GPS units

[stovebolts]

Anyone have any GPS units? I got a tomtom and just tried it out from Michigan to Washington and back.

Thankfully I know the route and was able to shave off a few miles here and there. I found out that if you do shorter trips, it's more accurate than trying to route across the country in one whack.

Other than checking it with a real map, I love it! It's nice to know where stuff like gas stations, banks / atm's and hotels (w/numbers) are at and not have to worry about gettng directions to them! Just turn when the voice tells you to turn and if you miss a turn, it'll automatically re-route you :-D

 

[Rick W]

The wife has it on her cell.
We use it quite a bit since we moved to an unfamiliar area. One time I missed a turn and it said, "recalculating". A few seconds later it then announced rather matter-of-factly, "Make the next legal U-turn."
:

Another time we were at a park in an area without "routed" roads. Upon turning the thing on it said, "Go to the nearest road."
:

 

[stovebolts]

Ha! Gotta love it :-D

I took HWY 212 out of MT and into WYO and there was a section that the map was off for about a mile or so and the GPS showed me driving in the weeds :o Another time when I was on I-80 across South Dakota going through some construction, they put us on the westbound side of the freeway. Talk about missing with the GPS :

All in all I'm really happy with it. I like that I can search the points of interest and it will automatically route me to them. We were looking for an Applebees and a Wallmart in Spokane and they both came right up :D

 

[Rick W]

All in all I'm very impressed with the technology. It's one of those things unimaginable when I was a young man. That and the internet.
All those professing psychics around and not one ever predicted the net, something that changed the world in more ways than we may know.

 

[tim-from-pa]

Keep in mind that GPS units know your location by the satellite "triangulation". Your latitude and longitude are fed into the unit by the satellites. The maps and instructions themselves come off of the software within the GPS unit. It's analogous to someone telling you your location on a map, but then you figure your directions based on your local map. The directions do not come from the satellites.

In that sense, it really is not all that complicated with today's computers with enough memory to hold all those maps and instructions.

 

[Vic C.]

"Make the next legal U-turn."

:smt044 :smt044

Keep in mind that GPS units know your location by the satellite "triangulation".

... and that is why I prefer maps. :robot:

 

[Lewis]

I use my Blackberry GPS feature ,I downloaded software that gives me a turn by turn female voice GPS system that works like a charm. And then I can switch it to Google earth and get a actual picture of what my destination looks like satellite. This great stuff. Oh I forgot I do not have to switch it to Google earth, to see the actual pictures of anywhere, I can do it within the Amaze v4.5 GPS program that I downloaded.

 

[tim-from-pa]

I'm glad this got bumped up. Since my last post, I then only had one GPS unit (an older one). Since then we got a new talking one (I use the British woman's voice :D ) and each of my 2 boys who live away from home here (going to college) have one. Between the cell phones, the GPS and the emergency calls on the GPS, it is less stressful to travel as you always know where you are and only a call away from help.

 

[Lewis]

Hey Tim, last summer I also purchased off of ebay a Bluethooth GPS receiver it is a Wintec G Rays 2 what I like about it is that it is small and has a magnet on the back, so you can put it in the kids car or your wife can put it in here pocket book and you can track her by your home computer in case something happens to her. And it uses Google Earth, and with the way things are with kids you can keep it in childs backpack and always know where he is, and what street and addy he is at.

 

[tim-from-pa]

Yeah, thanks. I may look into that in the near future. That reminds me of the same thing they installed in the more pricey cars to track in case it was stolen. With all the tracking electronic gizmos they have these days, it's a wonder that criminals are going to be stupid enough to rob, steal, break-in or whatever because they can be instantly tracked. This is better than the stolen bank money that sprays ink! :D

 

[Lewis]

Only paid 60 bucks fir it Tim.