OT: In need of a GPS system

[Coronita]

imho, I don't think you really need one, unless you are a travelling sales person. Usually, if you just need to get to where you go, that's what yahoo maps and google maps are for. Plus a AAA membership gives you free access to any map you really need.

The handheld GPS are frankly pretty slow to give you a dynamic routing in my opinion. If you miss a turn or so on route in city driving, the handhelds usually don't reroute quick enough to correct your mistake.

Really good ones for dynamic routing are the one that comes with the car (specifically honda's nav system). BUT, those have their own caveat. Aside from costing $1000-$3000, if you want the latest map, you often have to spend $100+ for a new dvd (unless you know how to pirate the encryption system).Some of the the newer nav systems (as the ones in lexus LS's) are hard drive based, so you have to bring it into the stealership and pay for the cost of the upgrade (arm and leg).

In san diego, the roads keep changing, so basically it's pretty useless for the newer areas. For example, in our 2005 MDX, pretty much all of 56 is not on the map, as well as all the streets around Camino Del Sur.

The best mapping solution i found was to download Yahoo Mobile or Google Maps onto a smart cell phone that has built in GPS. Because I use a company phone, it costs me nothing for wireless data access on a crackberry. And because the phone has a gps, it does a pretty decent job of allowing me to route to locations when I need it (obviously, it doesn't re-route if you miss a turn).

ironically, we probably should be able to get a free gps from garmin, but never motivated to ask. My wife use to know the ceo and worked with him when Garmin was still 20 employees in Kansas. Little benowth to her, she came here to SD for qcom because she thought didn't think she wanted to be in what she thought was hickville and didn't think that "little gps company" would really go anywhere. I guess the joke was on her 🙂

 

[img_assist|nid=5962|title=selfportrait|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=80]

—– Sour grapes for everyone!

[atr]

“Speaking of shoes…has anyone seen Sex and the City yet?”

Dharmagirl–Yes!! Loved it. I guess that makes me a typical girl, but I was a big fan of the series and really enjoyed the movie. Have you seen it?

Marion–Back to the main topic at hand. . . moneyshot and FLU both made good points in that perhaps it isn’t necessary to buy yourself a GPS. My hubbie uses the Verizon Wireless GPS service on his phone and that works well. I should have clarified that his Garmin is one of those personal ones specifically designed for runners. Since he is on the road half the month and running in unfamiliar cities, it is useful for him to plot out his runs without getting himself hopelessly lost. Since you sound thrifty–maybe buying a new gadget isn’t the best solution for your problem? Just a thought.

[atr]

“Speaking of shoes…has anyone seen Sex and the City yet?”

Dharmagirl–Yes!! Loved it. I guess that makes me a typical girl, but I was a big fan of the series and really enjoyed the movie. Have you seen it?

Marion–Back to the main topic at hand. . . moneyshot and FLU both made good points in that perhaps it isn’t necessary to buy yourself a GPS. My hubbie uses the Verizon Wireless GPS service on his phone and that works well. I should have clarified that his Garmin is one of those personal ones specifically designed for runners. Since he is on the road half the month and running in unfamiliar cities, it is useful for him to plot out his runs without getting himself hopelessly lost. Since you sound thrifty–maybe buying a new gadget isn’t the best solution for your problem? Just a thought.

[atr]

“Speaking of shoes…has anyone seen Sex and the City yet?”

Dharmagirl–Yes!! Loved it. I guess that makes me a typical girl, but I was a big fan of the series and really enjoyed the movie. Have you seen it?

Marion–Back to the main topic at hand. . . moneyshot and FLU both made good points in that perhaps it isn’t necessary to buy yourself a GPS. My hubbie uses the Verizon Wireless GPS service on his phone and that works well. I should have clarified that his Garmin is one of those personal ones specifically designed for runners. Since he is on the road half the month and running in unfamiliar cities, it is useful for him to plot out his runs without getting himself hopelessly lost. Since you sound thrifty–maybe buying a new gadget isn’t the best solution for your problem? Just a thought.

[atr]

“Speaking of shoes…has anyone seen Sex and the City yet?”

Dharmagirl–Yes!! Loved it. I guess that makes me a typical girl, but I was a big fan of the series and really enjoyed the movie. Have you seen it?

Marion–Back to the main topic at hand. . . moneyshot and FLU both made good points in that perhaps it isn’t necessary to buy yourself a GPS. My hubbie uses the Verizon Wireless GPS service on his phone and that works well. I should have clarified that his Garmin is one of those personal ones specifically designed for runners. Since he is on the road half the month and running in unfamiliar cities, it is useful for him to plot out his runs without getting himself hopelessly lost. Since you sound thrifty–maybe buying a new gadget isn’t the best solution for your problem? Just a thought.

[atr]

“Speaking of shoes…has anyone seen Sex and the City yet?”

Dharmagirl–Yes!! Loved it. I guess that makes me a typical girl, but I was a big fan of the series and really enjoyed the movie. Have you seen it?

