Just updated my GPS....

[John Schmidt]

What a major PITA, it took half the night. First experience doing that so I'm wondering if it always takes a long time. I first had to update the software internally, then download the new 2010 mapping. It took hours....is that normal? I bought the service that you pay one time and you can update up to four times a year for the life of the unit. As long as it took this evening, I think I'll do it once every couple years.   

[R J]

Tell us how you really feel after you use it the 1st time.

You can be going down a super slab and it will tell you you are off route recalculating.

I upgraded once.   Now when the unit gets too far out of date, I give it to my middle grandson to take apart and look it over and then put it back together.

I go buy a new low priced unit with out all the bells and whistles.

Besides, it has all these maps upgraded, however, they are later than the ones we download....

About 3 or 4 weeks ago, I took both units out on the highway, buzzed around and saw how many times the old one would say off route recalculating, and the other one had me on the right road.

[John Schmidt]

It failed miserably. I used it twice while going to a place we had been to many times, just wanted to see how it worked...how accurate. We were headed to Port St. Lucie to see some friends, if we had followed this fool thing we'd probably still be circling Lake Okeechobee. Tried it once more here in town to the local library about three miles away. Had us going down a street that's been a dead-end for nearly ten years. Yesterday I thought I'd give it one more chance, was headed to a local Perkins restaurant to meet a buddy that has moved away but is down visiting family. Knowing that area has changed a lot in recent years, I pulled out the GPS to see how smart it was, and compared it to my MS Streets and Trips. The Streets & Trips is older than the GPS and zeroed in on the address just fine. The GPS was going to take me nearly to Sea World before backtracking, and never did find the address.

Guess I'll keep using maps, been working for me for many decades.

[Charlie McCready]

I bought a cheap Garmin a couple years ago. A friend told me to NEVER update it. He says they're always screwed up after that. I'm still using it, still works fine.  Most routes don't change that frequently anyway.

[John Schmidt]

I bought a cheap Garmin a couple years ago. A friend told me to NEVER update it. He says they're always screwed up after that. I'm still using it, still works fine.  Most routes don't change that frequently anyway.

What bugged me was it took the entire evening, and the Garmin site even said it would take a couple hours(took longer). With a chill in the air and the fireplace going, I could have just as well spent a pleasant evening sleeping in front of the TV keeping my bones warm. 

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

I own ( 2 ) GPS units the company I work for gave me one of them its a Garmin 465T and the other is a Navigon brand ( don't remember the model # ) its in my car 175 miles away outside of Nashville . I've used them both and find no difference in either they will both get you in a mess if pulling a 34 wheel heavy haul tractor-trailer. I got by for years without one and hardly ever even turn them on. Another thing I hate is ridin' my bike with someone that will follow the GPS no matter what route it tells them to take. I can't count the times we've had to turn around and pull over to check out a good map.

[Challenger]

I updated mine because of all the backroad gas stations closing or changind hands so often, It hasn't been the same since, still helpful, but I do not rely on it completely. Never use it on the slab

[John Schmidt]

I own ( 2 ) GPS units the company I work for gave me one of them its a Garmin 465T and the other is a Navigon brand ( don't remember the model # ) its in my car 175 miles away outside of Nashville . I've used them both and find no difference in either they will both get you in a mess if pulling a 34 wheel heavy haul tractor-trailer. I got by for years without one and hardly ever even turn them on. Another thing I hate is ridin' my bike with someone that will follow the GPS no matter what route it tells them to take. I can't count the times we've had to turn around and pull over to check out a good map.

I know just what you're talking about re. getting messed up following someone with a GPS. I have a running joke with Michael K (now in Arizona but formerly here in Florida) after two trips with him and his GPS. The first one was when we traveled to the first InZane in Paducah, KY. After we got there, he was following instructions to find the hotel and the town started to thin out and we were seeing cattle in open fields. We stopped, checked, turned around and finally asked directions.

The second trip was a year or so later and he guaranteed me success since he had a new unit costing close to $1k, and we were headed to Dragons on The Beach in Panama City, FL....Swopie's Fall gathering. When we got there, Mike led us down dead end streets, and a couple areas of questionable repute...at least appeared that way. We finally asked directions that time as well. My comment to Mike; considering you paid nearly a thousand bucks for that new one, we got lost for a lot less money going to Paducah than we did going to Panama City.

