OT: GPS device review

[HeyBub]

I treated myself to a low-end GPS device today (It's a TomTom 130S from PepBoys(!). $60 after rebate). And I must say I'm impressed.

Of course this is a very low-end model, but it does things I didn't know were available.

It keeps up with where you are via a scrolling, annotated, map. It's like looking down on your car from a low-flying police helicopter. You can tap the screen and the helicopter gains altitude - showing a wider area - just as if your passenger shot at it through the sun roof.

The device displays the time of day, but, more interestingly, your ground speed.

Entering your destination is easy and the device prompts your travel with voice commands ("Get ready to turn right, dummy!") in a variety of choosable voices. I picked the sultry English female accent. I think a gay lisp is downloadable ("Pweeze, oh pweeze, turn a wittle to your weft!")

The gizmo is easy to pop loose from it's mounting to tuck away in the glove box or, and this is kinda neat, to carry with you in case you're walking somewhere. Hint: When you park your car in a lot the size of Delaware, note the latitude and longitude. As you leave your daughter's soccer game, merely mosey to those coordinates and there's your car! Yes, it's (rechargeable) battery operated.

Tap the screen a couple of times and you're presented with little icons showing nearby gas stations or points of interest. It can also show you the nearest first aid/hospitals as well as fire and police stations. It accurately pointed out my neighborhood community police center. Perhaps the higher-end models show unsanitary taco stands...

Every once in a so-often, you can download an updated map for a small charge. You can also add maps of far-away places (UK, Turkey, wherever).

All in all, kinda fun. And, quite possibly, useful.

[George]

Welcome to 1998...

[Ed Pawlowski]

It is an amazing and very useful piece of technology. I use mine every few weeks or so if I'm going to someplace I've never been to or even if I'm just meandering around some distant place with no specific destination.

They do have quirks. They sometimes choose a route that is not the best. I used mine yesterday but did not have it actually guide me until I was 75% to my destination. It is a place that I've been to before but not for over a year. It took me a different way than it has on previous trips.

Coming home I left the business in a different direction than it brought me. It took me on a far different course home than makes sense, but if I had followed it, I'd have gotten home within a couple of minutes of my chosen route. Computer logic is just not as good as the brain.

GPS units are also the most stolen piece of equipment from cars too. The fact that it snaps out and can continue on battery power is useful. Mine is in my pocket if I'm not in the car even for 30 seconds because it can be stolen in 10 seconds..

What amazes me is the low cost for what it does, especially when compared to cars that offer it as a built in option for $2000 in a package.

[George]

My first one only gave Lat/Long. The embedded computers of the day didn't have enough HP to run a mapping application. I later connected it to a notebook to run what would now be considered a primitive mapping application.

I think the best value is how quickly you can recover from a detour or missed turn. Last week I had to go out to Newark in the morning. I don't know that area well. There was a accident at my exit so it was closed. The GPS said to turn off at the next exit and it sent me down one road that looked like an alley and then through what I thought could have been a commercial lot. It took me two minutes longer to get to my destination. Previously I would have been looking at a postage stamp map wondering where I was and how to get to my destination.

I do the same thing. Most of the time it is just running for positional awareness. Each road is given a weight and it picks according to that weight. If I am coming home from the east every GPS I have ever used will send me 9 miles further on the Interstate and then onto another Interstate which form two sides of an equilateral triangle instead of using a two lane road which is the base of the triangle.

Hopefully the druggies will figure out that a lot of them are now $100 or less and will find something else to pay for their habit instead of smashing out car windows to get a GPS.

[salty]

Don't kid yourself. If you leave the GPS bracket in view, the crooks will assume that the unit is stowed under one of the front seats, and bust your window anyway, just to look there. Crooks wander around looking for dashboard brackets, and even the dirty ring left on the windshield by suction cup mounts. They know that most people quickly tire of carrying their GPS around with them, and simply stash it under the seat. Doesn't matter that you don't do that, as you end up with damage to your car that costs more than the GPS anyway. You might be better off leaving a cheap GPS in plain sight. Many crooks will know it's one of the junky ones and keep on walking by.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I'm not kidding myself. Had my car broken into a couple of time with no damage, no loss. Why? Because I'm smart enough to leave the doors unlocked. Go ahead, open the door, take a tour, find nothing of value and leave. Many years ago I had a quart can of oil stolen from the floor of the back seat. My neighbors had broken windows, scratched door frames and other damage. They had the doors locked.

Most recent break in a couple of years ago I had to put some stuff back in the glove box. Nothing stolen, no damage.

As for stealing the car, a pro will take it away in seconds, locked, alarmed, or not.

