Yeah, I heard of an awesome one. It's called a 'Map'. Each state has their own, you lazy son of a bitch.Does anyone own any of the portable GPS units like Tam Tam or whatever they are called? If so, any suggestions?
I'm shopping for one soon and would like to research to get a good one. Something that allows me to update it and to setup a route ahead of time?
You can't honestly think a map is comparable to a GPSYeah, I heard of an awesome one. It's called a 'Map'. Each state has their own, you lazy son of a bitch.
Wow, this post is made full of win. I have this feeling in me... is this how it feels to be enlightened? Thank you! I appreciate you so much!I sell these for a living, so I know all about them
I'd go with Garmin over Tom Tom, myself. They'll perhaps be a bit more expensive, but there's seriously 10x easier to use. There's a few features on GPS units that will drive up the price, and I'll go over some of the basic ones here (assuming, of course, that you're not looking to spend some obscene amount of money):
1) "Speaks directions" vs. "speaks street names": There are some GPS units that will only say directions based on distance, ie. "Turn right in .2 miles" versus those who actually say the street name: "Turn right in .2 miles at Lake Street." You could always look at the unit itself for the street name, but it's honestly not the safest thing when you're driving. All of the higher-end units will say the street names, but if you're looking for the most basic of basic units, that's something to know.
2) Traffic: I have traffic on my GPS, and I honestly love it. It's something that's totally free, doesn't require any extra cables, and automatically gets up-to-date traffic information and reroutes you accordingly. So if you're about to get on the highway and the GPS senses there's an accident, it'll take you on sidestreets or whatever is the fastest route.
3) Pedestrian Mode: this is a cool feature on some of the Garmin GPS units. The typical GPS will expect you to go 40 MPH or whatever the speed limit approximately is when you're driving in the car, so using it to go hiking/walk around cities/etc. is not practical. GPS units with a pedestrian mode allow you to walk/bike with them, use them to figure out public transit routes, etc.
4) Advanced Lane Guidance: some people think this feature is cool. I don't really care about it. You know when you're on a highway and it splits off into two highways? Advanced Lane Guidance shows a picture on your unit showing you whether the highway you want to be on is on the left or right side. But you have to look at your unit while you're driving 65 MPH on the highway to really make good use of it, so meh.
5) Bluetooth: This tends to be a really higher-end feature. If you have Bluetooth on your cell phone, you can connect it to the GPS unit and use it to make hands-free calls etc. I've heard it doesn't work as well as it should for the price you pay for it, so you might be better off investing in a nice Bluetooth headset if this is something you'd be interested in.
There are features I didn't cover here, but these are some of the main ones. I seriously spend hours of my day selling this shit at work, so if you have any other questions, just let me know.
I'd check out the Garmin 265WT or the Garmin 1300T, personally. If you really have your heart set on Tom Tom, let me know and I'll hit you up with some recommendations for them too.
You can't honestly think a map is comparable to a GPS[/quote]Yeah, I heard of an awesome one. It's called a 'Map'. Each state has their own, you lazy son of a bitch.
The 250W or the 255W? The 250W is an older unit; the 255W is pretty nice. If you don't need traffic or anything, it's a good bet. You might want to look and see how much the 255WT is going for, though; it's the exact same unit, but with free traffic updates, and a lot of the time (depending on sales and such) it's only 20 dollars more or something. As someone who has traffic on her GPS, it's saved me a ton of time. I'll often have it going even if I know where I am, just so if there's construction traffic or an accident or something I can avoid the delay.We use a Garmin Nuvi 200 that we picked up a couple of years ago during Black Friday. It's served us REALLY well and has been what I'd consider to be accurate for a bottom tier device. It doesn't say street names (our next one will) but it hasn't been a problem so far. For reference, I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and drive all over the place when making guitar/gear deals on Craigslist.
We are going to look at the Nuvi 250w (I think that's what it is)...looks like it's going to cost $100 on Black Friday. Any thoughts on that?
Garmin charges as well, yeah. They have a lifetime update package for, like, 120 dollars or something though - that's something to consider. If you have the unit for even 2 years, it pays for itself.My parents have a tomtom. I like it because it says street names (it is VERY nice to have) I don't even look at the screen when driving cause vocal direction is nice.
I am interested in getting one myself and Garmin looks interesting. Tomtom CHARGES you for traffic update
Does Garmin charges you for map updates too? (tomtom charges a lot of money for it)
I'm glad I could help! We don't sell the Garmin 265WT at my store, so I have no idea how much it's going for currently, especially in Canadian dollars. It's just the newer model compared to the 255WT, and I was under the impression that they were generally about the same price. Since I'm not earning any revenue for my store either way, I thought I'd point you to the newer model If you can find the 255WT for cheaper, I'd go with that one, unless you don't want traffic, in which case I'd go with the 255W.Wow, this post is made full of win. I have this feeling in me... is this how it feels to be enlightened? Thank you! I appreciate you so much!
Do you have Price quotes on the Garmins? Garmin 265WT is for sale at 230$ canadian here.
I hear about that happening all the time. At least once a week I'll have someone coming in to buy a new GPS because theirs was stolen.sorry, I can't tell sometimes! I'm kind of sad mine got stolen out of my car. Which is mostly my fault for leaving it out in the open/in my car, but it still kind of sucks. At least it came after I'd been in Austin for about a year, so I know my way around now.
You can't honestly think a map is comparable to a GPS[/QUOTE]Yeah, I heard of an awesome one. It's called a 'Map'. Each state has their own, you lazy son of a bitch.
You can't honestly think a map is comparable to a GPS[/quote]Yeah, I heard of an awesome one. It's called a 'Map'. Each state has their own, you lazy son of a bitch.
True, but HowDroll said there is a lifetime 120$ map updates so, that is totally worth itSamsung Impression + Google maps + about 4 lines of editing the JAR file = Free google maps using my GPS anywhere I have phone signal.
Or you could get one of those GPS things and spend $70 every three years updating to the new maps as roads change.
True, but HowDroll said there is a lifetime 120$ map updates so, that is totally worth it [/QUOTE]Samsung Impression + Google maps + about 4 lines of editing the JAR file = Free google maps using my GPS anywhere I have phone signal.
Or you could get one of those GPS things and spend $70 every three years updating to the new maps as roads change.
True, but HowDroll said there is a lifetime 120$ map updates so, that is totally worth it [/QUOTE]Samsung Impression + Google maps + about 4 lines of editing the JAR file = Free google maps using my GPS anywhere I have phone signal.
Or you could get one of those GPS things and spend $70 every three years updating to the new maps as roads change.
Yeah, Samsung and ATT have some sort of pact together that says their phones can only come with the pay-per-month GPS program working at the get go.My Nokia 5800 needed no editing of any JAR file for Google Maps to work flawlessly with the GPS. I have no sense of direction, so being able to just see my little dot moving around the streets, even when walking, is a fucking godsend. Not to mention that yesterday when I was walking all around Mexico City, I just searched for "starbucks" and got the location to the nearest one and plopped myself down with a mint mocha in one of their comfy chairs while I waited. I would have NEVER found this starbucks any other way, it was 2 blocks in the other direction and inside a mall. I love Google.
LOL. I would have ask for direction if I was lost for 30 minutes or more (not after 9 hours)This guy could have used a GPS. Would've saved him a 400 mile trip.