GPS/Navigators
Submitted: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 11:51
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buckshot
Have just joined the
Forum (as a visitor) so hope someone can give me advice on a suitable sat. nav. system. We are not ardent off-roaders but do about 3 months caravanning each year. So far the Garmin Nuvi 660 or Nuvi 310 have caught my attention but I have noticed a few, such as the Uniden GPS 501, have bread crumbing (backtracking) facilities which seems, to me, to be a good thing. I am also beginning to think that screen size is not all that important as one is listening to the directions not watching the screen. Is "streets by name" on the voice directions a desirable feature? Thanks, Buckshot.
Reply By: Member - Troll 81 (QLD) - Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 12:26
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 12:26
It really depends on what you are going to use it for. If you want turn by turn directions then you won’t be able to use it off road and with your own maps
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Reply By: Sea-Dog - Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 12:33
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 12:33
I have been going through the same thing... and have come to the decision that if I am just using the street direction then I can go with a cheapie as they all do basically the same thing...
What I wanted was a unit I could use for both on road and off road..... but do you think I could come up with anything... NUP!
I am a newbie with GPS so can only go on what i am told but basically it seems to be one or the other which I find strange considering they work on the same basic principals..
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Follow Up By: Patrol22 - Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 12:51
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 12:51
Try something like the Asus MyPal - it is a pda with an inbuilt GPS. Can run both OziExplorer (or other) mapping systems in addition to the CoPilot street directory. Had
mine for about 8 months now and can't fault it.
Cheers
Pete
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Follow Up By: Member -Signman - Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 14:14
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 14:14
Sea-Dog
I use a iPAQ PDA (off eBay for a couple of hunded$$). Have it running OziExplorer with the mosaic1:250k australia, plus the 6 hema desert maps, plus the hema
Cape York set, plus a few often used 1:25k maps.
Also, running Destinator- a turn-by-turn (voice) around town navigator.
It uses a CF card Holux GPS- with facility for external antenna - but never needed to use it.
I find it quite good for around town and outback/offroad use.
Only drawback- screen is a bit small-(55x75mm) but still very useable, and not too expensive to set up.
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Follow Up By: Member - Matt M (ACT) - Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 16:34
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 16:34
Sea Dog,
Similar approach to Pete and Signman. I have just upgraded my old PDA that had a CF GPS to the iPaq 5765. Came fitted with TomTom for the on road stuff and I swapped OziExplorer across. Inbuilt GPS is nice and you can run both TomTom and OziExplorer at the same time. Comes with all you need for the car (mount, ciggy plug, etc).
So far very happy.
Matt.
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Follow Up By: Sea-Dog - Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 20:49
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 20:49
Thanks for that guys..... I have been doing a bit of looking at them and it looks pretty much what I have been looking for...... now to decide on a model and features.
Any tricks as to what to look out for with them?
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Follow Up By: Kumunara (NT) - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 01:51
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 01:51
Sea-Dog
I have a HP Ipaq rx5765 Travel-mate. It is a PDA with an inbuild GPS and TomTom Navigator 6 preloaded.
TomTom is useless off the blacktop but good on it.
OziExplorer CE does the job off the blacktop.
It will also connect with the laptop and I can use Moving Map on Oziexplorer.
I would suggest you look at this unit.
Tjilpi
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Follow Up By: Member -Signman - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 09:19
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 09:19
G'day SeaDog
My iPAQ is probably the bottom of the pile. It's a hx2110 PDA with a 1gb SD card. But it work just fine. You will need the PC version of OziExplorer to be able to successfully use the CE version on a PDA. Also, it's handy to do all your planning on the PC (waypoints, POIs, routes etc) and dump them into the PDA via sycnronization before your trip.
I have the plug in CF slot Holux GPS.
I don't think I would get an arguement by suggesting OziExplorer is the best to use for 'off the blacktop' useage. However, the other application is personal preference (eg TomTom, Destinator etc). I use Destinator coz I got if as a freebie, and it does everything I want it to do.
Whichever way you go- it IS a learning curve !!!