[salty]

I used to work for a company that did radio replacements, dash board replacements, and interior repairs for insurance companies. I saw many cases where the thief failed to get the radio out of the dash, or didn't find anything of value and trashed the dash and upholstery in frustration. Lots of these characters are high on drugs and don't think like you do. They may not even try the door before breaking the glass. You have just been lucky... so far.

BTW - in many cases, if you leave the car doors unlocked and anything not permanently installed is stolen, it is covered under your homeowners policy. If the doors are locked, homeowners won't cover it.

[Steve B]

I got one for Christmas last year. We went to Hawaii. I was reading the directions and programming in the addresses as we were flying over there. We got to Lihui at 10pm on a moonless night. I plugged it in and slapped the suction device on the windshield. It took us right to Lawai Resort, which was a bunch of lefts and rights on curvy roads. We used it for a week there, and it helped us greatly.

Back here, I use it a lot. If I was to go buy one, I'd get the one that's the next step up, only because it has a larger screen, but for the dollars, you can't go wrong for just helping you find places and navigate around. GPS purists poopoo the TomTom, but if you don't need all those bells and whistles, it's a great bare bones GPS.

I have a Garmin XL12 handheld that is the same way. Inexpensive, but bare bones. It's so good, the USAF puts one in every flight survival pack. I've left it out in the rain and snow for weeks. I've had it eight years or so, and no problems whatsoever. Seen others that cost 5X, but just had color and more bells and whistles. It all depends on your use. Same about car GPS's.

Steve

[Steve B]

I bought a Pulsar watch the other day at a yard sale for $1. I had to spend $3 for a battery. I have no idea how old it is, but it keeps good time. Has a nice gold colored band, and a black face like a Movado. Should I go out and spend $500 for a decent watch? Is there something inherently wrong with this cheap old watch? Is there something wrong with me?

Steve

[aemeijers]

Steve B wrote: (snip)

Chuckle. I do that too. When I see some leading edge from 20-30 years ago techno-toy at a garage sale for a couple bucks, I have trouble resisting buying it. That Pulsar likely cost several hundred when it was new, if it is the model I am thinking of. This is the kind where you have to touch it to display the time? IIRC, they did that to make the batteries last longer.

I've gotten several top-quality 35mm film cameras that way. Not sure what I'll ever do with them, since I haven't used film in 2-3 years at all, but they are nice pieces.

It's a fun and harmless pastime, as long as you stick to small stuff, and never spend more than a few bucks on an item. As to watches- I own one working one- a 20 year old 20-buck timex that lives in my briefcase, for the very occasional days I will be hanging out in an area without a clock. (like on an airplane, or wandering city streets for appointments.) I probably don't wear it more than 3-4 days a year, and usually end up shoving it in my pocket, because I hate having stuff on my wrist.

-- aem sends...

[Stormin Mormon]

This seems backwards?

[Charlie]

Another good point. I was going to a place that was only a few miles from home and had a pretty good idea where it was. As I got a little closer I hit one of those torrential Florida thunderstorms. The visibility was about nil and I knew I had to make a left turn soon. Problem: Can't see the street signs. Fortunately I could see the traffic lights through the rain. My GPS not only guided me into the turn, but into the development and finally right to the right house. So I called the person I was to see and said I was in their driveway and please open the garage door.

I love it!

Charlie

[Oren]

I'm not lost. I'm geographically challenged.

Here is bad review for GPS/phone combo. (searching cyber Monday).

"Garmin Nuvifone G60 GPS Phone Review: Do Not Buy"

[Steve B]

I really like that where it shows on the screen the name of the upcoming street. Nothing like driving on a busy street looking for a street sign that is either not there, or behind an elm tree, and then you either slow down and create a situation, or get into the wrong turn lane, or just drive by it. Whilst watching out for all the other maniacs trying to get where they're going, texting, yakking on the cell, watching DVD's, or doing God knows what.

Steve

[AZ Nomad]

such as staring at a gps instead of one's surroundings

[Charlie]

Nope, it talks to me and tells me what to do. Just like my wife except it doesn't argue.

Charlie

[Steve B]

I can see you've never used one. It takes as long to look up and see a street name as it does to look into one's rear view mirror. Steve

[AZ Nomad]

I'll ignore your assinine insult. The difference is that when you look for a street sign, you are aware of your surroundings. When you look at a gps screen, you're oblivoius to pedestrians, etc.

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

Mine would often announce the upcoming street too late at speeds over about 40 MPH (necessary because of traffic).

[Ed Pawlowski]

Its not like watching TV. No more attention needed than looking for a street sign. At least you know where the street name will be on the screen as opposed to trying to find it on the street at some intersections. Europe is even worse for street markings, a dingy old sign on a building maybe. Like any tool, GPS can be use to help, or it can be abused.