Yet another GPS question August 05, 2009, 09:45:31 am Yahoo Message Number: 104525We'll be picking up our 2009 31' IB from the mothership mid-September so we are planning for the trip. Our unit does not include the built-in GPS so we need to select a portable unit. I've searched the archives and there seems to be a consensus for Garmin, but the plethora of models is confusing and they ones that have been recommended are already discontinued. What we would like is one that covers the US and Mexico as we plan on RVing south of the border. We want to have the unit in hand before we travel to Montclair. Recommendations?Thanks, Richard
Re: Yet another GPS question Reply #1 – August 05, 2009, 10:04:35 am Yahoo Message Number: 104527Quote From: richardg1952 Subject: [LD] Yet another GPS questionWe'll be picking up our 2009 31' IB from the mothership mid-September so we are planning for the trip. Our unit does not include the built-in GPS so we need to select a portable unit. Thanks, RichardRichard,The two major players are Garmin and Tom Tom (with Garmin being the biggest). Garmin's line of Nuvi's is excellent. They have come down in size and price, while improving even more in ease of use, sensitivity to GPS signals and lock in speed. Prices vary from about $150 to over $600 depending on features you want. Go to www.garmin.com and use their "compare" page to see what you want.bumper
Re: Yet another GPS question Reply #2 – August 05, 2009, 11:23:29 am Yahoo Message Number: 104529The latest issue of Consumer Reports has a one page article on GPS -- but it's at home and I'm not, so I can't tell which models they recommended. I'm not convinced wide-screen models offer much. Since most GPS displays are "heads up" a wide screen shows a better side view, but doesn't offer a better view of where you're headed. If you ever plan to use the GPS hand-held, the wide screen is bulkier, and probably reduces battery life. As for Mexico, I know that Garmin's Mexico map is a separate purchase -- in my Nuvi model the map data is on an SD card that plugs into the slot on the unit. Some models may let you load the map data into main memory via USB, not sure on this. At any event, don't expect the same amount of detail for Mexico as is available for US & Canada. I believe that the blue-tooth equipped models let you use the GPS as a hands-free speaker-phone; useful in states that require hands-free (and assuming your celphone is blue-tooth capable)The choices really are bewildering .. hope this helps a little /noel/
Re: Yet another GPS question Reply #3 – August 05, 2009, 08:31:08 pm Yahoo Message Number: 104545We purchased a Garm
Re: Yet another GPS question Reply #4 – August 05, 2009, 10:26:00 pm Yahoo Message Number: 104547I recently bought a Garmin Nüvi 855 for a little over $200, replacing my faithful old StreetPilot 2610. I like everything about it, but especially the voice recognition. It lets me do most GPS operations without taking my hands off the wheel or even looking at the GPS--a big safety advantage for a solo driver like me. One thing I wasn't crazy about initially: the Nüvi's speakers are smaller and sound tinnier than the StreetPilot's, at least with the default voices. But then I discovered the British English voice "Daniel," a rich baritone that really comes through loud and clear. Now I can actually understand the Nüvi even better than the StreetPilot (which had excellent intelligibility). I just have to remember that when Daniel says "Take slip road on right to I-25 north," he means "Take ramp on right..." ;-) If any of you are having trouble understanding your Nüvi's spoken prompts in the default American voices, check your settings to see whether you have the British English "Daniel" voice and give it a try. Anybody want to buy a perfectly good StreetPilot 2610 with full USA maps built in? ;-)Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Yet another GPS question Reply #5 – August 06, 2009, 04:06:38 pm Yahoo Message Number: 104557Hello Richard: Here are the current Consumer Reports recommendations. Basic units: Garmin Nuvi 265T TomTom One 140/140sFull Featured Models: Garmin Nuvi 885T TomTom Go 740 Nuvi 765T Nuvi 760The Full Featured models have lots of bells & whistles that may, or may not, be of interest to you. I know I would have no need for Blue Tooth, Live traffic reports, built in MP-3 player, microwave oven, etc. Your needs may vary. Enjoy your new LD.Ed
Re: Yet another GPS question Reply #6 – August 06, 2009, 07:27:50 pm Yahoo Message Number: 104561In the past 2 years, I have purchased GPS units from every major provider including Magellan (now owned by Mio), Garmin, and Tom Tom. I have used both high end units (Garmin 760), Tom Tom 930, and Magellan 4000 series. Although user preferences vary greatly, my most recent purchase (Magellan Roadmate 1340) has been a great find for me. I liked it so much, that I bought a 2nd unit at Costco for $99 for the wife . Comes with AAA tour book, newer style one-touch favorites interface, speaks street names, and highlighted Interstate route directions for easy transitions when traveling on highways. Obviously, I hihgly recommend the unit for its features and great value.
