GPS Navigation any good?

> Are the GPS packages really any good?

Yes, auto ones are better if you dislike the need to remove the stand-alones
and lock them up somewhere out of site so you won't have to buy a new window
when they break it and steal it. Standalones have better features, imho,
like the ability to do a route or trip at your computer and load it into the
stand-alone. You need to sit in the car to do most of the built-in routing.
Some will run on their own batteries as well.

Regarding paper maps, most will not tell you the address numbers. Many of
the new gps units will. They'll also locate the nearest fuel stops or food
locations where archaic paper maps won't.

I got 7 of the things now, fwiw. Never ending improvements yearly to all
models.

Mack
 >> Stay informed about: GPS Navigation any good? 

> Are the GPS packages really any good?

Yes, auto ones are better if you dislike the need to remove the stand-alones
and lock them up somewhere out of site so you won't have to buy a new window
when they break it and steal it. Standalones have better features, imho,
like the ability to do a route or trip at your computer and load it into the
stand-alone. You need to sit in the car to do most of the built-in routing.
Some will run on their own batteries as well.

Regarding paper maps, most will not tell you the address numbers. Many of
the new gps units will. They'll also locate the nearest fuel stops or food
locations where archaic paper maps won't.

I got 7 of the things now, fwiw. Never ending improvements yearly to all
models.

Mack
 >> Stay informed about: GPS Navigation any good? 

> Are the GPS packages really any good?

Yes, auto ones are better if you dislike the need to remove the stand-alones
and lock them up somewhere out of site so you won't have to buy a new window
when they break it and steal it. Standalones have better features, imho,
like the ability to do a route or trip at your computer and load it into the
stand-alone. You need to sit in the car to do most of the built-in routing.
Some will run on their own batteries as well.

Regarding paper maps, most will not tell you the address numbers. Many of
the new gps units will. They'll also locate the nearest fuel stops or food
locations where archaic paper maps won't.

I got 7 of the things now, fwiw. Never ending improvements yearly to all
models.

Mack
 >> Stay informed about: GPS Navigation any good? 

> Are the GPS packages really any good?

Yes, auto ones are better if you dislike the need to remove the stand-alones
and lock them up somewhere out of site so you won't have to buy a new window
when they break it and steal it. Standalones have better features, imho,
like the ability to do a route or trip at your computer and load it into the
stand-alone. You need to sit in the car to do most of the built-in routing.
Some will run on their own batteries as well.

Regarding paper maps, most will not tell you the address numbers. Many of
the new gps units will. They'll also locate the nearest fuel stops or food
locations where archaic paper maps won't.

I got 7 of the things now, fwiw. Never ending improvements yearly to all
models.

Mack
 >> Stay informed about: GPS Navigation any good? 

> Are the GPS packages really any good?

Yes, auto ones are better if you dislike the need to remove the stand-alones
and lock them up somewhere out of site so you won't have to buy a new window
when they break it and steal it. Standalones have better features, imho,
like the ability to do a route or trip at your computer and load it into the
stand-alone. You need to sit in the car to do most of the built-in routing.
Some will run on their own batteries as well.

Regarding paper maps, most will not tell you the address numbers. Many of
the new gps units will. They'll also locate the nearest fuel stops or food
locations where archaic paper maps won't.

I got 7 of the things now, fwiw. Never ending improvements yearly to all
models.

Mack
 >> Stay informed about: GPS Navigation any good? 

"Joe Lauton" <JL.DeleteThis@Lauton2000.com> wrote in message
news:aafpl21logro5u6qub9sajek6h0i8g0nvf@4ax.com...
> Are the GPS packages really any good? The GM thing can apparently be
> miles off or slow. Same difference.
> The stand alone ones run $400-600 so at that price one may as well get
> a laptop based one - with a GPS package. What works? Did a google
> and found nothing useful.
> joe

Try asking over in newsgroup sci.geo.satellite-nav. It would be polite, of
course, to download all the headers you can and see if someone else has
already asked the question or one similar and then ask followups if it's
already been addressed.

Or try this web site:

www.gpsinformation.net

One of the first few items on that page is a link to an article about "my
first gps for automobile" and the utility of the site generally is high.

My $.02 - paper maps are the better value, unless you go so many different
places you'd need a trunk full of them.

The screens on those auto units are kind of small and I also think there'd
be an unfortunate tendency to start an "IFR driving style" (i.e.,
principally watching the screen, rather than the road), which could lead to
"adverse outcomes in automotive itinerary execution."