I won't go into how he took a wrong turn in Tenn. and we ended up off the Interstate to ask directions. After getting directions, I ended up waiting for him alongside the Interstate....BECAUSE HE STILL DIDN'T FOLLOW THE DAMN DIRECTIONS A LOCAL GAVE HIM....and I did. After about 10 minutes, I see a bike coming down the highway, and he goes tooling by with a big silly grin...waving "come on." It's a longer story than that, but just as amusing. 

[Novavalker]

I update my Garmin streetpilot 2720 with points of interest from

http://www.poifriend.com/

[Grumpy]

I have the updater program for my Garmin, never has taken over 15 min for any update.

[RedValk]

a couple of comments/observations:

1. yes, you STILL need to use some common sense when using a GPS, or...you no doubt some day will experience what i call "A GPS Momnent". I can tell you great stories of how a GPS has saved the day on numerous occassions. BUT YES, I can also tell you stories of ridiculous crap happening, especially when one does NOT use common sense. They're great tools, but they are NOT foolproof!

2. The updates. If you're talking map updates, i do NOT recommend spending the money. their maps seem to run 2-3 years BEHIND current. i've updated my map once...in one unit...and left the other IDENTICAL unit that Sherry uses NOT updated. The difference, wasn't worth the $75. i'd say keep the unit....and after 3-5 years....IF YOU STILL HAVE IT, and don't feel the need to buy a new unit, then MAYBE....MAYBE...it might be worth finally doing an update on maps? IF YOU DO, get the disc. ESPECIALLY if you are on dialup like us folks out in the sticks. I'd still get the disc (even if i had high speed internet). It's the same cost....and...you have it there....ready...for whenever......

me, personally..............i'd just spend the couple hundred bucks to get an entirely new unit (either refurbishded, discontinued or deeply discounted)....than spend the $75 for a map upgrade.

by the time they update maps, places that opened a few years ago and then closed....are just now shown on the 'latest' map....and places that opened in the last year or so....aren't listed at all. They never seem to be able to keep them really current....  There are some positives about having the 'latest' map data....but...not enough to make it worth $75 to me.

[John Schmidt]

The unit was bought in 2007, suppsedly had the '08 maps. But when I went to look for a restaurant that had been open since 1987, including the various streets in the vicinity, they weren't there. I went with the update and was surprised to see that now even recent changes in the Orlando Metro area streets and ramps were included. I'll use it another 3-4 years before doing it again, and then most likely replace it. Actually my wife is the one that plays with it, she can get lost in a phone booth but there isn't many places around here I can't find without it after 43 years.

[Charlie]

a couple of comments/observations:

1. yes, you STILL need to use some common sense when using a GPS, or...you no doubt some day will experience what i call "A GPS Momnent". I can tell you great stories of how a GPS has saved the day on numerous occassions. BUT YES, I can also tell you stories of ridiculous crap happening, especially when one does NOT use common sense. They're great tools, but they are NOT foolproof!

2. The updates. If you're talking map updates, i do NOT recommend spending the money. their maps seem to run 2-3 years BEHIND current. i've updated my map once...in one unit...and left the other IDENTICAL unit that Sherry uses NOT updated. The difference, wasn't worth the $75. i'd say keep the unit....and after 3-5 years....IF YOU STILL HAVE IT, and don't feel the need to buy a new unit, then MAYBE....MAYBE...it might be worth finally doing an update on maps? IF YOU DO, get the disc. ESPECIALLY if you are on dialup like us folks out in the sticks. I'd still get the disc (even if i had high speed internet). It's the same cost....and...you have it there....ready...for whenever......

me, personally..............i'd just spend the couple hundred bucks to get an entirely new unit (either refurbishded, discontinued or deeply discounted)....than spend the $75 for a map upgrade.

by the time they update maps, places that opened a few years ago and then closed....are just now shown on the 'latest' map....and places that opened in the last year or so....aren't listed at all. They never seem to be able to keep them really current....  There are some positives about having the 'latest' map data....but...not enough to make it worth $75 to me.

Tim, I don't know when you updated last, but it seems that in the last year or two, they have been updating them much more often.  I am assuming it is because so many more people have GPS units than did even a couple of years ago.  They are getting very popular, and in many cases, maps are updated every three or four months now.  I recently bought a new unit and was surprised at the road updates that occured in the last two years.

[Cattman]

If you are on dial-up it can take forever. I have started downloading to  a CD here at work and doing the install from that. Much faster.

[Bob E.]

Actually my wife is the one that plays with it, she can get lost in a phone booth ...

Now THAT'S funny! 

[RedValk]

i don't know Charlie, it still seems like their "latest" data is always a couple of years behind.

