Global Positioning System
 

***Please forgive me if this does not belong here***

Hi Friends,

I will be moving to the midwest in the next few weeks. Since I will be driving from NYC as part of my moving, as well as driving a lot in my new location, I was wondering if there were any portable/handheld GPS/Navigation systems out there?. I would prefer something with voice, i.e. it 'speaks' the directions to you.

I would like something which I can carry with me in whichever vehicle I drive, and it will give me dirving directions, etc. If you know of any such devices, could you please recommend brands, models, give me any price indications, and finally, and good online vendors or shops in New York City?.

(p.s.---> sorry to add this, which truck rental company is good, Ryder or U-Haul, or some other?....Its my first big move)

Thank You, friends, I am ever so grateful to you.

Best Wishes,
AK

[This message has been edited by flyer2001 (edited 05-29-2001).]

After some research, I bought the Garmin eMap from The GPS Store about a year ago, and have been quite happy with it. It is extremely portable and has downloadable maps (from CD which you purchase). If you go this route, I recommend the 32Meg memory card, as it can store about 4 US regional maps at once.

I've also used it to travel in number of Asian countries, and find it quite a versatile unit overall. I've seen the base unit sold in many of the NYC camera shops.

I've used the eMap as well and it's a nice unit. Good, compact size ideally suited to hiking and other mobile activities. I've used it from a window seat in a transcontinental flight (neat to see the ground map moving at 600mph), plotting hiking and mountain biking trails with an external antennae, and for short driving trips.

If you want something that is geared more towards automotive use, check out the Streetpilot III from Garmin. Here's a full review:
http://www.gpsinformation.net/spiii/sp3review.htm

I used my old II+ for a number of cross country trips. It doesn't have maps, but just being able to see your travel direction, accurate speed, as well as cumulative or remaining miles is fun. You can pre-load waypoints (hotels, cities, etc...) and it will tell you which direction and how far they are from you. I drove from NH to CA one year and setup the GPS to make a track log (like dropping digital bread crumbs) with a sample every five minutes. After the trip when I overlayed this log onto a US map you could see not only where I drove, but also areas of construction or higher speed limits. Since it recorded the position at a fixed time interval the dots would be much further apart in Nebraska with a 75mph speed limit than in New York with a (at the time) 55mph limit. Construction or side roads would show up as a traffic jam of "dots."

BTW, you'll find other reviews and GPS related info at:
http://joe.mehaffey.com/

One of my favorite things about the newer GPS's is that you can download updated firmware off the internet. It's worthwhile to check Joe's site or the manufacturer's just for that reason. Also, depending on where you live (and what interests you), you can download free topo quads for plotting trails pre or post-hike/bike.

Here are my favorite GPS computer apps:

PC - http://www.oziexplorer.com
Mac - http://www.gpsy.com

You can also get or plot lat/lon coordinates at www.mapblast.com