Gps units

Three vehicles, three Garmins... three good experiences. I use them for the main routing.

I got a $50 Android tablet at BestBuy (Digiland 7") that has a built-in GPS. I run a free application called Waze - it uses social media to give me very current road conditions (hazards, speed traps, traffic slowdown, etc). The tablet uses a WiFi hotspot via my Android smartphone so I have weather radar as well.

x2 for the Garmin RV760LM

rgatijnet1 wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:

rgatijnet1 wrote:

ginagary wrote:
We have a 2007 Winnebago Journey. We currently have a 2006 garmin streetpilot that we use for navigation. It has been starting to give us problems. What GPS navigation system do you all prefer?

I have two of the Streetpilot 7200 Garmin GPS units. I noticed some time ago that if I used one of the "splitters" used to connect two or more things to the single 12 volt outlet that my GPS unit had trouble acquiring the satellites. It would still power up and look fine but it still had trouble with the signal it was receiving from the satellites.
If that is the problem you are having and you are using a splitter, try hooking up your Streetpilot directly to the 12 volt outlet and see if that corrects your problems.

the reason for that puzzles me. my latest Garmin has the traffic warnings that requires the special electric cord to be plugged in. perhaps when you use a splitter the cord runs in a different location. the only other possibility I can think of is lesser current supplied?
bumpy

That is what I figured is that somehow the GPS unit is receiving a little less amperage. They still powered up just fine and the screen looked just as bright but the satellites would not lock on when connected in conjunction with any other piece of equipment.
I doubt if the newer Garmin units would be affected but the OP said he had an older unit and if it is like mine possibly he had the same problem as mine.

I guess the next question would be to just plug it into the splitter with nothing else plugged in. see if that works OK
bumpy

Bumpyroad wrote:

rgatijnet1 wrote:

ginagary wrote:
We have a 2007 Winnebago Journey. We currently have a 2006 garmin streetpilot that we use for navigation. It has been starting to give us problems. What GPS navigation system do you all prefer?

I have two of the Streetpilot 7200 Garmin GPS units. I noticed some time ago that if I used one of the "splitters" used to connect two or more things to the single 12 volt outlet that my GPS unit had trouble acquiring the satellites. It would still power up and look fine but it still had trouble with the signal it was receiving from the satellites.
If that is the problem you are having and you are using a splitter, try hooking up your Streetpilot directly to the 12 volt outlet and see if that corrects your problems.

the reason for that puzzles me. my latest Garmin has the traffic warnings that requires the special electric cord to be plugged in. perhaps when you use a splitter the cord runs in a different location. the only other possibility I can think of is lesser current supplied?
bumpy

That is what I figured is that somehow the GPS unit is receiving a little less amperage. They still powered up just fine and the screen looked just as bright but the satellites would not lock on when connected in conjunction with any other piece of equipment.
I doubt if the newer Garmin units would be affected but the OP said he had an older unit and if it is like mine possibly he had the same problem as mine.

6 years and counting with a TomTom...the expensive one! :W

rgatijnet1 wrote:

ginagary wrote:
We have a 2007 Winnebago Journey. We currently have a 2006 garmin streetpilot that we use for navigation. It has been starting to give us problems. What GPS navigation system do you all prefer?

I have two of the Streetpilot 7200 Garmin GPS units. I noticed some time ago that if I used one of the "splitters" used to connect two or more things to the single 12 volt outlet that my GPS unit had trouble acquiring the satellites. It would still power up and look fine but it still had trouble with the signal it was receiving from the satellites.
If that is the problem you are having and you are using a splitter, try hooking up your Streetpilot directly to the 12 volt outlet and see if that corrects your problems.

the reason for that puzzles me. my latest Garmin has the traffic warnings that requires the special electric cord to be plugged in. perhaps when you use a splitter the cord runs in a different location. the only other possibility I can think of is lesser current supplied?
bumpy

Howdy!

If you have a smartphone or tablet with gps Co-Pilot app is what we use.

Co-Pilot gps app

"Happy Trails"
Chiefneon

I had a StreetPilot that I really liked, but it got so that the touchscreen would not stay calibrated. I bought a Garmin nuvi 2555LMT as replacement. Also did not know about the trade in program.

A couple of things I am not happy with you should consider. In the past I used MapSource extensively for route planning. The newer units use new software called BaseCamp. It seems BaseCamp has features to support multiple versions of their navigators, but all features are not compatible with all versions. Where this bites me is that I can plan a route with "bus" vehicle type, but when I transfer the route to my device, it does not understand what a "bus" is.

The worst part is, when I plan a route on the computer and then transfer it to the device, it gets recalculated and I often get surprised when the route ends up different from what was on computer. I have tried overcoming this by adding additional waypoints to force a specific route, but it is alot of extra work and still not foolproof.

Maybe I should have gotten the RV unit, but I use this alot in my toad as well so really did not want the bigger unit. So, seems you really need to understand how you intend to use it and make sure the software features of the unit you choose lines up with that.

Another vote for Garmin, great products with USA support.

A sextant is better than a TomTom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!