Question to GPS users...

Igo

Guest
I have two GPS. One is a TomTom something. It was called the best Black Friday deal to be found last Christmas and is a very high end GPS....but I don't know where I put it right now so I can't tell you what model it is. What it does that was its great selling points is it breaks off regular maps when you get close to a turn and starts showing you which lane to be in and how many yards to the next maneuver. It is a very detailed navigator.

I also have a "Hand Held" Garmin GPSMap 60CS. This GPS cost me $500 and then the 3 map programs I bought for it were $100 each. This GPS will record tracks as I move across them. It will also let me select what maps I want to install. It is still an amazing machine to me. When I get home from a Hike I can take my recorder track from a road map program and overlay it over a topographical map program and check my journey against elevation gains and losses.

The TomTom has excellent multi lane visual characteristics. The Garmin has no such feature. It just tells you turn left or right and at the top of the little window it has the directions in text. Both the Garmin and the TomTom will get you there but the TomTom makes me more comfortable in spaghetti/mix-masters and the like.

Now, from what I can tell, the Garmin will blow the TomTom away in every other sense for these reasons. The Garmin has both a barometric altimeter and triangulation altimeter. The Garmin has the mapping/ trip recording capabilities I just mentioned. The Garmin has the most extensive trip computer I've ever heard of and will record something like 170 different kinds of trip data. Top speed. Average speed. Average speed moving. Altitude. Altitude that day. Moving average. Down time. Course. Vertical speed. Distance to next. Distance to destination, heading. Bearing. Compass, average moving speed, la la, la la.....

The other truly GREAT thing the Garmin does is it allows me to pick my routes by the most efficient route then modify it at home on my PC so I can include side trips then upload the planned route as I have written it. The TomTom, and best I can tell, the rest, will not let you do this. Not easily anyway.

But I cannot argue how handy the TomTom is for finding my way from A to Z in major metropolitan cities.

I am thinking about retiring my Garmin to back packing duty only. The Garmin only has 64MB on board memory and with all the maps it ran out of memory before it could record my entire journey. I was very disappointed when I could not print out a graph of elevation changes on my 2300 mile California trip because it didn't have the memory capacity to record the entire journey.

OK. I've been using this trip computer for 6 years and it is great for planning future trips but I'm thinking of retiring this GPS to backpacking only as I only need to store but so many maps on it for backpacking.

What I am asking is, what GPS will record all my data like my Garmin but give me as mucg graphic detail and direction as the TomTom. Or is there such a beast. And what makes you like the GPS you use? I don't need music. I want me trip computer and trip recorder.

I am seeing the newer release of my Garmin and it can be had with a 2GB Mini SD card. Does anybody know anything about these kinds of GPS?

Thanks a bunch all.
 
I have a garmin 550 on the Nt and a TomTom in the Suv. I like the 550 as its screens cater to cycling. All the writing and everything a good size plus its water proof and made for the vibrations. I can also download maps showing where i have been. The Tomtom is nice in a car but maybe too much info for a quick glance on a cycle. It also is not water proof and not sure how well it would hold up on my nt
 
The TomTom may end up never being on the NT again but it held up for 2300 miles through rain and snow and fog last week. I was pretty proud of it.
I'm most interested in track points for track logs with more than 10,000 track points. I'm looking at a GPS with external memory in the GB range so I can record all trip details with a sampling every hundred feet or some. I don't think we're talking a motorcycle GPS for this task. It's looking more like a back-country GPS instead me thinks.
 
I bought a small GPS just for the purpose of tracklogs and for geotagging photos. It holds 262,000 points, it's water resistant and comes with some neat software to help you visualize your trip.

http://global.mobileaction.com/product/product_i-gotU_GT-600.jsp

You can get it cheap from Amazon.

I've only tested it a few times in the week I've had it, but so far it's perfect for my needs.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
elizilla said:
Got an iPhone?
Click to expand...

Just going to point out that the iPhone "bug" was not tracking the person. It was caching the location of all WiFi base stations you went by to do two things: Assist the iPhone GPS to get initial location much faster; and to help Apple create a crowd-sourced database of WiFi hotspots so that iPods and iPads that don't have dedicated GPS systems can do basic triangulation off of WiFi signals to get a rough idea of location. There was never any personally identifiable information sent to Apple or anyone else.

Today they released an iOS update that fixed the only bugs. They now delete the older data (a bug was keeping way too much data); the cached data is no longer backed up to your computer; and the data is immediately deleted when you turn off "Location Services" on your iPhone.

But to get back to the topic at hand... I use my iPhone exclusively as my GPS tracking and turn-by-turn mapping solution. I use the MotionX-GPS app for tracking, emailing position updates to my wife, etc. I use the Navigon app which includes maps for all of the US and Canada (i.e. does NOT require a cell or network connection to operate) for turn-by-turn directions, as well as route planning. It allows me to pre-build routes and store them for me to pull up when I am out riding. It even has a "motorcycle" route option to help select the more fun roads along a track.

