surprise, they cost a fortune ($10,000 for a cheap one, $30,000 for one with all the bells and whistles).

Quote:

originally quoted by ProFingerSk8er me and my dad tested many GPS systems on lots of different cars, BMW was ok, iDrive system requires some getting use to.

I read a N.Y. Times article about BMW's iDrive when it was first introduced in 2002. One of the author's quotes ("Though intended to be intuitive, iDrive is maddening...") provided a pretty good summary of iDrive's complexity and lack of intuitive design. I went to a BMW dealer to see for myself. Although I've always considered myself a techie kind of guy, I found the iDrive baffling at first. If I had to operate it while driving, I'd have gone off the road.

I sure hope that BMW/Microsoft has cleaned up the interface since then.

D.

 

[Mr.PD]

Yes.

 

[IMEP]

Quote:

Originally posted by erix I have a Magellan 315 and a Garmin Vista. The magellan locks on to satellites alot quicker than the Garmin but the Garmin is really loaded - 24Mb = I have the entire US map on there! Does anyone Geocache? Lot's of fun! ok, erix

Yep, Geocaching is a blast and it's a great way to learn how to use a GPS properly.

As for tall buildings and tree cover: If your GPS has a external antenna jack, you can use an amplified antenna that will greatly improve satellite reception.

I currently have a Garmin Streetpilot III & Garmin Vista

 

[daveman]

I have built-in GPS in my 2004 Accord. This is Honda's new GPS, and it's even better than the one in the TL-S. It's amazing. It even stayed on track in Mahattan, even when skyscrapers limited the number of satellites it could lock into. The built-in gyros and interface with the car's speed sensor allow the system to track your movement accurately when passing through tunnels or when satellites are not otherwise available. It's awesome! I have no regrets spending the extra money on the NAV system.

OTOH, my girlfriend has a StreetPilot IV, and she hates it. This is supposed to be one of the best portables on the market, so go figure. She's really bad at reading maps, though, so I think she expects more of it than what it gives her. If anyone wants to buy a fairly new StreetPilot, let me know.

 

[spaceman]

Had a garmin trekker, but never used it. The old compass is much quicker and more reliable for my back-country trips.