Mapping and GPS Recommendations Needed

Gdetrailer wrote:

Cheap tablets=junk. Pretty much ANYTHING under $180 in a Tablet is garbage, been there, done that.

Not EVERY tablet has GPS radios built in, period.

And you are going to bet your life on GPS on a Tablet?

Roads do not randomly change, appear, disappear over night so even a paper map from 10 yrs ago is still valid. Takes considerable amount of yrs of planning or building by DOT to change or add roads so paper maps tend to be a valid tool for many yrs.

There are also plenty of vast areas where GPS map info is non existent or totally incorrect which sends folks driving into farmers fields, into ponds, lakes or even old farmers roads into the middle of no where..

As far as figuring out lane choices, that IS what the ROAD SIGNS ARE FOR! The DOT of every state has the responsibility to ensure the road signs are placed in an orderly fashion which will give you enough time at the POSTED SPEED LIMITS to notice, read and take proper action. I can't help if you or anyone else are not able to determine what lane to be in, I have not had that issue and have always gotten to my destination in fine fashion.

GPS is not an excuse to toss paper maps and ignore road signs, it is nothing more than a extra tool in your trip to use alongside other methods.

We PLAN our routes ahead of time, we use our paper maps and now days plenty of good online methods along with our paper maps.

Maybe not EVERY tablet has GPS but unless it's 10yrs old, you will be hard pressed to find one...and no you don't need to spend $180 to get a nice tablet.

How is it risking my life? You do look out the windshield while driving...right? I mean I saw a comedy once where the GPS told them to turn right and so they dutifully turned off the road and into a lake but I thought that was a joke. I can get around just fine without the GPS but it's a great tool.

Roads do change. I have a 10yr old Nuvi. It still works and I often turn it on...because it's still stuck to the windshield anyway. Amazing how many times it shows an outdated interchange layout. So yes, getting your old paper maps (or scans of them) is very much likely to give bad info. Interestingly, I was working on traffic control for a freeway job where we shut down an 8 lane freeway. Within an hour, google maps was not showing a delay...it was showing the road as no longer existing (as soon as the project was over and the freeway open, it showed up within 20 minutes).Try that with a paper map.

As far as road signs...I'm a traffic engineer who does signing. GPS wins hands down because signs have to accommodate every drivers option and the driver has to decipher what applies to them. The GPS knows which route I am taking and gives me specific information about my route.

I do agree, it's always a good idea to look over your route ahead of time. If it's routing you off onto back roads, you better do a little preplanning to see what you are getting into...no matter what your GPS system (or even paper maps) you need to do this. For planning, I suggest Google Earth (not map). It does pretty much everything maps does but you can also see a vertical profile of your route to see if there are any crazy grades.