ready to pull the trigger on road based gps setup

[bansil]

I have spent the last few hours comparing MS street and trips and Delorme street atlas 2012

They are the same price and the reviews are about the same lots of good and plenty of bitioching from both sides about roads/intersections and adresses being wrong.

I am leaning towards Delorme

I have just gotten spoiled using our Android phones..knock on wood...they havent been wrong yet.

This will be installed on a lap top with multiple screens so we can both see it(and speakers to hear),and not have to worry about cell signal.

We always have a handheld gps,compass,protractor and paper maps for backup.

Any opinions on either?

Later this year we will also get a topo setup,right now it's mostly roads so we have an idea whats coming up and won't be 100% surprised when the exit is 5 lanes over:Wow1:

I would trust opinions here more than "random" people on sites where you buy the stuff

TIA

 

[off-roader]

I have an older version of Streets & Trips (2009 or maybe 2010?) and have used it for onboard road navigation.

The biggest problem I found with it? It's unusable if you need to dynamically change your destination while driving. You really must pull over & stop to make the changes unlike a dedicated street GPS like my TomTom. Also the ease of operation of the TomTom really shows how S&T is more designed for planning a trip in advance without having to make dynamic changes during the trip.

Also, there are far more POI's in my TomTom.

After a while, I stopped using it entirely opting for the TomTom instead. I did continue to use the included USB gps puck for my Nat Geo hi res topo software instead. Oh and FWIW, my TomTom does alert you on what Lane you need to be in before an exit or turn.

HTH.

 

[LR Max]

X2 on road GPS units. They just seem to work and the bottom line is I spend a lot of time on the road rather than off road. Do they have super cool terrain maps and show water crossings? No. But when I need to find a gas station it sure works good!

I'm also kinda in the same boat. My old Garmin 176c just isn't doing it for me anymore. Currently I'm playing around with android tablet (read, wifi only device!) based navigation. It really isn't working out like I had hoped but I'm getting there. I think it is a combination of few apps (unlike iPad, the overland community has embraced the iPad over android) and the fact that I am a bit weary of having my nice tablet hanging out on my dash.

Either way, my Nuvi + research beforehand are REALLY fitting the bill and keeping the price down.

 

[bansil]

I don't think the smaller gps units will work for our Application,they work great tho' and i like them

My wife will be chief navigator while on the road,she's good at it and can read maps use compass etc...very cool

She will be able to make route changes as needed via lap top or touch screen and then the 2nd screen will be for me to just glance down at.

I have to much to do driving and watching out for other idiots on the road to even attempt to input data

Our vehicle will have us sitting 5 feet apart and being able to also have aux speakers on on both sides etc would work better I believe instead of dismounting a smaller gps unit and then tossing it to her to make changes and then her tossing it back :sombrero:

Main route will be programmed ahead of time

If there is a way to use the smaller units with dual screens and one centrol input please post up a link I will def. read it

 

[off-roader]

I see your problem. I recall that Tom Tom offers their street maps app for iOS devices. Perhaps they're also available for other platforms like the PC? If not Tom Tom, then maybe other street gps vendors also offer their navigation software for laptop platforms?

 

[bansil]

I will check into that this weekend!

 

[whytebredd]

What I'm looking forward to is the iOS6 with a redone Maps app for my iphone. As one article I read said, "it's putting stand alone gps units out of business," paraphrasing, of course.

http://www.apple.com/ios/ios6/maps/

 

[McZippie]

Been using Delorme software since 1995, first on small laptops now with netbook.
The TV Storm Chasers shows, mostly use Delorme.
I've been doing it for so long that I can reroute while driving without hardly looking at the screen.

Negative; doing any type of data base search for Address, POI etc. it can be done but not easy like using google maps.
Positive; on the fly routing and exploring alternative routes.

Think of Delorme software as having all their paper Gazetteers available at your fingertips, that you can zoom in and out and change/explore routes on the fly.
.

 

[bansil]

We really like their paper maps,I am ordering the delorme software today(its fairly cheap) and plan to use it next weekend as we head to a place we have been to which has several places we haven't been to...fingers crossed on easy out of the box use

 

[RobRed]

What I'm looking forward to is the iOS6 with a redone Maps app for my iphone. As one article I read said, "it's putting stand alone gps units out of business," paraphrasing, of course.

http://www.apple.com/ios/ios6/maps/

The one difference is that several of the "stand alone" GPS apps put all the mapping on board the device - thats a differentiator. Other features that come into play are POI functionality. It's not a given that Apple with be better - some competitors have put serious effort into that funtionalty.

The new update of iOS maps is a welcome one. Apple is sourcing data for several outside sources including TomTom and Bing.