Thread: GPS for me?

I have tried many GPS units and to be honest, they are all much the same. In my opinion, the thing that matters the most is how big the display is. Get the biggest display you can afford.

In the end, I went for a Panasonic Toughbook PC with built-in GPS pod and 10" screen. I know not everybody can afford this, but screen size matters.

It isn't going to matter if it is accurate to 3 metres or 7 metres, you'll know where you are when you get that close.

Both Garmin and Magellan make good units with good software available to help manipulate waypoints, routes etc.

Alternatively match your new GPS with OziExplorer software, an excellent product. OziExplorer lets you use a wide variety of commercially available maps, such as the Natmap raster maps or the Hema Great Desert Track maps to plot cousrses, routes, waypoints etc. If you hav e a laptop you can plug almost any GPS into it, run OziExplorer and watch youself driving along at full screen size.

Hope this helps.

Depends on what you want it to do...

I have a navman PDA GPS... does the street by street directions thing, and it plugs into the laptop...

If youve got a good laptop. Id run the following

Ozi Explorer and something like copilot live on the laptop with a usb mouse type GPS antenna then get a lcd screen to plug into the vga out so you can use it without dragging out the full laptop. Also handy for letting the kids watch movies.

i'm considering upgrading to a pda with inbuild gps, OK screen size, will sit on the dash, has stacks of other options inbuilt for travelling, has a sd type card slot to upload your own maps etc, just starting my research

i drove past a store the other day and checked out an ASUS pda/gps with co-pilot, with ozi explorer and maps it was around the $1000 mark, i'm sure there are cheaper solutions around

http://www.shopbot.com.au/p-17070-261025.html

My brother bought a new Navman for $400 on special this week (rrp $750), and that's an easy plug 'n play option that tells you where to go. I saw that Aldi have $399 touch screen navigators on special this week and I hear the new Uniden with 3.5" touchscreen, with MP3 & MP4 players is pretty good. A mate who works for Uniden told me that they'd come in at about $600, I've only seen them at $699, but that may be because demand is currently exceeding supply. A couple of months down the track they may be a good option.

I was given an old Jornada PDA and a Magellan GPS. Eventually I came across all of Australia on Auslig maps, HEMA Great Desert Tracks and Vic Roads and Melways maps, Canberra UBD and some other stuff all on DVD. I got Ozi-Explorer CE and bought a 4.MB memory card and have just this week rigged it all up to work. The Auslig maps alone take more than 5MB in the oxf3 format, which CE needs to run, so those maps will stay on the laptop and be downloaded to the PDA memory card 1 or 2 at a time as they're required. Converting the Auslig maps to oxf3 took 3-4 days continuous on the laptop!!!!

This option has some versatility, but is very time consuming, can be expensive, depending how many components you need to buy, and won't tell you where to go. I just happened to have been given most of the components.

My first option would be to do what away has done, I'd like a Panasonic toughbook with GPS (& phone) mounted to the dash. It would have enough memory to handle all mapping, carry workshop manuals, MP3 Music, email etc. With the ease of a touch screen and the security of being able to remove it easily. Also, because it's a Laptop, it does have some Tax benefits, if you can Salary Package a Laptop, or get your boss to buy you one. But I can't afford the outlay for this option.

I'd recommend trying to get a more expensive plug 'n play GPS unit on special, like 50% off. Use it for 6 months, see what you like, dislike, then sell it and buy what best suits you. If you can get one really cheap, then you should be able to get most of your money back when it's time to sell it, especially if it's still got warranty.

i use a MIO168 PDA (navman) with builtin gps and mmcx external aerial. 4gig 160x sdmc memory card, OZIexplorerCE and Destinator...full maps of AU in Natmap Premium and Destinator formats fit with room to spare so i can save my tracks and plots etc etc to the card as well.

great setup IMHO. there are much more expensive options but this one is relaible and works and uses little power and is a computer to boot :P

i do most of my planning on my laptop using OZIExplorer but sometimes just use destinator on the PDA...

i tried co-pilot and it is no where near as good as destinator IMHO.

Thanks for the info I've now being looking at that Uniden GNS 8350 can get it for $645 at retravision. But it doesn't do "snail trail" can do something the rep called "bread crumb" which is just point to point sounds like you need to press the screen every time you want to set a point but then you can follow them in reverse to get back to where you started. Doesn't sound to bad. Does anyone make one that can Street Nav & Snail Trail?

hmm what about a good old fashioned paper map for around $12

you generally 4wd in the same areas except for holiday adventures

if you join up with club 90% plus chance someone on the trip has done it before and knows where to go or has laptop gps so do you really need one at all.

l would spend the money on either tarting up my ride or getting a digital camera to record your trip

If you really wanted to be popular $800 buys the wife a lot of holiday in Bali

Cartm58
1993 range rover

Originally Posted by cartm58

hmm what about a good old fashioned paper map for around $12....l would spend the money on either tarting up my ride or getting a digital camera to record your trip

Even so, $800 worth of GPS with navigation gets you more than $800 worth of maps. Not to mention the free updates on an annual basis, as well as the time saved navigating in new metro areas. My brother bought his for a business trip to Sydney & Brisbane - not only will the NAVMAN save him several hours of navigation, but probably a couple of nights worth of accom. in the 3 week period for time. Plus he can always find the nearest servo etc.

Having said this, I agree with cartm58 that if it's just a toy, you can get much better toys for the money.

By the way cartm58, is there a hidden agenda? Does the "cart" in cartm58 stand for cartography? Maybe you want us to buy more maps