what gps to get for street and offroad?

[N-Smooth]

first and foremost i'm cheap. i know a lot of you guys have big fancy ones and that is awesome but i just need a gps to help me get around when i'm out-of-town and i would like some basic offroad capabilities as well. if i have to get a tom tom for the road and a separate one for basic offroad stuff i am fine with that, i just wanted to know if anyone has an opinion about different brands, models etc.

are the tom tom units decent? i really just want street maps of the u.s and turn-by-turn for road trips.

and for offroad i would really just like to be able to use it with my moab trails book and even to see how many miles i travel etc... all super basic info that is standard i'm sure. i basically don't want to get lost... at all... ever lol

 

[spencurai]

Get a google phone...offroad I get good coverage in a lot of places and it has sat maps as well as terrain maps and google earth...yes you can get a full on GPS standalone unit but i like to keep things simple and my droid is awesome for getting around town and it is OK for offroad stuff.

 

[skippy]

I always used a Garmin and had no complaints what so ever but when we bought our new cadillac the factory navigation in that picks up on all the little alleys and side roads the Garmin did not i dont know if they are all like that bgut its somethng to think about

 

[Rusted]

Get a google phone...offroad I get good coverage in a lot of places and it has sat maps as well as terrain maps and google earth...yes you can get a full on GPS standalone unit but i like to keep things simple and my droid is awesome for getting around town and it is OK for offroad stuff.

My droid is a great GPS for around town, I am very happy about it. Off the grid a little it is terrible. Get away from data coverage and you don't have any maps, but that is not the biggest problem. They must collect "roads" from satellite imaging and the computer tries to decide what they are. A few times it has tried to send me on little sheep paths that are gated and fenced off. No way have they ever been a road, but the Droid still tries to send you that way.

 

[N-Smooth]

if i was going to get a phone/gps i would get the iphone but i don't care to go down the smart phone road right now.

i'm just wondering if a $70 tom tom and a cheapy garmin will cover my bases

 

[redXJ]

if i was going to get a phone/gps i would get the iphone but i don't care to go down the smart phone road right now.

i'm just wondering if a $70 tom tom and a cheapy garmin will cover my bases

iphone is 199.00 then you have to buy (99.00 - 200.00) a turn by turn navigation

android phones with 2.1 has it free.

 

[N-Smooth]

well regardless i am not going to get a new phone. i don't want that much tied up in a phone, ever. i spend all day at a computer so i don't need a mini one in my pocket.

 

[mbryson]

I've got a Garmin Nuvi and it's quite nice for around town. Makes me lazy on the navigational side of things as far as noticing where I'm going and where I'm headed. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. They are relatively cheap and good around town. It's not the greatest off-road, but it's "OK". I like my older Garmin EMap for that but that's likely because I'm used to it and how it works.

 

[N-Smooth]

i saw the nuvi's on walmart's site and wondered if those were decent. if it makes you lazy around town that is exactly what i am looking for haha. what problems do you have with it offroad? i really only want to be able to put in a coordinate and see where it is/check the coordinate of where i am in correspondence with the trail book. being able to see the route i took and all that jazz would be cool too and i bet they do that.

what model do you have?

edit: walmart has the Garmin nuvi 1300 4.3" GPS Navigator for $118 and the description of it sounds good (duh)

 

[Caleb]

well regardless i am not going to get a new phone. i don't want that much tied up in a phone, ever. i spend all day at a computer so i don't need a mini one in my pocket.

IMO, that's a good choice. I haven't heard of a phone yet (even the Garmin phone) that is acceptable as a true GPS. Most use agps anyways, which blows.

If it were me, I'd go with one of the Nuvi's. They seem to be a good compromise of having street-capable turn-by-turn while still be a good offroad unit. Most are good at one or the other. Tom-Tom was the original turn-by-turn, so while I;ve never used one myself, I'm sure it would be good, but it will probably leave you wanting more offroad.

