ptonsparky
Tom
- Occupation
- EC - retired
If it wasn't for one of my GC I would still be driving around in truck mode wondering what the heck happend with the last software update.
gps units
- Thread starter billdozier
- Start date
- Status
wirebender
Senior Member
- Location
- North Central Texas
Don't forget the big box stores.:grin:
steelersman
Senior Member
- Location
- Lake Ridge, VA
yeah and banks, schools, libraries and it gives you the phone number of the establishment that you are looking up.
LarryFine
Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
- Location
- Henrico County, VA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
You may need to take a trip through the menus; some are less obvious than others. Mine has, among 7 pages of stuff, a route setting for 'shortest,' 'fastest,' or 'optimum.'
You also may need to update the data. My Navigon has a USB port, through which it connects to my desktop, and I can download updates and features. It's also recharges.
LarryFine
Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
- Location
- Henrico County, VA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
Heck, Bob, you could have just called me, and I would have suggested the same thing, and at no charge. :grin:
LarryFine
Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
- Location
- Henrico County, VA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
I also enter the addresses of electrical suppliers, orange and blue stores, gas, Costco, etc. into the favorite places. Sometimes, I'm closer to one than I thought.
Fulthrotl
~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
- Occupation
- E
'sfunny, but one of the most remarkable gps's i've used is the iphone 3G.
if you use google 411 connect (800 466 4411), it'll do voice recognition
that's pretty damn good, and after it says it's found the thing you are
looking for, before it connects you, say "map it" and it'll send a text message
to the phone with the phone number, address, and name you requested.
clicking on that link in the text message will pull up the google map applet
on the iphone, and it'll give you turn by turn directions, WITH traffic feed
provided by your friends and mine, caltrans. it'll show you driving along
and the map will update as you move. it's accurate within about 10 feet.
it'll do this on the google map applet with the photo overlay turned on, and
you'll get a full moving map photo, with the route traced on it. to someone
who cut teeth on 14.4 modems, the data is amazing....
all that is free on the iphone. not big enough to see while driving easily,
and it really discharges the phone quickly, but the fact that it works at
all is remarkable.
randy
LarryFine
Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
- Location
- Henrico County, VA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
Greg Swartz
Senior Member
- Location
- Colorado Springs, Colorado
Tom Tom sux!
Tom Tom sux!
I got a Tom Tom 330 for the service van this Christmas... we returned it a week later!
It sucked. It was unable to find the very first job we bought it for. The house had been there 3 years!
So, since we have a power inverter in the van, and my truck, I bought MS Streets and Trips 2009 with the GPS receiver. Got 2 copies and $50 back because the Tom Tom is way more expensive. Installed it on the laptops...
Have not had one problem yet. The map updates are free for MS, but Tom Tom wanted to charge me $60 for theirs...
The screen is MUCH larger, and I also keep a screen shot of the close up map as well...
Greg
Tom Tom sux!
I got a Tom Tom 330 for the service van this Christmas... we returned it a week later!
It sucked. It was unable to find the very first job we bought it for. The house had been there 3 years!
So, since we have a power inverter in the van, and my truck, I bought MS Streets and Trips 2009 with the GPS receiver. Got 2 copies and $50 back because the Tom Tom is way more expensive. Installed it on the laptops...
Have not had one problem yet. The map updates are free for MS, but Tom Tom wanted to charge me $60 for theirs...
The screen is MUCH larger, and I also keep a screen shot of the close up map as well...
Greg
Last edited:
- Location
- Massachusetts
Greg having to keep a lap top fired up sounds like a major pain to me. One of my buddies has a Tom Tom and it seems to work fine for him. I personlly like my Garmin better.
- Location
- Massachusetts
Can I stick you to my windshield with a suction cup?
Greg Swartz
Senior Member
- Location
- Colorado Springs, Colorado
Bob, while I agree a huge laptop (mine is 17") can be a pain, but you talked about having paper backup maps... I do that on the laptop. Plus, I have all the job information right there. Any status updates can be sent to the service electrician (which is constantly happening).
So, there are pros, and there are cons.
I am just leveraging the pros with the laptop.
- Location
- Massachusetts
Thats cool, whatever works for you. :smile:
I have a nice laptop but would never give up my GPS unit. :smile: The GPS stays on 24/7 always ready to go, it also tucks away easily in small lock box I have when I have to work in high crime areas.
- Location
- Simi Valley, CA
Thanks. I've only played with it a few times so I'll dig into it again. It came with minimul paperwork, the only way you can look things up is online.
I have all the same features, I just haven't tried downloading any updates yet. I'll have to give that a try. I did try to set up the MP3 player the other day and found out it's not compatable with iTunes.
kjfelec
Member
- Location
- Massachusetts
I have the Garmin c550. Works great. Allways have it in the truck.
LarryFine
Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
- Location
- Henrico County, VA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
Sure, but you have to wet the suction cup yourself.
- Status