GPS Assist, If You Please...

[Steve Parr]

I'm looking for some input on a PGS system.

I travel extensively throughout Canada for work, so I have to have one that comes pre-loaded with maps for Canada. It also has to be simple to use, and it needs to talk. Well, I guess it doesn't need to talk, but that's just a cool feature that I want. One that talks with a sultry female voice would be nice.

I've looked at Garmin and Magellan, and even had the chance to use the Magellan in Nova Scotia last May. For that reason alone, I'm leaning towards Magellan, but I could be easily swayed, too.

I'm looking at spending between $500.00 and $700.00 for it, including all accessories.

Any assist would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[condyk]

Well they are great things to have and I would be lost (literally) without mine. I have a TomTom on my PDA and a separate bluetooth tracker but dunno if you have them there. They are European. Garmin would be my choice otherwise just because they have such a reputation in GPS over many years.

[Steve Parr]

Well they are great things to have and I would be lost (literally) without mine. I have a TomTom on my PDA and a separate bluetooth tracker but dunno if you have them there. They are European. Garmin would be my choice otherwise just because they have such a reputation in GPS over many years.

One of my co-workers has a Garmin, and he swears by it.

Appreciate the input...

[JimAskew]

Steve,

I have the Garmin 550 and it a wonderful tool...it has saved my marriage :)

We no longer get lost, can find any address, and can save any place we visit or find so we can come back for a revisit.

As a bonus it has a Blue Tooth phone capability for hands free cell phone when driving and a MP3 player on board as well. It can use a SD card and I put a 2 gig in mine to hold my MP3s.

I paid $800 in July od 2006. I have seen it advertised for as loww as $700 during Christmas.

[Steve Parr]

Steve,

I have the Garmin 550 and it a wonderful tool...it has saved my marriage :)

We no longer get lost, can find any address, and can save any place we visit or find so we can come back for a revisit.

As a bonus it has a Blue Tooth phone capability for hands free cell phone when driving and a MP3 player on board as well. It can use a SD card and I put a 2 gig in mine to hold my MP3s.

I paid $800 in July od 2006. I have seen it advertised for as loww as $700 during Christmas.

Well, that's at the high end of my range, but certainly worth considering.

I don't know how big a deal the Bluetooth would be; I already have a Bluetooth headset for my phone, so I'm hand's free already. Still, not a bad feature...

[Scottes]

I've had a Garmin c330 for a couple years now and I love it. It's not absolutely perfect all the time, but it has never failed to get me where I'm going. And I like being able to find places on a map and load them into th GPS. It makes photo trips quite fun, and there's no worry about getting lost if I decide to explore back roads looking for photo ops.

[Lightstream]

Out of all the Garmins I've owned (GPS12, GPS V, 76CS, Quest), the Quest is the one that impressed me the most. The basic 12 is nice if you want a backup GPS, you can get one cheap on ebay and they can share AA cells with your Speedlite.

For photogs who shoot on location.....actually getting to the desired location, and getting back in one piece with the shots, is usually a good idea. ;)

[BIGTUFFGUY]

i have the Garmin iQue 3600.
its an old design now but still extremely useful.
i paid roughly 1000$CND for the whole kit back in ~02. now it can be had for about $400.

it has palm OS software on it. so its a PDA also. The maps are very detailed and the driving prompts are perfectly on time. Betty, as the lady who talks is called, has a nice voice. There is also an option to change it.

i HIGHLY recommend this product.

http://www.fotoobchod.cz/images/pdai7914.jpg

[Wilt]

I have the Garmin 350 North America, map includes Canada. You can get SD card preloaded with Europe (I purchased one for my trips abroad.) Super sensitive unit does not have to have line of sight thru window to pick up satellites. Fast, voice prompting. The 550 has bigger LCD, but I prefer the smaller size of the 350. The 350 also does not have FM transmitter and Bluetooth, but those are so-what features to me. Bought a refurbished version about a month ago for under $430!
For many many years I have used a laptop program with external GPS receiver unit that plugs in via USB port, both by Delorme. For those times when I want to see a larger area the laptop is better, but I find the 350 fully satisfies me in every other way. On a recent business trip, its sensitivity blew away a colleague who has a 5 year old Garmin. Voice prompts with street name included. Built in battery permits use as a walkaround, whereas most other automotive units require 12v source.

[Steve Parr]

I find the 350 fully satisfies me in every other way. On a recent business trip, its sensitivity blew away a colleague who has a 5 year old Garmin. Voice prompts with street name included.

