So i tried the GPS feature for the first time on my way home yesterday. I thought it worked really great ... with just a couple of glitches.
First off, the directions coming out of the little speaker in the back were actually quite loud and clear. It was pretty accurate in terms of when to say "turn now!" but seemed to be a bit off in its measurements shortly before hand. For instance, it would say, "turn left in 500 yards," yet the turn was only 200 yards ahead. But, like I said, it would then tell me to actually turn at the right time. Could just be the delay, as in it started telling me the turn was coming up in 500 yards when it was 500 yards away, but by the time it finished telling me that, it was much closer.
What I really loved about it was how quickly it would recalculate my route if I didn't go the way it wanted (it kept trying to get me to the highway, but I stick to the back roads during my commute). Rather than telling me to "turn around" like my laptop/delorme setup used to, it actually picked a new route instead within 20 seconds of me not turning where it wanted. So I was pleased with that.
The only other glitch was coming upon my house. It insisted my home was about 70 yards further down the road.
All in all, I was quite happy with it. The visibility of the screen was great, it was easy to follow, it never lost connection with the satellites, even under bridges or heavy tree cover (places where my satellite radio always cuts out), etc.
I'll have to wait to see if it can get me somewhere I've never been before.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Neat looking, but that keyboard is WAAAAY too small to use inside your car. You'd really need a stylus, at least.
It would make more sense to display it horizontally, with bigger "keys".
Also, I have a BlackBerry similar to that one (8700g under T-Mobile) and the screen was small. The "Maps" application is free but T-Mobile did not offer GPS service, and still doesn't.
Still, I use it with MapQuest once in a while, if I don't have my GPS with me (we have 3 cars).
Let's just skip the handheld gizmos and go straight to video glasses with speech controls. :shades:
Ok, even better would be a heads up display like the speedos and nav some cars have - give us something with variable transparency so it would be barely there at speed but you'd be able to dial it in at the stop light to focus on a POI or the map.
If your acquaintences are still using fold-up paper maps, TripTiks, or one of the regular online mapping programs for getting routing information for trips (MapQuest, Yahoo Maps, Google Maps, AAA TripTik Travel Planner, MSN Maps & Directions, etc), this is for them.
Google has just come out with a great new version of their online mapping system. It offers instantaneous alternate routing. See how it works here:
I can't put donw any other units since I haven't used them, but I do know I'm really happy with the Nuvi 660 from Garmin. This is my 2nd Garmin unit, and both ave been good, but the 660 has not only more features, but I have as yet found no mistakes on the map software.
Hey folks, I need the opinion of the newer Garmin users. As I have mentioned in the past I have an older Garmin StreetPilot 2610 that I have been using for the past 3+years.
What I am trying to determine is: Is it worth upgrading to the Nuvi370 that features the POI capability as well as maps of Europe and N. America, along with Bluetooth (not a big deal on that)? OR should i just get the Garmin European maps for now? I can get the maps for $299 from Garmin; I received an offer from BUY.com for the Nuvi @ $475.
Basically for an additional $175 I would have a more up to date unit, with the capabilities I mentioned above, as well as text-to-speech with street names and all. Is it worth it? Is the POI and other features worth the extra $$, or am I just throwing money away. I'd appreciate your opinion after your real life experiences.
There's no question that the new nüvi 370 would be the smarter buy.
If you travel through Europe, could you slip your (discontinued) StreetPilot 2610 into your shirt pocket? Nope! Too big.
$475 is a great price. The cheapest that I just saw on Pricegrabber was $529. Make sure that your unit comes with the latest City Navigator North America version 2008 NT maps though.
Apparently new buy.com customers can get an additional $15 off. Free shipping too. Buy.com doesn't have the greatest reputation, but this looks like a deal. No idea about the map version. (link)
If it comes with an outdated map DVD, call Garmin before you register and activate it - they will send you a current DVD. Make sure you call before you register.
Well I thought about it overnight and decided to go for it, especially after going into J&R (big electronics store in NYC) and looking the units over. The Nuvi series is easily 1/3 the size of my 2610, can fit into my pants pocket (as mentioned by blane) and has more features on it than the 2610. Only thing I am going to miss is the remote to input stuff.
So, I wound up going for the Nuvi370 at Buy.com. I've bought stuff from them in the past with no problems, and the price can't be beat ($475). Once I get the unit I have to see if my waypoints from the 2610 can be transferred to it.
