Man, I think you get the "astute shopper award", I probably spelled astute wrong.
The display in your insert looks pretty good too.
The display in your insert looks pretty good too.
Bottom-of-the-line GPS's
- Thread starter bwhite
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I just got the TomTom One 3rd at Staples on Black Friday. It works very good. I deliver pizzas and I havn't had an address where it got me lost.
Well, resurrecting an old thread, short version, I received a TomTom 720 that is supposed to be pretty good, but, after really trying to use it sent it back for the following reasons. I've been researching and researching, seems like one of the Garmin 600 or 700 series nuvi's or a Magellean 4040 will be next. If anyone has any experience or thoughts on these please advise. In any event, below are the problems with the 720, I'm hoping not to repeat them with the next purchase:
1. First and foremost, I couldn't stand the bizzare routing, The final straw was:
I was on a straight path pointed to my daughter's school and it tried to take me hugely outta the way thinking it was "faster".
2. It lags in showing my position ofttimes I had already passed a road or exit when it had yet to show me getting there. It was ok at low speeds so I don't think it's processor is fast enough.
3. It wierdly zooms into a turn area and back out, most likely because of #2, it doesn't think I'm at the turn zone yet. 2. They say that users can upload corrections and then receive corrections submitted by other users. Never happened.
3. Screwed up maps, on day one the thing tried to send me over a cliff and then thru someone's yard to the back end of a deadend streed. Glad it was daytime or I may have ruined wifey's new car.
4. Supposedly you can map a route via google maps and import it to the 720; not.
All replies and advice welcomed, yup, I've spent a lot of time on the GPS boards researching, no clear winner.
1. First and foremost, I couldn't stand the bizzare routing, The final straw was:
I was on a straight path pointed to my daughter's school and it tried to take me hugely outta the way thinking it was "faster".
2. It lags in showing my position ofttimes I had already passed a road or exit when it had yet to show me getting there. It was ok at low speeds so I don't think it's processor is fast enough.
3. It wierdly zooms into a turn area and back out, most likely because of #2, it doesn't think I'm at the turn zone yet. 2. They say that users can upload corrections and then receive corrections submitted by other users. Never happened.
3. Screwed up maps, on day one the thing tried to send me over a cliff and then thru someone's yard to the back end of a deadend streed. Glad it was daytime or I may have ruined wifey's new car.
4. Supposedly you can map a route via google maps and import it to the 720; not.
All replies and advice welcomed, yup, I've spent a lot of time on the GPS boards researching, no clear winner.
I received the "OmniTech" GPS as a Christmas present. It also comes with a 1.0 G SD card. I was told the OmniTech cost only about $100 after rebates, discounts and being on sale. Apparenly some online research had very positive reviews. I haven't hooked it up yet.
These old eyes were hoping to stay with the 4.3" screens but it seems that the extra size may be something that is slowing down the screen painting on somje of the units.
RetroMUFC
Member
To reply about the route calculations being off - I have tried several GPS's and none can compare to your knowledge of having the route in your head. I think they will work when you absolutely have no idea how to get there, they can then get you there but you will most likely take a route that goes through several back alley's and throughout the countryside.
I think that overall the best reason to own a GPS is that it actually shows your location real time so you don't need to find your location on a map. As for the poster that said he bought a map for $3.50, you obviously have never tried a GPS or you will see there is really no comparison.
My father-in-law has the Tom Tom One 3rd ed. that I got him for xmas and it works well. I paid a little over $150 for it & the only issue is the route one. We planned in a trip to a nearby town for dinner one evening and it tried to take us about 5-10 miles out of the way. Once we passed by the original turn it recalculated our route the way we usually go and it was then accurate.
I have the garmin 200w as my portable unit and it actually does pretty good with the routes and is a widescreen unit with a very nice screen. I use it for work when I travel around eastern NC. It was actually almost $400 though on ebay about 6 months ago so it was far more expensive then the Tom Tom. I have found with this unit and the routes, it will estimate arrival time and it is usually within about 1-2 minutes of being accurate. I think that is works very well.
