<p>Does anyone have a experience with after market GPS things? The ones that plug in to cars. Daughter is planning to drive home after graduation - about 4000 miles - planning a very wild route. Thanks</p>
<p>Don’t buy a TOMTOM One. I am on my third device, all covered under warranty, but not a dependable unit. Since I don’t use mine often, it has been very annoying to “attempt” to turn it on when needed and find it doesn’t turn on, won’t hold a charge, resets itself. </p>
<p>Avoid TOMTOM. S1 has a garmin nuvi and has had no trouble w/it.</p>
<p>crabbylady, I’m glad to see you here. I hope all is well with you and your kids.</p>
<p>We have a small Garmin Nuvi, and we have taken it with us on trips to the East Coast, HI and CA. The Nuvi had a bit of a trouble navigating through Boston suburbs, but handled freeways and major arterials well. In HI, it had some trouble pronouncing street names :)</p>
<p>It sounds like your D will be driving through Canada. Make sure the nav. sysyetm you get covers the entire North America and not just the US. Also, check with your insurance company about how her car will be covered in Canada (I’m sure you are familiar with this stuff).</p>
<p>If her wild route includes Seattle, I’d be glad to offer my help if she needs something.</p>
<p>Bought a Garmin Nuvi a few years ago as Xmas present for my wife. We first used on vacation in unfamiliar territory and it was wonderful. Now we don’t leave home without it. As we were so dependent on it and moved to a new area we bought a similar model for our son who is pretty directionally challenged anyway. He gets everywhere with his, no problem. Has some bells and whistles we don’t use (like bluetooth - automatically becomes a speakerphone and if you ask for restaurants you can call them with a touch of the gps) .</p>
<p>crabbylady – so nice to 'hear" from you. I’m sure I speak for so many of us on CC when I say you and your family have been in our thoughts over the past year +.</p>
<p>So, about GPS units. H has a Garmin Nuvi (Model 760, I think?) When it works, it’s great. The problem is it can take a l-o-n-g time for the unit to acquire the satellite signal that tells it where you are. This is when we first turn it on, and the length of time it takes varies by where we are, i.e. more remote locations vs urban area. It’s an issue when we need directions in a hurry, but the unit is still finding us. I guess I’m spoiled by the built-in GPS in my car, which is there as soon as you turn it on. Clearly the solution is to turn the unit on well before you need to know which way to turn!</p>
<p>You don’t have to buy something expensive. Bought my D a small garmin nuvi on sale at Academy for $100 at Christmas. It may be easier to use and more accurate than my several hundred dollar motorcycle specific Garmin GPS . D said “he” got a little confused in New Orleans but nothing too bad. She takes it everywhere she’s traveling as she can just slip it in her purse.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Also thank you for contributing to the Head Start memorial fund- many, many kids will benefit. My life and our daughters lives are fueled by your many kindnesses. The legal situation is not resolved - after 16 months - I am hopeful sometime this summer we will have some sort of closure.</p>
<p>Our youngest daughter is embarking on the great American college graduation road trip with one of her room mates. I would like to get her a GPS system for her car - more piece of mind for me than anything else. I only have experience with the rental car version. Are most of the systems up to date on city software or do I have to buy something extra? Any other glitches I should know before I buy?</p>
<p>Thanks again - diane</p>
<p>I have a TomTom. Once you buy it, you plug it into your computer and it gets the most current maps. It only does that once though, after that you generally have to pay to get updated maps.</p>
<p>As mentioned above we do have trouble with the unit holding a charge, but we just leave it plugged into the car power outlet the entire time we’re driving. If we haven’t used it in a while sometimes it won’t turn on. In that case, there’s a little hole on the bottom that says “reset,” if you stick a straightened paper clip into it and hold it for about 30 seconds, then plug the TomTom into a power source (like the car plug) it works fine. Seems like a pain, but now that I’m used to the TomTom software and how to use the system I’m too lazy to bother to learn how to use another brand of GPS!</p>
