Author Topic: Cheap GPS recommendations? (Read 14790 times)

The Mighty Duck · « **Reply #20 on:** July 31, 2012, 11:41:50 am »

Quote from: rsxca on July 31, 2012, 12:02:17 am

I bought a navagon app for my IPhone two years ago. Really good. Always updating maps. Tells you street names, what lane too be in and you can get live traffic oil you want. Only thing is it uses a lot of battery life.

If using a smartphone for GPS, a car charger is a must, yeah. I got mine from the dollar store for $2, and it works just fine.

Railton · « **Reply #21 on:** July 31, 2012, 12:24:41 pm »

Appears Garmins Euro maps cost ~$70 on their web site so I will likely go with the preloaded unit which can be had at Costco for $159. No lifetime maps though at that price. Seems you can only get one or the other.
Railton

quadzilla · « **Reply #22 on:** July 31, 2012, 01:00:59 pm »

Quote from: Railton on July 31, 2012, 12:24:41 pm

Appears Garmins Euro maps cost ~$70 on their web site so I will likely go with the preloaded unit which can be had at Costco for $159. No lifetime maps though at that price. Seems you can only get one or the other.
Railton

Checking Garmin's site they only have 1 GPS (nüvi® 2475LT) that has pre loaded Euro maps. Goes for $190 at Costco.

http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=10369463&whse=BCCA&Ne=4000000&eCat=BCCA|79|21151&N=4011386&Mo=14&No=7&Nr=P_CatalogName:BCCA&cat=21151&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-CA&Sp=C&topnav=

They sure don't make it easy.

safristi · « **Reply #23 on:** July 31, 2012, 01:14:36 pm »

c'mon ladies....getting from "EH to B'ah" has never been easier.........$160 for the latest and greatest LIFE TIME....YLTMD

...maps /washrooms and brothels all updated somewhat itchyly.....EVEN INCLUDES ROADS !!! who knew

and other useless stuff.........

nifty6 · « **Reply #24 on:** July 31, 2012, 01:43:59 pm »

'll repeat what's already been said. Cheap would be a smartphone which you may already have. Otherwise if you look back through previous threads the overwhelming favourite will be Garmin.

When udsing a cell phone are you not charged roaming charges when out of town or your calling area?
Someone used there phone from Toronto to Buffalo and back using his phone as a GPS and got a $90 bill, roaming charges, unless you have it your plan which I know nothing about. Check with your carrier...

Ex-airbalancer · « **Reply #25 on:** July 31, 2012, 02:18:09 pm »

Quote from: The Mighty Duck on July 31, 2012, 11:41:50 am

Quote from: rsxca on July 31, 2012, 12:02:17 am
I bought a navagon app for my IPhone two years ago. Really good. Always updating maps. Tells you street names, what lane too be in and you can get live traffic oil you want. Only thing is it uses a lot of battery life.

If using a smartphone for GPS, a car charger is a must, yeah. I got mine from the dollar store for $2, and it works just fine.

What kind of holder do have for your phone?

safristi · « **Reply #26 on:** July 31, 2012, 02:25:59 pm »

..............

The Mighty Duck · « **Reply #27 on:** August 01, 2012, 12:04:32 pm »

Quote from: airbalancer on July 31, 2012, 02:18:09 pm

What kind of holder do have for your phone?

Right now it just sits in the cup holder. Far from ideal, but at least with voice guidance I don't need to look at the screen often. I'd like to get a holder, I just haven't gotten around to it.

TomTom makes a great mount with a built-in (more accurate) GPS, bluetooth speaker, etc. that would be perfect, but it's about the cost of a standalone GPS unit. I'll probably just pick up whatever's on sale on Canadian Tire. Looking for the vent-clip style because it's perfect for sight lines, and the windshield rakes so far front in my Fit that a windshield mount isn't really practical.

rrocket · « **Reply #28 on:** August 01, 2012, 05:03:12 pm »

Doesn't the GPS use on your smart phone eat up some of your data package?

Ex-airbalancer · « **Reply #29 on:** August 01, 2012, 05:12:43 pm »

Quote from: rrocket on August 01, 2012, 05:03:12 pm

Doesn't the GPS use on your smart phone eat up some of your data package?

When I was in Italy I used navitaly it would show our location, even when we were on the ship, without data
It will not routes , you need data for that
It works the same as a paper map, but shows your location

rrocket · « **Reply #30 on:** August 01, 2012, 05:22:35 pm »

Quote from: airbalancer on August 01, 2012, 05:12:43 pm

Quote from: rrocket on August 01, 2012, 05:03:12 pm
Doesn't the GPS use on your smart phone eat up some of your data package?
When I was in Italy I used navitaly it would show our location, even when we were on the ship, without data
It will not routes , you need data for that
It works the same as a paper map, but shows your location

That's the problem. I had considered using a phone based GPS on my trips to the USA...but the data would cost a fortune.