Re: Yet another GPS question Reply #7 – August 06, 2009, 10:44:52 pm Yahoo Message Number: 104565On Thu, 06 Aug 2009 23:27:44 -0000, "chou yun fat" tdong@...> wrote:QuoteI hihgly recommend the unit for its features and great value. I could never take seriously anyone who posts here as chou yun fat
Re: Yet another GPS question Reply #8 – August 07, 2009, 02:19:55 am Yahoo Message Number: 104569QuoteFull Featured Models: Garmin Nuvi 885T TomTom Go 740 Nuvi 765T Nuvi 760The Full Featured models have lots of bells & whistles that may, or >may not, be of interest to you. I know I would have no need for Blue >Tooth, Live traffic reports, built in MP-3 player, microwave oven, >etc. Your needs may vary. I have the Nuvi 765T and drive in California where hands free cell phone use is the law - and increasingly enforced. It moves between my LD and my daily drive and fills the bill for hands free bluetooth. Since I also wear hearing aids, the usual in-the-ear bluetooth devices simply aren't compatible. I thought I'd never use the traffic report feature either but it's literally saved me a ton of hassle driving I-5 already, so yes Ed, needs vary. I may not need that feature but I sure do appreciate that it's there. I did try the TomTom Go 740 but did not like the very obtrusive and barely understandable "voice directions" it gave me here in So Cal where there are lots of Spanish street names. As a long time Garmin user, (I gave up my Street Pilot for the Bluetooth), the TomTom seemed to talk too much and usually gave complex barely understandable verbiage just as I was in a critical turn whereas the Nuvi seemed to be more driver aware. A passenger might not notice but a truck or LD driver sure will. It's like a back seat driver trying to butt in at the wrong times. Little feature differences also mean a lot. ie: The Nuvi is sunset aware and switches from day to night automatically. The TomTom requires driver action. A glaring "oops" IMHO. With careful shopping, the differences between full featured and basic are really small. I bought the best (LD) why not equip it using the same philosophy? Don
Re: Yet another GPS question Reply #9 – August 07, 2009, 05:32:07 am Yahoo Message Number: 104570Do any of these gadgets let you program multiple stops? My Magellan only lets me do one destination at a time, & how often do we just go to one place? I know I can add all the addresses, it would just be less of a hassle if I could not reprogram each stop as I'm driving.Rose
Re: Yet another GPS question Reply #10 – August 07, 2009, 10:50:10 am Yahoo Message Number: 104573Don Malpas wrote: I could never take seriously anyone who posts here as chou yun fat tdong@... --- Why not? AFAIK, "Chow Yun Fat" (or, alternately, "Chou Yun Fat") is an actor from Hong Kong; the poster, whose *email address* seems to be "tdong@ whatever", is apparently just using this name as a web ID. Is it really any different from "cool_delta_mike"? I agree that posters should sign their names to their posts, but I wouldn't necessarily discount the worth of any information just because of a poster's chosen web ID.Joan
Re: Yet another GPS question Reply #11 – August 07, 2009, 10:55:37 am Yahoo Message Number: 104574"Do any of these gadgets let you program multiple stops?" See message #104099 for a list of fourteen Garmin models that permit multi-point routing.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Yet another GPS question Reply #12 – August 07, 2009, 11:16:48 am Yahoo Message Number: 104576"I could never take seriously..." I'm with Joan. With valued and respected members named "bumpersoar" and "flyingpaps," it ill behooves us to point the finger at anyone's screen name. Besides, how do we know it's *not* Chou Yun Fat? Plenty of celebrities are RVers. :-)Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Yet another GPS question & Chou Yun Fat Reply #13 – August 07, 2009, 12:15:58 pm Yahoo Message Number: 104577Quote "I could never take seriously..." "I'm with Joan. With valued and respected members named "bumpersoar" and "flyingpaps," it ill behooves us to point the finger at anyone's screen name. Besides, how do we know it's *not* Chou Yun Fat? Plenty of celebrities are RVers. :-)"Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/ Don can speak for himself, but I read his comment as tongue-in-cheeky without the winkemoticon to tell us that.Chris
Re: Yet another GPS question & Chou Yun Fat Reply #14 – August 07, 2009, 01:01:54 pm Yahoo Message Number: 104578Just a gentle ribbing, but I'm still waiting to see an Andy Baird post WITHOUT an emoticon!Jim
Re: Yet another GPS question Reply #15 – August 07, 2009, 01:48:29 pm Yahoo Message Number: 104579Quote... Besides, how do we know it's *not* Chou Yun Fat? Plenty of celebrities are RVers. :-) Because that's not how the actor usually spells his name.Joanne in Boston NE-44
Re: Yet another GPS question & Chou Yun Fat Reply #16 – August 07, 2009, 01:53:44 pm Yahoo Message Number: 104580On Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:15:14 -0000, "Chris Horst" wrote:QuoteDon can speak for himself, but I read his comment as tongue-in-cheeky without the winkemoticon to tell us that.Chris Chris, I use an old fashioned text based email program for security reasons. It's a real pain to use graphics in it. BTW Chris, we are in your home state - in the Curecanti NRAJoan, delta mike are my initials and plain delta mike was already taken. No offence to Mr Fat, but some of the names used here of late seem to be leg pullers.Cheers, Don