In my vehicle I have the Kenwood KNA-G510 which is manufactured by Garmin connected to a Kenwood head and it works very nice as well, although the maps are a little out of date now. Routes do well on this unit too, and having it connected to a 7" screen on the head is killer.
I think that overall the best reason to own a GPS is that it actually shows your location real time so you don't need to find your location on a map. As for the poster that said he bought a map for $3.50, you obviously have never tried a GPS or you will see there is really no comparison.
My father-in-law has the Tom Tom One 3rd ed. that I got him for xmas and it works well. I paid a little over $150 for it & the only issue is the route one. We planned in a trip to a nearby town for dinner one evening and it tried to take us about 5-10 miles out of the way. Once we passed by the original turn it recalculated our route the way we usually go and it was then accurate.
I have the garmin 200w as my portable unit and it actually does pretty good with the routes and is a widescreen unit with a very nice screen. I use it for work when I travel around eastern NC. It was actually almost $400 though on ebay about 6 months ago so it was far more expensive then the Tom Tom. I have found with this unit and the routes, it will estimate arrival time and it is usually within about 1-2 minutes of being accurate. I think that is works very well.
In my vehicle I have the Kenwood KNA-G510 which is manufactured by Garmin connected to a Kenwood head and it works very nice as well, although the maps are a little out of date now. Routes do well on this unit too, and having it connected to a 7" screen on the head is killer.
Thanx Retro, I think our Florida rental cars used some Garmin model too, don't know which, they were great. The 7" screens are indeed great, my wife's honda has one. I originally was going for a Magellean 4040 @ $299, they review as having routing very close to Garmin, the TT 720's routes were always 30% longer timewise on FASTEST in the user time trials. I'm gonna buy close to home next time so that I can easily return if similar difficencies arise.
Bentley
Member
geoff5093 said:
Couln't agree more! I have the TomTom also, VERY easy to use. 100% FREE map updates which you cant beat! Also, you can create , modify , add , etc your own POI (points of interest) . Furthermore, you can download , also for free , poi files ( I will put some links at the bottom of my post) . All kinds of things on the tomtom to 'tinker' with, like download celeb voices, color schemes, etc.
I have had a few different units in the past, and none surpass the tomtom. Especially for the price, I would actually pay triple for one of these units!
POIs
mikeydcg2003
Member
Because i do what's called Geocaching and also being an avid disc golfer in the spring summer and fall, i went with the Garmin eTrex Vista CX. https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=326
It has the navigation but it does not have turn by turn which doesn't both me. You can zoom in far enough to know exactly where you are at. The Hanhelds like this also give you more data from the sattelite such as Lat/Long Coords, Speeds(Max/Min Current) Time of Day, and is fully programmable to whatever maps you want to put on there. It takes a MicroSD based card and can be easily upgraded via Garmin Updater via a USB enabled PC. It's a nice unit but does lack the turn by turn that most people want.
It has the navigation but it does not have turn by turn which doesn't both me. You can zoom in far enough to know exactly where you are at. The Hanhelds like this also give you more data from the sattelite such as Lat/Long Coords, Speeds(Max/Min Current) Time of Day, and is fully programmable to whatever maps you want to put on there. It takes a MicroSD based card and can be easily upgraded via Garmin Updater via a USB enabled PC. It's a nice unit but does lack the turn by turn that most people want.
I picked up a Garmin Vista HCx for the same reason, MicroSD expandability. It also lets you set its logging to default to the MicroSD card and stores them in GPX format so I can switch it to USB storage mode and plug it in and pull the logs for use such as geoencoding pictures withut needing any garmin software.
I completely agree! Also, what I love about the TomTom One is that it has a built-in battery, so it doesn't restart if your car stalls or you need to turn it off for a few minutes. It's also useful if you want to take it with you on a short trip, or in an emergency.Bentley said:
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