Last thing to do is to either give the older unit to my friend, or put it up on Ebay.
Ah... but which way do you hold it? North up? Or turned in your direction of travel. This may require refolding while driving, a capital offence in some states.
I had tried the low cost method (even got them cheaper - free from AAA). Only problem is my co-pilot/wife can't read a map, hence the new and improved method.
If you had an excellent, accurate compass, plus a co-pilot in the passenger's seat with an excellent sense of direction and a great ability to read maps, plus a cell phone to call and find all the closest gas stations and restaurants.
So let's see, your total costs would be:
* $1 for the maps * $50 for a good quality compass * $80/hour for the hired co-pilot with a degree in Geography * $40/month in cell phone bills
Let's assume you drive about 10 hours per week, or 520 hours per year, your first year's cost alone would run you...
$1 + $50 + ($80*520) + ($40*12) = $42,131
And that's with the generous assumption that you always have a free seat in the car and that the co-pilot is always at your disposal. :P
I spent less than 10% of that amount and don't expect to have any GPS related expenses in the 2nd year. Maybe $75 in the 3rd year for map updates.
That's part of my problem - I only drive 2 or 3 hours most weeks. Hard to justify several hundred for a Nav just doing that. When they get down under $69 bucks... then we'll see.
lol, yeah, but she's the one who got the good sense of direction in this house. And I may not know I'm going on an errand to town until the urge hits me, and if she has the Nav in the van, I'm still lost. But she doesn't need it so chances are I could keep it most of the time. :shades:
You'd be surprised...I have a good sense of direction, too, yet I use it more than she does.
With experience, you start using the points-of-interest, taking more detours, checking out what's near by that you may not have known about before.
This last trip I just "discovered" another part of Selbyville along Rt. 113 in Deleware. Found a Shell station there (important because we get 5% back from Shell stations only) and some food, too.
Plus all that was just 1/4 mile off my usual route. I would never have seen it otherwise because I turn off on to Rt. 54 just before that point.
Or you could do what I did and get a system that does much more than just navigate. I can use it for email, composing documents, keeping a schedule, keeping a task list, playing mp3s, playing games, etc, etc.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
If you have a comptible phone with any data plan with built-in gps or a $99 bluetooth gps, you can pay per use $2.99 per day for Telenav use. This is best for people who will only use GPS navigation once in a while, but want to have it available when needed.
Make sure you factor the long-term costs of GPS service. $10/month on a tiny phone screen will add up. Over time I think a portable all-in-one makes more sense.
It would be a good way to "test-drive" GPS with little initial investment, just make sure you don't sign a long-term contract.
It is not $10 a month for the pay per use. It's $10 per month if you want unlimited use. If you have even a minimal data plan and only plan to use the GPS rarely, then you can pay $2.99 per day for the use of Telenav. There is no recurring monthly cost. You just need a compatible phone with either built-in or external bluetooth GPS and a data plan of any kind. If you already use a data plan to check email or browse the web on the phone, there is no extra monthly cost. The "tiny screen" is a non issue. It doesn't take a 7 inch screen to give directions on when and where to turn and the voice directions are great so you don't need to look at the screen while driving.
A compatable phone has to have access to GPS. If it doesn't have internal GPS, then it needs bluetooth to access an external GPS device. It's good that the data is incuded, so that makes it even cheaper.
Oh, I can get there. It just takes me a bit longer than most people.
On the other hand, I get to see a lot more mint fields and feedlots than those other folks do. :shades:
Bob was touting grids and map skills on his blog the other day (not helmet-head Bob, but Sneakers Bob). Around here the grid is interrupted by the foothills, the river, the bench along the river valley and a few hundred miles of canals crisscrossing the Treasure Valley.
Understood, it's just that I'm a heavy user and would use the GPS every day, so I wouldn't even consider the $2.99 per day plan.
I guess you could use it for a road trip for a day, just that day. But when you got to your destination, wouldn't you still want to have a GPS away from your home town? I would....
So, they have a $9.99 unlimited use plan if you are a heavy user. The $2.99 is a choice for those who won't use it often and it gives you a 24 hour period so you can keep using it at the destination all day. You can always pay for another day if you're staying for the weekend. There is no negative to having the option to pay as needed for light use or pay a recurring $9.99 fee if you are sure you will use it very often. I think one of the wireless companies has another option of $4.99 per month for up to 10 routes a month. If you think you might go over, you can pay $9.99 and not worry about counting trips.
