Re: More GPS

[Emoto <emoto1@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, Jul 10, 2008 at 8:44 AM, Steve Makohin <wateredg@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> From: "Tom Brown" <tbrown@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>
>> With all due respect to Dean and Bob, I would not recommend buying either
>> a
>> Quest or a 2610 with the new Garmin models available.   While they are
>> useful, they are not nearly as intuitive as the newer ones.  I really
>> would
>> not buy anything that has me changing maps out when I cross a state line.
>> The idea of getting started with something cheap and graduating to a
>> better
>> one later doesn't apply here.  It's just the opposite with GPS.  The
>> newest
>> ones are the easiest to use.
>
> [...]
>
> For my 2 cents, I have a Garmin StreetPilot III and a Garmin 2610. I didn't
> have any problems with the 2610 in terms if being intuitive. My non-techie
> wife uses it competently without my help. I bought a 2 GB memory card,
> cheap, and it stores all the data for North America, so there is no need for
> me to "change maps" while I travel throughout the continental US and Canada.
> It's all there.
>
> While the newer GPSes may be better still (I have no personal experience
> with those), the 2610 is a wonderful GPS. If you can get one cheap, and you
> should, since it's a non-current model, then all the better!

I have the StreetPilot 2720. This is an excellent unit for both car
and bike. Holds the whole continent in maps, has autorouting, and
voice prompts if yoiu want them. Search around and I am told you can
find them in the $200 range. They were somethign like $900 when they
were introduced a few years ago. While it might be fun to have the
latest and greatest GPS, I see no real advantage to spending the
several hundreds more that one would cost. I will consider a Zumo in a
few years when it is similarly diiscounted.

I manage my audio through a MixIt2 (www.mixitproducts.com). It takes
audio from my radar detector, iPod, and GPS and sends them into my
helmet speakers. One channel is a "priority" channel that, when it
gets a signal, will mute all of the other channels. I use this for the
GPS voice prompts, because I don't want to miss one. I make routes
that cover days of backroads riding through completely unknown (be me)
areas, so I really need to hear them. The rest of the time, I get my
music just fine, and have the V-1 set up to be loud enough to hear
over the tunes. Works well.

Bob