What's a good GPS??

[.44 mag]

I was wondering if anyone could suggest a good GPS system? I'd like to find something that has good map quality and would also provide locations of places required when towing (i. e. diesel fuel, campgrounds, dump stations, etc. ). The ability to be linked with a back-up camera and be used "off road" would also be high points.



Thanks,



Hank

 

[YFZBOB]

They're out there. Depends on your budget... You can get well over a grand for those options.



http://www.gps4fun.com/gar_sp_7200.php



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Garmin StreetPilot 7200 GPS Features



The StreetPilot 7200 offers a number of new and exclusive upgrades, including:



WAAS enabled; 12 parallel channel GPS



Antenna: Built-in GPS patch-style antenna; MCX-type connector for external GPS antenna



Unit Dimensions: 7. 5”W x 4. 5”H x 2. 2”D



Display: 7” (16:9) WQVGA, 480 x 234 pixel, color TFT with automatic dimming backlight and touch screen



Weight: 1. 4 pounds



SD card slot and 700 mb of internal memory provides storage for MP3, audio books and additional MapSource products



Built-in speaker for radio and navigation instructions



Composite video input for external analog source such as backup camera



Send audio to the car stereo through the integrated FM wireless transmitter or 3. 5 mm stereo headphone/line-out plug



User-selectable languages for voice and text



EXCELLENT CHOICE FOR RV Drivers and Delivery Trucks!

 

[bulabula]

If you already own a laptop and don't mind running it in the cab, for less than $100 you can find a GPS unit/antenna that plugs directly into the laptop via USB. All the maps and info is stored and displayed on the laptop.



Dunno about the video link capability. For off-road (not marine use) you might want to ask for a mapping program that has topographical information rather than road info.

 

[.44 mag]

Thanks for the replies. I haven't played with any of these things before. My wife doesn't read maps so good and I'm on the road quite a bit; thought it might be time to look into getting one. I like the idea of having a topo map option for running out in the dessert or in the mountains, that's a good point. We don't have a laptop computer yet... . and I'm not really the guy to use one. I'd rather get a stand alone GPS that would handle our needs and integrate into the cab of the truck nicely without too much trouble.



Thanks again,



Hank

 

[cruiser_2]

I have an older Garmin GPS 5 and I like it for the most part... would love to upgrade, as I have 5 gig memory for local maps and routes. I like the new color models and plan to buy one within the next 6 months. I have heard TomTom's are very nice, but have yet to uyse one or met anyone that have used them. I travel a lot and would like to have one that is a little better than the one I have now.



Anyone out there that has a tom tom pleas PM me would love to hear from you and chat about it



Anyone want to buy a cheap GPS 5??????

 

[RJOL]

... Anyone out there that has a tom tom pleas PM me would love to hear from you and chat about it...

I'll PM you if you need more details but my recent experience with TomTom is less then satisfactory.



I purchased the Palmone GPS Kit to go with my Palm E2 PDA. The map software is supplied by TomTom and is the same as the software in their stand alone GPS units.



The install did not go smoothly and I had to do a hard reset and reload my E2 to finally get the TomTom software to load.



You will need at least 512MB of memory to load either the Western or Eastern US. It will also take most of the evening to load it, unless you have a card reader/writer.



The 3D maps are very good, but the overall program has a lot of layers to it, isn't user friendly, and takes a bit of practice to figure out how to do things with it.



Now the bad points: TomTom customer support is terrible. You can't talk to a human and they took a full week to email me back when I told them I had a software loading problem. When they did email me it was an automated response with automated suggestions that did not apply to my situation.



If you just want to get from point A to B and don't care how you get there it does a pretty good job. If you want to plan an itenerary it is not user friendly and after you load your waypoints it will still try to guide you back to the road it wants to use even though the route you planned is showing correctly. On one practice run I intentionally got off course to see how it would correct me back on track. It wanted me to take a turn that I know to be a dead end road. Not good if I had been towing my 32' fifth wheel.



When POI's are turned on you get a lot of them. Unfortunately it really seems to like fastfood restaurants and will show you where every McDonalds/Burger King is but not filter it for regular restaurants. When I turned on the Gas Station POI's it did show some but not others. I selected Rest Areas and it didn't show hardly any of them. Don't know what the criteria is for their POI's but they leave a lot to be desired.



If your going to use a gps for fulltiming I would recommend looking at one of the full size units like Garmin Street Pilot or Lawrence (sp?). Id get one with all the maps loaded internally (i. e. doen't use a memory card that you have to load).



The TomTom just isn't up to snuff and it doesn't matter if you get the program that runs with your PD or the stand alone. It's the same program and the same company that will not help you if you have a problem...