Case in point...just a couple of years ago i updated map software on one of our Quest2 units. The other Quest2 unit Sherry uses, we left with the ORIGINIAL map software. We just got these things a few years ago. The original map software on them was dated 2008. at the time of purchase, there had been a Hooters in nearby Auburn for like a year and a half. And...a Hooters in Montgomery that had JUST opened. Of course the one that JUST opened, was NOT on there. But neither was the one in Auburn. So....those maps had to be at least TWO years old.

then, i got the upgrade for my unit. The local Hooters in Montgomery...now open about a year and a half...STILL wasn't listed in the "latest" map (dated 2009).....but now, the Hooters in Auburn WAS finally shown on the latest map. Only one problem, THAT Hooters, had closed about 6 months earlier (go figure, it only stayed open a little over a year...in a college town no less....i found that STRANGE...and dissappointing!). So by the time their data 'catches up' to the new Hooters, and shows it on the map, it is....no longer.

that's why i say their data consistently seems to run about 2 years old....and i have numerous other examples i have seen....


Amen Cattman, i've updated some map stuff at home....on my dialup.............taking like 4-6 hours! i just let it download overnight. SOME....of their stuff says DO NOT DOWNLOAD if you are on dialup. they might time you out after so many hours???

[fudgie]

I thought about getting one but then thought, where could I go that I could not get to using a map?  ??? I'm pretty good with maps. The map I read at home I bought in 98. Its seems pretty acurate although some streatches of roads are now 4 lane. If I plan a trip next year somewhere I will look it up on the map and study the area over winter. I always buy a map of the State I go to. Plus getting lost is part of the adventure!

[RedValk]

I thought about getting one but then thought, where could I go that I could not get to using a map?  ??? I'm pretty good with maps. The map I read at home I bought in 98. Its seems pretty acurate although some streatches of roads are now 4 lane. If I plan a trip next year somewhere I will look it up on the map and study the area over winter. I always buy a map of the State I go to. Plus getting lost is part of the adventure!

hey, i'll admit up until about 3 years ago...i thought pretty much the same thing. and i'll admit, i've followed a few folks around who had "GPS moments" ....as i've mentioned b4.

but that said, i've numerous times been on a rally somewhere...needed something....like a metric bolt...wanted to go somewhere that would have one....QUICKLY hit a few buttons and my GPS showed me a route to a nearby Lowes. BOOM...followed it right to the store, got my bolt, put it on the bike....then said "where in the heck is the hotel we're staying at?". BOOM, simply pulled up the hotel (as a waypoint)...and again, it took me right there. several times i had NO IDEA where i was ...in a strange city....etc....but, times like that...the GPS was worth the money! Could i have stopped and asked for directions?

yea, but you know .......us MEN don't do that    Further, many times when i have done that, they either say "eh, i don't know where a Lowes is"....or...."ok, i THINK there is one 20 miles over here...and you MIGHT be able to get there by turning here, going there, doing this, etc."  You follow the "bad" directions, only to wind up in "la-la" land. Etc, etc.

at times like that, the GPS is EXTREMELY helpful. at other times, yes, i could...and have in the past...used maps. but i can go on and on telling you of countless uses i have now found for GPS units!

Put it this way, i never owened one just a few years ago. i got a low end one. Within 6 months, bought two more better ones (for Sherry and me). got so hooked, bought two more better ones again this year for us...and another one for my daughter! couldn't live without one now.

but not knockin' those who don't want one or have one....  just sayin', i wouldn't talk about em' like my Dad (in his late 70s) talks about COMPUTERS. he says computers are worthless, you can't use them to get ANY information on them, the interenet is useless...etc. He's from the generation that does NOT know how to use a computer, and has no interest in them...and....FALSELY assumes they are USELESS.

as we all know, in the right hands, a computer and internet connection can provide a WORLD of knowledge and entertainment!

same thing...on a smaller scale...goes for a GPS unit. VERY valuable tool, if used CORRECTLY and within its limitations.........and with some common sense! my latest units have MP3 tunes with Playlists....photos...etc.!

[Michael K (Az.)]

I own ( 2 ) GPS units the company I work for gave me one of them its a Garmin 465T and the other is a Navigon brand ( don't remember the model # ) its in my car 175 miles away outside of Nashville . I've used them both and find no difference in either they will both get you in a mess if pulling a 34 wheel heavy haul tractor-trailer. I got by for years without one and hardly ever even turn them on. Another thing I hate is ridin' my bike with someone that will follow the GPS no matter what route it tells them to take. I can't count the times we've had to turn around and pull over to check out a good map.