Garmin all the way!! I have a 265W that works just great! Lifetime traffic.

The Mighty Duck · « **Reply #31 on:** August 02, 2012, 10:38:58 am »

Quote from: rrocket on August 01, 2012, 05:03:12 pm

Doesn't the GPS use on your smart phone eat up some of your data package?

Depends on the app. The brand-name ones like TomTom and (I think) Navigon download maps to your device, so they don't use data at all. The downside is, you lose 1-2GB of local storage to maps. The one I use requires a data connection for maps, but I have a 6GB plan and I've never even come close to hitting my cap. I'd have to do a lot of navigating to run into a problem. But if you're on a smaller data plan, it might not be ideal. I'm not sure how much data maps use.

rrocket · « **Reply #32 on:** August 02, 2012, 03:21:10 pm »

Quote from: The Mighty Duck on August 02, 2012, 10:38:58 am

Quote from: rrocket on August 01, 2012, 05:03:12 pm
Doesn't the GPS use on your smart phone eat up some of your data package?

Depends on the app. The brand-name ones like TomTom and (I think) Navigon download maps to your device, so they don't use data at all. The downside is, you lose 1-2GB of local storage to maps. The one I use requires a data connection for maps, but I have a 6GB plan and I've never even come close to hitting my cap. I'd have to do a lot of navigating to run into a problem. But if you're on a smaller data plan, it might not be ideal. I'm not sure how much data maps use.

I'm not talking about data in Canada. I'm talking about data in the USA when you're on a trip. When I hit Michigan, charges on data are nuts. $5 per MB!!

The Mighty Duck · « **Reply #33 on:** August 03, 2012, 12:45:24 am »

Quote from: rrocket on August 02, 2012, 03:21:10 pm

I'm not talking about data in Canada. I'm talking about data in the USA when you're on a trip. When I hit Michigan, charges on data are nuts. $5 per MB!!

Yeah... if you're leaving the country, then it'd be worth investing in something that saves maps locally. The new version of Google maps on Android lets you navigate without data (I think you have to preload the city(ies) you want - not to sure). Seems like a pretty clever implementation.

makuribu · « **Reply #34 on:** August 03, 2012, 01:23:04 pm »

Quote from: tpl on July 30, 2012, 08:50:16 am

Garmin have Euro maps but in their cheaper lines you have to buy them. I *believe* all models have enough memory to store the euro maps as well as the NA maps.

You can find a "world traveller" model with lifetime NA and Europe maps, but that adds $100 to your cost.

With Garmin you can buy a lifetime update but only for the map(s) that came installed when you bought the device. For additional maps you pay $100 and get 12 months of map updates.

I got a great deal late last year at CT for a Garmin Nuvi 2555 LMT with lifetime maps and traffic, but it's for NA only. I needed a map for France this spring, and Garmin sells them but they don't come with lifetime updates.

I'm hopeful that Apple and Google will force the price of GPS maps down. If you have an iOS or Android device with 3G and a data plan, you don't need a GPS.

Ex-airbalancer · « **Reply #35 on:** August 12, 2012, 09:13:02 pm »

This looks interesting for iPhone/ iPad http://www.offmaps.com/

Been using waze works pretty good

Found a problem with navifree, if you plug the USB cable into the truck to listen to music , the app goes to home screen and is useless

mmret · « **Reply #36 on:** August 12, 2012, 09:15:55 pm »

Quote from: The Mighty Duck on August 03, 2012, 12:45:24 am

Quote from: rrocket on August 02, 2012, 03:21:10 pm
I'm not talking about data in Canada. I'm talking about data in the USA when you're on a trip. When I hit Michigan, charges on data are nuts. $5 per MB!!

Yeah... if you're leaving the country, then it'd be worth investing in something that saves maps locally. The new version of Google maps on Android lets you navigate without data (I think you have to preload the city(ies) you want - not to sure). Seems like a pretty clever implementation.

Truth. There is a cap of 80MB per map segment but that was enough for me to get all of Paris and then some.

There are free choices too I believe, something called "NavFree" on both Android and iOS has downloadable maps. Few GB of SDCard space is no big deal these days. I have a pair of unused, unopened 32GB microSDs right next to me. Can't remember why I bought them.

Ex-airbalancer · « **Reply #37 on:** August 12, 2012, 09:21:06 pm »

There also co-pilot which allows one country free, I used it in Greece, and navifree in Italy no data used

Brig · « **Reply #38 on:** August 13, 2012, 04:09:06 pm »

You are welcome.

Ex-airbalancer · « **Reply #39 on:** August 14, 2012, 07:53:35 am »

Another problem when using your phone as in a gps mode, when your talking on the phone you loss the map on the screen