Navigational Device Experiences

N

numbersman

Joined
Nov 28, 2010
Messages
596
So what are you experiences with GPS devices? I have owned a tom-Tom, which was great and quite easy to use. I had that stolen, and I decided to try a Navman, which has not been a good experience. Unfortunately it is a real power hungry beast, and the batteries do not stay charged very long at all. Even plugged in to the car's USB slot, it doesn't charge up well, unless the power cord has a problem, which may be the case. It won't charge up even from the mains supply at the moment, so it is either dead or the cord is broken. In any case, it has not been easy to use. The Tom-Tom was much more intuitive to use, and the Navman does not recognise some local places. Overall, I am pretty unhappy that I purchased this item. How does this compare to you experince, good, bad or ugly?
 
I've only used Garmin and never had any issues you have described. My experience is with the street models, hand held boating and hiking models. Garmin seems to be the king of the hill with nav devices. I'd try another charging cable before giving up entirely.
 
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I have owned two in-vehicle stand alone gps units. The first I gradually became dissatisfied with it. Got a Garmin and have been pleased with its use. None of them are perfect. If you depend on one when traveling, I suggest you update the maps from time to time. I also suggest you keep backup hard copy maps. For work stuff, I usually printed out directions from my computer at home and used the in vehicle gps unit for navigation. I generally compared the two sets of directions as I drove.... Since I visually looked at the online route, I tended to default to those directions and on more than one case been very glad I printed out the directions. The printed directions are handy in areas you are totally unfamiliar with the roads.

While traveling away from my home base, I can always check online via my tablet or smart phone. The thing that bothers me about the navigation is the tunnel vision aspect.... you don't know what direction you are necessarily traveling. Ultimately, you need to be familiar with the major compass directions anywhere you travel.
 
I started with TomTom. Its low brightness LCD convinced me to try Garmin. I could read the Garmin nüvi 40 when the sun was out, but TomTom (a Dutch company) had more up-to-date maps of the USA, and I missed the voice of Mr. T. You missed the turn, fool!

Garmin DriveSmart 50 was an upgrade from the nüvi. The routing was clearly more intelligent and that was big. Running on my car's DC 12V socket, it got local traffic updates that usually gave me time to select an alternate route. It mapped gas stations and restaurants with reviews, but I had to turn those off while driving to see the map.

This year I've mostly used Google Maps with my Android smartphone (Google Pixel 3a). It's almost as good as the Garmin for basic driving and the maps are more up-to-date. There's a clinic with a bad address I visit once a month. Their mailing address is on a highway, but you need to take another road for the parking lot and building entrance. After I went there twice, Google Maps corrected. Please note that all my driving this year has been in Cook, Lake and DuPage counties in northern Illinois. YMMV in the boonies.

I bought one of these to use my phone for navigation.

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Of course it is made in China, and it's sold under different brand names for different prices. It works great if your dashboard air vents are horizontal.

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I like using a large iPad with SIM card for navigation. It handles various map and compass apps. I can get GPS location, speed, elevation, topographical stuff, weather maps, location of goods and services, satellite radio, etc. I can Bluetooth verbal directions into my hearing aids so that passengers actually think I know where I am going.
 
I prefer Google maps on my phone these days. But I still keep my Garmin Nuvi 40 charged and the maps up to date. The Garmin has always gotten the job done, although it is a bit slow to recognize that I missed a turn. If I lived in an area with poor cell coverage, I'd use it a lot more.
 
My helper had a Tom Tom and kept telling me that I NEED a GPS for finding these unusual locations that I routinely had to find for work. I was always pretty good with maps, but maps in combination with the GPS is great. I bought a unit. There was one trip to SC from TN that ticked me off.... I had just gotten the first GPS and was just depending on it with no maps..... that damn gps unit took me over private driveways, lanes in the woods, rutted dirt roads and finally.... I mean finally I hit a paved road and the unit takes me right to the address I needed. We were done there for the day and I couldn't believe that all these people in these 300K+ houses on a lake take all these back roads to get somewhere. So, I followed my instincts contrary to the GPS on paved roads and hit a main road very quickly from a secondary paved road I was on. So simple..... to this day I can't figure out why the unit took me all over creation in the boonies to find that address.... maps were current.... anyway live and learn and a few other happenings caused me to get the Garmin unit which in general has lead me true with the occasional round about route. The programming defaults to primary roads if possible even if they are longer. In unfamiliar areas, I still like to print out the directions and a map.... but would prefer an option to skip to when I might get off an interstate rather than from the starting point. I usually know the route until the exit I need to take if I am on interstate highways or city freeways....

I notice there really aren't so many sold anymore like there were 5 years ago. I guess people are depending on their cell phones and google maps.

The alternate route thing with Garmin's aren't great. Sometimes they are relying on old information and the "traffic" that caused the alternate route message is already moved on. Usually the alternate route is much slower than if I had just been patient and stayed in traffic. Good old city driving.... Atlanta is the worst...
 
Had a Garmin Nuvi years ago. Worked really well, and never led me astray. Was especially nice when I was doing a lot of motorcycle touring. But that was like 15 years ago. Since then, every car/truck I’ve owned has had nav built in, so now I use those, with the phone (sometimes 2) backing the main unit up.

Anymore, your phone can be just as good, if not better, than a stand-alone GPS unit (depending on phone/app/usage). All smart phones have a GPS chip in them, supplemented be cellular location. The higher end phones also have much better processing power than even the most expensive GPS units, as well as longer battery life, portability, etc. When you consider that even just a mid-level standalone can run $200-300, the mini computer you already carry with you every day is a pretty attractive alternative. The only downsides to using a phone are that the GPS antenna may not be as strong, an older, or lower end phone may not run some of the apps as well, and out in the field, you may not get as much battery life (important if your using it for hiking trips and such).

For the phone, there are actually lots of good GPS apps out there. Really just depends on what you want out of it, and if you want it free or not. For the car, I’d recommend Waze. It’s seems to be the standard right now, mainly because it’s free, and all the information on traffic, road closures, etc. is updated livetime by users. But there are a lot of others out there. Try a few out, and see what works for you.

There’s also lots of apps out there for hiking, etc, if you’re looking for something more like a Garmin eTrex type of GPS unit. The only caveat is, you’ll need to determine your usage before switching over to a phone app. For a week long hike, you’re gonna kill your phone battery well before a designated unit, and for kayaking and such, most phones are not waterproof. But, with a good compass app, and something like the AllTrails, Hiking Project, or even just downloaded topo maps, you could easily replace an eTrex for most uses. Just be mindful of whether the apps your using require cell service, or have an offline mode.
 
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