I know just what you're talking about re. getting messed up following someone with a GPS. I have a running joke with Michael K (now in Arizona but formerly here in Florida) after two trips with him and his GPS. The first one was when we traveled to the first InZane in Paducah, KY. After we got there, he was following instructions to find the hotel and the town started to thin out and we were seeing cattle in open fields. We stopped, checked, turned around and finally asked directions.

The second trip was a year or so later and he guaranteed me success since he had a new unit costing close to $1k, and we were headed to Dragons on The Beach in Panama City, FL....Swopie's Fall gathering. When we got there, Mike led us down dead end streets, and a couple areas of questionable repute...at least appeared that way. We finally asked directions that time as well. My comment to Mike; considering you paid nearly a thousand bucks for that new one, we got lost for a lot less money going to Paducah than we did going to Panama City.

I won't go into how he took a wrong turn in Tenn. and we ended up off the Interstate to ask directions. After getting directions, I ended up waiting for him alongside the Interstate....BECAUSE HE STILL DIDN'T FOLLOW THE DAMN DIRECTIONS A LOCAL GAVE HIM....and I did. After about 10 minutes, I see a bike coming down the highway, and he goes tooling by with a big silly grin...waving "come on." It's a longer story than that, but just as amusing. 

No it never happened! I categorically deny any and all accusations and erroneous reports that Stuffy has made regarding my and my trusty GPS!

[NITRO]

Beside being handy for finding places around an unfamiliar city, I've really enjoyed the POI included with the unit. On our way back from the VOAI ride-in last summer, I figured about where we would be stopping for the night based on what the gps estimated, found hotels in that city (complete with phone numbers), called a few, picked the cheapest, and the gps took us right there. A map certainly can't do that.

[fudgie]

Beside being handy for finding places around an unfamiliar city, I've really enjoyed the POI included with the unit. On our way back from the VOAI ride-in last summer, I figured about where we would be stopping for the night based on what the gps estimated, found hotels in that city (complete with phone numbers), called a few, picked the cheapest, and the gps took us right there. A map certainly can't do that.

True, but the cheap ass I, am I'll look in them travel coupon books for the cheapest room and will end my travels there. I never stay in a big city or feel the need to go to one. I guess I only travel to 3 rallies a year. It is usually 1 day rides like Cheaha and G-burg. So no overnight stays. Sturgis I stay in the same towns every year. So I guess it wouldn't be for me. It would be nice to see what time we would arrive. Kit always asks how far till we stop. She wants to know in hours and I give her miles! 

[alph]

I have an old Magellan Meridian, about 5 years old.  Magellan only had one upgrade in their software, and they wanted over $100 for it, so I’ve got my original.  I used the motel “go-to” feature last week in Phoenix to find a motel, it listed some old mom and pop motel called “Coal Mine Inn” and of course I didn’t think it would be the kind of place I really wanted to stay at, it brought us to the right place, now it’s a small apartment place with bars on the windows!!!  The wife thought it was funny!  Kids didn’t want to stay there!

I do like my GPS, I use it every time I travel, and the main roads are there, none of the new subdivisions.  I’ll use a map if need be, then I’ll Waypoint the position. 

It’s cool in an airplane, tells you how high you are, and the speed.  At night it’ll tell you what cities you’re flying over.  It’s old, but I like it. 

My brother bought a Magellan Triton 400 from wallyworld for $150.  hasn’t gotten it to work yet!  Not a happy camper.

[RedValk]

Beside being handy for finding places around an unfamiliar city, I've really enjoyed the POI included with the unit. On our way back from the VOAI ride-in last summer, I figured about where we would be stopping for the night based on what the gps estimated, found hotels in that city (complete with phone numbers), called a few, picked the cheapest, and the gps took us right there. A map certainly can't do that.

i also have custom POIs in all of mine....that i downloaded for free on the internet at various sites....that have info on all the Honda dealers in the Southeast, Ham Radio repeaters, rest areas on the interstates, etc, etc. I love having that info available with just the press of a few buttons.

Nope, it's very  much like having a computer. I know many who have said "i don't have a computer, don't need one, don't want one...etc." But 99/100 times, IF THEY EVER GET ONE, there always comes a day later on when they say "man, don't know how i lived WITHOUT one??!!"  Same thing for GPS....again.....just on a slightly smaller scale as it were. I'd never be able to live without one now. Weekly, someone invites me to their house, or i need to go to some strange business location...and all i need is their address....bingo...instant route. Sure, i could also look it up on mapquest...print it out....read it...etc. SO MUCH EASIER with the GPS