mosseater
Dillsburg, PA
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Joined: 10/19/2007
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I bought the 260 for our trip and am overall pretty happy with it. I have a mem card with my POIs on it. One thing that I find irritating (and feel free to enlighten me if anyone knows how to work around this) is that I can filter out ferries, u-turns, highways, etc., but I can`t seem to filter out secondary and post secondary roads. Faster time or shorter distance funtions don`t always get it done. When it`s clear that staying on the interstate is the way to go, it insists on taking me off onto some po-dunk two lane cow path just because it`s shorter or "faster". HA!! Double HA!!
I`ve been using the browse map function and punching in a viapoint to get the results I`m after, but that requires breaking up your mapping into small pieces and it gets confusing after a while. Not sure if the higher priced units work better on this or not.
Just be aware that even though I am confident it will always get your there, it won`t always be the best route.
"It`s not important that you know all the answers, it`s only important to know where to get all the answers" Arone Kleamyck
"...An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it." Col. Jeff Cooper
Sunset Creek 298 BH
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davelinde
Freehold, New Jersey
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Joined: 11/02/2003
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RicJones wrote:... I think Garmin puts out a good product, just not good documentation. I guess they feel most people will just use the basic features so why bother.
Agreed.
They don't invest in pre-sales docs and that deficiency carries over to post-sales docs. They do get away with it because they assume (probably correctly) that 90% of their market buys making a wild guess and then only uses the most basic features.
BTW - I finally DID find one part of the Garmin site that had better side/side comparisons! but it did not include all the NUVI products. And now I found a nuvi205W that has the QWERTY keyboard I like but drops TTS that I might live without, but only has "regional maps" and I cannot figure out what I'm not getting then... and with the way they price added maps you really MUST get the maps you want all bundled up front or buy a whole new unit later instead of paying for maps alone?
Hey... as much as I'm griping here I still haven't decided to jump to TomTom or any of the other brands (yet).
Dave Lindemulder
Tammy, Mark & Kirsten
04 Dodge 2500 4x4 SLT QC/SB
HO-CTD/48RE - Graphite: Raptor SS nerfs, Prodigy, Reese 16K Kwik-slide, BD X-Monitor, PML Trans pan, PML Diff cover, Firestone Airbags
09 Heartland Cyclone 3210
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davelinde
Freehold, New Jersey
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mosseater wrote:
Just be aware that even though I am confident it will always get your there, it won`t always be the best route.
I read a review of a 6xx series that did a bake-off against Tom-Tom and found that Garmin chose more direct and faster routes on a random sample of address pairs. They also noted that Garmin chose the same routes as Yahoo but the two tools calculated different estimated durations.
This will be a function of the routing algorithm and the depth of data in the maps. Neither of which is clear in the documentation - though I THINK that the entire nuvi line is identical in this feature?
I'd like the best map data and routing algorithm I can buy, but in practice - if I know better - I just pick the road I like and let the unit re-route me. Otherwise... we just laugh at her. Last time out we picked a Walmart near the highway - actually using a paper guide to get the address and putting the address into the unit. We got off the highway - were routed PAST the WM entrance and turned into a residential neighborhood. We drove about a mile in a loop behind the shopping area then came out at the far side of the WM. We just laughed. In considering it though - I she figured that 2 miles of 25mph is faster than 1/2 mile driving in a parking lot access road? Oh well - still beats being lost.
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Bumpyroad
Virginia
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Joined: 12/01/2005
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RicJones wrote:Quote:but if I can't transfer my topo maps and lake maps
The memory card from my 60csx plugs into my Nuvi 255 and the maps work just fine. You can get a blank 1 gig micro sd card for around $6 if you shop around.
since my 276C has a proprietary card and anything I buy new will NOT, that won't work for me. but thanks for the idea.
Somehow when I upgraded software, I eliminated the line of text at the top of the screen that sez, "main street exit 2 miles" or some such. tried to find it in the instruction book and couldn't. will try to call Garmin monday.
OH, yeah, when I was going thru the menus etc., I saw and checked "enable WAAS". why wouldn't one want that selected?
bumpy
* This post was
edited 09/06/08 12:24pm by Bumpyroad *
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davelinde
Freehold, New Jersey
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still looking around - THIS is cool for Nokia GPS wonder if there's anything like it for any other GPS
doh - on edit, shoulda searched. Anyone use THIS for Garmin?
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sue.t
Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
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Joined: 08/05/2004
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I'm using GPSBabel with my Garmin, to move points from Google Earth into the GPS unit.
Our Garmin is used for hiking and for bushwhacking through thick bush. Being able to create waypoints in Google Earth, then transfer those waypoints to the GPS, makes not getting lost in the bush a whole lot easier.
Of course, with Google Earth Plus, it's too simple to upload waypoints from the Garmin. We use this to upload the track the GPS recorded while we are meandering through the bush. I paid the $20 for Google Earth Plus rather than waste more time with third-party software.
sue t.
Pictures from our many RV Adventures to Yukon & Alaska
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mosseater
Dillsburg, PA
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Joined: 10/19/2007
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"tay-Cramp....on rite...to destination....WoWwww`l mart."
Also "Moun-TRUSH-more"
We also like how she sounds pi$$ed off and disappointed at the same time when she says "recalculating". Giggles all around on that one. We now speak a new language at our house.
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salem
Central Valley, Ca
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Joined: 05/01/2004
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Please forgive my ignorane re. GPS units, but may I jump in here with a question? Let's say you're lost in the mountains. If you put in an address, such as your home, or some place nearer, will it tell you which direction to hike out?
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tatest
Oklahoma
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Joined: 05/14/2005
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salem wrote:Please forgive my ignorane re. GPS units, but may I jump in here with a question? Let's say you're lost in the mountains. If you put in an address, such as your home, or some place nearer, will it tell you which direction to hike out?
Almost every recreational GPS will point to a waypoint you've marked (saved). If you have it tracking, it will show your track in, so that you can backtrack to get out. Mine has gotten me out of the woods in Alaska, when it got dark sooner than I had expected.
To an address? That implies an automotive GPS, routing on streets to get to addresses, a different mode of thinking. I haven't tried it, I load topographic maps to go into the woods, not my automotive maps.
Tom Test
Itasca Spirit 29B
2001 Ranger Edge
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salem
Central Valley, Ca
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Thanks tatest, I've been curious about that.
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