Do You Trust Your GPS?

[scannon]

I don't have one but people trying to find my home using a GPS often end up a few miles away.

[DeanG]

No. But once I find that it gets me to a location it is very dependable getting me back.

[slomove]

I have been using various Garmins for years and it got me to your home just fine. I have mainly 2 uses:

- I do multi-day vacation tour planning in detail on the PC and download the result on the GPS including hotels and other POIs.

- I just keep it ready when I am traveling in other cities to find places without a city map and searching.

 

I have had a few cases of incorrect addresses and many cases of incorrect business locations. Surely not perfect but I am also too cheap to buy the annual map updates.

 

I never use the GPS locally or when just driving open roads. My memory or a look at a map are usually good enough for that.

 

Gert

[pksurveyor]

The GPS from the sporting good stores or installed in an automobile should get you within 100 to 300 yards. I used them in my work but the surveying grade GPS with an accuracy of 5 mm accuracy cost between $ 22,000 to $ 28,000. GPS was originally developed by Department of Defense to launch missiles and rockets. Therefore pinpoint accuracy is not that critical. In recent years, DOD has turned off the scrambling codes allowing civilans to receive signals without purchasing expense hardware and software unless one needs surveying grade accuracy. This is reason the price of GPS has dropped down to the hundred dollars range. But one needs to remember that the little handheld device is only good for general navigation.

[Ian7]

Funny thing, this modern technology... 20 years ago if someone had described cell phones and GPS to you, you'd have said "science fiction, it'll never happen".

 

Now, when these toys we take for granted are less than perfect, we get all cranky :-)

[gjslutz]

Any time I travel, even if I know where I'm at or going I have it on. It will keep an up date on ETA & any stops I program in. It is also great to find a way around problems.

 

Like others I never use it in my local area though. I have used it when I had a speedometer problem also.

[andrew7]

I have one. I call it DumDum. I turned it into a cheap 8 gig Ipod touch; mp3,pictures,video and movies. I made a 7 icon for it(the red background turns translucent). I don't trust them and usually pick my own routes. They are nice for addresses and street names, some places have neither.

 

http://www.townsandtrails.com/gps-strands-two-oregon-families/

L7.BMP

[andrew7]

For those of you with a TomTom. Here is how to get a 7 on your gps. The picture was a Birkin from Dick in Texas that he has/had.

 

http://www.gps-data-team.com/pda-gps-navigation/topic/1418.html