GPS navigation devices

[easyrider]

I had a TomTom and a Garmin for travel. Then we started using our phones. I still have the TomTom but it is about 8 years old and I think it needs updating. I think I want to get another GPS device that doesn't rely on cell phone signals or batteries.

I would like a gps that includes Canada and Mexico. Mostly Mexico.

Any suggestions on a good device ?

Bill

 

[DrQ]

I had a Garmin which I liked until I bought my current car with has a ROM based map. I think you are correct in getting a device that can download the maps into the device. When we took out trip out east, I used Google map on my phone which worked 98% of the time, but when it doesn't work, it REALLY doesn't work.

 

[Sea Six]

My GPS of choice for auto has always been Garmin NUVI LMT (lifetime map updates and traffic - you pick the model). I have a TOM-Tom system in my car, but carry the Garmin with me just because it works better. Many times we use the Garmin instead of the built in.

 

[Passepartout]

Another vote for ANY Garmin NUVI with free lifetime maps (and Traffic if you like it- I don't). They are designated LM or LMT. We have the built-in in DWs new car. (Honda) I'll report what updates cost. In a Toyota 2 cars ago, the map update cost more than 2 standalone GPSs.

I might be wrong, but iirc the Garmin's North American version includes Canada, but not Mexico. Maps on Micro SD are fairly inexpensive on eBay. I bought Western Europe for about $30 or so. We cancelled that trip and I never installed the card.

Jim

 

[tombanjo]

A Garmin fanboy here. I was on a business trip and was to meet a co-worker in a fairly rural part of the country. They were relying on their cell phone for directions. About 50 miles from the site, cell coverage turned to non-existent. The double whammy on that is you can't call anyone for directions . They made it eventually.

I use my cell sometime when "yelping" for a new restaurant locally, it's simple to turn into directions directly from yelp. But actual travel all over the country, you can't beat Garmin with lifetime maps. You can get lifetime traffic too. Buy refurbished from online, amazon, ebay and save some money.

Make sure you get "North America" - has Canada and Mexico.

 

[Sea Six]

As we travel, my wife would rather have the Garmin NUVI on her lap than rely on the Tom-Tom on our built in screen. Garmin RULES the road!

 

[tompalm]

I had three different Garmins over the year and was never disappointed.

 

[Makai Guy]

If you're already used to using your phone, look into an app called HERE WeGo - it's available both for Apple and Android. It has a provision for downloading state maps which can be used offline. Some of the less populated areas we go though on our way to Hilton Head have no cell coverage and this works great for us (when we bother to use it). Of course, you can use it online too.

But mostly I use Waze..

 

[PigsDad]

If you're already used to using your phone, look into an app called HERE WeGo - it's available both for Apple and Android. It has a provision for downloading state maps which can be used offline.

Google Maps has that ability as well.

Kurt

 

[Talent312]

I bought a TomTom which incl. Euro maps, last Summer, but then put it in checked luggage. When our luggage didn't come off the plane with us in Toulouse, France, we had to drive the old fashioned way... with maps and street signs.... the horror! By the time it caught up with us, we didn't need it any more.

Otherwise, my car has a built-in so I use that.
But for rentals, I prefer my older Garmin. I find that it's more intuitive.

.

 

[easyrider]

I'm getting another Garmin. The Garmin I lost in Hawaii worked ok in Mexico. Thanks every one.

Bill

 

[WinniWoman]

Hubby has an older Magellan- second one. But now that I have my little inexpensive IPHONE SE, we always use the WAZE app.

Even me, who never liked the GPS's (I am a paper map person), find WAZE much easier to use and I think the voice and directions are so much clearer and overall much better than the GPS we have.

 

[Brett]

I'm also a WAZE convert. better at real-time traffic navigating and .............. "police alerts" !

 

[jme]

http://socialwebqanda.com/2013/01/w...standalone-gps-and-google-maps-on-smartphone/

Imho......
Garmin, Magellan, TomTom etc are all dinosaurs....they rely on their own "stored" data, thus requiring update downloads
to stay accurate.
This ultimately means that you start out with the road information known only at the time of your purchase date (or last update),
and not where you're driving TODAY, and the two could be vastly different.

iPhone & Googlemaps or Waze use an up-to-the-minute knowledge of the roads "as you go", pulling from the Cloud in real time,
and thus can route you exactly, including newly constructed roads. It also provides current road conditions and traffic delays, etc.,
relayed to you as you drive, offering alternate routes to save you time if something develops. That alone is priceless.

Phone-based GPS is the way to go....... the others are essentially dead, and only provide a visual that may or may not
be currently accurate.

There is no comparison.
A smart phone does it all.
It's Pandora vs CDs, it's digital recorders vs VCRs & tapes. It's smart TVs vs tube TVs.

 

[Talent312]

Imho... Garmin, Magellan, TomTom etc are all dinosaurs....they rely on their own "stored" data, thus requiring update downloads to stay accurate. This ultimately means that you start out with the road information known only at the time of your purchase date (or last update)...

IMHO, roads and POI's do not change so much that it's worth worrying about.
If you update regularly, you're driving on data that's at most ~ 3 months old.
Except for a newly opened Bass Pro Shop or AMC Theatre, you won't miss much.

I asked a Toyota service rep about updating my in-dash map and she said...
"We suggest updating about every four years. Roads just don't change a lot."

I find dedicated GPS devices to be more robust in programming and functions.
But hey, whatever floats your boat.

.

 

[Brett]

IMHO, roads and POI's do not change so much that it's worth worrying about.
If you update regularly, you're driving on data that's at most ~ 3 months old.
Except for a newly opened Bass Pro Shop or AMC Theatre, you won't miss much.

