GPS is good for driving or not?

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

powerduck129@yahoo.com.cn - 20 Dec 2007 09:08 GMT

hello everybody, i wnat to buy a GPS as my cousin's Christmas. my
cousin is studying in York University in Toronto, and he is love
driving to travel. so i decide to buy a GPS for him. i have no idea
about the GPS, but get a website from my friend, it is www.housinghouse.com.
i really donot know which one i should choose, could you help me to
see which one is better. thanks everyboday and Marry Christmas (Fibee)

Reply to this Message

Al - 20 Dec 2007 14:36 GMT

On Thu, 20 Dec 2007 01:08:49 -0800, powerduck129 wrote:

> hello everybody, i wnat to buy a GPS as my cousin's Christmas. my cousin
> is studying in York University in Toronto, and he is love driving to
> travel. so i decide to buy a GPS for him. i have no idea about the GPS,
> but get a website from my friend, it is www.housinghouse.com. i really
> donot know which one i should choose, could you help me to see which one
> is better. thanks everyboday and Marry Christmas (Fibee)

Buy a map instead. Why rely on gadgets to get you around.

Al

Reply to this Message

JohnO - 20 Dec 2007 17:04 GMT

> Buy a map instead. Why rely on gadgets to get you around.

Al, I'm guessing that you've never used one of these newer GPS' that speak.
Very cool, they tell you how long to reach your destination, and if you miss
a turn it finds a route back. And catch the key part...you don't have to
read and drive at the same time.

I'll never go anywhere w/o a map, and I'm good at orienteering, but these
gadgets are very cool.

-John O

Reply to this Message

Rick Courtright - 20 Dec 2007 22:22 GMT

> Buy a map instead. Why rely on gadgets to get you around.

Hi,

I suppose GPS is a good tool for the directionally-challenged.
Personally, though, if I want someone to tell me where to turn, I'll
take a passenger (who can read a map!) so I can talk to 'em between
instructions. I find GPS almost as distracting as a cell phone... but
I'm a self-admitted dinosaur, too. That may not be all bad: I figure I
must have never really been "lost" cuz I'm right where I want to be
right now!

Rick

Reply to this Message

Uncle Ben - 20 Dec 2007 16:00 GMT

> hello everybody, i wnat to buy a GPS as my cousin's Christmas. my
> cousin is studying in York University in Toronto, and he is love
> driving to travel. so i decide to buy a GPS for him. i have no idea
> about the GPS, but get a website from my friend, it iswww.housinghouse.com.
> i really donot know which one i should choose, could you help me to
> see which one is better. thanks everyboday and Marry Christmas (Fibee)

I love to drive with GPS if I am driving alone, because the unit talks
to me when we approach a turn.

If your cousin has a laptop computer, you can get him a little GPS
receiver that plugs into a USB port.
Then he can use a program such as Delorme's Street Atlas 2006 or later
to navigate under voice control.
He will also need a power converter to plug into a cigarette lighter
to produce 110 VAC to keep the
computer battery charged. Total cost: about $150 US.

Otherwise, you can buy him a Tom-Tom, widely advertised on TV.
Another source is Garmin.
I don't know how to choose between them.

Ben

Reply to this Message

John Santos - 20 Dec 2007 18:11 GMT

In article <f5818a25-8c29-4877-85ec-f8ac64140d96
@e10g2000prf.googlegroups.com>, ben@greenba.com says...

> > hello everybody, i wnat to buy a GPS as my cousin's Christmas. my
> > cousin is studying in York University in Toronto, and he is love
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> Then he can use a program such as Delorme's Street Atlas 2006 or later
> to navigate under voice control.

Does the current version of Street Atlas include Canada? (The OP
said his cousin is in Toronto.) I have a very old version of Delorme's
Street Atlas (V3.0 from 1995), and it stops right at the US border.

> He will also need a power converter to plug into a cigarette lighter
> to produce 110 VAC to keep the
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Ben

Signature

John

Reply to this Message

Uncle Ben - 20 Dec 2007 22:55 GMT

..............>

> > If your cousin has a laptop computer, you can get him a little GPS
> > receiver that plugs into a USB port.
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> said his cousin is in Toronto.) I have a very old version of Delorme's
> Street Atlas (V3.0 from 1995), and it stops right at the US border.

Yes. My 2006 version does give detail in Canada.

Ben

Reply to this Message

powerduck129@yahoo.com.cn - 21 Dec 2007 09:09 GMT

> ..............>> > If your cousin has a laptop computer, you can get him a little GPS
> > > receiver that plugs into a USB port.
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Ben

if the cell phone can work as GPS, it sounds good, but me budget is
$200CNA, is it enough?---Fibee

Reply to this Message

Zeppo - 20 Dec 2007 20:36 GMT

> hello everybody, i wnat to buy a GPS as my cousin's Christmas. my
> cousin is studying in York University in Toronto, and he is love
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> i really donot know which one i should choose, could you help me to
> see which one is better. thanks everyboday and Marry Christmas (Fibee)

I have a Garmin Nuvi and it has been invaluable for trips. We spent a few
weeks in Italy in October and were able to be much more daring in our
exploring as we knew the GPS would find our hotel for us at the end of the
day. It also helped us find our car in an unfamiliar town at the end of a
long day of sightseeing without having to worry about reading maps by
moonlight.

Also we didn't get lost once the entire two weeks (well OK, once. But that
was in pedestrian mode in Venice and streets are really screwy there. Plus
the streets are so narrow and the buildings are so tall that it's hard to
get a signal). It was really impressive in areas of Tuscany that were badly
signed or where roads changed names at random.

Jon

Reply to this Message

alf - 31 Dec 2007 03:32 GMT

> hello everybody, i wnat to buy a GPS as my cousin's Christmas. my
> cousin is studying in York University in Toronto, and he is love
> driving to travel. so i decide to buy a GPS for him. i have no idea
> about the GPS, but get a website from my friend, it is www.housinghouse.com.
> i really donot know which one i should choose, could you help me to
> see which one is better. thanks everyboday and Marry Christmas (Fibee)

I bought recently Tom Tom One for $120 (with rebates applied). Quite
happy. It saved me a lot of time so far while traveling to unknown areas
of Chicago metro. Quick and efficient trips. I found myself relaying on
the voice directions more then the map itself. Also when I travel alone,
it is nice when someone talks to you too.

Andy

Reply to this Message