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Subject: gps
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dennis cooperUser is Offline

spring texas
Member
Posts:6


12/20/2006 6:42 PM  
i purchased the garmin 330 and it works great thanks for all comments.

dennis cooper
Larry HardinUser is Offline
Adjuster
Oklahoma City, OK
Member
Posts:317


01/27/2007 8:42 PM  
Now that I'm a staffy dude, I don't worry about which is the best, I just worry about making the one the company gives me work.
I have a Garmin in the company car and have learned to work with it. I still prefer the full laptop screen and Delorme but ............

Larry D Hardin
John GrayUser is Offline

Member
Posts:1


03/23/2007 9:14 PM  
i running delorme and i built this lap top mount works out pretty good
Clay SheffieldUser is Offline
Adjuster
Member
Posts:4


04/18/2007 11:54 PM  
Currently using a cheep and hackable Mio Digiwalker for $199.00 you can't go wrong. If you hack it, you can add all sorts of programs to it: pocket word, movie player and mp3. Software allows for multi-destination and it will optimize the route for you. Anybody need any help with one let me know.
Kit ShayUser is Offline

Member
Posts:4


07/25/2007 12:32 AM  

I'm using a Garmin 330c and find it easy to work with and accurate.  Not to mention is was only $280.00 delivered. You can pop it in and out of the car to prevent theft with ease.

k'ung Fu-tzuUser is Offline

Member
Posts:28


12/17/2007 6:59 AM  
I finally bought a small unit, a Garmin Luvi ($230) and have been using it non-stop the past month. Here's what I found, good and bad.

The Nuvi is about the thickness of a deck of cards. I can easily stick it in my front pocket when I leave my truck. I have it suction cupped to the immediate left of my windshield and it tucks in very nice and doesn't obstruct you line of vision. I still can't comprehend sticking one in the middle of the windshield.
The touch pad works pretty quick and it adjusts quicky to changes in direction.

Here's the bad:

When you change settings, addresses, whatever, you have to keep 'backing out' of your screen shot to get back to the map. It would be great if the unit had a 'go back to map button".

It's locked up on my several times and needed to be rebooted.

The worse thing I've found with these little units is that the map doesnt give you a perspective of where you are. The screen is too small. It also doesn't optimize routes if you have a few stops. It doesn't show, with any clarity, a way around a traffic accident, construction, etc. If you were in Atlanta for instance, it would show how to get somewhere, but you'd actually have no idea where are you within the city limits (without backing out the screen shot substantially)

It think the unit works well, but only if you have a basic understanding of the city you're in and are accustomed to the highway directions and loops. The commercials are accurate in selling the units to soccer moms and stuff, that's when they work best.

I agree with Larry, the full laptop with Delorme or S&T's works best.
Bob HarveyUser is Offline
Gold Member
California, Central Coast
Member
Posts:381


12/17/2007 8:33 PM  
Posted By Jung Fu-tzu on 12/17/2007 6:59 AM
I agree with Larry, the full laptop with Delorme or S&T's works best.

Yeah, I have been using Delorme on a laptop on a stand in my Van for a few years now - and I only pull out a map occasionally when the street is spelled wrong on the assignment and I need to see similar names.

The myopic thing you describe just isn't a problem when you are using a laptop.  The left 1/2 of the screen is a wide angle view, the right half is zoomed in to see the street names.  With older versions you would be reaching over to hit Pg up, Pg down to zoom in and out.  (or Alt-Pg-up, Alt-Pg-down if the last thing you clicked on wasn't the map region). 

Delorme 2008 has "auto-zoom to turn" that zooms in when a turn is approaching so you can see the street names better, and backs out when you are on the open road, so you get more of the big picture.  It isn't perfect, and sometimes I turn the feature off so I can control the zoom.

The other thing about inserting stops - the best way to do it with Delorme is to set your start-finish as your house or office as a round trip.  Then you insert your appointments as "stops" and you can put in as many as you want, and edit them through the day by clicking on the "advanced" tab.  If someone cancels on you, you can drag and re-arrange the appointments, change the sequence anyway you want.

It takes a while to get used to Delorme.  You insert a stop - and it marks it on the map but the line where you typed it becomes empty (so you can type in another stop).  So you type in several stops - but they are "gone".  You have to click on the "advanced" tab to see those addresses or edit them.  The interface takes a while to get used to, not very intuitive.  Kind of like Xactimate, very powerful but kind of awkward.

My only grief with Delorme, is that when you get to a site and want to "put the laptop to sleep" (close the cover and it will hibernate) it boots up quickly and Delorme is up and running - but the GPS usually stops working when the program is suspended like that.  I used to go through all the tabs to "stop GPS"  (the program thinks it is running, but it isn't - so you tell it to "stop").  Then you "start GPS" and get it to work again.  I learned the shortcut keys (Ctrl-G) to start and stop, so I can get it working within about 2 minutes of getting back to the vehicle.  And you always say "yes" when it wants to save the GPS log, otherwise it takes longer to find the satellites and get oriented when you start the GPS next time.

In addition to a laptop stand, get one of those cable-locks for the laptop (loop it around the seat mount on the floor) and just toss a newspaper or something over the closed laptop on the stand so it doesn't look like a laptop when you park and leave.

Daniel HUser is Offline

Member
Posts:6


01/27/2008 11:52 PM  

my ex works for GPS dealer :) i've used everysingle one i could 'borrow' ....

in North America nothing beats Garmin. best route calculating, best maps. Go with Nuvi 350 or higher: small, portable, fast calculations. But they lock their product well and they charge you every enhancement you want to upgrade .. new version of maps, european countries etc.

For notebooks - Streets & Trips, although their GPS receiver is junky .. for faster GPS package check Garmin again i think ti's Garmin 18.  I really only use MS Streets & Trips to load the list of my claims into it so it would build my routes.   Then break my addressed into days by schedule and sync with Garmin PDA.  pull your schedule, click a name, GO  (keeps their phone # in there too if you're running late) 

If you want a GPS enabled cellphone (HP, HTC, ASUS etc..) on Windows Mobile .. then your best shot is TomTom, although s a UK company and their routing engine is %^%^% :) I'd double check my route every time I use it before I switch into drive :) BUT once you're on the road, it's sweet... strongly recommend changin the instruction directions language to Chineese ...   makes you thankful you were born into an english speaking country  :)  
tom tom has instant traffic updates, user mainained traffic cameras locations and maps for almost every continent on earth.

price them on www.pricegrabber.com and shopping.yahoo.com before you head to the store :)

d swinkUser is Offline

Member
Posts:38


06/22/2008 10:52 PM  

On delorme I have noticedthe GPS works much better and starts much quicker on an individual  port than a shared port.

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