O/T: GPS for Vehicle

txaviator · #1 07-31-2006, 11:35 PM

My employer has just authorized me to purchase (expense) a GPS unit to carry with me during my travels for business.

Any recommendations? I have heard some bad things about the TomTom unit (locking up, etc.), and was wondering if anyone else could offer their opinions/suggestions on an acceptable unit? Studying everything available is mind-boggling, to say the least.

Traveling about 40-weeks per year in cities across the globe, a portable unit which will plug into 12 VDC is what I am searching for.

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks!

BrickPilot · #2 07-31-2006, 11:51 PM

What's the expense limit? My first thougt is a GPSMAP 496.

Cartaire · #3 08-01-2006, 05:19 AM

If you can't sell them on the Garmin 496, consider the Garmin Nuvi. I've had one for about 6 months. Not cheap, but what a great device. It's tiny, we use the MP3 player and Audiobook function all the time, it's maps cover the entire country, and the progressive instructions are terriffic.

We use it in the car, while walking in new cities, and I won't tell you how it got a "maximum speed" of 607 mph stored in it's summary screen.

The portability is worth the money. And it looks cool.

Dgamble · #4 08-01-2006, 05:22 AM

I'm thinking about one of these:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0%2C17...17854%2C00.asp

txaviator · #5 08-01-2006, 07:52 AM

I forgot to mention that I was told to "keep it under $600". That Lowrance is a good looking unit! I had not seen that one until now.

Thanks for the replies. Any further info is appreciated.

Baja_Traveler · #6 08-01-2006, 10:25 AM

I use my 296 in the truck and for business travel and it works awesome. Sure is nice to be able to fly into a city I've never been to (usually arriving at night) punch in an address and get directed to the door step of the hotel across town, then to the business the next morning.

The car kit for the 296 has the voice prompting built into the lighter jack power cord, and comes with the bean bag mount for the dash.

Might be difficult to get any system worth using for $600 though.

Build9A · #7 08-01-2006, 11:59 AM

For $700 you can get the Lowrance 2000C that you can take from the plane to your car. You just have to install the auto/land software that comes with the purchase. good luck. jack

txaviator · #8 08-01-2006, 12:13 PM

Is there a package (voice) available for the Lowrance 1000? I bought one about a year ago, and quite honestly, I have never taken it out of the box

Of course I bought it for the aircraft features, but it never dawned on me that it MIGHT have a voice package available. I am guessing if the 2000C does it, perhaps the 1000 will also?

Thanks....better go do some Lowrance research on my 1000....

hevansrv7a · #9 08-01-2006, 01:17 PM

I have a Garmin 296 and I love it for aviation. For flying, I think Garmin is better than a PDA (please, no flames).That said, you can get a good PDA and a $100 BlueTooth SIRF II or III gps receiver (I chose HP 4700 and Haicom 406) and spend another $100 to ? to get street mapping programs. I chose IGuidance, but there are many very good ones. Now I have the ability to get sectionals, taxi diagrams, updated fuel prices, etc.. on the PDA and all the other stuff a PDA can do so well for business or personal. The PDA is BlueTooth and WiFi enabled, so I can check email, look up stuff on the web. I am running AnywhereMap, MyAirplane.com and other stuff. Why not have the best of both worlds? Just a thought and probably easier to sell to the boss.

jsherblon · #10 08-01-2006, 03:31 PM

If you're a geek (like me) and use an PDA, check Copilot Live.

I use it with an Ipaq and a bluetooth gps receiver. It is WAAS compatible and accuracy is excellent (<16 feet ).

I also have Anywhere Map on the Ipaq for flight nav.