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#281345 - 11/05/2006 15:02 More GPS help needed.
jbauer
veteran

Registered: 08/05/2000
Posts: 1429
Loc: San Francisco, CA
Ok, my Mobile Crossing Waypoint 200 was stolen out of my car on Monday night, and I need to figure out a new solution. I'd love to find something that I could use both on my motorcycle and in my car, so size and water resistance are issues. This limits my choices greatly, I think.

I've already been to hell and back with the Quest 2 - that thing did not work for me, and I'm not going back there.

The TomTomRider is very cool, but also very pricey.

Any others that I should be looking at?

- Thanx
- Jon

P.S. Don't leave anything valuable in your car around Geary and Fillmore. I'm so dumb.

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#281346 - 11/05/2006 16:18 Re: More GPS help needed. [Re: jbauer]
SE_Sport_Driver
carpal tunnel

Registered: 05/01/2001
Posts: 4903
Loc: Detroit, MI USA
What features are important to you?
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Brad B.

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#281347 - 11/05/2006 16:52 Re: More GPS help needed. [Re: SE_Sport_Driver]
jbauer
veteran

Registered: 08/05/2000
Posts: 1429
Loc: San Francisco, CA
Quote:
What features are important to you?


I love the Quest 2 for it's portability, battery life, screen, etc. but the processor they use in it is too slow for the task. I had so many issues with it.

I like the feature set though - I like to use door to door address searching, POI's, bread crumb tracking, MapSource (Garmin only, I know), etc.

I don't need mp3 file playing, XM, Bluetooth integration (although that'd be cool).

- Jon

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#281348 - 11/05/2006 18:01 Re: More GPS help needed. [Re: jbauer]
BartDG
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/05/2001
Posts: 2616
Loc: Bruges, Belgium
The TomTom Rider is a very nice piece of kit, I have one here. One of the only downsides is that TomTom has neglected to build an external speaker into the car mount, which means you also have to wear the earpiece in the car if you want to hear any sound. I won't even begin to tell you how stupid I think this is. There is a possibility of having an external speaker, but this requires you to invest in a Bluetooth handfree car kit of some sort, which can be pretty pricey as well.
But apart from that, the Rider is great. It has an extremely good reception, and the maps are also quite accurate.
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Riocar 80gig S/N : 010101580 red
Riocar 80gig (010102106) - backup

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#281349 - 11/05/2006 18:04 Re: More GPS help needed. [Re: BartDG]
jbauer
veteran

Registered: 08/05/2000
Posts: 1429
Loc: San Francisco, CA
Quote:
The TomTom Rider is a very nice piece of kit, I have one here. One of the only downsides is that TomTom has neglected to build an external speaker into the car mount, which means you also have to wear the earpiece in the car if you want to hear any sound. I won't even begin to tell you how stupid I think this is. There is a possibility of having an external speaker, but this requires you to invest in a Bluetooth handfree car kit of some sort, which can be pretty pricey as well.
But apart from that, the Rider is great. It has an extremely good reception, and the maps are also quite accurate.


Yeah, everything I've read echos your comments. Do you happen to have a picture of it on your bike? I have a sportbike (2005 zx6r) and I haven't found any pictures of a bike like mine with the TomTom Rider mounted to it... All BMW's and similar...

I've also read that the US maps are from 2001, and most of the data is even older than that... I think the EU maps are much more up to date...

Lastly, Archeon, is this review accurate? http://reviews.cnet.com/TomTom_RIDER_GPS...6&tag=uolst

Thanks for your help.

- Jon

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#281350 - 11/05/2006 18:43 Re: More GPS help needed. [Re: jbauer]
BartDG
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/05/2001
Posts: 2616
Loc: Bruges, Belgium
Quote:

Yeah, everything I've read echos your comments. Do you happen to have a picture of it on your bike? I have a sportbike (2005 zx6r) and I haven't found any pictures of a bike like mine with the TomTom Rider mounted to it... All BMW's and similar...

Hmmm... I might have, but I'd have to look. If I find any I'll post them.
Quote:

I've also read that the US maps are from 2001, and most of the data is even older than that... I think the EU maps are much more up to date...

Sorry, can't comment on that, I have the European version.
Quote:

Lastly, Archeon, is this review accurate? http://reviews.cnet.com/TomTom_RIDER_GPS...6&tag=uolst


Can't really say, because it says that Traffic doesn't work very well in the US. In Europe this service does work pretty good...
Why don't you have a look at this review. I've written it myself, so I can stand behind every word that is written.
_________________________
Riocar 80gig S/N : 010101580 red
Riocar 80gig (010102106) - backup

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#281351 - 11/05/2006 18:46 Re: More GPS help needed. [Re: BartDG]
jbauer
veteran

Registered: 08/05/2000
Posts: 1429
Loc: San Francisco, CA
Quote:
Quote:

Yeah, everything I've read echos your comments. Do you happen to have a picture of it on your bike? I have a sportbike (2005 zx6r) and I haven't found any pictures of a bike like mine with the TomTom Rider mounted to it... All BMW's and similar...

Hmmm... I might have, but I'd have to look. If I find any I'll post them.
Quote:

I've also read that the US maps are from 2001, and most of the data is even older than that... I think the EU maps are much more up to date...

