Garmin GPS - Recommendations for portable/Car GPS

Author

Recommendations for portable/Car GPS

Don B

2007-12-24, 10:33 am

We're so lost in trying to figure out which GPS will work best.

We need a system that portable so we can take with us walking in the city
We need a system for the car
We live in the US but we're planning a walking/driving tour in England and
France in April
So, we need a system that will help us navigate around London by foot and
the UK and France by car.

What is involved in upgrading the system to city maps of Europe?

We would be using the GPS more for the car once our trip is done next
year....

Any thoughts or advice would be most welcome

Thanks
Don

Unquestionably Confused

2007-12-24, 10:33 am

Don B wrote:
> We're so lost in trying to figure out which GPS will work best.
>
> We need a system that portable so we can take with us walking in the city
> We need a system for the car
> We live in the US but we're planning a walking/driving tour in England and
> France in April
> So, we need a system that will help us navigate around London by foot and
> the UK and France by car.
>
> What is involved in upgrading the system to city maps of Europe?
>
> We would be using the GPS more for the car once our trip is done next
> year....
>
> Any thoughts or advice would be most welcome

Garmin Quest or Quest II without a doubt.

Small enough to stow in a shirt pocket yet perfectly adequate in a car
using the provided windshield mount, external speaker, power cord.

My wife, who HATES electronics gadgets, loves ours when we travel.

Carl Heinz

2007-12-24, 12:33 pm

On Mon, 24 Dec 2007 15:35:43 GMT, "Don B" <stampy175@telus.net> wrote:

>We're so lost in trying to figure out which GPS will work best.
>
>We need a system that portable so we can take with us walking in the city
>We need a system for the car
>We live in the US but we're planning a walking/driving tour in England and
>France in April
>So, we need a system that will help us navigate around London by foot and
>the UK and France by car.
>
>What is involved in upgrading the system to city maps of Europe?
>
>We would be using the GPS more for the car once our trip is done next
>year....
>
>Any thoughts or advice would be most welcome
>
>Thanks
>Don
>
We had similar requirements and found that a single unit just didn't work.

I use a combination of a 76Cx and a 2720. Although the 2720 is no longer in
production, they're still available. I prefer the 2720 to the 2610 because of
the spoken street names.

The 2720 gives verbal directions and the graphic display was a real bonus for
the detailed graphic routing in gives through the roundabouts. (Roundabouts
were a major challenge in our first trip to the UK.)

I carry the 76Cx in a shirt pocket primarily to be able to find my way back to
where we've parked. It's easy to lose sight of the landmarks you'd use for
markers. The streets tend to be narrow, and not necessarily very straight.
Couple this with two and three story buildings, and the markers disappear.

You might want to consider the Underground as an alternative to driving in
London. The traffic can be pretty hectic, and some of the drivers aren't
particularly forgiving about allowing others time to find their way. They
also have areas in London which have an extra charge for driving there. The
Garmin European map set lets you know when you're in such an area.

Have fun.
--
Carl Heinz
cfheinz57@charter.net
(Remove number)

Red Squirrel

2007-12-24, 10:33 pm

Carl Heinz <cfheinz57@charter.net> wrote in
news:lmpvm3po2po47b6
7es9midrdk4nfilp3sp@
4ax.com:

> You might want to consider the Underground as an alternative to
> driving in London. The traffic can be pretty hectic, and some of the
> drivers aren't particularly forgiving about allowing others time to
> find their way. They also have areas in London which have an extra
> charge for driving there. The Garmin European map set lets you know
> when you're in such an area.
>

I'll second that recommendation. My daughter lives in London and driving
there is an absolute nightmare. Even with SatNav (I have a Garmin Nuvi
660FM) driving just a couple of miles can take hours.

The London congestion charge covers a large area of central London and
operates 07:00 to 18:00 Monday to Friday. Daily charge is £8.00 if you pay
on the day you enter the zone or in advance, £10.00 if you pay by midnight
the following day and then goes into extremely serious penalty charges -
£60 paid up to fourteen days later, £120 to 28 days and £180 after 28 days.

Be wary of walking around with a SatNav in your hand - it's likely to get
stolen. Far better to plan your journey in advance, go on the tube to
roughly where you want to go and then ask someone.

--
Red Squirrel

Don B

2007-12-24, 10:33 pm

Our daughter lives in London and I'm not so concerned about downtown London
as we will be using the tube or with friends, I still think that a hand held
would help us there too. Dear god I remember the last time we were in
England driving around the country spending about 1/2 the time lost...trying
to read a road map, trying to figure out which roundabout goes in which
direction...and a fair amount of time in heated debates ( ok screaming
matches) as to which way to go. It's hard enough to watch for road signs
never mind attempting it all while driving on the left hand side.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaack... We will rent a car after we leave London and head off
for a couple of weeks but I swore to god the last time we went that I would
never consider another drive without a GPS.

