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Car GPS - The Ultimate Guy Gadget?

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deathman20

deathman20

High Speed Premium Senior
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Joined
Aug 5, 2002
http://www.overclockers.com/articles1500

Indeed I'd agree as well its definatly the guy gadget. There is no way I'll admit if I'm off track, just a 3 hour detour as I'd say :) (and actually I did have a detour that lasted that long once).

A bunch of us in the family got one this year. About 6 people on 1 side that I know of. Such a handy gadget I tell you its great. I got a Mio Digiwalker 230 i think. Was a choice between that and the magelin (which is made by Mio actually). Well gotta say while different than the typical Garmins that I've seen very nice to use, bit harder on the interface to get to options but overall great functions IMO. Does great at tracking you and even does the voice activated street names. For $150-190 it did a fine job to a few places I went to this holiday season. As well going on a few business trips so it will help out even more expecially since now I won't be going with people that have a GPS unit, whew saved on that one hehe.

Definatly recommend one, expecially if your the guy that truely won't admit that your lost ;) Come on I know theres a few of you out there.
 
get lost going to an important job interview, you'll get a GPS damn fast. Just don't tell any of the women in your life
 
I decided two years ago when shopping for a new car that I would have a built-in GPS. I had been using a laptop with a GPS antenna on the dash to accomplish the same thing travelling to clients in unfamiliar areas. I find myself using it all the time ANYTIME that I travel anywhere that I'm not personally familiar with.

My wife acquiesced as the laptop was often sitting on her lap when travelling. She got tired of that fast--that and all the wires that had to be connected and tangled.

Not only is built-in more convenient, but it is voice controlled which allows you to keep your hands on the wheel. You can also control the environmental settings and the audio/video entertainment system via voice as well.
 
Niku-Sama said:
be careful i hear these things steal your penis
Click to expand...

The GPS or the women in your life? LOL.

Still don't have one(GPS...:beer:), but I have thought about it. I remember reading a Hack-A-Day article about running Linux on a Garmin unit and getting a GPS and MP3 unit all in one. I think that some of the newer Garmin units actually have the MP3 capability built in. haven't checked lately. I guess that my reluctance in getting one is this...Wouldn't a carputer be a better bet in the long run? Especially if you have a new enough car to be able to interface it to the car and control/monitor the engine?
 
Deadbot1_1973 said:
The GPS or the women in your life? LOL.

Still don't have one(GPS...:beer:), but I have thought about it. I remember reading a Hack-A-Day article about running Linux on a Garmin unit and getting a GPS and MP3 unit all in one. I think that some of the newer Garmin units actually have the MP3 capability built in. haven't checked lately. I guess that my reluctance in getting one is this...Wouldn't a carputer be a better bet in the long run? Especially if you have a new enough car to be able to interface it to the car and control/monitor the engine?
Click to expand...

If you want to spend that much on a laptop sure it will be better for map perspective wise. I personally don't know many map programs for the PC anymore if they are actually good for travel purpose. Downside with a laptop... its large. Its going to be a larger item to lug around and even more cables, you won't beable to convently mount it on your dashboard either.
 
I have a Garmin GPSmap 60CSx as I like to hunt and mountain bike. But it has auto routing capabilities just like the car ones and works so good. It was a steep price but defiantly better than my Magellan 210 (only 3x the price ;)) It doesn't talk and doesn't have a touch screen, but for me its worth it because of how portable and rugged it is.
 
We are looking at getting a tomtom 910. I think that when people pass the 50 year mark their memory degrades by alot, also their ability to find places(this is only regarding men, women don't have a sense of direction to begin with)

We used a friends once, it's great, thinking about maybe getting one for the motorcycle..for when I get one :p :)
 
I have a Blackberry with GPS and Telenav. I personally like having a portabel handheld GPS that I can use wherever, and when ever.
 
deathman20 said:
If you want to spend that much on a laptop sure it will be better for map perspective wise. I personally don't know many map programs for the PC anymore if they are actually good for travel purpose. Downside with a laptop... its large. Its going to be a larger item to lug around and even more cables, you won't beable to convently mount it on your dashboard either.
Click to expand...

Not a laptop. I was thinking more of a custom built carputer based on a VIA NanoITX or similar board. No need for a break the bank powerhouse. Yes it's more money, but also more capabilities.

I and a friend have recently begun experimenting with making custom fiberglass dashes for our customized cars(I actually want to try making my own car from scratch). You'd be surprised at the amount of wasted space under most dashes. Lots of room to shoehorn in a custom system in most cases.
 
I had to set up and test a TOM TOM and it was awsome and I want one but i have no need for it because i dont have a car
 
I find it handy because I'm a construction worker, thats lives in the country area and most all of the work in in the city (DC) about 80 miles away and they just give me an address and say be there at 6am, now I have no Idea where im going up around that area but with my gps you couldn't get lost if you tried, i love it
 
I won't go without one. They take a lot of the stress from cross country driving and are indispensable for local driving to unknown locations. They are much more then a toy for me.


For hiking I have a handheld Garmin Etreck that includes a barometric altimeter! I load my own maps into and use along with a topo map on long hikes. I manly use it to fix my position so I can cross reference and locate on the map.( I carry a compass-just in case) I do load in coordinates on topos to the gps but it's really not the same to me. I guess I'm kinda hesitant trusting my life to it.
 
Last edited:
turd said:
I won't go without one. They take a lot of the stress from cross country driving and are indispensable for local driving to unknown locations. They are much more then a toy for me.


For hiking I have a handheld Garmin Etreck that includes a barometric altimeter! I load my own maps into and use along with a topo map on long hikes. I manly use it to fix my position so I can cross reference and locate on the map.( I carry a compass-just in case) I do load in coordinates on topos to the gps but it's really not the same to me. I guess I'm kinda hesitant trusting my life to it.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that Garmin's altimeter is NOT barometric. The altitude is calculated as part of your location directly from the GPS signals (ANY GPS would be capable of calculating altitude). A barometric altimeter would need constant recalibration any time the ambient pressure changes.
 
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