Marion–Back to the main topic at hand. . . moneyshot and FLU both made good points in that perhaps it isn’t necessary to buy yourself a GPS. My hubbie uses the Verizon Wireless GPS service on his phone and that works well. I should have clarified that his Garmin is one of those personal ones specifically designed for runners. Since he is on the road half the month and running in unfamiliar cities, it is useful for him to plot out his runs without getting himself hopelessly lost. Since you sound thrifty–maybe buying a new gadget isn’t the best solution for your problem? Just a thought.

[Coronita]

Is your cell phone GPS capable, and does your service provider offer location-based services? Most of them do now. I use VZ Navigator from Verizon Wireless. $10/month service charge, absolutely no maintenance or software upgrades required for your phone, and you'll get to take your GPS device with you everywhere you go. These services provide all the bells and whistles you find on a typical GPS device (voice prompts, visual directions, directory of local gas stations/stores/restaurants/etc.). If your service provider offers a navigation service, I'm sure they'll also sell a window mount for your phone. I love it and will never buy a separate GPS device again.

 

 

Wow, verizon charges $10/month for this? You might as well get an unlimited mobile wireless web from them for I think $6/month if you don't already have it, and then just download the Yahoo mobile client. The YMC is free, and if your phone is GPS enabled, you can specify start and end locations using "use my current GPS location". At least you can check your yahoo mail, browse the web too if you're going to be paying for that.

 

[img_assist|nid=5962|title=selfportrait|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=80]

—– Sour grapes for everyone!

[Coronita]

Is your cell phone GPS capable, and does your service provider offer location-based services? Most of them do now. I use VZ Navigator from Verizon Wireless. $10/month service charge, absolutely no maintenance or software upgrades required for your phone, and you'll get to take your GPS device with you everywhere you go. These services provide all the bells and whistles you find on a typical GPS device (voice prompts, visual directions, directory of local gas stations/stores/restaurants/etc.). If your service provider offers a navigation service, I'm sure they'll also sell a window mount for your phone. I love it and will never buy a separate GPS device again.

 

 

Wow, verizon charges $10/month for this? You might as well get an unlimited mobile wireless web from them for I think $6/month if you don't already have it, and then just download the Yahoo mobile client. The YMC is free, and if your phone is GPS enabled, you can specify start and end locations using "use my current GPS location". At least you can check your yahoo mail, browse the web too if you're going to be paying for that.

 

[img_assist|nid=5962|title=selfportrait|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=80]

—– Sour grapes for everyone!

[Coronita]

Is your cell phone GPS capable, and does your service provider offer location-based services? Most of them do now. I use VZ Navigator from Verizon Wireless. $10/month service charge, absolutely no maintenance or software upgrades required for your phone, and you'll get to take your GPS device with you everywhere you go. These services provide all the bells and whistles you find on a typical GPS device (voice prompts, visual directions, directory of local gas stations/stores/restaurants/etc.). If your service provider offers a navigation service, I'm sure they'll also sell a window mount for your phone. I love it and will never buy a separate GPS device again.

 

 

Wow, verizon charges $10/month for this? You might as well get an unlimited mobile wireless web from them for I think $6/month if you don't already have it, and then just download the Yahoo mobile client. The YMC is free, and if your phone is GPS enabled, you can specify start and end locations using "use my current GPS location". At least you can check your yahoo mail, browse the web too if you're going to be paying for that.

 

[img_assist|nid=5962|title=selfportrait|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=80]

—– Sour grapes for everyone!

[Coronita]

Is your cell phone GPS capable, and does your service provider offer location-based services? Most of them do now. I use VZ Navigator from Verizon Wireless. $10/month service charge, absolutely no maintenance or software upgrades required for your phone, and you'll get to take your GPS device with you everywhere you go. These services provide all the bells and whistles you find on a typical GPS device (voice prompts, visual directions, directory of local gas stations/stores/restaurants/etc.). If your service provider offers a navigation service, I'm sure they'll also sell a window mount for your phone. I love it and will never buy a separate GPS device again.

 

 

Wow, verizon charges $10/month for this? You might as well get an unlimited mobile wireless web from them for I think $6/month if you don't already have it, and then just download the Yahoo mobile client. The YMC is free, and if your phone is GPS enabled, you can specify start and end locations using "use my current GPS location". At least you can check your yahoo mail, browse the web too if you're going to be paying for that.

 

[img_assist|nid=5962|title=selfportrait|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=80]

—– Sour grapes for everyone!

[Coronita]

Is your cell phone GPS capable, and does your service provider offer location-based services? Most of them do now. I use VZ Navigator from Verizon Wireless. $10/month service charge, absolutely no maintenance or software upgrades required for your phone, and you'll get to take your GPS device with you everywhere you go. These services provide all the bells and whistles you find on a typical GPS device (voice prompts, visual directions, directory of local gas stations/stores/restaurants/etc.). If your service provider offers a navigation service, I'm sure they'll also sell a window mount for your phone. I love it and will never buy a separate GPS device again.

 

 

Wow, verizon charges $10/month for this? You might as well get an unlimited mobile wireless web from them for I think $6/month if you don't already have it, and then just download the Yahoo mobile client. The YMC is free, and if your phone is GPS enabled, you can specify start and end locations using "use my current GPS location". At least you can check your yahoo mail, browse the web too if you're going to be paying for that.

 

[img_assist|nid=5962|title=selfportrait|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=80]

—– Sour grapes for everyone!

[Author]

Posts