I asked a Toyota service rep about updating my in-dash map and she said...
"We suggest updating about every four years. Roads just don't change a lot."

I find dedicated GPS devices to be more robust in programming and functions.
But hey, whatever floats your boat.

.

true, roads don't change much but I find the 'crowd-sourced" traffic info, road and weather conditions and police alerts useful on WAZE
I hardly ever use my dedicated GPS Garmin anymore

 

[Passepartout]

Using the WAZE or other cell phone based GPS is fine as long as one has a data connection. If using it or Google maps offline an you are back to the last time the data was updated. Out here in the sparsely wired West- or a the OP suggests in Mexico, it's most valuable in places where data is not available.

 

[tombanjo]

My Garmin traffic has re-route on the fly. Down town manhattan is not GPS friendly as skyscrapers obscure satellites. So, that is where a cell phone has an advantage. My maps are updated regularly. And, there are no data charges for GPS. using a cell phone for hours of driving eats up a lot of data.

 

[jme]

IMHO, roads and POI's do not change so much that it's worth worrying about.
If you update regularly, you're driving on data that's at most ~ 3 months old.
Except for a newly opened Bass Pro Shop or AMC Theatre, you won't miss much.
I asked a Toyota service rep about updating my in-dash map and she said...
"We suggest updating about every four years. Roads just don't change a lot."I find dedicated GPS devices to be more robust in programming and functions.
But hey, whatever floats your boat.

Update every 4 years?.......I like every 4 seconds much better.
Roads don't change much? That guy has been indoors far too long...they change every day. POIs too.

Lately road construction has exploded all over the country....more orange barrels than people in some counties.
New "spaghetti junctions" appear out of nowhere fast, to name one example, not to mention smaller projects.

Ever notice while driving that on your device the little symbol for your vehicle is suddenly traveling "off the road"
and parallel to the intended road, or even some stranger configuration? Say, somewhere 100-300 yards from the road,
or from an intended entrance or exit?
It's because that entrance/exit you now need was newly constructed and "they" don't know where you are exactly....
NOT much help when they say "TURN HERE", and there's no "Here" to turn onto.....i.e., there's no exit, it was moved.

You won't find professional drivers, or young drivers, or 20, 30, and 40-somethings using those devices---they all use smart phones with Googlemaps or Waze, or both. I would never let my children use anything but Googlemaps GPS.
It's up-to-the-minute not only on roads but also destinations and restaurants, stores, or wherever they're headed.

But you're right, to each his own.

But hey, whatever floats your boat.

One bad turn from a Garmin and you might indeed need a boat.



.

 

[Talent312]

Anecdote:
Once, when driving in Edinburgh, my GPS told me to make a u-turn, so I reflexively, turned left and found myself at back of a warehouse loading dock. It was then I realized that, when driving on the left, you execute a u-turn by turning right, which would have been far more sensible.
.

 

[Bill4728]

Please do not do what we did the last time I used a GPS to find somewhere I'd never been before.

We were in N. Ireland going to the Dark hedges (from GOT) the directions got us almost there but at the last minute sent us away from the entrance every minute it said we were moving away from the entry. It turned out that the last instruction was for us to park not go down a road BUT there was no service right there.

What I learned is to view your trip ending carefully where you have plenty of signal not wait till you're almost there.

 

[moonstone]

We have 3 TomToms (we have several vehicles) of various ages and all have lifetime updates. DH connects them to our computer and updates them regularly. We used the newest one, with the biggest screen, for our road trip down to Belize (from north of Toronto) 2 years ago with the Mexican map loaded onto it. There wasn't a Belize map available so we used MapsMe app and a good old fashioned paper road map down here. We found the Mexican map and instructions to be very accurate for the most part. It didn't seem to have all the motels/hotels and restaurants on it but most of the Pemex gas stations were shown.

One direction instruction just south of the TX border was to turn left at the next intersection but where we needed to turn the highway was on an overpass over that road. The GPS didn't know that we needed to take the ramp off to the right (which was shown on the GPS screen) to go down to the lower level beside the highway then turn left under the highway onto the road we needed. When we drove past that intersection the GPS directed us to turn right at the next intersection then right again to go around the block and end up where we needed to be.


~Diane

 

[moonstone]

Using the WAZE or other cell phone based GPS is fine as long as one has a data connection. If using it or Google maps offline an you are back to the last time the data was updated. Out here in the sparsely wired West- or a the OP suggests in Mexico, it's most valuable in places where data is not available.

We have used the Mapsme app a lot in our travels by car in the USA, Mexico & Belize (and by bicycle in Belize). It works off a GPS satellite and doesn't require cellphone signal or data (neither of which I have in Belize). You do need an internet connection to initially load the maps then you are good to go. We got turned around (DH's words, I say lost) on our bikes in a sugar cane field in Belize last year and the Mapsme app showed the little dirt path we were on and enabled us to see which other paths to take to get out to the main road. Without it we could have been in the fields for days as the cane is far too high to see over. A very dangerous place to get stuck or lost if its time to start burning the field before harvesting.


~Diane

 

[SandyPGravel]

I like my Garmin. Take it on vacation, bookmark spots that I want to return to. (Like the kayak put in spot on St. John for Hurricane Hole.) Doesn't use data. I like my portable Garmin way better than the built in GPS in my Outback. (Subaru will not let you do anything to the GPS while the vehicle is moving!! So annoying.

 

[Brett]

Using the WAZE or other cell phone based GPS is fine as long as one has a data connection. If using it or Google maps offline an you are back to the last time the data was updated. Out here in the sparsely wired West- or a the OP suggests in Mexico, it's most valuable in places where data is not available.

that's correct, with WAZE you can download maps offline and the GPS function still works, just not real-time traffic data, weather and police alerts