Re: Yet another GPS question & Chou Yun Fat Reply #17 – August 07, 2009, 02:27:27 pm Yahoo Message Number: 104581Quote... No offence to Mr Fat, but some of the names used here of late seem to be leg pullers. Since he's Chinese, it's Mr. Chow. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000334/
Re: Yet another GPS question & Chou Yun Fat Reply #18 – August 07, 2009, 03:42:31 pm Yahoo Message Number: 104582Quote "I'm with Joan. With valued and respected members named "bumpersoar" and "flyingpaps," it ill behooves us to point the finger at anyone's screen name. Besides, how do we know it's *not* Chou Yun Fat? Plenty of celebrities are RVers. :-)"Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/ Oh . . . and just what is *wrong* with "bumpersoar"??? (grin, g, or :c) At the time, someone else had already taken "bumper" and "bumperm", and since I'm passionate about soaring, among other things . . .bumper
Re: emoticons Reply #19 – August 07, 2009, 03:51:13 pm Yahoo Message Number: 104583"I use an old fashioned text based email program for security reasons. It's a real pain to use graphics in it." So do i, Don. Even if I could put on graphics, it wouldn't matter--this group doesn't allow graphics in posts, so Yahoo would just strip them off. But the "emoticons" Chris ands Jim were referring to aren't graphics--they're plain text sequences like the smile :-) and wink ;-) that are used to convey emotions in a text-only medium that can otherwise lend itself to misinterpretation. Many years ago I learned from several embarrassing incidents that what the person writing a post thinks is an obvious joke or ironic remark can be taken by readers as a dead-serious insult. They can't hear the smile in your voice or see you winking, so you have to put it in your text as a :-) or ;-) so they'll know what you mean.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Yet another GPS question & Chou Yun Fat Reply #20 – August 07, 2009, 03:56:32 pm Yahoo Message Number: 104584"At the time, someone else had already taken 'bumper' and 'bumperm,' and since I'm passionate about soaring, among other things . . ." The soaring part is understandable, but I've always wondered how "John Morgan" turned into "Bumper." ;-) Unless perhaps you've worked on the Bumper series sounding rockets...?Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Yet another GPS question & Chou Yun Fat Reply #21 – August 07, 2009, 04:09:55 pm Yahoo Message Number: 104585Quote From: Andy Baird To: lifewithalazydazerv@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, August 07, 2009 12:56 PM Subject: [LD] Re: Yet another GPS question & Chou Yun FatThe soaring part is understandable, but I've always wondered how "John Morgan" turned into "Bumper." ;-) Unless perhaps you've worked on the Bumper series sounding rockets...?Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/Nope, simpler and less exciting than that. I was an Oakland CA cop for 10 years in the '70's. Rode motors for awhile too. Motorcycle cops are a bit like frustrated fighter pilots, I guess. In any case they choose nicknames for each other. Then there was the book, "The Blue Knight" by Joseph Wambough. Lead character was a pudgy, Tums popping LA beat cop, one "Bumper Morgan" - - - and my last name is Morgan. That's all it took.bumper (aka John Morgan) Yonder Minden, NV
Re: Yet another GPS question & Chou Yun Fat Reply #22 – August 07, 2009, 04:18:38 pm Yahoo Message Number: 104586Quote From: Andy Baird To: lifewithalazydazerv@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, August 07, 2009 12:56 PM Subject: [LD] Re: Yet another GPS question & Chou Yun FatThe soaring part is understandable, but I've always wondered how "John Morgan" turned into "Bumper." ;-) Unless perhaps you've worked on the Bumper series sounding rockets...?Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/"Nope, simpler and less exciting than that. I was an Oakland CA cop for 10 years in the '70's. Rode motors for awhile too. Motorcycle cops are a bit like frustrated fighter pilots, I guess. In any case they choose nicknames for each other. Then there was the book, "The Blue Knight" by Joseph Wambough. Lead character was a pudgy, Tums popping LA beat cop, one "Bumper Morgan" - - - and my last name is Morgan. That's all it took."bumper (aka John Morgan) Yonder Minden, NV Great story, bumper, but now for the rest of the story...why no capitalized B? Aren't we a nosy bunch?Chris
Re: Yet another GPS question & Chou Yun Fat Reply #23 – August 07, 2009, 04:34:48 pm Yahoo Message Number: 104587Quote From: Chris Horst To: lifewithalazydazerv@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, August 07, 2009 1:18 PM Subject: [LD] Re: Yet another GPS question & Chou Yun FatGreat story, bumper, but now for the rest of the story...why no capitalized B? Aren't we a nosy bunch?ChrisOh, that. Probably more a personality trait or flaw than anything else. I was successful growing a small business (25 employees) after I left the department. The lower case was sort of a "come down" or attempt at humility, if you will, from the Mr. Morgan and Sir thing . . . though I did convince most longer term employees to just call me John.bumper
Re: Yet another GPS question & Chou Yun Fat Reply #24 – August 07, 2009, 05:29:24 pm Yahoo Message Number: 104588"Lead character was a pudgy, Tums popping LA beat cop, one 'Bumper Morgan' - - - and my last name is Morgan."Ah! Makes perfect sense. :-)Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
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