Earlier in the year I wrote a column on a new toy I had purchased - a GPS receiver for my car. I didn't give it an in-depth review as I had only had the unit for a short time. Well, now I have used it extensively, and I won't travel without it!
Just to step back a bit, there have been GPS units built in to high end cars for a while now. There are advantages to a built-in unit - the screens are usually larger and better, and are better positioned as they are usually in the center console. But there are some disadvantages - you can't move it between vehicles, and if you have a second vehicle with one it's probably a different brand and thus works differently. I am not sure how easy it is to update the map or POI (Point Of Interest) data in the built-in units, and I am not sure if some have voice directions or not. An interesting point is that the friends or relatives I know who have built-in ones rarely use them.
On the other hand, a portable unit can be moved from car to car. It is easy to bring it into the house for updating or for trip planning. For trip planning or finding POIs, it is easy to detach the unit from the windshield mount and have your passenger plan the route. The disadvantages are a smaller screen and that they usually are mounted on the windshield which can produce some sun or glare problems.
That said, I just love my GPS! I have taken it on two longs trips now (gosh, do I hate Route 95) and it has performed flawlessly. We came to depend on it, not just for driving directions, but for finding gas, service areas, restaurants, etc. And it was quite accurate - the POI list seemed quite up to date, and every tourist or travel destination we wanted to go to was there. Gatorworld? No problem!
My GPS has a touch screen and no controls at all, making it easy to use. The main menu has just two choices - "Where To" and "View Map". "Where To" gives you many options - you can select by address or go to a previously stored or recently used location. You can select food, lodging, fuel, attractions, shopping, parking, entertainment, recreation, community, hospitals, auto services, etc. Each of these main menu choices then results in a secondary menu - i.e. Chinese food. If you want to specify the address, you just enter the address as you normally would using the touch screen. You can also just spell your destination and the GPS will look for it, sorting by closest.
Once you select your destination, you can choose either a two-dimensional (i.e. overhead) or three-dimensional view. The 3D view in great - the screen actually shows the road ahead. When you get near a tern it will verbally announce the tern ("In one half mile, turn right") and when it's time to term, it just says "Turn right". The audio is excellent and quite loud. My unit does not verbally announce cross streets, but you can see your current street and the next cross street in a banner on the top of the screen. The streets in the map itself are also labeled.
The weak point of this type of GPS is route planning. The GPS insists on only one route and you cannot override it, except by manually specifying points along the way. On the other hand, if you want to deviate from the route, just do it - the unit very quickly figures out that you have gone "off route" and will recalculate on the route you chose. Very cool.
I selected a Garmin C330, although there are a number of competitive units to pick from, including TomTom and Magellan. Both Garmin and TomTom are advertising heavily this holiday season - if it wasn't for the cost, I believe GPS units would be the seasonal in-toy to buy. But if you do a lot of traveling, it's worth every penny. Oh, and did I mention how much I hate Route 95?
(Bob Seidel is a local computer consultant in the Southport - Oak Island area. You can visit his Website at www.bobseidel.com or e-mail questions or column ideas to him at bsc@bobseidel.com. For specific inquiries, please call Bob Seidel Consulting, LLC at 278-1007.)