which gps is better for a round oz trip

Hi KBW
Garmin is about as good as a hip pocket in a singlet, there internet downloads cost $$$$$$$ and there I.T. support are about the same, i know i own one.

The Garmin Topo Aus has to be better than the Route 66 program that Hema has got.
Nothing wrong with ozi Explorer maps but they don't Auto Route and really how good are the maps in Northern Territory

I would never download from the net , best to buy a CD so you can view the roads on the laptop

Come on Dougy back me up ...lol

I have had many Garmins in the last 9 years and i know what you mean about paying for updating the maps and they still aren't up to date or 100% correct.

Don't forget the VMS is about $2850 installed, you can buy a New Nuvi 5000 and just update the Topo maps every few years

KennyBWilson

You got it .

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VMS for auto routing use NavNiGo iGo8 software which is fantastic for turn by turn and changing their mapping to OziExplorer makes a great combo if you want to use a standalone screen application. They aren't expensive.

The in the dash one i great if you want to include radio, DVD, iPod, USB , Bluetooth and everything else. Just do the 500 VMS for ease and flexibility.

The Garmin Nuvi 5000 is a top unit, have one myself. What makes them even better value now, is they have had a $200 price drop. The Topo Australia is good in most situations, but still has a lot to be desired. You would be better to wait and buy the new release Topo Australia next year, as Garmin are well aware of issues and are trying their best to fix the situation.

Cheers

Stephen

sounds good but the thing that i don't like bout the hema is it runs route 66 which i current gps has and it is'nt a very good program so was leaning towards the vms but still are very interested about everyones opinion

cheers crackr

Crackles
I have a Next G phone, that's all it is with all other functions blocked,
I don't need a phone camera, I have a $1000 Nikon , Internet costs too much on a phone,
My Garmin Nuvi has Bluetooth, Plays MP3s, warns of revenue raising Cameras, has a Calculator, conversion program, My maps will zoom right down to 100 m - and still keeps focus, Ozi won't ,
I think I'll stick with Garmin,

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Ditto, I'm with you on this one Doug, the Nuvi 765 is an excellent product!

Crackles, I have a new Nokia E71 that has good mapping and a failed HTC. That stopped the phone, lost my contacts and has 10 months of contract to run. It impressed me for a while but when they told me the board change would cost more than a new phone, I turned away from HTC. Sorry, I couldn't help myelf, HTC lost me, I am more inclined to have options and backups of systems now.

"My maps will zoom right down to 100 m - and still keeps focus, Ozi won't "

- if you think this means Garmin maps are more detailed or more accurate, you're wrong.

Vector maps inherently have sharp detail at any zoom - but tells you nothing about the accuracy of what you're looking at.

The problem with your Ozi maps is that they don't have suffficent detail in the image - Ozi can take maps with ANY resolution, even down to 1millimetre if you like - but it'll still be limited to GPS accuracy, just like the Garmin maps.

Mike
Must be good mushrooms,
Do you own a Garmin with Garmin Topo, T4A, &CN 2010 installed, Your comments about the accuracy of Garmin GPS amuses me, I notice it shows the icon at Intersections very accurate , and I mean out on tracks away from large towns, I found the Topo spot on across Arnhem Land . So if you don't use it, don't have a mapsource program on your PC then I don't think you have the knowledge to make unfounded comments.

.

Garmin are good off road maps. I know Bonz can never be on the road driving to our place. The road is located 150m from actual. Great data set they use. It is even wrong close to town.

I have T4A on my desktop and it has partially correct maps only. Shonky similar too, it would be good to get Shonky off a recent quality map. I know NRE maps are in some areas out of date in Victoria, but at 25,000:1 you are much more likely to find it than 100,000:1

They are a regular GPS with an inbuilt antennae, the same satellite reception as any Garmin or Magellan unit. The phone service is separate of course being limited to available 3G towers. Internet reception is anywhere there is free wireless connection.
Even in remote Aboriginal communities we often found a wireless connection to check emails :-)
Cheers Craig.................

Hey Willem. Did we hit a nerve mate!! Dont knock the GPS stuff. And this is from a once was sceptic - me.

We recently had to change plans mid trip when rained out in the VIC high country.Miles too wet. Cancelled that trip and went for a run along the Murray to Tocumwal and Echuca through the Barma Park. The Hema map that came with the unit was extreemly detailed and made it easy to follow the nicely muddy and boggy tracks on both sides of the river. The maps in the local tourist places did not show the tracks that we followed. We turned around at Echuca and went back up the northern bank to Jinjelic. Then through the bush to north of Kiandra and over the mountains into Canberra. The beauty we found was that every conceivable map from Hema was in it and with the large sized screen it was easy to follow and gave you heaps of more time to look at what you are passing through instead of burying our heads in a map and missing what was around us.

My point is that we can store all the Hema maps in the unit and just go and enjoy ourselves. Because it runs Windows CE we allso have Oziexplorer running to display these maps and any plans we set up before we go. We still have enought room for another 4GB of extra detailed maps.

We still use the UBD when needed for city driving.

Hey Phil. No, you didn't hit a nerve. You missed the mark completely. I was just having a dig at the nonsense that we are led to believe we NEED these days to get around. It almost seems like mass hysteria that you will not be able to drive anywhere unless you have a GPS device.

I bought my first GPS in 2002. Run it via a Laptop in Ozi. Later the laptop died and so I went for a PDA. I run NatmapRaster Mosaic in the PDA. Also have Tom Tom and some other stuff I never use. Replaced the Laptop with a little'e for writing notes and storing pics.

GPS and Digi-Mapping is really useful in cross country drivibg and it is also useful to check whar speed you are doing as most speedos on cars are off the pace one way or the other

Somewhere in another thread today a fella is asking for the GPS co-ordinates for a caravan park......go figure....LOL

I do recall you telling me a bit about your GPS kit when I was looking for one. I didn't want to get hooked up installing laptops etc. The ham radio hobby is basically destryoed because of computers. Every damned time I fired it up someone would ask me about something to do with computers. I started working on computers in 1970 and finished (thank god) when I retired in 2005. No more thanks. So I wanted a bigger one that I could see with plenty of storage for all the Aussie maps I would possible need. The VMS one suits me. Not interested in what it has for the city as the Toyota is garaged and not used at home.

Next they will want the coordinates for the loo.

Catchyalatr