Grand Poobah of Global Positioning System; aka: GPS

[DRAGOONRANCH]

Flem's Baby Jesus's B-day present got me to thinking...

What do yall have, and how do you like it? I have the Microsoft Streets and Trips for the computer and it came with a small usb "antenna" that you can throw on your dash while driving. It works real well for trips, but you have to have room for a laptop in your front seat somewhere for this to be feasible. Jotto Desk makes a good vehicle laptop desk if anyone ever cares to look this far into it. I have an etrex at the house, but dont know any more about it than it is yellow and black, and has a monochrome display. The MS S&T's is a great progam for mapping out trips. It allows you to print out driving maps (which you can e-mail pictures of to family and friends if needed), turn by turn directions, and combinations of both. You can also plug in the cost of fuel, your estimated MPG for the trip and your fuel tank size, and it will give you estimated refill points along w/ the cost of the trip in fuel. I am looking to pick up a handheld that can be plugged in to the laptop and act as the antenna, and also be a good trail mapping tool.


Here are some of the previous GPS threads that got started on here.


http://tamor.org/forums/showthread.p...&highlight=gps

http://tamor.org/forums/showthread.p...&highlight=gps

http://tamor.org/forums/showthread.p...&highlight=gps

http://tamor.org/forums/showthread.p...&highlight=gps

http://tamor.org/forums/showthread.p...&highlight=gps

http://tamor.org/forums/showthread.p...&highlight=gps

A free beer to anybody that can remember who used to call themself's "The Lesser Grand Poobah"

[robertf03]

the etrex that I have is perfect for off roading, biking, basically anything outdoors. Its not a navigation system. You can buy maps for it, and its got a pretty decent set of major highways with food or restroom exits marked, but there is no voice.

The csx 60 is a little nicer with some features you probably won't ever use, bigger screen, external antenna port, and a traditional serial port along with the usb link that the etrex has.

the external antenna port isn't really an issue anymore, they work fine behind a windsheild. Serial ports are for kustom experimental type stuff like location reporting over amateur or frs radio, maybe gis plotting, or being a cheapass and using your pda with free/stolen software as a navigation system.

[Jackasic]

My guess would be mark.

I received a TomTom for Christmas, it is more of street map, but does give GPS from anywhere. I'll use it some and get back to you on how it work.

[FJAggie07]

I got the Garmin Nuvi 350 for x mas. It is pretty nice, has MP3 capabilities and text to speech (tells you when you are approaching the hookers and blow on MLK drive). It does the map to coordinates but is definitely a street nav unit rather than an elevation gps waypoint unit...

[Reckless]

I got the Magellan Crossover, does turn by turn and topography. water proof and rugged. gpsstore.com $300

[mark]

No, I'm not the Baby Grand Poobah.

I have the Blackberry 8700 (with GPS) running TeleNav. Works exceptionally well as a street nav system so long as you have cell coverage when you calculate the route.

The network connectivity allows you to get traffic, gas prices etc. The maps are always up to date. It does voice and 3D navigation as well.

$10/month from Cingular and it integrates with the existing address book in the BB.

It is a good supplement to the laptop/DeLorme/GPS puck system I use for more complex trips.

-Mark

[DRAGOONRANCH]

I got the Magellan Crossover, does turn by turn and topography. water proof and rugged. gpsstore.com $300

I have heard tales of this, but thought it couldn't be true.


You sir are a hightech redneck.


Hint #1: The LGP was/is an employee of the University.

[Graystroke]

I got the garmin nuvi 200... will do everything I need...didn't feel the need for mp3 player and all that jazz. Cabela's had them for $169 right b4 Christmas.
I have an old Garmin III I got in 2000. It has a shatty B/W small screen, is very user unfriendly. pointer jumps around. takes 50 keystrokes to set a way point while you almost wreck. I paid $350 for it and that was a deal back in the day. I think I bought it out of a GPS store in Florida off the web. It still works, is waterproof,used it in all my cars..was my speedo in a lot of them for a while, had it on my BMW bike hardwired up, has taken me offshoe into the ocean 20 miles out and back...kinda scary now that I think about it. That's why I bought another Garmin b/c the first one was/is still good to me. I guess I will mount the old one in the rover permanently.

[JeepPhisherman]

I gave my brother one of the 600's for Xmas, the 650 or 660 maybe? Anyway, it has a bunch of extra crap on it that no one would ever use from a GPS like jpeg viewer, bluetooth and mp3 player, so we returned and were going to buy the 350, but it still has a bunch of gay **** on it, so we ordered the 250W from Dell. It got good reviews everywhere I read and the only thing it doesnt do gps wise that the other ones do is call out the name of the streets to turn on. Since it's screen is much larger than the 350, you can just look down and read in size 24 font the name of the street.

If you're seriously looking for one, check out any of the Garmin Nuvi series, but the 250W is probably the best in my book, unless you need a gps/mp3 player/picture frame/can opener/douche. I couldn't find it in any brick and mortor stores though, so Dell or any other online retailers might be your best bet.

[Graystroke]

Cabela's has it. I think it is on sale for $229 right now.
edit: it may be $249 their website sucks for selecting a GPS it list all models on the same page and tells you about models you can't even add to your cart.

also check out pricegrabber.com you can find anything on there. I think I saw the 200w for $213 on there

[JeepPhisherman]

There was something about the 200W that made it sucky in comparison to the 250W, but I don't remember what it was and I don't feel like looking it up. Maybe the pre-loaded maps weren't as complete or something?

$250 for the nuvi 250W is a great price, if anyone is looking for one, I'd suggest picking it up for that.

[DRAGOONRANCH]

Grandad just sent me an e-mail stating that the Garmin Nuvi 750 is on sale at Sam's for $299 +tax. He has already bought two of them (one for him, one for my brother who is now back on the open road thank god (so watch out )) and I think I am going to have him get me one and see if it's any better than my laptop and streets and trips setup.

[BMFScout]

what graystroke said about the nuvi 200. I use it everyday because I am a retard when it comes to directions or road names. come to think of it, i'm a retard and I have had no problems with it. it may not always be the best way to get somewhere, but when I have no clue (usually) it gets me there.

[85cj7]

i've got the garmin etrex vista and it was just ok untill i bought the maps of texas cds for like 100 bucks now its baddass.But you are limited to the state for detailed maps otherwise it reverts back to the basics.

[AggieTJ2007]

Grandad just sent me an e-mail stating that the Garmin Nuvi 750 is on sale at Sam's for $299 +tax. He has already bought two of them (one for him, one for my brother who is now back on the open road thank god (so watch out )) and I think I am going to have him get me one and see if it's any better than my laptop and streets and trips setup.

Good to hear that eric is back on the road.