JJBIRISH wrote: GPS has disappointed me in many ways, but no more…
I was about to toss it in the dumpster just as it was being emptied… the operator asked if I was throwing it out he would take it…
So if your garbage man doesn’t show up as scheduled hes most likely just following instructions from my old GPS, and he may never be heard from again…
I guess it depends on what one wants from a GPS. We don't expect ours to be perfect. But in a 7000 mile trip this summer, it only missed once. (See above,) The road it wanted us to turn on to had a big warning sign. When I didn't make the turn, the GPS quickly produced a new and correct route.
My number one reason for wanting a GPS is its ability to tell me which lane to be in and what the intersection looks like. That is, do I exit left or right? Do I go under (over) the bridge, or exit before the bridge. It just takes a lot hassle out of driving.
Tom
Tom
I agree that those advantages are nice… I just decided I like making my own mistakes…
There are many places where the exit left or exit right are not marked far enough in advance and they are nice… but when I exit left from I 4 onto I 95 N and then it tells me at the end of the road turn right its dependability is obvious suspicious, and if I turned around as many times as it told me to I would wear out a hitch ball…
Finding a CG with it was 60/40.., and POI were just to inaccurate…
The one thing it did well is once I found the CG and marked the entrance… after setting up and leaving the CG it would always bring me back to the place I marked…
Finding addresses worked most of the time but often not the best routing to them and forcing routing changes requires enough knowledge of the area to not really need the GPS…
My sons love theirs for their service trucks and use them all the time, and a friend always has 2 of the them…
I don’t know which one he goes by because they almost never route the same… what I can’t figure out is why he has either turned on when we know where we are going, but he does…
Love my mass produced, entry level, built by Lazy American Workers, Hornet
JJBIRISH wrote: … what I can’t figure out is why he has either turned on when we know where we are going, but he does…
Possible reasons include using it to count down the miles left to go or watching the average speed. Sometimes, it is interesting to just watch the change in elevation when traveling in the mountains. That is why I use a GPS when I already know how to get where I want to go.
pulsar wrote: I guess it depends on what one wants from a GPS. We don't expect ours to be perfect. But in a 7000 mile trip this summer, it only missed once. (See above,) The road it wanted us to turn on to had a big warning sign. When I didn't make the turn, the GPS quickly produced a new and correct route.
My number one reason for wanting a GPS is its ability to tell me which lane to be in and what the intersection looks like. That is, do I exit left or right? Do I go under (over) the bridge, or exit before the bridge. It just takes a lot hassle out of driving.
I agree with your point on expectations of a GPS. We put 55000 miles on our RV in the last 5 years traveling in the US and Canada and used a Garmin for every one of those miles. Its an awesome tool when used in conjunction with conventional maps and local markings - I rarely pay attention to the GPS in the last mile but instead rely on local signs etc.
JJBIRISH wrote: My sons love theirs for their service trucks and use them all the time, and a friend always has 2 of the them…
I don’t know which one he goes by because they almost never route the same… what I can’t figure out is why he has either turned on when we know where we are going, but he does…
There are good reasons why different GPS systems route differently given the same endpoints. Companies pay good money to have GPS systems route potential customers past their businesses, or to ensure their customers are not routed past their competition.
Oakman wrote: The Rand McNally 5510 gave us a route from the Niagara KOA in Grand Island, NY to Niagara Falls state park that had us get off I-190 at exit 21 and loop around to the Robert Moses State Pkwy. Almost as soon as you get onto the Pkwy you come to the 11’7” overpass.
Your not suppose to be on a Parkway in NYS with a motorhome or commercial vehicle. Tell Rand McNally that!!! Wonder if they would pay your ticket?
Google earth. Its not perfect but you can zoom in and get a good look in most places. And a good truckers map. The truckers map has a list of just about ever low bridge in the the states
I have a Rand McNally 5510 RVND GPS also it's not the GPS I hoped it would be. Getting to intersections is difficult to use, it seems to take me the long away around to get anywhere, it freezes up regularly,
This last trip to Goshen Indiana instead of taking I80 Indiana toll road It took me on I 94 to Hwy 12 in Michigan then it was either hwy 31 or 131 back into Indiana. Coming home I wanted to I 80 to I 355 no way I could get it to that intersection the gps wanted me to take the Chicago I 90 Skyway I have the gsp set to take tollroads,interstates, I have the rv length and height set.
I would love to see google make a GPS using google maps so I can adjust the route I want to take
I have a Garmin 7200 which I have loved for years. After the last map update it started routing me very differently. I opted for the Rand McNally on a replacement. I loaded my low clearance poi file into the rand as an additional safety. Used in "combinationwith a truckers road atlas, I found it to be fine on a recent trip of several thousand miles. No gps is perfect and should not be relied upon totally. I have found that if I decide on a route and the Randy wants to take me differently, If I ignore it, it will then pick up the route I am intending pretty quickly. I went from the 7" screen to the smaller screen, take a little getting use to.
I have had the Garmin 7300 and now the Dezel 560. I have used them and depended on them coast to coast and north and south with no major issues. Sometimes I do not agree with their conclusions although I am sure that the route suggested was the shortest. I do not rely blindly on the GPS. However, while Approaching Goshen Fairgrounds this summer, The Dezel took me on the truck route which concluded with a no truck street segment. Fortunately I missed the sign and the cops.
Overall, Garmin is the industry leader and the one worth the bucks. IMO
Joan and Bruce
05 Excursion 39L
powered by 350 KittyCATS on a Spartan
2010 Traverse LT toad (Blue Ox & Breakbuddy)
...and a "road dog" named Max and his gabby sister, Abby.
"May the wind be always at your back and your destination the one you chose"
LAdams wrote: I rely quite heavily on my GPS (Garmin Zumo 665) while on the bike... It is also equipped with Nav Weather and Nav Traffic and I have found both invaluable while on trips, especially the opportunity to dodge bad weather via Nav Weather...
The GPS units are only as good as the maps contained therein, and in Garmin's case that is NavTeq... I have run into situations where the GPS was incorrect or got confused, but it usually recovers and gets me where I want to go...
Now of course on the motorcycle this isn't near as critical as a large tall RV but the point I make is that these things are navigational tools, and tools is the key phrase there... We still rely on our map and map reading ability when on trips, but we often load our map read data into our Garmin GPS' via Mapsource or Base Camp - some thing you might consider doing...
Les
I have logged probably 60,000 miles on my Goldwings following the directions of various Garmin GPS's since the technology became available and economical. I have found the level of accuracy in recent years to be quite remarkable. I would not want to travel a complex route without one. It appears to me that people are holding their GPS to a much higher standard than they would a relative sitting in the front seat next to them. Why is that?
I wish you could put user defined routes into these things instead of it always building the route. More like aircraft and marine systems. I think the on route guidance and information they give is very handy but they often won't take the route I want and it is difficult or impossible to trick them into building the route you want. The GPS building a route in a city you don't know can be very handy but on the highway it can be very frustrating.
One thing I have learned is never use the "shortest distance" function unless you are on a bicycle or a horse because it is liable to take you down a goat track.
"Never trust a man who has not a single redeeming vice" WSC
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