GPS for present, what to get?

[Maverick2002]

I'm getting a GPS for my parents for Christmas (they hinted they wanted one) but I've never oned or used one before. Can I get a reasonably good one for $200 max? What should I look/look out for? How does it actually work? I mean, is there a satellite subscription service or something that tells you where you are? In that case, is there a monthly fee?


TIA for any info

Gadget'd

ATOT Moderator ElFenix

 

[Scouzer]

The Garmin Nuvi series are easily the most recommended, but I'm not very happy with mine. It takes a full 5 minutes to acquire satellites, sometimes more.

 

[JohnCU]

garmin but like the guy above said, mine takes a while to find a satellite too

 

[Maverick2002]

Is there a monthly fee for the service or do you just buy it and use it indefinitely?

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Scouzer
The Garmin Nuvi series are easily the most recommended, but I'm not very happy with mine. It takes a full 5 minutes to acquire satellites, sometimes more.

Are you in Canada?

What do you expect? The birds are no where near you.

Get a unit that can take an external GPS antenna for more signal capture.

 

[Scouzer]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Scouzer
The Garmin Nuvi series are easily the most recommended, but I'm not very happy with mine. It takes a full 5 minutes to acquire satellites, sometimes more.

Are you in Canada?

What do you expect? The birds are no where near you.

Get a unit that can take an external GPS antenna for more signal capture.

yes i'm in canada. my cell phone takes less than 10 seconds to acquire when I'm outdoors, and 30 seconds indoors. it's unacceptable to take 5 minutes

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Scouzer

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Scouzer
The Garmin Nuvi series are easily the most recommended, but I'm not very happy with mine. It takes a full 5 minutes to acquire satellites, sometimes more.

Are you in Canada?

What do you expect? The birds are no where near you.

Get a unit that can take an external GPS antenna for more signal capture.

yes i'm in canada. my cell phone takes less than 10 seconds to acquire when I'm outdoors, and 30 seconds indoors. it's unacceptable to take 5 minutes

Your cell phone gets help with Terestial beacons.

Sheesh :roll:

 

[pontifex]

i have a TomTom One 3rd Edition and it works pretty well. It does have a few quirks though. For instance, near work, there is a road that has a decent sized curve to it and next to the curves is a cemetery. there is a dirt road that goes into the cemetery that splits off from the main road (makes a Y). The tomtom says to turn or bear left, like it thinks the dirt road is an actual road or something. It does this in several places between home and work.

The batteries on these things seem to be crappy. i've seen 5 hours at max. 2-3 seems to be average and they even drain the battery when turned off, so you almost always need to use the cigarette lighter adapter to power them.

I'd like to get one that does TTS though.

 

[Scouzer]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Scouzer

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Scouzer
The Garmin Nuvi series are easily the most recommended, but I'm not very happy with mine. It takes a full 5 minutes to acquire satellites, sometimes more.

Are you in Canada?

What do you expect? The birds are no where near you.

Get a unit that can take an external GPS antenna for more signal capture.

yes i'm in canada. my cell phone takes less than 10 seconds to acquire when I'm outdoors, and 30 seconds indoors. it's unacceptable to take 5 minutes

Your cell phone gets help with Terestial beacons.

Sheesh :roll:

For the record, when I was in DC it took over 5 minutes to acquire there too.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Scouzer

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Scouzer

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Scouzer
The Garmin Nuvi series are easily the most recommended, but I'm not very happy with mine. It takes a full 5 minutes to acquire satellites, sometimes more.

Are you in Canada?

What do you expect? The birds are no where near you.

Get a unit that can take an external GPS antenna for more signal capture.

yes i'm in canada. my cell phone takes less than 10 seconds to acquire when I'm outdoors, and 30 seconds indoors. it's unacceptable to take 5 minutes

Your cell phone gets help with Terestial beacons.

Sheesh :roll:

For the record, when I was in DC it took over 5 minutes to acquire there too.

Did you try outside of the car? What kind of car? Is the windshield nearly vertical?

Some units wait for 3 Birds. Some allow you to change the setting to 2 birds.

 

[Scouzer]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Scouzer

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Scouzer

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Scouzer
The Garmin Nuvi series are easily the most recommended, but I'm not very happy with mine. It takes a full 5 minutes to acquire satellites, sometimes more.

Are you in Canada?

What do you expect? The birds are no where near you.

Get a unit that can take an external GPS antenna for more signal capture.

yes i'm in canada. my cell phone takes less than 10 seconds to acquire when I'm outdoors, and 30 seconds indoors. it's unacceptable to take 5 minutes

Your cell phone gets help with Terestial beacons.

Sheesh :roll:

For the record, when I was in DC it took over 5 minutes to acquire there too.

