In Car Navigation, point me in the right direction...
Submitted: Friday, May 16, 2008 at 17:36
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Outa Bounds
Well I'm looking into this for my Dear Husband.
Just wanted a pointer, which models do people generally go for or decide between. He mainly likes the idea for navigation (yes replacing his Dear Wife) around the city, particularly when driving on his own. But it would be really good if they have some use in the bush too, or general travelling around Oz.
He currently has a Garmin GPS 76, and he uses Ozi Explorer software on his computer (not whilst driving) - hah mainly to download the tracks of where we have been to date which he has recorded on the GPS.
I have mainly heard of the likes of Garmin, Tom Tom etc, around the $600 price point and some cheaper ones. So what price should I be looking at for starters (if it costs more we can just save up).
I'm not entirely sure about in dash vs portable, portable would be handy (we have two cars, so he can take it in whatever car he drives to the city) but ultimately for the long term he'd probably want an in dash system, so I guess he'll have to decide which car he prefers!
So just after ideas of what I should be looking into further please.
Reply By: timbo2 - Friday, May 16, 2008 at 17:39
Friday, May 16, 2008 at 17:39
if u want u can get it for free with a nokia navigator phone,virgin have good plans.
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Follow Up By: Outa Bounds - Friday, May 16, 2008 at 17:46
Friday, May 16, 2008 at 17:46
Well were stuck with next G here, and certain models at that (blue tick) to get only one bar of reception. Unfortunately that won't be an option as we wouldn't be able to use the mobile whilst at
home.
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Follow Up By: Sand Man (SA) - Friday, May 16, 2008 at 18:13
Friday, May 16, 2008 at 18:13
Free!...No it isn't.
I have just been experimenting with the free Nokia maps you can download. In my case to a 6120 Classic.
Yep, the maps are free. You can download the whole of Australia, if you have room on your phone or memory card.
But to utilise them in a functional way, e.g. Navigation, you need to pay for a weekly, monthly, or yearly subscription.
Weekly AUD 12.32
Monthly AUD 14.79
Yearly AUD 115.17
That is at todays exchange rate for the Euro dollar, the cost that the service is listed in on the Nokia Web site.
If you don't pay a subscription, all you can do is display your current position on a map. (assuming you have a GPS linked to the phone of course)
You call up the Map application and providing you have a GPS actively linked, you press the zero key and your current position will be displayed.
Interestingly, many countries, such as New Zealand for instance, don't have the voice directed Navigation capability.
At $115 per year for a small display, I believe a dedicated unit such as a TomTom or Garmin is a much more practical proposition.
Bill.
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Reply By: timbo2 - Friday, May 16, 2008 at 17:56
Friday, May 16, 2008 at 17:56
never mind, good luck.
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Follow Up By: Outa Bounds - Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 09:54
Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 09:54
Yes thanks though.
Actually we did use our current mobile once to find a car hire place, handy at the time when you don't have access to yellow pages or a map.
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Reply By: Member - Bentaxle - Friday, May 16, 2008 at 20:24
Friday, May 16, 2008 at 20:24
Hi Outabounds
If your computer is a laptop your'e really half way there for country travel, simple hook up the gps to the laptop fire up OziExplorer and away you go
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Follow Up By: Outa Bounds - Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 09:48
Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 09:48
Yes that is an option I'll look into as well, I noticed on GPSOz they sell something that turns your laptop into a navigator - for around $300 odd I think. It's a newuag Toshiba laptop with Vista so depends if these things are compatible yet I suppose.
Making use of the gear we already have does make sense, besides in most cases he would be bringing the laptop with us. I suppose in that case it would make sense to combine it with the nextG phone for internet access as well.
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Reply By: Skippy In The GU - Friday, May 16, 2008 at 21:55
Friday, May 16, 2008 at 21:55
Hi Outa Bounds, the best GPSr you should be looking at is the Garmin 276c many of the only Garmin Nuvi that will record track log is the 760 none of the Tom tom range will record tracklog.
You can get the 276c from overseas cheaper than you can here in Australia and then you can buy the City navigator for about $260 maybe less , you can also install Shonkymaps or better still OztopoV2 $233 which will give you more Tracks and roads out in the middle of nowhere, The 276c will also talk to you
It also has a good size screen.
there are many ExplorOz memvers that have these units and are very happy with them.
The smaller Version would be the Garmin Quest but it will have a very small screen
Or there is the magellan Brand called the Crossover which would have the same or better maps than the Oztopov2 but it's also i think $100 dearer
If you like the handheld type then I think one of the best is the 60Cx but it will only beep and display the turns
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Follow Up By: Outa Bounds - Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 09:44
Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 09:44
Thanks, just the sort of advice I was after. I will certainly be looking into those.
In regards to pricing it's the same with parts for my mountain bike, often I can save around 50% by buying from the US even with the higher shipping cost factored in, and it only takes a week to get here. So really it only depends on finding a trustworthy store and be willing to take a risk on the warranty aspect of it. Although in this case I reckon Hubby will probably prefer to buy local.
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Follow Up By: Member -Signman - Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 10:57
Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 10:57
To Skippy
What is Shonkymaps?? I've seen it refered to on a number of occassion....
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Follow Up By: Skippy In The GU - Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 11:46
Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 11:46
Shonkymaps are extraction of the Geo science Aust 1:250k map series, used with
permission for non-commercial use. It has lots of trails, contours, shows
gate, fence buildings, rivers, creeks, mines, mountains and heaps more, not as good as the Oztopov2 map which sell for $233
Well worth looking at and it's free
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Reply By: Member - Doug T (FNQ) - Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 01:53
Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 01:53
Outa Bounds
If you check this link allthough US based the principals are the same I'm sure you will find much useful information, personally I am a many times over a Garmin buyer/user and no way would I consider anything else, I see someone posted about a phone, If you want a GPS buy a GPS , if you want a phone buy a phone ,
Automotive GPS Guide
.
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Follow Up By: age - Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 08:34
Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 08:34
Doug
Quote - "If you want a GPS buy a GPS , if you want a phone buy a phone ,"
And your Nuvi is not a multi purpose/function device - MP3, bluetooth, Fm transmitter oh and a GPS as well
Horses for courses and personal preference for bang for buck - I would rather pay $700 for a combined PDA, phone, GPS, bluetooth capable, Windows compatible, truly pocket portable device than $700+ for a device like a Nuvi that cannot make calls/no PDA capability and sits on the dash for the villains to flog.
Did I see on the Garmin US site GPS phones............
A
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Follow Up By: Isuzumu - Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 12:28
Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 12:28
One thing I found that really pi..ed me of with the PDA I have is the mini usb port which in mine you need to charge it up with, it
broke off in the PDA twice, its now in the cupboard $1200 down the dunny.
So now I have a Garmin Nuvi 760, bloody great and thanks to Doug and his web site which convinced me to buy it.
I also have an old Megellan Meridian Gold, which I still use, tried it with the computer and thats a bigger hassle than a PDA.
Cheers Bruce
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