Anyone use GPS in car?

[Yi-P]

Hellos,

My uncle is planning to buy a GPS nav system for his car before christmas, so he can drive around further without worrying getting lost.

Just passing on the question to see what is the best advise/option I can give him.

The need/requirement:
- Maps all over NSW/VIC/QLD and Australia
- Easy to navigate menu
- Not too complicated to learn and use (need it running before xmas)
- User upgradable software/maps (if this is available)
- Be under AUD$500 for the overall cost

I believe the GPS thing here is just about buying a receiver and display device which you install in your car via DIY and it runs by itself without having to pay further premium provider service on yearly/monthly instalments... am I right?

I saw a few ads for Navman ICN330R+ which goes for $378.

Is this a good deal? Or is there any better functioned GPS for similar priced under $500 and preferably around $400-ish mark. And where can he buy it from.

Thanks in advance,

[TonyH]

We use the TomTom system and have found it very useful. Easy menus, large screen, lots of options.

They start at a little more than your budget, but well worth looking at......

They really are great, when we go interstate, we take the Tom Tom, put it into the hire car and then drive like a local (except in NSW I can't drive that badly )

You are right, there are no other ongoing costs other than upgrades.

Cheers

Tony

[Glen]

Yip, an interesting article from the SMH:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/phones--pdas ... 22789.html

Sorry, I can't help, I use a $30 Gregorys PS read the attached Blog, good and bad opinions in there

[darb]

i had a magellan meridian gold with discoveraus maps on it ... til it got flogged from the car. (smashed window). That was a couple years ago now however ...

Likewise boss was using a Tom Tom in his 4wd .. til someone smashed his window right out front of his office door and flogged it.

Dont underestimate how quickly it'll go missing mate ... even if they only see the cradle on the dash, they'll assume (for me, correctly) that you have the actual unit hidden under a seat or something like that.

[apsilon]

Yip, an interesting article from the SMH:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/phones--pdas ... 22789.html

From the article:
"Ms Naidoo warned consumers not to "blindly trust" their navigation systems. "In particular, you can't rely on the voice instructions alone.""

Very good point given I've had several try to kill me by telling me to "turn left now" while the only thing to the left was a drop of many metres for a few kms past and a few kms ahead or likewise "turn right now" when there was nothing but a rock wall.

Still I have found them very useful when traveling interestate and not having any idea of how to get from A to B. I'm currently toying with the idea of an Asus MyPal A636N but would realy like to hold one and play with it for a few minutes before blindly handing over the cash.

[Laurie]

i use my O2 XDA II Mini with a bluetooth GPS Receiver.

works great when you dont know where you are going and you need to know.

[darb]

ahh xda II mini ... ive got the XDAII big lump of shit hahah.

XDA Atom Exec is on order however (company phone)

[shutterbug]

Does he really need it?

I have one...TomTom One, best investment for my business. The best feature after a long day of shooting and finishing late, I just press the home button and it takes me home.

If I was not doing my business I would not buy one...I would rather spend the extra $$ for a couple of nice dinners and wine

[Yi-P]

Does he really need it?

That is a question that troubles me. He wants to have a GPS which he can drive and know where he is. As I know he is not very good at recognising roads and ways around. He want something like a map at handy so he knows where he is heading to.

But maybe you are right, he does not drive too far on an everyday basis. So that is why a cheaper one that 'does the job' will be best value...

For me, I will spring the $500 into a new lens or extra SB800

[Reschsmooth]

I am in the same camp as Glen, although I use a hand-me-down, BMW branded street directory which rarely fails me. If I am going somewhere new, I spend a minute or two becoming familiar with the area, main roads, etc, and then leave myself an extra few minutes, in case of bad traffic or something. (But then again, back in my day, we used to walk everywhere, in 5 feet of snow, in the searing sun, with only a sack for clothing and a turnip for sustenance).

But, I am not going to knock new technology, ya crazy kids!

P

[myarhidia]

Does he have a PDA? You can get software for them like Destinator. If the PDA doesn't have an inbuilt GPS then you can pick one up for about $100 that's bluetooth enabled. Don't use one myself, know someone with the above setup & he loves it.

Edit: here's the link http://www.phoenixitd.com.au/destinator/

[phillipb]

I originally purchased the navman 330 because it was cheap, but I returned it because it wasn't very good around the city and you couldn't connect it to the computer to upload speed cameras etc.
I replaced it with the navman 520 which is more then your budget but is much better then the 330, although it still gives you a bit of a run around in the city.
My daughter has the Tom Tom 1 , which is dearer still, and is very happy with it.
Regardless of which one you buy, you still have to use a bit of common sense, the technology isn't perfect yet.

[Mal]

I have the Naman 330i ( I think that is the unit!)
Love it!
Maps for all of Aus.

One thing I have learnt is that you still need to watch for road signs, keep your eyes open and don't get hypnotized by the wonderful woman’s English accent

Having said all of that. My Navman get a good workout at least once a week and as such I have no problems with this basic unit that does not have a touch screen.

The only negative would be the size of the screen, a little bit small if you have bad eyesight.

[Colcam]

I have a HP PDA with Tom Tom GPS and it is VERY handy in the big smelly city at night, but it does try to lead you astray sometimes when the main roads modify the road or something overnight and it did try to get me to turn left into a river once, but I had my wits about me that time!
I do think that you could use them too much and end up not paying attention to the landmarks so that one day when it does not work, you are lost. Get a GOOD receiver/aerial if using a PDA as the one I have sometimes takes 30 minutes to find the damned satellites. Maybe the world is spinning too fast?

