Russ from MN

Well-known Member
Location
Bemidji MN
We have been traveling in the SW using our GPS, and we are not very happy with it. We recently updated it, but it just doesn't know where things are. The unit works fine, it's OK on road locations and speed limits, but some businesses it's way off on. I have been asking when we have problems, and the business has been in this location for a long time, so it's not that. Maybe they are using Google maps as they seem to be very inaccurate. Has anyone used a Garmin? if they use Bing maps they would probably be much better.
 
have a tomtom..never been happy with it..way out of date outside the city..they have their own system, I think apple used them for it's mapping system that failed
 
I have a Garmin and it is fairly accurate except for some things. Last year my wife and I took a road trip to eastern Idaho. Programmed in Shoshone Falls. Started out heading east on I84 then was instructed to take Hwy 30. After about three time crossing back and forth over or under I84 I figured it must not have had it right. Turned it off and caught I84 and went directly to our desitnation. Oh well, saw some nice country and very little traffic.
 
Russ,

My wife has a Garmin Nuvi. This is the second one that she has had. Between the two of them, she's been using Garmin for about 3 or 4 years. It's not perfect, but we have never had any major problems with it.

If she has to get another one, she'll get another Garmin Nuvi.

Tom in TM
 
I've pretty much settled on a Samsung 7 inch tablet running the Co-pilot app for land navigation and Navionics app for marina navigation. Two birds with one stone, and a 7 inch display instead of a little 5 inch display like you find on the automotive GPS.
 
It probably is not the GPS fault. They all rely on digital maps that are supplied to the companies, states, counties, etc. There are some places near me that no matter what GPS you have it will not get you anywhere near where you want to go.
 
I have an older Omnitech and just recently bought a Megellan Roadmate. Both have their advantages. What ever you buy, be sure to get a unit that comes with lifetime software and map updates. If you have to pay for map updates they could cost you almost as much as a new unit.
 
F or about 3 years I've been using a Tom-Tom "One" - the smallest, cheapest Tom-Tom at the time. It has served me flawlessly. From the maze of expressways that is metro Toronto to the mountain hinterlands of northwestern PA, it consistently displays highway maps correctly. And it always knows its exact location on the map.

The only errors I've spotted are an occasional misspelled side street name.
 
I have Tom Tom One also, had it for the last three or four years and really don't care for it.
it is off on where intersections are and street numbers are way off half a block or more.
as to the routeing it has routed me on and off of major roads when I should have stayed on the major road all the way.
WILL NOT BUY ANOTHER ONE
have an older Gps that is a no name and way better routing and knows where it is at.
 
When I'm out on the road inspecting houses, I live by my GPS unit.

That being said, I'm on my second Garmin. The first one was flawless, but just got outdated and it cost as much to update it as a new unit.

My second Garmin has had some problems, although I suspect it's the area as much as the unit. GPS doesn't work well in Nebraska City, NE, nor in northwest Missouri.

But, Nebraska City is a screwed up town anyway, and I never did figure out northwest Missouri. I finally quit working that area 'cause I could never find anything. I'd be driving along, the GPS would say "Turn right on Road 368", and I'd look up at the road sign and it would say, "Road 426".

I was once looking for a food pantry less than 3 miles from downtown Savannah, MO, and neither GPS would find it. I finally just stumbled onto it.

The thing is, you still have to have a good idea of where you're going, GPS is just a good guide.
 
I use a system of folded paper that requires no batteries, satellites and updates at the 1st rest stop in every state; its called MAP MAP. LOL
 
I don't quite understand. At 59 years of age, never owned a GPS, never used a GPS, have never been really lost, and have always ended up where I was headed. I like paper maps, and they work !!!
 
Myself i have never had one and i spent a lot of years on the road . Give me a truckers Atlas the sun and the stars and if needed a compass and i will get there . and like i always told my friends i know a short cut. So if it is east of US 83 more then likely i have been there .
 
I've had a One XL for years. The updates are online and free. The only glitch I've ever had was setting for shortest route instead of fastest, which did lead to some interesting sight seeing.

The way Tom Tom works is through the users and seems to work well for me. My son has one too but has been using his smart phone with an app for that. (One wonders when smart phones will have a toilet paper app.....)
 
I run border to border and all 3 coasts. I use a Garmin Nuvi. It's very reliable and rarely leads me astray.

Having said that, tractor vet, I still have my road atlas and refer to it.
 
You might be surprised how some people cannot read a map, punch in a gps, get where they are going and never realize they went 300 miles on a 200 mile trip. Daughter and son-in-law took a few extra mile trips using google drawn up maps also. I asked , why did you go through that city. Well, google knows best , right. Just for the heck of it I had google draw a map for me and it took me two miles south of town on a gravel road, crossing the highway you should have gotten on to and then cut 6 miles over on more township gravel road to get onto the next paved road you should have been on anyway.
 
I've used Garmin for several years. I've been very happy with it. Got us to some places in Maine on vacation we would have never found otherwise.
 
A GPS unit is only as good as the map people keep it maintained - no matter what the brand. I use mine mainly for estimated arrival times with clients. In certain parts of the country maps are not maintained very well because of low populations,etc. The west is probably the worst. I have a couple of Garmins. The last one has a lifetime map up date service which is handy. I keep a Road Atlas in my truck to varify.
 
I've got a Garmin. I works pretty good. A friend of mine has a Tom Tom and a Garmin and says the Garmins better.
 
That"s the system I use too. the state DOT maps are usually the most recent and best updated. check the name of the Governor. If he/she is still in office it is probably a good map.
 

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