[John-in-Ga]

This doesn’t sound tractor related but it might be - think going to tractor shows or looking for salvage yards for parts to restore an old tractor.

Has anyone tried this gizmo or one like it in this price range? This one sounds good and, if I save my allowance from now until my birthday, I might be able to afford it.

Can’t believe that the voice command or even voice instructions will be all that great in this price range. However, if the map is at least as good as Map Quest on the web and the GPS locates me anywhere close to 3 meters on the maps as advertised, I would be willing to give it a try.

Yes, I know it is advertised “try for 30 days and return it if not satisfied” but won’t go to that hassle if some of you have already tried it and found it to be unproductive.


GISMO

:cpu:

 

[Chris]

Yep, I use my Delorme GPS quite a bit and I have had good luck with it. My buddy in Tennessee uses it almost daily as he uses it for some type of advanced HAM radio communication based upon GPS and also uses it to discover open wireless points (Netscrambler etc) while driving. Good stuff, good prices and yes the technology has gotten that cheap. If you need any software or insight, just ask. For what its worth and for as often as most people use em, the newer GPS units are simply amazing.

Now, just keep you eyes on the road. :furious:

 

[guest]

Ive got an older garmin GPS and it integrates to and from my delorme street atlas...
so i can find an address on my delorme pgm, and draw a route then upload it to the gps..



it will show or draw routes... but its not as nice as those GPS map things they have set up in cars.. they will give you specifics as in 'turn right at the next light' where my GPS will sort of point you to the right...

 

[Deere]

I've had a similar setup for several years. I use Delorme Topo 4 software, whatever laptop I have at the time, and a Garmin Etrex.

I think the package deal could be had for less than the pieces. I paid about:

120 for the garmin gps
55 for the cable that powers the gps, and gps to serial port
100 for delorme software
45 for a power inverter to power the laptop.

For this, you need 2 cigarette power ports to power it.

Pro's: It's really awesome if you are going into uncharted territory. I've missed an on/off ramp on a freeway in cities I don't know for nothing and it helped me see I was on the wrong road, as well as how I was going to fix the problem.

Gotta get off to a gas station for a bathroom break or gas or food... You can look ahead or plan ahead to the next likely place or exit.

I really llike to see the speed, direction, elevation, etc on the screen as I'm going.

Expecially when I'm driving by myself... It helps me keep encouraged, to see progress, etc..

Cons: During the day, especially when it's bright outside, the laptop screen is not that great. At night, I often find it's a little too bright, I wish I could dim it a bit.

I wish Delorme would let me preset my fkeys to stuff I do a lot (zoom in, zoom out, left, right, up, down, auto pan on/off, etc).

I wish Delorme would let me turn on a bright big cursor. Driving down the road, the cursor can be hard to find.

Get a light tracker mouse (no ball). You can run that on almost any surface real nice.

Don't spend too much time looking at the map, we'd miss ya.

Before investing in all of this stuff, think about if you have a good place for the laptop where you can see it. I drive superduty ford and have a pretty good place for it. In my wife's car, my setup would be worthless.

-Deere

 

[John-in-Ga]

Many thanks for the input fellows. Think I’ll purchase one of the gizmos and see if I can learn to use it. While you’ve more than answered my inquiry some of your comments led to more questions. These questions will warrant more research on my part before I have the expertise to ask. But, as I come up with the proper questions, I’ll ask here as there seems to be some very good experts on this site. Ya’ll have removed all my apprehension about purchasing one of these things and so, maybe, I can borrow a little from future allowance and get the wife to throw in a little of her “egg money” and go ahead and get one, even before my birthday.

Oh, my comment on your comments leading to more questions - this could quickly turn into one of those situations in which I often find myself when I look a word up in the dictionary. Wind up spending about a half day reading about things completely unrelated to the original quest. I certainly don’t want to draw you fellows into one of my useless quest but don’t want to leave you with the impression that you’ve not answered my question on the GPS Gizmo. So, again, many thanks

:cpu:

 

[Deere]

Not a problem John, I love to talk about my gizmo...

At first, my wife only saw a mess of wires and a complicated system that wasn't too exciting.

I pressed on, and after a couple trips where we totally skirted traffic jams and found our way when we otherwise wouldn't have...

Now, when we go on those trips, she asks if I'm going to take my gps. She still doesn't want to figure out how to use it, she just loves the advantage that I can crank out when it really matters.

Good luck with yours.

-Deere