Generally though, a good thing.
Col

[christiand]

I've got the newer release of the TomTom one and I'm very happy with it.
However it doesnt have street numbers for some streets.

Cheers,
CD

[Geoff]

Sorry, I can't help, I use a $30 Gregorys

U should get a GPS Glen.

Your Gregory's is from circa 1949

[Killakoala]

I have a GPS but not a car navigator so not much help to you there. I don't really use it to navigate, just to check where i am.

However, i have suffered being the maintainer of many varieties of GPS units over the years, since SATNAV (pre-GPS) and have found the military units to be less reliable than commercial off the shelf models.

My order of precedence with regard to reliability. 1 being the best.

1. Garmin
2. Magellan
3. Tom Tom
Actually 1,2, and 3 are equally good. There's no comparison.
4. Furuno (Edit: Added this make)
5. Rockwell
6. Magnavox
7. Kelvin Hughes

[admajic]

Im running a Atom Exec and a GPS with the TomTom 6 software. Having great fun with it thus far!! Bought the GPS off Ebay for $105 incl shipping.

[obzelite]

my mother is a geriatric, she bought something off the innovations website. its a no name brand, but its running the destinator software, not great but she is now able to get to places without to much hassle.
she went to Sydney, hired a car and managed to drive from the airport to where she stayed with no problems as well, so it cant be all bad.

i was spoilt and used streets and trips on a laptop for my cruise around europe and that was way easier to use that some 5 inch touch screen device. But everything said and done it does make her feel a whole lot more confident when it takes her about 10 times to learn a route. Now she just follows instructions.

[whiz]

I've used various computer based GPS navigation systems in the past few years. The absolute best was Streetmap USA by Delorme on a laptop while touring the USA.
Firstly though, lets state a few points.
The mapping data will always be out of date and the program is only as good as the mapping data.
If the data has no information regarding intersections, your software will tell you to turn right, even if you're on a 20 meter high overpass.
It's imperative to check your route before setting off.
You'll get a better satellite lock if America is involved in a military conflict somewhere. They turn the satellite power up a bit and you'll find that you can get a lock in a lot more places. I can get a lock inside my house now that the Yanks are in Iraq.

Mapping data in Australia is owned by many different organisations. That's why it is so expensive to buy satellite navigation software in Australia. Sensis (Telstra) owns a lot of it.

If you can only see a small part of the sky in a city, you may have to move a considerable distance to get a lock. ( Had this happen to me in Brisbane last week. Even after two hours the satellites hadn't moved enough to give me three to triangulate enough for the etrex to give any sort of position, so I had to walk almost 400 meters before I could unmask enough of the sky.

Of all the available dedicated units on the market, I like the Tom Tom the best. Also that software on a PDA is excellent. , specially a 640x480 unit like an Ipaq hx4700.
Destinator sucked quite a bit and I'm looking for a Navman Unit to try out as I've heard good things about them.

They're all getting cheaper and should be available easily under 400 dollars by the middle of next year.

[Glen]

You'll get a better satellite lock if America is involved in a military conflict somewhere. They turn the satellite power up a bit and you'll find that you can get a lock in a lot more places. I can get a lock inside my house now that the Yanks are in Iraq.

Good info Whiz, though I will just throw in that is once the conflict commences. Quite a few sailing mates of mine were thrown out when they turned the satellites off before the Gulf War.

[Glen]

GPS kills man?

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/12/ ... 19464.html

[Reschsmooth]

GPS kills man?

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/12/ ... 19464.html

As sad as it is, I certainly hope that this doesn't result in some lawsuit against the mapping company.

P

[Yi-P]

The GPS did point out the right track, but at the wrong time of the year. These weather situations and conditions are changing everyday and mapping databases cannot really cope with these fast changes.

Even by reading the map, you might have chosen this if this is the short and straight way to your destination. The ordinary map does not show if it will going to be covered by snow or severe weather conditions either. So as road authorities need to lay down warning signs for people who are not familiar with the area upon entering the road.

Perhaps we need a live service which a station sends out 'warning' or 'bans/restrictions' to these systems, as so does with the aviation standards. Tho this much stricter track/update will always incur higher cost and not really an option for us consumers.

[gstark]

Sorry, I can't help, I use a $30 Gregorys

U should get a GPS Glen.

Your Gregory's is from circa 1949

Hardly Normal are currently running some radio ads to sell GPS units.

And then they're providing each purchaser with a new UBD as well.

Don'tcha just love marketing?

[Yi-P]

Question about those units which you can plug a USB cable to it.

There is this Navman F20 and Navman N40i

I believe both are same screen size, the N-Series has better software and maybe a newer generation receiver. Tho they both has a USB connection plug.

Can you download new data for such as speed and redlight cameras into the Navman somewhere on the web, is this free or has charge (how much)?

[Mr Darcy]

GPS kills man?

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/12/ ... 19464.html

Hmm the article says he used an online directory service a la whereis.com.au, not a GPSr. It just mentions that GPSr s can lead people to make the same sort of error. Also he was walking and lightly dressed despite the weather.

Did a GPSr kill the man? I don't think so. His own stupidity/lack of common sense is a miore likely candidate.

I a person died walking in the Tanami desert in summer with no water, but with a GPSr would you blame the GPS? Not me.

Greg