So if you already own an iPhone these apps might be a cheap solution. And it decreases the number of items you need to pack - your phone is your GPS - so only one charger. If you don't own an iPhone (or don't want one) then this solution wouldn't work for you.
 
For those with Android phones, Google Maps and Google Tracks work well if you have cell service. InstaMapper lets some one follow your progress via a web browser. Breadcrumbs is an interesting tracking/recording app that would work very well for a ride report. These and many others are free, and available from the Android store.

CoPilot saves a copy of your map on SD card. Interface looks and works very much like Garman. This has a one time cost of $29.00.

There are other options, including some that also locate a "lost" phone, or let a loved one track you.

I have also used Google Earth successfully on a Blackberry.
 
It's difficult to beat a Garmin and one advantage not mentioned so far is the gigantic pool of knowledge about them at
a motorcycle event where I'd guess 80%+ of riders with GPS, are using a Garmin model so if you have a problem or a
question, there is usually someone at the event who knows the answer. I have a Garmin Nuvi 500, very similar to their 550, that I bought two years ago for around $260. It has the close-up function for turns plus one feature I find especially helpful
on a long day is a screen that will show me at a glance where I am in regards to the start and finish points for that day. My arrival time is already on the normal screen but seeing my current position on a big view map helps.
 
ken said:
InstaMapper lets some one follow your progress via a web browser.
Click to expand...

I tested this on a cheap pre-pay phone from Boost Mobile. It was fun, but what I found was that when it can't get cell signal it doesn't update the webpage. It stores some waypoints and uploads them when it gets the chance, but Boost Mobile's coverage area was so spotty that I only got a little tracking now and then when I crossed a freeway. You might do better with another provider, but I wasn't willing to buy an expensive data contract with one of the big guys just in hopes of getting useful Instamapper results.

If I had a data contract anyway, I'd love to play with Instamapper. But I don't have any other use for the data plan, and if the tracking is all I want, a Spot Beacon is cheaper and much more reliable.
 
I have now owned and played with TomTom, magellan, and Garmin as well as the navigator on my Droid.

TomTom and Magellan are second rate for support. Neither of us who own them can get updates after only 3 years of ownership. My Magellan is on the bike cause I consider it disposable at this point.

Garmin I have in the truck now is great. I love the lane assist feature best, especially in larger cities where you have a lot of interstate intersections to navigate. And one feature I thought I'd never use is the FM traffic info. Has come in handy several times in just two trips through Phoenix and SoCal.

Droid is OK when I have 3G service, but, when I need it is out on US Hwys.

Has anyone tried the CoPilot software on their phone? I am interested in that before I spring for a motorcycle specific GPS (Garmin of course).

I don't log trips so I have no idea how that works on any of these. But, Garmin also has the computer interface thing down well too. Something TomTom and Magellan don't do as well, heck Magellan sucks at their PC interface.
 
I just looked at CoPilot for my Droid X and that looks very interesting. That $19.99 one time fee is pretty darn good as well especially when compared to a "real" GPS.... The only concerns I have are the same ones I have with Google Maps regarding protecting the phone from the elements. I have not seen a touch screen compatible weatherproof case for the Droid X yet...
 
+1 on the Nuvi 500/550. It's a lot cheaper than the Zumo, and can handle all sorts of weather. I've used it with the mapping software to import/export tracks (advrider.com gps geeks pool together interesting rides). I bring an extra battery, which gets me through a full-day of riding. I'm thinking of installing a charger in the right glovebox (either the Marinco or BurnsMoto style), to charge batteries (both garmin and blackberry have adapters where you can usb-charge batteries outside the gadget) to switch when devices run low.

I did discover that it gets hot in the NT700 panniers, and I think this helped to totally drain one battery (I may have left it on as well, in 4 hours of Carolina heat). I use the Nuvi 500 on my motorcycles, car, and even when walking in unfamiliar cities - works better than my Blackberry, in terms of battery usage.
 
RedLdr1 said:
I just looked at CoPilot for my Droid X and that looks very interesting. That $19.99 one time fee is pretty darn good as well especially when compared to a "real" GPS.... The only concerns I have are the same ones I have with Google Maps regarding protecting the phone from the elements. I have not seen a touch screen compatible weatherproof case for the Droid X yet...
Click to expand...


I use a Givi S950 to hold my iPhone. The touch screen is still usable through the plastic. There is a slot for the charging cable to route out, so i keep my iphone plugged into the powerlet socket on my handelbar risers. It is pretty much weather resistant as is but it also comes with a rain cover for really bad situations. You might want to give that a look.
 
thefieldworker said:
+1 on the Nuvi 500/550.
Click to expand...

Add another. That's what I have. It works fine on the bike. I put a power outlet in the right fairing pocket, and the pocket cover is easily snapped closed with the cord threading out. I have a ram mount on the handlebars for it.

The battery does indeed last a while even without plugging it in. Nice for carrying into the restaurant to play with while eating.

The only thing it lacks is an audio port to plug into my comm system. It just has a speaker and I can't hear it while moving.

I paid $150 for it. That was a sale price but if it came around at that price once it'll come around again, assuming they still make it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom