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In-car GPS

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cranioscopical:

Okay, I admit it, I have NO sense of direction.
Put me down at the south pole and I'd try to go south to get home.

I can't tell N from E from W from S.   
My wife always knows where she is on the compass but she can't tell left from right.
Makes for some interesting driving experiences.

Anyone here using an in-car GPS?
If so, care to share your experiences?
When it talks to you is it intelligble?
If you talk to it, does it understand and respond?
Can you actually see and decode the screen while you're travelling (seems a tad dangerous to me)?
What would be desirable features?
Is it any better at folding maps than my wife is? (I think she was an accordion player in another life!)

Josh:
I have a Garmin nuvi 750 and I swear by it, although my wife is a different story. Every time I have had to go somewhere it will get me there. The voice is understandable if you are even vaguely familiar with an area, but even if you do not understand, a simple glance and you are on your way. The device is highly configurable and works better than I imagined.

As far as visibility, yes, it comes with a cradle which mounts to the center of your windshield (or dash if you choose) and the screen is very bright and easy to read. The most desirable features I have found in this device is the ability to add user-submitted data to it as that can add items not covered by the already thorough map data provided by Garmin.

I do not have the voice recog model but I have heard good things. After some training, like any voice recog program, I am told it works quite well from a friend who has one.

My wife had a wee incident when she was having car issues travelling from MD to IA and got stuck in indiana but I think that was because this was a very low travelled road and not one that might have been updated in a while in the map data.

That said, the only negative thing I can say is that sometimes the route selection isn't optimal or updated. My issue mainly lies on post because most military posts are NOT indexed for operational security and force protection reasons. I wish it had a feature where you could say "Spend majority of time on side roads" or "interstates/highways".

Other than that, I love it!

cranioscopical:
Thanks for taking the time to answer, Josh.  Very helpful!

patteo:
Okay, I admit it, I have NO sense of direction.
Put me down at the south pole and I'd try to go south to get home.

-cranioscopical (December 13, 2008, 01:33 PM)
--- End quote ---

I can relate to your "No sense of direction"

I have a very poor sense of direction and likewise for my son.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I visited Sydney and Melbourne with my family and a GPS loaned by my sister in-law sure helped like us feel like local taxi drivers.

TomTom, portable GPS car navigation systems - Car navigation
"GO 730 Australia
• IQ Routes™ technology
• Advanced Lane Guidance
• TomTom Map Share™ technology
• Map of Australia
• Voice address input
• Hands free calling
• QuickGPSfix™
• FM transmitter"
http://www.tomtom.com/products/category.php?ID=0&Language=8

It was particularly helpful in Sydney and it would have been impossible not to get lost there and probably wasted lots of time and even possibly gotten involved in an accident due to confusion navigating the roads.

I did not have the screen mount but my son used it to help us navigate like pros.

There were a couple of occasions when the GPS got confused because there were too many buildings that obstructed the GPS signals.

When we got into a tunnel, the GPS was unable to receive a signal, but it was smart enough to project where we were based on the speed we were traveling just before we got into the tunnel - that was quite cool.

I think if I had the windscreen mount, it would have help even more as I would be able to tie the voice instructions from the GPS with a quick glance.

My sister in law swears by it and love it.

The voice directions were fairly intelligible and if you combine it with a screen mount, you would probably be able to understand it without endangering yourself.

It does give you adequate warnings like how far you are before you reach the turn and gives you a progressive update before you make the turn.

It also allows you to tell it to avoid certain roads.

It warns you of camera junctions, that you are exceeding speed limits (if it's in the database)

But one thing it does not do is warn you of roadworks - we got stuck in a jam that had roadworks going on.

It would be ideal if it had a link somehow to local traffic conditions database.

In any case, I think a GPS is kind of free since if you have a poor sense of direction, just think of all the petrol you can save with a GPS, not to mention a lower risk of accidents that can occur from getting lost.

I never got around to using voice commands so I cannot comment on that.

y0himba:
I simply use my PDA which has a built-in GPS.  I have an HTC TyTN II (AT&T Tilt) which has spoken turn-by-turn directions and realtime traffic data.  If you don't want yet another device hooked up to the power port in your car, I highly recommend using a PDA type cellphone with built-in GPS. 

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