Another advantage of the newer GPS units is the POI databases out there, specifically Red Light cameras. I'm not advocating running lights but living in NYC in heavy traffic there are times you are close to getting caught at an intersection with a camera. With the GPS loaded with these locations,you'll know ahead of time when to proceed more cautiously (hopefully with out getting rear ended by someone who just sees the light changing.) Especially if you are travelling outside of your home turf.
I know that was one of the factors for my doing the upgrade to the new unit.
There is a learning curve, and you do tend to get better at entering destinations the way your GPS categorizes them.
I thought that version 6 of the CitySelect North America maps were pretty bad. Still useful, but riddled with errors. I upgraded to v8 last year and it was *MUCH* better. Now any mistakes are few and far between.
Still, I found it hard to believe, but CitySelect didn't list the McDonald's in Bridgeville, DE, right on busy Rt. 13. It's been there for many decades.
Also, CitySelect doesn't list either Shell station on my path to the beach. It's missing the one in Rt. 113 northbound in DE, and another on Rt. 50 just east of the Bay Bridge.
Gas stations are tricky because they change ownership frequently, so they may be listed under Fuel but under the wrong station name. At least the GPS still gets you to a fuel stop, if not the exact one you wanted.
Still, I'd rather pay $85 for a CitySelect update, which comes out about every year, vs. paying Acura $200 plus for a new DVD every two years.
What I do is save the places it's missing under my Favorites.
Since we seem to have such a knowlegable group of people here I figured I would ask a question here that I asked Garmin support for which I am waiting on an answer.
As I had posted recently I picked up the Nuvi370 to replace my older StreetPilot. One thing that I am trying to figure out is on the new Garmin units can you set up way points and routes on your PC, then transfer them? I use to use Mapsource to research all my way points in advance, then transfer them to the GPS. The Nuvi doesn't seem to come with that capability. It seems you can only do research while on the unit itself.
I am interested in this feature because I am trying to set up way points in Hungary for my upcoming trip. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Yes Mark, (although I've never bothered) you can use your own waypoints using POI Loader and MapSource to create Custom POIs (Points Of Interest). These links ought to keep you busy:
Thanks for the pointers. I was reading that site last night (work blocks it as well as quite a few others) and was enjoying some of the "conversations". I have also been browsing some of the sites recommended by Garmin at their POI section. Lots of variety.
BTW, I was able to transfer the way points over to the Nuvi. Using MapSource it took about 30 seconds. Part of my problem is I am trying to find places we want to go to in Hungary on the Nuvi and it is not intuitive to me yet. Still used to opening MapSource, finding locations, then transferring them to the unit.
You may be working too hard. You may not even need to import all of those memory-hogging POIs.
I recommend that you first identify the places that you want to visit, perhaps in a travel guidebook or online. Then, using the nüvi's Where To function, locate them and save them as Favorites while still at home. When you get to the general area (in Hungary or elsewhere), just go to your list of Favorites (big red lips on my nüvi 350), choose the one you want, press GO, and navigate to it.
When you return home, you can just delete the ones you no longer wish to retain.
That's why I wrote earlier that I've never bothered with POIs. I've no need for them.
We bought one of the Tom Tom Navigation systems for a trip from Oregon to California. It let's you use the cell phone through it hands free (blue tooth) and it will play mp3 songs throught the radio. Kind of cool, if I can figure that part out.
As for the navigation part, it was simple to use and kind of nice that it would tell me where the rest stops were.
Comments
First off, the directions coming out of the little speaker in the back were actually quite loud and clear. It was pretty accurate in terms of when to say "turn now!" but seemed to be a bit off in its measurements shortly before hand. For instance, it would say, "turn left in 500 yards," yet the turn was only 200 yards ahead. But, like I said, it would then tell me to actually turn at the right time. Could just be the delay, as in it started telling me the turn was coming up in 500 yards when it was 500 yards away, but by the time it finished telling me that, it was much closer.
What I really loved about it was how quickly it would recalculate my route if I didn't go the way it wanted (it kept trying to get me to the highway, but I stick to the back roads during my commute). Rather than telling me to "turn around" like my laptop/delorme setup used to, it actually picked a new route instead within 20 seconds of me not turning where it wanted. So I was pleased with that.
The only other glitch was coming upon my house. It insisted my home was about 70 yards further down the road.
All in all, I was quite happy with it. The visibility of the screen was great, it was easy to follow, it never lost connection with the satellites, even under bridges or heavy tree cover (places where my satellite radio always cuts out), etc.
