Replies to Msg. #774789
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 Msg. #  Subject Posted by    Board    Date   
48481 Re: GPS
   I took my nuvi 670 to Paris, pre-iPhone, it was useless... we were wal...
weco   FFFT   14 Dec 2012
12:53 AM
48479 Re: GPS
   The other feature that both of these new units have that's nice is the...
oldCADuser   FFFT   14 Dec 2012
12:25 AM

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Re: GPS

By: oldCADuser in FFFT
Fri, 14 Dec 12 12:10 AM
Msg. 48478 of 65535
(This msg. is a reply to 48475 by wilful)
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Both my wife and I have Magellan Roadmate GPS units in our respective vehicles. While her's is a large 7" model, mine is a smaller 4.3" version which I also take with me on the road as I have a portable (beanbag) mount that I can just throw on the dash of a rental car, plug-in and go.

As for their accuracy, the two GPS units we now have include free lifetime map updates so I think things are getting better since in the past, most of the so-called errors that I've experienced resulted from major changes having been made in some street or highway routing and the GPS maps are simply out-of-date. Our older Magellan units (purchased about 3 years ago), which were replaced by the two we just bought (within the last 3 months), did not have free map upgrades and since a typical update cost almost as much as a new unit (the street prices have been dropping significantly the last few years) we never upgraded any of them and so it was getting pretty bad. But now with the new units things appear to be better (we've already had one update each since we bought our most recent Magellan units).

Now it is true that occasionally you'll lose satellite connections, usually downtown in cities with lots of really tall buildings, and I have seen situations where I've been basically taken for loop around a block or suddenly being told "When possible, make a legal U-turn." for no apparent reason, but compared to our first GPS unit, a Magellan Roadmate 360...

http://www.gpsinformation.org/penrod/rm360/rm360.html

...which we bought maybe 6 years ago, today's technology is light-years ahead...

http://www.magellangps.com/Search/RoadMate_old/Magellan-RoadMate-2136T-LM

http://www.magellangps.com/Search/RoadMate_old/Magellan-RoadMate-9020T-LM

BTW, one feature on my smaller 2136T unit that I like is that it has a local speed limit indicator which you can set to warn you if you go some preset amount over the posted speed limit (it shows you a little speed limit 'sign' on the screen which turns red when you exceed your preset and if you have the audio option on, it will tell you that you've exceeded the speed limit as well) and it's amazing how accurate it is, as you drive say though some small town, the speed limit indicator updates literally within feet of you passing a sign with a new posted speed limit.

All in all, even with their occasional 'blips', I wouldn't want to travel anywhere new without one of these devices along for the ride.




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