That's a nice feature...

[Greg_C]

I've got a Garmin 76CSx Handheld GPS that I purchased back in July. Not at the cheaper end of the market though. I'm very happy with this unit as it has heaps of features, some of which I'll grow into. Using it to mark photography spots was only part of my reason for buying this. I've got road and national park maps in it for all of Australia, can't say what's available for the rest of the world though - I wasn't interested.

The colour screen is very nice. Most of the Garmin have micro SD cards and a USB interface. Battery life could be an issue if you plan on using it for an extended time. I'm using rechargeable LiMH AA's in mine and I find using the backlit LCD is the real killer. I haven't tried to use it away from power for an extended period yet. The basic software that comes with the unit will usually come with some basic maps. You can save tracklogs to other formats for import into other software to end up with tracklogs in Google Earth. Mine's Waterproof for 1hr and floats. The number of routes and how detailed these are, that the unit can save varies with the amount you spend - as you would expect. This is something else to think of if you'll be away from a PC for a while.

I have used the built in Sun & Moon tables to calculate the sunrise for the Brisbane, Australia, although at the time I could have just as easily got this off of a web site. The unit it self is largish, although I don't tend to notice this once its clipped onto my belt. Most time it will lock onto at least 4 satellites very easily and accuracy is around 4 meters.

I can enter in a brief name for the waypoint when I mark it. The screen converts to a keyboard and you have to use the nav buttons to enter the information. This is a little slow if you are in a hurry.

I did a bit of research on the PocketGPS World forum. A search around the web will bring up a lots of comparison tables. I've played with this a little and you can have some fun adding GPS data to your photos. I used RoboGeo as the tool to synchronise the GPS tracklog to the EXIF timestamp. There are also some free tools that will do this but I found I preferred RoboGeo.

[Titus213]

Steve - have you checked www.geocaching.com ? We do some geocaching with the grand kids and have fun with that site. I use a Garmin eTrex Legend, far below what you are looking at but it gets me there and back. Geocaching.com will no doubt have a hardware section for suggestions and reasons for them.

[Tdragone]

Steve;

Will you have a laptop with you?
If yes; you could go the GPS USB dongle + MS Streets and Trips route on your laptop.
[for the speaking part you MIGHT have to buy AGPS (Advanced GPS) for $10.00]
http://www.techgt.com/agps/default.htm

If this is something you'd consider; I'd loan you my GPS receiver for a week or two..Let me know.

I'll NEVER do a road trip (work or pleasure) without this combo again!

-TomyD.

[timbernet]

On a trip to California I used my laptop with Streets and Trips 2006 and my Garmin eTrex plugged in...

The software worked great - but my DC-AC inverter had issues and killed my laptop battery :-( and I wish I could have looked at the map on the dash board instead of looking at the passenger seat...

I am looking at buying a Garmin dash-top or making a "car-puter"

[Steve Parr]

Steve;

Will you have a laptop with you?
If yes; you could go the GPS USB dongle + MS Streets and Trips route on your laptop.
[for the speaking part you MIGHT have to buy AGPS (Advanced GPS) for $10.00]
http://www.techgt.com/agps/default.htm

If this is something you'd consider; I'd loan you my GPS receiver for a week or two..Let me know.

I'll NEVER do a road trip (work or pleasure) without this combo again!

-TomyD.

I always have my laptop when I travel, but wouldn't want to deal with having to have it out on the seat while I'm driving. I've seen the Streets & Trips combo before and, while it looks like it would certainly get the job done, I'm more interested in getting something that can go in a holder and get stuck to the windshield...

[BIGTUFFGUY]

http://www.bigtuffguy.com/cb7/dashmount/newdash4a.jpg

[Tdragone]

Fair enough.

-TD

[Wilt]

I always have my laptop when I travel, but wouldn't want to deal with having to have it out on the seat while I'm driving. I've seen the Streets & Trips combo before and, while it looks like it would certainly get the job done, I'm more interested in getting something that can go in a holder and get stuck to the windshield...

Illegal in California to use a windshield mount! Manufacturers offer a beanbag-like friction mount for on top of the dash, or you could merely get one of the 'sticky' gal pads and set the GPS on top of that. I find the console area is nice because it is shielded from the sunlight.

[GyRob]

I have a Garmin Emap but i went out of range on the map and got lost :(
Rob.