<p>Who has an aftermarket unit? Which brand? What are the units Pro’s and Con’s?</p>
<p>Beware the Byerly brand. It only gives directions to Harvard.</p>
<p>Beware TheDad brand. It gets very creative when trying to give directions.</p>
<p>Another approach. H bought a Garmin iQue3600, which is a PDA (Palm OS) combined with GPS navigation system. <a href=“http://www.garmin.com/products/iQue3600/[/url]”>http://www.garmin.com/products/iQue3600/</a></p>
<p>You can plug it into the car lighter/adapter so as not to use up battery.</p>
<p>We loved it. Nice color screen, also voice prompts. Very clear directions, very quick “recovery” when it finds you’ve veered off course, thus adapting to your new location.
Pros: you’ve got something very small which you can use for “walking” directions as well as driving. It’s a PDA too, so you’ve got all those functions.
Cons: It is a “power eater” however. For some reason seems to use battery even when totally turned off.</p>
<p>I don’t have a lot of experience, but navigated around one afternoon with a client’s GPS (Magellan?) which also worked great (bulkier and uglier) and this one seemed equal in functionality.</p>
<p>“Beware the Byerly brand. It only gives directions to Harvard.”</p>
<p>It is for this I keep coming back to CC. Bravo to the TheDad.</p>
<p>I’ve been very impressed with Microsoft Streets & Trips, a really terrific hi-tech version of mapquest (but far more accurate and with far more features). The latest version, which I purchased at Costco for $19.95 including rebate is loaded on my laptop and goes with me on long trips. It’s also upgradable for use with a GPS system, although I haven’t gotten around to exploring that myself yet. Just having this program on my laptop in the car has saved me many times.</p>
<p>Ah, TD, but once the Byerly GPS gets you to Harvard, can you get in? Can you PAAAAHK the CAAAAAAH? And, does it run a banner that tells you that Yale is a lot further away than you think?</p>
<p>CD, of course you remember the JFK quote about going to Harvard and turning left?</p>
<p>I think I’ll get one that plugs in to my laptop and download streets and trips online from limewire or KaZaA…</p>
<p>semp, pcmcia gps cards should come with the software 
[<a href=“pcmcia gps streets and trips][/url - Google Search”>pcmcia gps streets and trips - Google Search][/url</a>].</p>
<p>driver - I was wondering how the streets and trips program works with the GPS locater. I saw the linked ad on my favorite map website, mabplast dotcom. I am amazed that the program including the GPS locator is only $129. But since I don’t have a laptop I am not buying it.</p>
<p>Well, I just bought the Garmin c330 (it is on it way from Costco), I will let you know how I like it.</p>
<p>We have a Garmin Quest and I couldn’t be happier with it. I love all the options it has. It is very user friendly … believe me, if I can use it, anyone can!</p>
<p>I revived this thread because I thought a GSP would be a great product to have on college visits.</p>
<p>I don’t know why, but despite advance planning, I always get lost trying to find these places. I drove to Princeton in the fall okay, but when leaving, it took me a half hour to find Route 1! The four 16-year-olds I had with me in the car weren’t any help!</p>
<p>In April, after scheduling a trip to Ithaca, New York, I decided that the unit (about $500) was too much money to spend. So I drove with a friend and her D and mine to Cornell last month, and then had 90 minutes to get us to SUNY Bing for the last tour of the day. We got so lost in Ithaca, I ended up having a panic attack as my three passengers feverishly passed the map back and forth and trying to navigate.</p>
<p>Ithaca is confusing! </p>
<p>So after that, I requested the Garmin c340 for my birthday, and I should be getting it soon. The reviews on Amazon seem to be good. Anyone have any experience with it or other models when driving to colleges? </p>
<p>We’re planning to visit U of Maryland, Colgate, U of Rochester this summer, and maybe some others.</p>
<p>We have a two year old Garmin 2610 Streetpilot and H cannot say enough good things about it. The unit can still be purchased new and the price has declined from about $1000 to $500-$600. It is highly accurate and, in comparison with the built in options I’ve seen in most cars, including my own , it performs more accurately, is easier to use, and has more features. My H did considerable research before purchasing this particular unit, comparing it primarily with the Magellen, a unit that is used by Hertz as their Neverlost GPS. The newer Garmin units are more portable but don’t have the features or screen size of the StreetPilot. However, if you decide to opt for a newer self contained battery operated unit (the 2610 plugs into the cigarette lighter), you cannot go wrong with a Garmin.</p>
<p>It’s also great having an after market unit that goes between H’s car and my son’s. We even took it to remote sections of Alaska and it performed as well as it does in our own neighborhood!</p>
<p>macnyc, Yes, a gps was great for all of our trips. We have a Magellan. It comes in handy, not only for directions, but when we saw 2 schools on the same day we were hungry and only had a short time to find a restaurant. It helped out that way too. We always use our gps for family trips. </p>
<p>One time my H got stuck in a traffic jam. He told me that it gave him an alternate route and saved a lot of time.</p>
<p>It is really worth the expense.</p>
<p>I got my husbanc a Garmin for Christmas - sorry I don’t know which model, it was not the most expensive on Amazon, but the next.</p>
<p>My husband likes it, he camps with Scouts a lot, and any rural place he has looked for has been on it. It takes some getting used to, because it can be distracting if not positioned properly. The one time I used it alone, I was going somewhere in town that I sort of knew, but not exactly. It would have worked better if I had turned it on and entered the address at the point where the streets became unfamiliar, because for the first 2 miles it sent me a way I wouldn’t usually go. You also need a good sense of how far 500 feet is, or 100 yards, etc.
Just takes some getting used to!</p>
<p>I’m glad to hear there are so many CC’ers happy with Garmin. I just bought the Garmin eTrex Vista handheld for my hiking trip in July. Now, I just have to read my book on GPS navigation and the manual. Should be fun, though.</p>
<p>We bought a Garmin GPS in the last year and it saved me big time! We did the college aquisition tour this spring and it got me to four states and seven colleges! The difference of downloading is with the GPS loaded to the car it will tell you when you have missed a turn and recalculate your journey. I missed SO many turns only to get right back on the path. It finds hotels, restaurants on the road and anywhere you might want to go. I can use this with confidence on solo trips and I would heartily endorse Garmin products!</p>
<p>If anyone already has a PDA with bluetooth, it can be combined with a bluetooth GPS reciever, such as Inter-Actve Information available on their website and Ebay, and maps like from PocketMaps.com which have voice, or Streets and Trips which doesn’t have voice. I think there are also GPS recievers that fit into the CF card slots. This can be done for less than $150 if you already own the PDA. I bought my PDA on Ebay for around $200, so it all cost about the same as if I had bought an inexpensive GPS system, but this way I felt I got more.</p>