As for the systems themselves, in decent conditions, GPS technology, with
WAAS correction, can tell you "you are here" with impressive accuracy (to
within 10 feet - or little more than the width of your lane). At least,
they do so MOST of the time. Sometimes, not so hot. In the city, with tall
buildings and obstructed sky views, you might have accuracy and multipath
problems and your GPS could start lying to you. I have a handheld unit for
walking and biking and, one day, it was entirely wrong by about a half mile
for a portion of a 3 mile trip and my peak speed was about 1000 mph. Wow!
That's pedalling!

Then there's the quality of the map database. If the map source is wrong,
then you'll get interesting results from routing and directions. Mostly, I
guess they're pretty good, or you'd hear more about their errors. New roads
might not show up for a couple of years (I don't know) and closed roads
might not go away for a couple of years (ditto).

Try those two resources. Good luck.



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
 >> Stay informed about: GPS Navigation any good? 

"Joe Lauton" <JL.TakeThisOut@Lauton2000.com> wrote in message
news:aafpl21logro5u6qub9sajek6h0i8g0nvf@4ax.com...
> Are the GPS packages really any good? The GM thing can apparently be
> miles off or slow. Same difference.
> The stand alone ones run $400-600 so at that price one may as well get
> a laptop based one - with a GPS package. What works? Did a google
> and found nothing useful.
> joe


Looking at a laptop while driving. There's a good idea. You, too, can drive
like an 18 year old, forever.

How about a paper map, and investing two minutes to look at it?
 >> Stay informed about: GPS Navigation any good? 

"Joe Lauton" <JL.TakeThisOut@Lauton2000.com> wrote in message
news:aafpl21logro5u6qub9sajek6h0i8g0nvf@4ax.com...
> Are the GPS packages really any good? The GM thing can apparently be
> miles off or slow. Same difference.
> The stand alone ones run $400-600 so at that price one may as well get
> a laptop based one - with a GPS package. What works? Did a google
> and found nothing useful.
> joe


Looking at a laptop while driving. There's a good idea. You, too, can drive
like an 18 year old, forever.

How about a paper map, and investing two minutes to look at it?
 >> Stay informed about: GPS Navigation any good? 

"Joe Lauton" <JL DeleteThis @Lauton2000.com> wrote in message
news:aafpl21logro5u6qub9sajek6h0i8g0nvf@4ax.com...
> Are the GPS packages really any good? The GM thing can apparently be
> miles off or slow. Same difference.
> The stand alone ones run $400-600 so at that price one may as well get
> a laptop based one - with a GPS package. What works? Did a google
> and found nothing useful.
> joe


Looking at a laptop while driving. There's a good idea. You, too, can drive
like an 18 year old, forever.

How about a paper map, and investing two minutes to look at it?
 >> Stay informed about: GPS Navigation any good? 

"Joe Lauton" <JL.DeleteThis@Lauton2000.com> wrote in message
news:aafpl21logro5u6qub9sajek6h0i8g0nvf@4ax.com...
> Are the GPS packages really any good? The GM thing can apparently be
> miles off or slow. Same difference.
> The stand alone ones run $400-600 so at that price one may as well get
> a laptop based one - with a GPS package. What works? Did a google
> and found nothing useful.
> joe


Looking at a laptop while driving. There's a good idea. You, too, can drive
like an 18 year old, forever.

How about a paper map, and investing two minutes to look at it?
 >> Stay informed about: GPS Navigation any good? 

"Joe Lauton" <JL RemoveThis @Lauton2000.com> wrote in message
news:aafpl21logro5u6qub9sajek6h0i8g0nvf@4ax.com...
> Are the GPS packages really any good? The GM thing can apparently be
> miles off or slow. Same difference.
> The stand alone ones run $400-600 so at that price one may as well get
> a laptop based one - with a GPS package. What works? Did a google
> and found nothing useful.
> joe


Looking at a laptop while driving. There's a good idea. You, too, can drive
like an 18 year old, forever.

How about a paper map, and investing two minutes to look at it?
 >> Stay informed about: GPS Navigation any good? 

"Joe Lauton" <JL.DeleteThis@Lauton2000.com> wrote in message
news:aafpl21logro5u6qub9sajek6h0i8g0nvf@4ax.com...
> Are the GPS packages really any good? The GM thing can apparently be
> miles off or slow. Same difference.
> The stand alone ones run $400-600 so at that price one may as well get
> a laptop based one - with a GPS package. What works? Did a google
> and found nothing useful.
> joe


Looking at a laptop while driving. There's a good idea. You, too, can drive
like an 18 year old, forever.

How about a paper map, and investing two minutes to look at it?
 >> Stay informed about: GPS Navigation any good? 

This message is not archived
 >> Stay informed about: GPS Navigation any good?