GPS's everywhere.

I 2nd that, I use tomtom with n73 and find it good, it has most stuff on it although when I go riding I find the lesser tracks are not there, but for normal road driving I have all of AUS and its also one less thing I need to carry around. Torrents & p2p? ........never heard of em.....

Rambler!! Do you really think your reply is at all reasonable??? Do you actually think thats why Rod wanted that feature for?? Michael.

I think getting prompted that you are approaching a school zone is a great feature...so you can check your speed/time of day and slow if necessary.

I thought that's why they invented the school zone sign? :-)

Andrew

Ignore my comments....i see others have discussed this issue below.

Andrew

G'day Mrs Bush, how's George today?
Every bloke needs toys and that's why he needs one. LOL
Seriously, A GPS is a great aid when your out driving in unfarmiliar territory and your just not sure which fork in the road to take. I use a HP iPAQ model rx5765 which incorporates TomTom and being a PDA it has Microsoft Windows which then lets you use Oziexplorer and you can incorporate the Natraster Maps which covers the whole of Australia.
The above model includes an inbuilt Bluetooth GPS and with the Oziexplore/Natraster combination in moving maps, it shows your exact location wherever you might be.
You can also have other maps of higher detail e.g. the Topo series of maps for SA to call on when the need arises.
If you google Hewlett-Packard and go to the HP Smart Office Catalogue and the iPAQ, it will show you the model. Costs on E-bay or shop around will get it for around $600. Oziexplorer and natraster are on top of that but someone may be able to share them with you. Westprint maps have GPS set as I've desribed available in their on-line shop.

PS. I should have mentioned that I bought mine through Member Blaze. Check out his Rig page for contact details or ring me on 0427 100016 if you want more info.

HHMMM OK!!!

The aim of school zones is to make people slow down and anything that helps is good news.
I can think of at least two school zones that can catch the unwary. Both are over a rise and around a corner, and if following traffic doing 60km/h you can be putting lives at risk. I'm sure that there are many more.
Remember that there are drivers in all age /medical conditions on our roads.
We are all potential killers.
Units that warn of school zones are great if they help people to make the decision to slow down.

I like the school zone feature as it is an AID to driving. I do not have school age kids and our local, country schools do not have flashing lights etc, only the lolly-pop lady. She does not man (pardon me) the school crossing for the total period of the speed reduction. ie she often leaves just after 9am, whereas the speed reduction is in force until 9:30am. My car clock, my car radio clock and my wrist watch are not accurate time pieces and knowing how the constabulary are great revenue-raises these days, I like an AID that does have a very accurate time piece to HELP me be aware of situations.
Rambler, I take offence to the suggestion that I've been driving with my eyes shut. I drive vehicles ranging from a Charger to a Mack B61 with a 20 speed gearbox. (You know, the ones with TWO gear levers and you don't use the clutch to change gears. A little bit of skill is required) and have not had a driving offence for over 42 years. Obviously your experience and driving record is far better than mine.
Rod.

Well said mate.
The object of the exercise is to keep our grandkids safe. It can be hard to pick school zones everytime and anything that helps is good.

But officer I didn't know it was a school zone because my GPS didn't tell me.

Humans have eyes to see around them why do you need a GPS to tell you it's a school zone.

A kid runs out in front of you and you hit them....opps BLO%&Y GPS...should of warned me.

Regards Richar

The school zone warning is an excellent feature.We are travelling around Aussie and are usually driving in unfamiliar territory. Occasionally you miss one..as schools aren't always in obvious places..or you are busy lining the tug and caravan for a lane change or a roundabout etc and the GPS is a great back up.
I have a Mio C520 which has all the features I need, the SiiRF chip and windows 5 software anlong with the Sensis/Whereis mapset has yet to let me down...apart from the usual brief dropouts amongst skyscrapers.
Cheers
Gerard and Anne

Mio Home Site

Re Comments by hey_charger

The concept of school zones and having a GPS warning is not about being able to tell the time accurately - it is about slowing down for safety - the time bit is just the difference between getting fined or not

So the kid running 5 minutes late past the speed zone change time is infinately more at risk because your gps accurate timing says it is ok to increase your braking distance by now going 20km/h faster.

I get your other points totally, but this has nothing to do with knowing the time accurately.

Cheers


A

I cant understand why the knockers are only picking on school zones only...why not the speed camera's etc etc and anything else which tells you your breaking the law????

for goodness sake we are only human and we do make mistakes...so anything that lessens our errors must surely be an aid...

why do we have cruise control, speed alerts, speed signs or any road signs at all mmm?

Yep, I concur Nudie!

25kph, you must be joking. Thats taking it all too far. I wonder why the speed is that low only in SA?? LOL!!!

it is 25kph over here as our cars cant go much faster.....what did do do you think was why Michael:)))

and remember that we dont speed over here

Why is it all of a sudden everyone has to have a GPS to rely on to tell them where they are and where everything else is.

Hello, Christopher Columbus discovered America without one didnt he and others managed to sail around the world without one and now we need them to go to the shops.

Whilst they are a worthwhile DRIVING AID they are not infallible and anyone who relys on one completely is a fool.
Nothing beats keeping your eyes open and observing what is around you.
In fact if you watch the screen instead of the road you may have more accidents.
In Queensland " The Smart State" ROFL we have set times for school zones and dont have to slow down at midnight. Most of our kids are out painting walls somewhere by that time so wont be around school. LOL
A Navigator with voice is best as you dont have to look at screen and is much safer.
I am not in any way against them but feel they have become the latest" must have" simply because the price has lowered.
They certainly help but are only as good as the maps in them and some are not the best. Also the cost of upgrading the maps is ridiculous, in some cases as much or more than the cost of the unit. Just something the salesman WONT tell you even if you ask as I did and got a very evasive answer.

My rant for the New Year over

"Hello, Christopher Columbus discovered America without one didnt he and others managed to sail around the world without one "

People have forgotten how many people died every year while sailing to Australia, before the availability of lighthouses, weather forecasts, radio and navigation not dependant on a cloudless sky.

True but was just making a point and people still kill themselves and others on the roads despite much improved roads, highly developed cars and all sorts of driving aids including GPS.

Basically comes down to attitude or lack of it, skill or lack of it and failure to pay attention by drivers who seem to think that driving is a part time occupation and do everything from reading the paper , sending texts, looking over their shoulder at the kids fighting in back seat or exercising their supposed right to " get there first"

"My rant for the New Year over" ....glad we aint going to hear from you for the rest of the year then!...:))))

And all I was asking was ADVICE on purchasing a GPS!!!!

To get back to the subject I would suggest you figure out which brand you want and go to the manufacturers web site and look thru the specs of the models.
Usually it will tell u if u can add your own POI's
I would try TOM TOM, MIO, Garmin and Magellan.
With TOM TOM u can get POI's off the torrent sites and add your own before installing them ( I think on most ) Also maps There is a whole DVD of all the world if you look in the right place
Only thing is they are for Pocket PC or PDA's
NAVman use their own maps which have to be initialised to the unit on Navman website and wont work on any other unit after that.
As Patrol22 says Copilot is good, I have it on my laptop and its better than the Tom Tom mobile 5 on my Nokia phone as far as navigation is concerned. I dont usually use POI's so dont know.
Hope this helps. Lots of the year to go yet. LOL