I'll have to wait to see if it can get me somewhere I've never been before.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
It would make more sense to display it horizontally, with bigger "keys".
Also, I have a BlackBerry similar to that one (8700g under T-Mobile) and the screen was small. The "Maps" application is free but T-Mobile did not offer GPS service, and still doesn't.
Still, I use it with MapQuest once in a while, if I don't have my GPS with me (we have 3 cars).
Ok, even better would be a heads up display like the speedos and nav some cars have - give us something with variable transparency so it would be barely there at speed but you'd be able to dial it in at the stop light to focus on a POI or the map.
One day the GPS systems we are using now will look like car phones from the 80s do to us today.
Google has just come out with a great new version of their online mapping system. It offers instantaneous alternate routing. See how it works here:
http://maps.google.com/help/maps/directions/
What I am trying to determine is: Is it worth upgrading to the Nuvi370 that features the POI capability as well as maps of Europe and N. America, along with Bluetooth (not a big deal on that)? OR should i just get the Garmin European maps for now? I can get the maps for $299 from Garmin; I received an offer from BUY.com for the Nuvi @ $475.
Basically for an additional $175 I would have a more up to date unit, with the capabilities I mentioned above, as well as text-to-speech with street names and all. Is it worth it? Is the POI and other features worth the extra $$, or am I just throwing money away. I'd appreciate your opinion after your real life experiences.
Thanks,
Mark
You could sell the 2610 and offset most of the difference. Or use it in a 2nd car if you have one.
We have 2 Garmins. I might get a 3rd if one weren't a convertible (attracts car thieves too much).
If you travel through Europe, could you slip your (discontinued) StreetPilot 2610 into your shirt pocket? Nope! Too big.
$475 is a great price. The cheapest that I just saw on Pricegrabber was $529. Make sure that your unit comes with the latest City Navigator North America version 2008 NT maps though.
http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=172
You may have to discuss that with Garmin though since the 370 may not use that NA software in combination with the European maps.
So, I wound up going for the Nuvi370 at Buy.com. I've bought stuff from them in the past with no problems, and the price can't be beat ($475). Once I get the unit I have to see if my waypoints from the 2610 can be transferred to it.
Last thing to do is to either give the older unit to my friend, or put it up on Ebay.
Thanks again,
Mark
It also allowed me to copy them on to my 2nd Garmin unit.
I'm sure you'll find a way.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
Darn it! :mad: I always get burned in F&I! They told me everybody else was paying $1.50. I thought I was getting a deal.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
Those guys sell maps every day - no way us amateurs can avoid leaving some money on the table. If you're happy with your maps, that's what counts.
(psssst, I can get your windshield squeegeed wholesale).
Mark
If you had an excellent, accurate compass, plus a co-pilot in the passenger's seat with an excellent sense of direction and a great ability to read maps, plus a cell phone to call and find all the closest gas stations and restaurants.
So let's see, your total costs would be:
* $1 for the maps
* $50 for a good quality compass
* $80/hour for the hired co-pilot with a degree in Geography
* $40/month in cell phone bills
Let's assume you drive about 10 hours per week, or 520 hours per year, your first year's cost alone would run you...
$1 + $50 + ($80*520) + ($40*12) = $42,131
And that's with the generous assumption that you always have a free seat in the car and that the co-pilot is always at your disposal. :P
I spent less than 10% of that amount and don't expect to have any GPS related expenses in the 2nd year. Maybe $75 in the 3rd year for map updates.
I win.
We did that for a while, about 2 years actually. When we realized we both wanted it pretty much all the time, we got a 2nd one.
With experience, you start using the points-of-interest, taking more detours, checking out what's near by that you may not have known about before.
This last trip I just "discovered" another part of Selbyville along Rt. 113 in Deleware. Found a Shell station there (important because we get 5% back from Shell stations only) and some food, too.
Plus all that was just 1/4 mile off my usual route. I would never have seen it otherwise because I turn off on to Rt. 54 just before that point.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
This is best for people who will only use GPS navigation once in a while, but want to have it available when needed.
It would be a good way to "test-drive" GPS with little initial investment, just make sure you don't sign a long-term contract.
If you have even a minimal data plan and only plan to use the GPS rarely, then you can pay $2.99 per day for the use of Telenav. There is no recurring monthly cost.