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Follow Up By: Pajman Pete (SA) - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 13:59
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 13:59
Another IPAQ 5765 user. Very happy with it using both the inbuilt Tom Tom and OziExplorer CE with the NatMap Raster 1:250,000 and assorted 1:50,000 maps.
Pete
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Follow Up By: Mike Harding - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 18:24
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 18:24
Hi Guys
How many maps (especially 25k) can you fit on the 5765? Will it accept Flash cards or do you need carry the bulk of your maps on a laptop and download to the 5765?
Mike Harding
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Follow Up By: Sea-Dog - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 18:30
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 18:30
I have looked at and am happy with the 5765 at first glance... and the price is quite reasonable too... cheers for that!
I would like to ask though if someone who has this set up could email me on pandp@australiaonline.net.au ..
I want to pick your brain on how to set up the off roading maps and where to get them from etc and don't want to keep banging on about it on this thread.
As I have said before I am a GPS newbie but am slowly getting my head around it and would like to chat with someone who has been there and done that.
Cheers
Patrick
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Follow Up By: Member - Matt M (ACT) - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 19:31
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 19:31
Mike,
Internal memory is limited, but you store maps on the SD card and run them from there. I have a couple of 1 Gig ones, but I think you can get them up to 4 Gig now.
Matt
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Follow Up By: Member -Signman - Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 10:09
Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 10:09
G'day SeaDog
What part of this big paddock are you in ?? (Where are ya??)
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Follow Up By: Sea-Dog - Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 10:32
Friday, Jun 01, 2007 at 10:32
Sunshine Coast Qld... Off roading mapping would probably include the local areas along with things like
Simpson Desert and
Cape York to start with.. we were looking at a trip over to WA and NT but finances etc pulled that idea up.. would still be nice in the future though.
Cheers
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Reply By: Dave Thomson - Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 14:07
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 14:07
Just hang on a mo' Buckshot , Doug will be along any sec to promote the Garmin..........LOL
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Follow Up By: Kev M (NSW) - Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 14:36
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 14:36
He's been pretty quite the last few days.
Kev
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Reply By: Dave Thomson - Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 14:48
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 14:48
Yeah , guess the Garmin musta cocked up............LOL
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Follow Up By: Member -Signman - Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 14:58
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 14:58
I think Doug is away on a job at the moment.- I spoke to him (on HF) on Sunday evening, and he was heading North
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Follow Up By: Pajman Pete (SA) - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 14:05
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 14:05
Dave,
Perhaps his garmin has taken him down some strange track?
That reminds me of a conversation we had with the supplier of some flight planning software in the early 80's. We had found that for non standard aircraft it was not including the fuel used from takeoff to the top of the climb out - a major fault that combined with a faulty tank gage left our pilot very low on a flight from Headland to
Broome - 5 Gallons left when he parked.
Their answer - "No one has ever complained before."
Our pilots response - "That is because dead men tell no tales."
The phone went very quiet...
Peet
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Follow Up By: Dave Thomson - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 15:23
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 15:23
So true Pete, so true........
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Reply By: Dave Thomson - Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 14:51
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 14:51
Thats two pops I've had and still have'nt got a bite..............
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Reply By: garryn1292 - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 08:49
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 08:49
Try Garmin Zumo 550 Street Navigator + off road. Has backtrack but will cost you about $1500 bucks.
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Reply By: buckshot - Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 18:17
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 18:17
Thanks all, Patrol22, Signman and Matt M - all a bit complicated and over my head but at least, after a lot of searching, I now know what PDA stands for!!
Sea-dog, I wish you luck. This is worse than buying a new computer!! Was tempted to forget the whole idea and hang on to the wife for a bit longer(LOL).
Finally I went on to Ebay and there was a Garmin Nuvi660 being auctioned. Last bid was $791 with only about 20 minutes to go. Have never bid on Ebay before so registered and put in a bid of $801. Opposition must have been on air as they bid $811. My bid of $821 won the day. I had been quoted $994 by a local retailer. When I rang the Ebay seller to make payment I found there was a $50 cash back deal I can apply for once I get the unit. Even with $19 freight I still make a saving of $204 on the retail price. I think I like this Ebay!! Hopefully the Nuvi660 will do the job.
Thanks again for your help. Buckshot.
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