Cheers!
Don

"Red Squirrel" <invalid@thisis.invalid> wrote in message
news:Xns9A10DDCF8C7D
redsquirrelusenet@69
.16.176.253...
> Carl Heinz <cfheinz57@charter.net> wrote in
> news:lmpvm3po2po47b6
7es9midrdk4nfilp3sp@
4ax.com:
>
>
> I'll second that recommendation. My daughter lives in London and driving
> there is an absolute nightmare. Even with SatNav (I have a Garmin Nuvi
> 660FM) driving just a couple of miles can take hours.
>
> The London congestion charge covers a large area of central London and
> operates 07:00 to 18:00 Monday to Friday. Daily charge is £8.00 if you
> pay
> on the day you enter the zone or in advance, £10.00 if you pay by midnight
> the following day and then goes into extremely serious penalty charges -
> £60 paid up to fourteen days later, £120 to 28 days and £180 after 28
> days.
>
> Be wary of walking around with a SatNav in your hand - it's likely to get
> stolen. Far better to plan your journey in advance, go on the tube to
> roughly where you want to go and then ask someone.
>
> --
> Red Squirrel

Steve Calvin

2007-12-24, 10:33 pm

Don B wrote:
> Our daughter lives in London and I'm not so concerned about downtown London
> as we will be using the tube or with friends, I still think that a hand held
> would help us there too. Dear god I remember the last time we were in
> England driving around the country spending about 1/2 the time lost...trying
> to read a road map, trying to figure out which roundabout goes in which
> direction...and a fair amount of time in heated debates ( ok screaming
> matches) as to which way to go. It's hard enough to watch for road signs
> never mind attempting it all while driving on the left hand side.
> aaaaaaaaaaaaaack... We will rent a car after we leave London and head off
> for a couple of weeks but I swore to god the last time we went that I would
> never consider another drive without a GPS.
>
> Cheers!
> Don
>
>

I've never been in London but I don't leave home for a trip
in the States without my Garmin GPSMAP 76CSx. Works very well.

It may not always take the exact route that you'd take if
you knew the area, but it will get you there.

--
Steve
http://adirondackoutdoors.forumcircle.com

Michael Barrett

2007-12-24, 10:33 pm

"Don B" <stampy175@telus.net> wrote in message
news:jlQbj.17995$wy2.12558@edtnps90...
> We're so lost in trying to figure out which GPS will work best.
>
> We need a system that portable so we can take with us walking in the city
> We need a system for the car
> We live in the US but we're planning a walking/driving tour in England and
> France in April
> So, we need a system that will help us navigate around London by foot and
> the UK and France by car.
>

I bought a Garmin Nuvi 270. It comes preloaded with both NA and Euro maps
and fits nicely in my shirt pocket or on my windshield mount. The Optional
charger (the car cord is included) works on NA and Euro voltages and
includes adapters for France and UK.
I like it because I can load all my Google Earth Saved Places to the Nuvi as
POI so when I'm in Madrid I can navigate around on foot/ metro and when I'm
on the road in the US I can easily find all my destinations. I decided on
the 270 rather than the 370 because I didn't want all the music player and
Bluetooth stuff. The only thing that it's missing is an earphone jack but it
was not worth the extra cost (to me, YMMV) of the 370 just for this one
feature..
--
Commander Bob

Father Guido

2007-12-26, 4:33 am

On Tue, 25 Dec 2007 03:22:19 GMT, "Michael Barrett" <kalu@telus.net>
wrote:

>I bought a Garmin Nuvi 270. It comes preloaded with both NA and Euro maps
>and fits nicely in my shirt pocket or on my windshield mount. The Optional
>charger (the car cord is included) works on NA and Euro voltages and
>includes adapters for France and UK.
>I like it because I can load all my Google Earth Saved Places to the Nuvi as
>POI so when I'm in Madrid I can navigate around on foot/ metro and when I'm
>on the road in the US I can easily find all my destinations. I decided on
>the 270 rather than the 370 because I didn't want all the music player and
>Bluetooth stuff. The only thing that it's missing is an earphone jack but it
>was not worth the extra cost (to me, YMMV) of the 370 just for this one
>feature..

Do you have any experience with the Nuvi non-SIRFIII chipset? Is the
Nuvi 250/260/270 chipset any good, or is it just plain cheaper for the
cheaper 200 series of Garmin Nuvi's? Does anyone know what chipset the
Nuvi 200 series actually uses? Garmin appear to be afraid to tell us.

Jacek M. Holeczek

2007-12-26, 4:33 am

> Do you have any experience with the Nuvi non-SIRFIII chipset? Is the
> Nuvi 250/260/270 chipset any good, or is it just plain cheaper for the
> cheaper 200 series of Garmin Nuvi's? Does anyone know what chipset the
> Nuvi 200 series actually uses? Garmin appear to be afraid to tell us.

See:
http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/...508&whichpage=1

Hope it help,
Best regards,
Jacek.

Father Guido

2007-12-26, 10:33 pm

On Wed, 26 Dec 2007 10:38:10 +0100, "Jacek M. Holeczek"
<holeczek@us.edu.pl> wrote:

>
>See:
>http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/...508&whichpage=1
>
>Hope it help,
>Best regards,
>Jacek.

Excellent forum, it does help since this is my first GPS.

Thanks!

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