Gps Questions

[hangfire77]

Hello, What a great forum. I have been lurking for a few days trying to soak up the info and lingo. There is a lot! If you more experienced people can sound off I would appreciate it. I have a 30' travel trailer that I bought last year. The family has really enjoyed it and I plan on taking long trips camping this summer. I live on the west coast in VA. We are talking about Loooong trips already like the Grand Canyon. So I thought that a GPS would be a great investment. Little did I realize the enormity of these things and the great sport of Geocache. It sounds like fun and cant wait to try it with my family. Ok so here I go. I would like a GPS that I can use in the car that has auto route and can at least beep at me when I need to turn. I like the idea of the type of software that I can punch in the upcoming exist and get info on restaurants truck stops and P.O.I. But I would also like it to be portable. Because when we get to a campsite there will be hiking involved. I see that Garmin has a topo map that is great for the outdoorsy people with campground info and ranger stations and such. I was looking at the Garmin gpsV and like it ok. It has the free software for the streets and looks ok. I was hoping for something with a larger screen though. What I don't like about the V is the slow upload times and small cache size 19m. I have a laptop but I don't want to have to take it out every state to upload for an hour. I may be looking at this wrong though please feel free to correct. If you guys know of a model close to what I may need please sound off. I am looking in the range of $450 or so for GPS and software combined. I plan on using this for cache hunting also. Thanks guys.

[+Renegade Knight]

In that price you are looking at a Magellan Meridian series with Direct route and an SD card.

 

The Garmin GPS 76CS has 115 mb RAM and that should do you for large chunks of the country but it's out of the price range you discussed.

[+BlueDeuce]

The Garmin GPS 76CS has 115 mb RAM and that should do you for large chunks of the country but it's out of the price range you discussed.

At least take a look at one, you might decide it's worth it.

[blang]

I live on the west coast in VA.

 

This guy needs a GPS unit quick!!

[hangfire77]

LOL yep I do. DUUUUHHH! East coast what was I thinking. Thanks. By the way is there a way you can use a handheld gps and hook it to a laptop? this way while in the car you could use the screen on the laptop but use the mobile one when you get to where you are going.

 

Thanks

[+TheHFamily]

Hangfire -- welcome. I too lurked for quite a while before jumping in. Then I made the investment with a 76c and have never looked back. It is great.

 

In terms of hooking your gps to a laptop. I am not sure of that functionality. But the "normal" (not that you are ab-normal), is to buy the auto-navigation kit for your gps. It comes with a holder that sits in your vehicle, the City Select software, and a cigarette adpater for power. What I do is tell it where I want to go and leave it alone with it giving me directions along the way (it will even recalcuate if you decide to take a different road). Then when I need to look something up (like close restaurants, hotels, etc) I can simply pick it up and use it. That is where the internal memory becomes important, you need to decide how much square-mile area you want for the in-depth info you want along the way. The units come with a base map that, at least for the 76c(s), can be used for basic navigation. You load the maps from City Select for areas where you might be stopping to get the more detailed info. With a laptop, you could certianly go for a unit with a smaller amount of memory and load from the laptop along the way, but be sure it has a USB connection and not serial. The load time can be hours for serial, and is less than 5 minutes for USB.

 

Hope this helps.

 

TheHFamily

[+Rubberhead]

LOL yep I do. DUUUUHHH! East coast what was I thinking. Thanks. By the way is there a way you can use a handheld gps and hook it to a laptop? this way while in the car you could use the screen on the laptop but use the mobile one when you get to where you are going.

 

Thanks

You can with Garmin but I don't know about the others.

 

If you get City Select (or City Navigator) from Garmin you can download n-Route for free.

 

You can then hook your GPS to the serial port on the laptop and use n-Route to display you positions on the full-sized laptop screen. You can also autoroute with this set-up.

[+embra]

By the way is there a way you can use a handheld gps and hook it to a laptop? this way while in the car you could use the screen on the laptop but use the mobile one when you get to where you are going.

Yes this is an option for you with most GPS units and mapping software; you just need to verify that they are NMEA compliant. AFAIK, all the Garmin and Magellan models we are likely to use for geocaching fulfill this requirement.

 

On the one hand, the mapping software that you can put on a laptop (like Delorme's Street Atlas) tends to be more full-featured in terms of things like spoken turn commands, restaurants, gas stations, motels, etc. Also you do have the larger display of the laptop. THe software tends to not be terribly expensive.

 

On the other hand, the GPS itself can serve both the road and non-road navigation pretty well without the clutter and bother of bringing a laptop along. It depends on what you're willing to put up with to get a certain set of features.

 

Personally, I'm happy enough using a GPS for both purposes. I've got a Meridian/DirectRoute setup, which I agree represents the best value for the economy-minded. But my impression is that the Garmin setups offer autorouting with more options in terms of your route preferences. DR will give you only what it thinks is the fastest route (which sometimes isn't); at least some of the Garmins (e.g., the 60C/S and the 76C/S) will let you specify via waypoints, preferred road types and types to avoid.

[hangfire77]

great thanks for the info. I have been looking online at prices and trying to find info on what people like dont like about certain models. The only place close to me that has Gps units are Circuit city and best buy. The guys there do not know much more than me. I started looking a little higher up on the gps foodchain and like the features of the Garmin 60. I really dont need the color screen but the only differance i can see on the 60 and 60C is color and 24m extra memory. What are you guys experiance with this model?

