GARMIN StreetPilot III Deluxe
Discussion
Anyone got one of these? Any good? Since it seems I can't fit a Becker head unit into my car I thought I might get one of these and be able to transfer it into whichever car we're using that day.
Of course...these "transportable" devices have two obvious disadvantages.
1) Not permanently fixed to the car so it will have some strange suction-cup mounting thingy and trailing power wires to the lighter socket.
2) No feed off the speed-pulse of the car so it can't use that information.
So..do the above matter in practice. Anyone with any experience?
Of course...these "transportable" devices have two obvious disadvantages.
1) Not permanently fixed to the car so it will have some strange suction-cup mounting thingy and trailing power wires to the lighter socket.
2) No feed off the speed-pulse of the car so it can't use that information.
So..do the above matter in practice. Anyone with any experience?
I bought one of these earlier in the year. It's very good and pretty easy to use. Although it can be a bit slow to recalculate sometimes.
To answer your questions:
1, mine came with a permanent fixing that you stick to the car plus a bean bag mount with a non slip bottom. This is the one I use and it seems to hold it pretty well.
2, It has a constant speed reading while navigating and this seems pretty accurate. Probably more accurate than any speed pulse coming from a Tuscan
The delux unit comes with the 128Mb ram cartridge so you can get the whole of the UK into the memory at once - saves messing around swapping maps. I think it also comes with maps for the whole of Europe. I had to buy these seperately and used the unit in France with no problem. Even showed where the nearest hyper market was!
Hope you're enjoying the boxster. I'll have to grab a ride the next time I see you. Hopefully when it's not tipping down with rain ..
To answer your questions:
1, mine came with a permanent fixing that you stick to the car plus a bean bag mount with a non slip bottom. This is the one I use and it seems to hold it pretty well.
2, It has a constant speed reading while navigating and this seems pretty accurate. Probably more accurate than any speed pulse coming from a Tuscan
The delux unit comes with the 128Mb ram cartridge so you can get the whole of the UK into the memory at once - saves messing around swapping maps. I think it also comes with maps for the whole of Europe. I had to buy these seperately and used the unit in France with no problem. Even showed where the nearest hyper market was!
Hope you're enjoying the boxster. I'll have to grab a ride the next time I see you. Hopefully when it's not tipping down with rain ..
Thanks for the kind words re: the Boxster S. Yup - really enjoying it. Great car. And its clutch seems to holding up so far! 
Good to know the unit works well. Did you get it from the GPS Warehouse or where....? I like the idea of having all of the UK in the thing so I don't need to mess about with uploading anything.
Quick question. I don't know if you know Autoroute...but its mapping is incredible. Address level maps. e.g. I could find my old house on it. Would you say the maps in the Garmin are as good? Or is it to street-level? Or...
Good to know the unit works well. Did you get it from the GPS Warehouse or where....? I like the idea of having all of the UK in the thing so I don't need to mess about with uploading anything.
Quick question. I don't know if you know Autoroute...but its mapping is incredible. Address level maps. e.g. I could find my old house on it. Would you say the maps in the Garmin are as good? Or is it to street-level? Or...
I've got a GPS V which is similar. For multi-car use with that, you can get a bracket with a suction cup that sticks to the windscreen. Consequently we were able to use it for navigation in a hire car round Andalusia recently. I expect you can get a similar bracket for the StreetPilot. The GPS V Deluxe comes with street level coverage of Europe on a CD. You can only upload sections of this big map into the unit at one time. However although the memory doesn't sound huge (19MB) this turns out to be a substantial area, bigger than Andalusia for example.
Don said:
Quick question. I don't know if you know Autoroute...but its mapping is incredible. Address level maps. e.g. I could find my old house on it. Would you say the maps in the Garmin are as good? Or is it to street-level? Or...
In the UK and most other countries, you can generally find the location of a specific house number - and there is almost total coverage of every road in existence last year. Some countries such as Italy have less detail in rural areas, but the cities are still very good.
I have just downloaded the manual. I think my mind is very nearly made up. The idea of being able to stick it in your suitcase and connect it up to your hire car on holiday abroad is excellent - one of the key times you would want such a thing.
I am considering it as it appears I can't fit a fixed device to my car, we have two cars anyway with a possible third one to come etc. etc.
And finally - my wife, although she swears blind that she can map read marvellously, never has a map good enough for the locality at her disposal when push comes to shove. (e.g. Cornwall last weekend we went 30 miles out of our way at one point!) After many years of marriage I have come to allow her this little foible/fantasy but have decided that electronic help is a must.
I am considering it as it appears I can't fit a fixed device to my car, we have two cars anyway with a possible third one to come etc. etc.
And finally - my wife, although she swears blind that she can map read marvellously, never has a map good enough for the locality at her disposal when push comes to shove. (e.g. Cornwall last weekend we went 30 miles out of our way at one point!) After many years of marriage I have come to allow her this little foible/fantasy but have decided that electronic help is a must.
I got mine from [url]www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk[/url] quite helpfull.
As for the mapping, I haven't used autoroute for a while but from what I remember it seems just as good. You can find locations quite easily, by a number of different methods, and plan routes on the PC with waypoints which can then be saved to the unit. I haven't found out how to use waypoints when planning a route on the unit itself but I guess I just need to RTFM.
I've been pleased with it and when I was in France it was all I used and it got me where I wanted to go.
Incidently, one of the most useful features I've found on it is that it shows distance to next waypoint. Means I can make driving decisions such as shall I overtake this car or should I be looking to move to the inside lane about now. Quite handy.
As for the mapping, I haven't used autoroute for a while but from what I remember it seems just as good. You can find locations quite easily, by a number of different methods, and plan routes on the PC with waypoints which can then be saved to the unit. I haven't found out how to use waypoints when planning a route on the unit itself but I guess I just need to RTFM.
I've been pleased with it and when I was in France it was all I used and it got me where I wanted to go.
Incidently, one of the most useful features I've found on it is that it shows distance to next waypoint. Means I can make driving decisions such as shall I overtake this car or should I be looking to move to the inside lane about now. Quite handy.
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