Did you try outside of the car? What kind of car? Is the windshield nearly vertical?

I was standing outside the car in the parking lot because I knew it'd take even longer inside the car.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Scouzer

I was standing outside the car in the parking lot because I knew it'd take even longer inside the car.

What unit is it?

See if there is a software update and if an option to change to 2 birds instead of 3.

 

[Scouzer]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Scouzer

I was standing outside the car in the parking lot because I knew it'd take even longer inside the car.

What unit is it?

See if there is a software update and if an option to change to 2 birds instead of 3.

nuvi 250 with latest update. dont have it with me to check if i can configure that setting though

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Scouzer

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Scouzer

I was standing outside the car in the parking lot because I knew it'd take even longer inside the car.

What unit is it?

See if there is a software update and if an option to change to 2 birds instead of 3.

nuvi 250 with latest update. dont have it with me to check if i can configure that setting though

The Satellite Information page is not available on the nuvi 200, 250, 260, or 270.

They cheapened the product so no bird info available.

Don't know why you had an issue with it DC but I would not recommend that unit for Canada use.

I have a 200 and it's fine down here in the lower 48 so far from Denver to New Jersey to Georgia and in between.

 

[Bignate603]

Do they want it for hand held outdoor use or driving? It makes a big difference.

 

[dmcowen674]

http://www8.garmin.com/aboutGPS/

 

[vshah]

no, there's no subscription fee for the GPS service, only for the real time traffic service some units offer. IIRC that usually runs about $60 a year

 

[Bootprint]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Scouzer
The Garmin Nuvi series are easily the most recommended, but I'm not very happy with mine. It takes a full 5 minutes to acquire satellites, sometimes more.

Are you in Canada?

What do you expect? The birds are no where near you.

Get a unit that can take an external GPS antenna for more signal capture.

LOL, I guess the G in GPS doesn't mean Global anymore?

Have you even see the orbit the satellites use?

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

At least in the US Garmin is the best for road navigation and Delorme for trails.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Bootprint

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Scouzer
The Garmin Nuvi series are easily the most recommended, but I'm not very happy with mine. It takes a full 5 minutes to acquire satellites, sometimes more.

Are you in Canada?

What do you expect? The birds are no where near you.

Get a unit that can take an external GPS antenna for more signal capture.

LOL, I guess the G in GPS doesn't mean Global anymore?

Have you even see the orbit the satellites use?

I am well aware of the orbits.

Are you well aware the distance changes as you go north?

 

[fstime]

Originally posted by: Scouzer

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Scouzer
The Garmin Nuvi series are easily the most recommended, but I'm not very happy with mine. It takes a full 5 minutes to acquire satellites, sometimes more.

Are you in Canada?

What do you expect? The birds are no where near you.

Get a unit that can take an external GPS antenna for more signal capture.

yes i'm in canada. my cell phone takes less than 10 seconds to acquire when I'm outdoors, and 30 seconds indoors. it's unacceptable to take 5 minutes

I believe my Garmin has a feature which is labeled by some weird acronym in the settings, it increases the time to acquire satellites by finding nearby towers but increases accuracy.

Try turning it off, worked for me.

 

[GoingUp]

I got my mom the TomTom XL last year and she loves it.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: BouZouki

Originally posted by: Scouzer

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Scouzer
The Garmin Nuvi series are easily the most recommended, but I'm not very happy with mine. It takes a full 5 minutes to acquire satellites, sometimes more.

Are you in Canada?

What do you expect? The birds are no where near you.

Get a unit that can take an external GPS antenna for more signal capture.

yes i'm in canada. my cell phone takes less than 10 seconds to acquire when I'm outdoors, and 30 seconds indoors. it's unacceptable to take 5 minutes

I believe my Garmin has a feature which is labeled by some weird acronym in the settings, it increases the time to acquire satellites by finding nearby towers but increases accuracy.

Try turning it off, worked for me.

The Satellite Information page is not available on the nuvi 200, 250, 260, or 270.

 

[Bootprint]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Bootprint

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Scouzer
The Garmin Nuvi series are easily the most recommended, but I'm not very happy with mine. It takes a full 5 minutes to acquire satellites, sometimes more.

Are you in Canada?

What do you expect? The birds are no where near you.

Get a unit that can take an external GPS antenna for more signal capture.

LOL, I guess the G in GPS doesn't mean Global anymore?

Have you even see the orbit the satellites use?

I am well aware of the orbits.

Are you well aware the distance changes as you go north?

Are you saying a gps satellite directly overhead in Florida is that much further out than directly overhead in Edmonton?

Just remember not to be to hard on yourself once you find out how incorrect your are.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Bootprint

Are you saying a gps satellite directly overhead in Florida is that much further out than directly overhead in Edmonton?

A rocket scientist you will not make.