 

Thanks again

[+Sputnik 57]

I think a Magellan Meridian would fill the bill, but suggest you compare the Garmin 60C. It is cheaper than the 60CS and 76CS, with all the functionality you'll need. Adding City Select v. 6 and Topo maps will take you close to $500, but it is money well spent, IMHO.

 

The 60C features USB (instead of serial) downloads so it is much faster than the V at loading maps. 56MB of maps will cover an extensive area of highways. It goes for 20 hours or so on 2 NiMh rechargable AA batteries, or you can spring for a serial adaptor to power the unit from the cigarette lighter in your car. (The USB cable doesn't supply power.)

 

NRoute, available free from Garmin, will overlay the Garmin maps on your laptop and give you audible turn-by-turn directions, or you can just autoroute on the GPSr, and have it been or whistle when a turn approaches.

 

Color screen readability in all lighting conditions makes this a great unit. You can find a review on this site. There is a lot of other good info on http://gpsinformation.net.

[+Klatch]

NRoute, available free from Garmin, will overlay the Garmin maps on your laptop and give you audible turn-by-turn directions...

I don't think it was specifically stated, but using NRoute on your laptop with Garmin maps and a GPS receiver will also give you audible voice commands.

[hangfire77]

So if I go with a new Garmin and download the NR program I could use the LT in the car right? Do you guys know if there is anything else I would need to get? this sounds like the way to go to me. Or do I need to buy a laptop program then download NR. Thanks again guys

[peter]

Since you'd have a laptop along, I suggest you take another look at the GPS V. With the included City Select software and the free nRoute program from Garmin's website, this would give you a good navigation system for use while driving even if you don't have all (or any) the detailed maps loaded in the V. Then use the V for hikes/geocaching/boating/etc. when you're away from a motor vehicle.

 

Downloading new maps into the V does take some time, but it only takes a couple minutes to set up and then you just let the laptop do its download while you eat dinner or whatever. And for any longer trips where you choose not to have the laptop along you can use the basemap on the V for the portions of the trip that'll be along interstates or other major highways (incl. many state routes). Frequently you only need the detailed maps for your destination and intermediate places where you'll do extensive sightseeing.

 

While the 60c is clearly superior with faster speeds, more memory, and a color screen; but the GPV for around $225 including CS, auto dash mount, and both power and PC cables is still a good value.

Edited January 30, 2005 by peter

[peter]

So if I go with a new Garmin and download the NR program I could use the LT in the car right? Do you guys know if there is anything else I would need to get? this sounds like the way to go to me. Or do I need to buy a laptop program then download NR. Thanks again guys

You'd also need a MapSource program and detailed maps. CitySelect-NA definitely works great with nRoute, and I've also used the older MetroGuide-USA v4.01. Other MapSource programs like US Topo and Roads & Recreation also work, but don't support auto-routing so you only get the moving map display.

 

What type(s) of serial ports does your laptop have? The older Garmin models (b&w eTrex series, GPS V, etc.) have only RS-232 ports, the new LegendC/VistaC have only USB ports, and the 60c/cs and 76c/cs have both types. If the ports on your laptop aren't compatible with the Garmin receiver then you'd need to get an adapter cable which includes circuitry to do the conversion.

[+davidcarie]

I hope this helps a bit. My wife and I have been full time RVing for 4 years now. We drive a 40' diesel motorhome and tow a jeep wrangler. We use a Garmin 3600 Palm, with a 1 gig SD card. With the SD card we are able to have about 75% of the US map available all the time, plus P.O.I., services, etc. The portability allows us the ability to use it in both vehicles, plus while geocaching, and it does talk to is. It is very user friendly. Anymore questions, just ask.

 

Team....Dave & Carrie

[hangfire77]

Great. Thanks guys, a lot of info here. In your experiences if I was to leave VA and go to Florida not counting base maps how much of the City map can I put on the GPS that holds 16m? That way if we need to pull off the interstate for whatever reason we can navigate the area around the interstate. Such as resteraunts, Gas or a garage. Is it possible to download say Interstate 95 all the way down to Orlando with 25 miles of detailed streets on both sides? Or do you have to do the whole state. I mean if I have no plans on going trough the western part of Georgia why should I take up the room on the GPS.

 

Thanks

[+Sputnik 57]

Richmond to Orlando in City Select is 33.4 MB. MapSource gives you "chunks" of maps, usually rectangular, along a route, but they don't follow highways, so some chunks just have I-95 across just a tip. They are not the same size geographically, but have about the same amount of data in each grid. Orlando grids are tiny, since there are so many "points of interest."

 

Starting at Richmond, you can get nearly to Savanna with 16MB. But remember that you can "target" noncontiguous areas. You could, for example, pick Richmond, Savanna, Jacksonville and Orlando. Load all of those maps at nearly 16MB, and let the base map route you in between along I-95.

 

Some more info about routing is available here. Although the discussion applies to the 60/76/Legend C series, it pretty much applies to any MapSource product.

[hangfire77]

Thanks a lot for all the info you guys have given. I have been looking at different GPS units as far as capacity goes. I have narrowed it down finally to the Magellan Meridian Color for $465 with map send and the auto pack. Or the Garmin GPSMAP 60c which is $504 with the same acc. as the Magellan. I will look around and see if I can get the price lower, but I have a question for you guys that have had experience with both. Is the Garmin worth the extra $40? Any advice would be great. I looked at the 60cs but can’t see the extra money for the compass. Thanks guys

[peter]

If at all possible, find a store where you can see both the Mer.Color and one of the color Garmins directly. Try to view them both inside and outside in sunlight. There's a big difference in both resolution and contrast, esp. in sunshine.

[hangfire77]

which one has the better resolution?