[Fot] GPS

[Tony Drews]

Original bounced - I was at 4345 bytes.

I don't have either of those units.  But, I know how to find 
reviews...  Go to www.amazon.com and search for the GPS unit(s) 
you're interested in.  There are many reviews there.  Both units had 
reviews comparing the two (interesting that they chose both of those 
units on both reviews).  Overall, people seem pleased with both, but 
report occasional directional glitches.  The TomTom is purported to 
have more complete maps, but sometimes try to send you on a wild 
goose chase.  The TomTom will not tell you to turn around on a 2 lane 
road if you miss a turn.  It seems to be up to you to figure that out.

I, like Jack and Joe, have the Magellan Roadmate 2000.  From what I 
read, Magellan is rated lower than Garmin or TomTom.  While my unit 
has a USB port and the ability to update firmware, no new maps have 
been released for it by Magellan.  The new interchange on 894 (?) 
through Milwaukee confuses it a bit, although it provides good enough 
directions that it all worked out OK.

The TomTom will give you spoken street names (sometimes garbled if it 
can't figure out how to pronounce them).  To me that's not a big 
deal.  I turn right when my Magellan tells me to turn right and all 
is generally well.  I find that it occasionally misses telling me to 
turn when I'm staying on the same "route" but the "route" bears right 
or left.  For interstate use it's flawless.

While I don't need the bells and whistles (MP3 player, slideshow, 
bluetooth, etc.), having a well stocked Points Of Interest (POI) 
database can be a valuable thing, especially once you've arrived at 
the race or are looking for a hotel midway there to spend the 
night.  Mine found the grocery store in Independence, Iowa.  But, it 
had no clue where the nearest Best Buy was in Seattle.

For trips to Mosport, having Canada maps would be nice.

So, in summary, the features I'd be looking for if I wanted to 
upgrade my Magellan:
updateable maps with a vendor who actually provides these updates
larger POI database
Potentially, Canada maps

I will say that after using my Magellan for a week, I wondered how 
I'd ever gotten along without it.  It TOTALLY took the stress out of 
driving around in Seattle.  I was in the HOV lane, and it had a weird 
exit between the regular lane and the HOV lane that I inadvertently 
took.  Normally that's an Oh SH*T moment, but it calmly told me to 
turn right and left until we were back on the highway.  Took less 
than 5 min and we were back in the HOV lane flying.

Also, the "shortest time" routes work well.  "Shortest distance" is 
probably questionable in any GPS unit.  "Least use of freeways" is 
the way to go when driving a convertible in the summertime.  My drive 
from Joe's wedding back home was glorious because of that unit.

One thing to note: <snip>

- Tony