Does anyone have any thoughts about a hand held GPS device? My hubby hinted that he thought one might be useful on our trip in April 2010. We're going to be doing some driving. I thought if affordable, I could slip one in his Christmas stocking.
thanks for your thoughts
Chris
Chris,
I've used a Garmin Nuvi GPS unit for both driving and walking and it's worked really well so far in both applications. I've found that if I first get a "lock" in a location with a good view of the sky, the unit seems to be able to still function even if I venture between buildings.
However, I have to agree with Nancy that the battery life is one of the weak points. My GPS unit is a few years old, so the newer units may have larger capacity batteries installed? I tend to use it sparingly when in pedestrian mode and turn it off if not required. I can usually keep it working for a full day of touring with that method.
Using one of hand-held models probably wouldn't be as suitable for a combination of driving and walking. As the others mentioned, those models are more intended for hiking and outdoor activities rather than driving and the installed data bases will reflect that (ie: they probably won't be able to provide turn-by-turn driving directions, place of interest, etc.).
Be sure to buy a model with European Maps installed. If I were in the market for a new GPS unit, I'd be looking at the nüvi 1370T, 275T or 775T (the model I'm using now is equivalent to the 275T).
Although GPS units sometimes make "routing errors", I won't ever travel without one now. If you're driving, I'd suggest taking a good Map as a backup (I usually use Michelin).
Good luck and happy travels!
My Garmin handheld came with base US highway maps installed, but in order to get streets, points of interest, and routing capability I had to purchase a road atlas program separately (which for North America was about $130). It will do turn by turn routing, but doesn't speak the directions. For my purposes it's great (and a set of batteries will easily last a couple of days), but it also has a fairly high learning curve which makes it unsuitable for someone who just wants to use it for driving. On the other hand, it has a great antenna and can get satellite signals even inside some buildings.
You can use some car GPS' in pedestrian mode, but the battery life isn't all that great. As far as a handheld-only, only the very high end ones ($3-500) come with maps installed, so you would have to purchase maps as well. If you were just using it for driving, it probably wouldn't be worth the cost. Most handheld GPS' are really intended for other activities, such as geocaching, hiking, hunting, etc., and have functions that you wouldn't find useful (at least not useful enough to justify the cost).
Do you want to be able to read just your geo-coordinates or would you like to see where you are on a map? Some smart-phones like an iPhone (but also some other, cheaper ones) come with built-in GPS and show you where you are on a Google map. Some tom-tom-like GPS systems come with free map software for the US and Europe and also show you where you are (but are much, much cheaper than say an iPhone). Garmins work very well in Europe, to name just one...
I think we'd like to use it for both driving and walking around? Don't even know if that's possible. We don't have an iphone, but perhaps getting one in Feb when our contract is up might be the best choice.
As I said before, you can use Garmin Nuvi car GPS systems in pedestrian mode for walking around, but you would have to keep the battery charged. If you opt for an iphone make sure you understand the costs involved in accessing data while abroad or you could end up with an expensive surprise on your phone bill when you get home.
Or, just ask for one included in your rental car. At least with a few companies (Eurocar and Sixt, for example), a GPS is included standard in many models, even some of the cheapest. I used a GPS once in place of a map for walking (someone let me borrow it). Never again! It was just one more thing to worry about getting stolen and as others alluded to, the battery life was too short.
Considering that during our October 2009 trip to Germany, we discovered that most roadsigns in Germany & Austria point to a TOWN and do NOT list the street name/number, I would DEFINITELY recommend a GPS! The next trip we take out of country that requires driving, we WILL have one!
As for walking around a town with a GPS, keep in mind that in those narrow streets surrounded by tall buildings that are everywhere in Europe, you may not be able to get a good GPS signal. And paper maps are so much easier to stuff in your pocket as you walk! ;)
TOM TOM 930 with Western European maps as well as USA. Used for walking and driving. Works well.
For touring, there's nothing like a gps in the car. For walking around, nothing beats a good old-fashioned map. My handhelds aren't worth doodley in town -- just too much trouble even where they work.
I use the mounted versions in airplanes, large boats, small boats, and cars. Plus I have a couple of handhelds for backups and specialized uses. When the maps on the one I use in the car became outdated, I studied hard and bought a nuvi 775T. One of the things that appealed to me was the pedestrian mode, not sure why, completely illogical, but it did. Should not have done it. It's no more useful than anything else. Back to the map.
The problem with the iphone gps is that it isn't one as far as I can tell. It works off of towers, not satellites. Get away from tower coverage and it gives you nothing. I've played with a few and figure them to be too expensive for access at home and shudder to think about the cost of international access.
Would it make a difference if all we wanted was one for walking touring? The Garmin Nuvi seems to be a good choice for driving, but I wonder if one of the hiking ones would work for walking tours?
Chris, you would still have to purchase a map program of some kind to make a handheld work for you. The lower end handhelds have very little (or no) ability to store maps, so you would have to look at a more expensive one. As an example, my handheld normally retails for about $400 but I bought a reconditioned, warranteed one on eBay for $249. My road atlas program was about $130. Then you would have to be able to load the maps, which could be easy or difficult, depending on how techie you or your husband is. If you're only going to use it for walking around it doesn't seem like a handheld would be worth the time and expense involved in setting it up (I use mine for hiking and geocaching, as well).
Thanks all - I think we'll just buy the europe maps for our car gps and rely on what I have as far as maps for the walking tours.
I appreciate all the advive! You probably just saved me $$$$ !
Chris