I have a little Garmin Venture Cx, and even though I have the maps to do turn-by-turn, and it claims it can do it, I've never been able to get it to accurately do it, and it's not voice guided. However, offroad, it does great. I can throw it on my motorcycle and see where I'm at on the map at a glance, along with keeping track info, speed info, etc for pulling off later. It can also (obviously) store points, which I will add for major turns, POIs, etc. If I wipe out hard on my bike and total it, I'm not out much to replace it.

 

[Bear T]

If you want it more for offroad use, I would get a Delorme PN-40. Excellent user interface, fast, great map system. Not a true turn by turn, but it works.

I have a PN-20 and love it. Easy enough my wife can use it.

 

[Caleb]

If you want it more for offroad use, I would get a Delorme PN-40. Excellent user interface, fast, great map system. Not a true turn by turn, but it works.

I have a PN-20 and love it. Easy enough my wife can use it.

Delorme PN-60w :drool:

 

[Bear T]

Delorme PN-60w :drool:

Now thats just cool!!

 

[mbryson]

i saw the nuvi's on walmart's site and wondered if those were decent. if it makes you lazy around town that is exactly what i am looking for haha. what problems do you have with it offroad? i really only want to be able to put in a coordinate and see where it is/check the coordinate of where i am in correspondence with the trail book. being able to see the route i took and all that jazz would be cool too and i bet they do that.

what model do you have?

edit: walmart has the Garmin nuvi 1300 4.3" GPS Navigator for $118 and the description of it sounds good (duh)

I don't remember which model I have. A 230 or something? It works well around town. I really haven't used it much off road, but it doesn't "seem" off-roadish to me at all. I'd imagine if you loaded a track into it, it would do fine? I did use it the other day to get to East Fork of Bear scout camp. I didn't input the lat/long to get there, but it showed the dirt roads all the way to there. It's probably as good as my e-Map?

Some of the other GPS features that I like (elevation, compass, etc.) don't show on the default screen. Not really a deal breaker, but a little annoying.

I'm kind a Garmin biggot. It's like comparing winches. We'd all rather have a Warn (Garmin) and there are other serviceable units....but....

 

[Caleb]

I'm kind a Garmin biggot. It's like comparing winches. We'd all rather have a Warn (Garmin) and there are other serviceable units....but....

For the most part, I'm the same way. You'll never go wrong with a Garmin. However, there are others that are just as good, if not better at specific things (Lowrance rules for in-vehicle units for offroad...look at the Baja type racers or KOH racers...I bet you'll find 10:1 Lowrance units to anything else). but Garmin has always been the overall gps leader and I think they will continue to be in that position for a long time to come.

 

[gijohn40]

the nuvi series are all dependable units and you can't go wrong with them... if you purchase the topo maps you will get a decent off road unit to boot... its all depends on the maps you purchase... the ones that come with the unit are really just street maps...

 

[N-Smooth]

hey thanks for all the info guys! it turns out my buddy has a nuvi as well and he really likes it so that seals the deal for me. it'll be my bday present for sure with all the jeep parts and tools i've gotten over the last couple years i am pretty sure i'm not supposed to get a bday present for several years but yeah i guess the wife forgot

 

[kkemp]

The nuvi 500 comes with US Topo maps built-in and can accept other Garmin maps. I got the southwest 24K maps for mine. I really like it for off-roading.

 

[Greg]

Just one more vote for the Nuvi, TRNDRVR has one in his XJ and we've used it in some pretty remote places and it listed all the roads we were on, as well as the smaller side routes that we were driving passed. It seemed to offer some great info for what it was.

 

[Spork]

So dumb question time does it matter what version of Nuvi you buy? (I assume as long as it supports an expansion card you can load up whatever you like). I have a Garmin Venture HCx and it's great for what I use it for but the screen is small.

Has anyone loaded up the topo maps from http://www.miscjunk.org/mj/mp_main.html (I assume they are compatible since they are Garmin compatible).