<p>Crabbylady:</p>
<p>I was thinking of you just the other day, and here you are! How nice to hear from you again. And to read that your D will be graduating soon!</p>
<p>My D’s cell phone functions as a GPS. It gives excellent verbal directions. Check with your phone service provider.</p>
<p>But BigG. Do you lose the GPS function when you lose cell coverage? In the boonies, you wouldn’t want to be relying on cell service limited GPS-lite (if that is the way it works). For $100, I’ll trust the eye in the sky on a 4000 mile trip. ;)</p>
<p>I have an iphone and it really doesn’t have a clue exactly where I am on the way to the ranch. In Dallas, it works just like a GPS (as I never listen to the voice). Out in the sticks? Even with cell coverage for voice? Not so much. On the way to Big Bend? Zippo. Nada. Nothing.</p>
<p>Personally, I love Magellan Roadmate. It’s currently on discount at Costco for about $129, and they have an excellent return policy (we had to return one after it died after a year or so of use). The one currently being sold has lifetime traffic updates, which can be useful for city driving.</p>
<p>One of the nice features about the Magellan is that it has info about hotels, etc. that corresponds with AAA (which we’re a member of). It does pronounce HI names better than Garmin, and provides more detailed guidance than the Garmin Nuvi’s we have used (especially lane position in multi-lane freeways).</p>
<p>My 2nd choice would be the Garmin, but definitely NOT the TomTom or Mio or other devices.</p>
<p>I am definitely directionally challenged, so picking the right GPS was important to my H, who got tired of me getting lost on the way home. 3 hours for what should have been 20-minute trips got on his nerves. I wonder why. Anyway, he got me a Garmin nuvi, the cheapest model that includes voice directions. It’s been great. You could get the cheapest one possible - aftermarket, ebay, whatever - then buy the updated chip to put into it, to ensure that you have the most up-to-date maps. (We also bought a chip for Italy when we went to Europe, and that was fantastic. What a godsend.)</p>
<p>We are thinking of doing an Alaska cruise one of these days, and talking about Alaska last week reminded me of you. I’d be wondering about you and your family, you’ve really been in my thoughts and prayers. We hope you get closure, and peace. God bless.</p>
<p>I have a Garmin iQue 3600 from 2003 - it is a combination handheld Palm PDA and GPS. I used to use it as my PDA but I don’t normally carry it around anymore except for using it at the gym to record weight-training workouts. I update the maps every few years. Unfortunately Garmin doesn’t make it anymore as it would be nice to have an updated model with newer processor technology. At any rate, it gets the job done.</p>
<p>We have two Garmin Nuvis and they’re great. One has free traffic status (in exchange for ads when you turn it on, and arrive at your destination, never in between).</p>
<p>ditto the Verizon cell phone GPS - we used it in lieu of friend’s Garmin - it worked so much better - as far as losing touch in the boonies - my factory installed GPS in my Infiniti doesn’t handle the boonies very well - I think I would print out a mapquest or googlemap first for the whole trip - then augment with the cell phone…if you have verizon it is $10 per month or $2.99/day if just using temporarily</p>
<p>crabbylady, I was just thinking about you and your family the other day. It is so nice to <em>see</em> you back on CC.</p>
<p>I’ve had a Garmin Nuvi for over a year and I absolutely love it. We also take it with us on vacation and plug it into the rental car.</p>
<p>I love my Tomtom - and since I always use it I don’t have a delay with satellite. I have used it in New England - California, Puerto Rico and Italy. Please tell your daughter to ALWAYS hide the GPS - the only reason I replaced mine was because mine was stolen (and my window broken)</p>
<p>Yes, ALWAYS be sure you take the GPS with you or hide it well. If you use a suction cup, it is suggested you clean the glass to remove any trace that you had a suction cup to avoid being targetted. Have read of others who have had their GPS stolen from their vehicles.</p>
<p>I have a garmin. I don’t use the suction cup. I use a dash board mount. When I am done, I put the GPS in the glove box and the mount underneath the seat.</p>