You just need a compatible phone with either built-in or external bluetooth GPS and a data plan of any kind.
If you already use a data plan to check email or browse the web on the phone, there is no extra monthly cost.
The "tiny screen" is a non issue. It doesn't take a 7 inch screen to give directions on when and where to turn and the voice directions are great so you don't need to look at the screen while driving.
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/splash/turnbyturn.jsp
http://www.vznavigator.com/
It's good that the data is incuded, so that makes it even cheaper.
Oh, I can get there. It just takes me a bit longer than most people.
On the other hand, I get to see a lot more mint fields and feedlots than those other folks do. :shades:
Bob was touting grids and map skills on his blog the other day (not helmet-head Bob, but Sneakers Bob). Around here the grid is interrupted by the foothills, the river, the bench along the river valley and a few hundred miles of canals crisscrossing the Treasure Valley.
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/controller?item=phoneFirst&action=preZi- - p&featureGroup=VZ+Navigator
VZ Navigator still doesn't require bluetooth or a data plan, just $2.99 per day of use for a very light user.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLMzNmKsXEc&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yurqFgTIm3c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ursqnw5OFJ8
I guess you could use it for a road trip for a day, just that day. But when you got to your destination, wouldn't you still want to have a GPS away from your home town? I would....
There is no negative to having the option to pay as needed for light use or pay a recurring $9.99 fee if you are sure you will use it very often.
I think one of the wireless companies has another option of $4.99 per month for up to 10 routes a month. If you think you might go over, you can pay $9.99 and not worry about counting trips.
I know that was one of the factors for my doing the upgrade to the new unit.
Mark
OK, that last one is for the wife.
:-)
There is a learning curve, and you do tend to get better at entering destinations the way your GPS categorizes them.
I thought that version 6 of the CitySelect North America maps were pretty bad. Still useful, but riddled with errors. I upgraded to v8 last year and it was *MUCH* better. Now any mistakes are few and far between.
Still, I found it hard to believe, but CitySelect didn't list the McDonald's in Bridgeville, DE, right on busy Rt. 13. It's been there for many decades.
Also, CitySelect doesn't list either Shell station on my path to the beach. It's missing the one in Rt. 113 northbound in DE, and another on Rt. 50 just east of the Bay Bridge.
Gas stations are tricky because they change ownership frequently, so they may be listed under Fuel but under the wrong station name. At least the GPS still gets you to a fuel stop, if not the exact one you wanted.
Still, I'd rather pay $85 for a CitySelect update, which comes out about every year, vs. paying Acura $200 plus for a new DVD every two years.
What I do is save the places it's missing under my Favorites.
Since we seem to have such a knowlegable group of people here I figured I would ask a question here that I asked Garmin support for which I am waiting on an answer.
As I had posted recently I picked up the Nuvi370 to replace my older StreetPilot. One thing that I am trying to figure out is on the new Garmin units can you set up way points and routes on your PC, then transfer them? I use to use Mapsource to research all my way points in advance, then transfer them to the GPS. The Nuvi doesn't seem to come with that capability. It seems you can only do research while on the unit itself.
I am interested in this feature because I am trying to set up way points in Hungary for my upcoming trip. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Mark
http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=59352
http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=65416
http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/default.asp?CAT_ID=20
http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=51627
Incidently, nüvis only accept a single waypoint. So you have to do your navigating sequentially.
Thanks for the pointers. I was reading that site last night (work blocks it as well as quite a few others) and was enjoying some of the "conversations". I have also been browsing some of the sites recommended by Garmin at their POI section. Lots of variety.
BTW, I was able to transfer the way points over to the Nuvi. Using MapSource it took about 30 seconds. Part of my problem is I am trying to find places we want to go to in Hungary on the Nuvi and it is not intuitive to me yet. Still used to opening MapSource, finding locations, then transferring them to the unit.
Mark
You may be working too hard. You may not even need to import all of those memory-hogging POIs.
I recommend that you first identify the places that you want to visit, perhaps in a travel guidebook or online. Then, using the nüvi's Where To function, locate them and save them as Favorites while still at home. When you get to the general area (in Hungary or elsewhere), just go to your list of Favorites (big red lips on my nüvi 350), choose the one you want, press GO, and navigate to it.
When you return home, you can just delete the ones you no longer wish to retain.
That's why I wrote earlier that I've never bothered with POIs. I've no need for them.
As for the navigation part, it was simple to use and kind of nice that it would tell me where the rest stops were.