User recommendations for a portable GPS

[Dick Moore]

I use a Garmin eTres Venture and like it very, very much. I got the map add-ons for all of US and Canada as well, and it just works.

[olnacl]

[quote Robert M]ol,That said, you took a trailer of boats through the Lincoln tunnel? Are you nuckin' futz?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? That's like driving from Long Island (Where I live) to NJ via the Belt Parkway and the Verrezano at 12:00 pm on Thanksgiving. Talk about a nightmare! I'm betting you chose a different route for your return.

Robert
You bet I did, but that's a problem with just looking at a map and taking what appeared to be the most direct route. I delivered boats for a small builder in WI for several summers and enjoyed the opportunity to see a large portion of the country on their dime. Occasions like the Long Island run and another slightly less memorable time when I made no less than 3 rounds in a traffic circle in Boston with a trailer full of Optimist dinghies just trying to get into the lane where I could exit took a little off the edge though.


[quote SDGuy]For pocket (and occasional use) gps, I'd prefer to go the eTrex cx route https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=145 mainly because of battery life, and the ability to throw in AAs (32 hrs vs. 4-5 hrs for most of the car-type units). Keep some alkaline or hybrid AAs in there, and you're all set. The drawback is that you'll have to buy the detailed maps separately http://www8.garmin.com/cartography/ - but this also gives you the flexibility to load in other types of maps too (e.g. topographic).
The Trex cx is another one I'm considering and stopped at 2 stores on the way home tonight hoping to hold one but no joy. Given that the snowbirds are returning, and deviation from a straight shot home is fraught with risk, I'm going to have to depend on advice from others and reading the various reviews. I value personal opinions highly, hence my initial post.

[Robert M]

Ol,

And a GPS can be no better. I can tell you how many times Bertha aka my Tom Tom One has steered me in what I knew was the most pain in the tuckus route available. Most direct, sure but only in a perfect world. Still, when traveling regularly, I don't leave home without it.

Robert

[olnacl]

[quote Michael]If you don't need talk-to-speech, this (today only) is a pretty good deal on a nice basic gps.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.d...id=5799321
I grabbed this one as I already used a Garmin 650 and liked it. I think Wally is pretty good about returns so I'm still researching the eTrex line. I thought about a blackberry but really don't want a contract as I use a cell so seldom that it would be a huge waste of money - that's why the iQue looked interesting. Although obsolete and stylus activated - the GPS is built in. Too darn many choices!

[wowzer]

A GPS in NYC will get you to your destination, but it wont necessarily take you by the best route---and that can be the difference between getting there in time or 2 hrs late.

As a native new yorker, I'd say that a GPS is fine, as long as you understand its limitations. The best routes are often times not the most direct...in fact that is the case almost always.

I can get just about anywhere in NYC within about an hour---traffic or no-traffic...but then again, that is 30+ years of observation.

GL.

P.S. If he lives in Queens, get him the GPS...that's one gnarly twisty place.

[olnacl]

Thanks to all for the advice! Let me say that the GPS for the nephew is more a pocket map than a means of getting from A to B. I think it would be useful if he could input a destination address and see where the place is relative to where he is, be it some theatre where he's attending a concert or geting home after someone drops him off half way with the advice "it's just a quick jump on the bus from here" or the like.

In the case of a pocketable GPS for the house, it's mainly for guests when they visit. Prolly the Garmin Nuvi 200 I orderd (thanks for the link Michael) will work out fine for not too much money. It's small enuf to fit in a pocket yet someone could take it in the car too.

I have in dash GPS in my car and used it just yesterday when I picked up a laptop desk I saw on CL. The guy started giving me convoluted directions and I asked for just the address and the GPS took me right there. The desk isn't bad either, but somewhere there must be the perfect solution for "laptop" computing. Haven't found it yet.