Sorry, can't comment on that, I have the European version.
Quote:

Lastly, Archeon, is this review accurate? http://reviews.cnet.com/TomTom_RIDER_GPS...6&tag=uolst


Can't really say, because it says that Traffic doesn't work very well in the US. In Europe this service does work pretty good...
Why don't you have a look at this review. I've written it myself, so I can stand behind every word that is written.


Ha. Wow, yeah, I've read that review! Didn't know that it was yours!

Is that your bike in the picture?

- Thanx
- Jon

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#281352 - 11/05/2006 18:51 Re: More GPS help needed. [Re: jbauer]
BartDG
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/05/2001
Posts: 2616
Loc: Bruges, Belgium
Quote:

Ha. Wow, yeah, I've read that review! Didn't know that it was yours!

Is that your bike in the picture?


Heh. To be honest, I don't really have a bike myself. The bike it was tested on is the blue bike in the photo's. It's a bike of one of my friends, who was kind enough to lend it to me for a couple of days.
See now why the car adapter is so important to me?
_________________________
Riocar 80gig S/N : 010101580 red
Riocar 80gig (010102106) - backup

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#281353 - 11/05/2006 19:33 Re: More GPS help needed. [Re: BartDG]
jbauer
veteran

Registered: 08/05/2000
Posts: 1429
Loc: San Francisco, CA
Quote:
Heh. To be honest, I don't really have a bike myself. The bike it was tested on is the blue bike in the photo's. It's a bike of one of my friends, who was kind enough to lend it to me for a couple of days.
See now why the car adapter is so important to me?


Ah, gotya. I don't like the idea that they restrict the usage when you are moving... Probably good for your well being, but let us be the judge of that!

Not into helmet or seatbelt laws either. Let Darwin do it's thing...

- Jon

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#281354 - 11/05/2006 20:01 Re: More GPS help needed. [Re: jbauer]
SE_Sport_Driver
carpal tunnel

Registered: 05/01/2001
Posts: 4903
Loc: Detroit, MI USA
I'm looking for a unit for my wife and I came across this. The Garmin i5 Streetpilot. The price is great and the reviews seem really good. The only thing is, I can't imagine using just the scroll wheel and just one button... but people seem to love it. $50 more gets you the c330/


Edited by SE_Sport_Driver (11/05/2006 20:06)
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Brad B.

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#281355 - 11/05/2006 20:04 Re: More GPS help needed. [Re: SE_Sport_Driver]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
I have the i2, which seems to basically be the i5 minus color.

Other than being a little slow and sometimes hanging for a few seconds while "typing" in street names, it works quite well and the scroll wheel isn't bad at all. A keyboard would obviously be better, but for the price, I'm not complaining.

Edit: i2, not i3.

Also, I forgot to point out that the i5 is $342, the i3 is $309, and the i2 is $236.


Edited by wfaulk (11/05/2006 20:13)
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Bitt Faulk

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#281356 - 11/05/2006 20:13 Re: More GPS help needed. [Re: jbauer]
BartDG
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/05/2001
Posts: 2616
Loc: Bruges, Belgium
Quote:
[
Ah, gotya. I don't like the idea that they restrict the usage when you are moving... Probably good for your well being, but let us be the judge of that!


hehe. There are ways around that...
_________________________
Riocar 80gig S/N : 010101580 red
Riocar 80gig (010102106) - backup

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#281357 - 11/05/2006 21:50 Re: More GPS help needed. [Re: wfaulk]
SE_Sport_Driver
carpal tunnel

Registered: 05/01/2001
Posts: 4903
Loc: Detroit, MI USA
Quote:
I have the i2, which seems to basically be the i5 minus color.

Other than being a little slow and sometimes hanging for a few seconds while "typing" in street names, it works quite well and the scroll wheel isn't bad at all. A keyboard would obviously be better, but for the price, I'm not complaining.

Edit: i2, not i3.

Also, I forgot to point out that the i5 is $342, the i3 is $309, and the i2 is $236.



Good to hear. I'm used to the toggle pad (4-way) on my Garmin GPS-V, so that's why I wondered about the scroll wheel.
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Brad B.

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#281358 - 12/05/2006 16:36 Re: More GPS help needed. [Re: SE_Sport_Driver]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
When you're typing stuff in, there's a column of characters to be selected on the right side of the display and as you type things in, it narrows down the final selections on the left side. As it's doing the narrow-down (and expanding outward geographically, if you're typing in a business name) is when it has the slight hangs. But since it narrows down the selections as you type things in, you seldom have to type more than about 5 characters before your choice is easily selectable on the left side.

The only other problem I can think of in respect to that sort of thing is that you have to enter the city you're interested in every time you search for an address. It ought to have a default you can set, but it doesn't, and selecting "North Carolina" and typing "Raleigh" every time gets a little old.
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Bitt Faulk

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#281359 - 13/05/2006 16:19 Re: More GPS help needed. [Re: wfaulk]
SE_Sport_Driver
carpal tunnel

Registered: 05/01/2001
Posts: 4903
Loc: Detroit, MI USA
That's odd. My GPS V doesn't do narrowing, but it only asks for the street number and name. Then it provides all of the available instances of that in various cities. You then select the closest match (good if you're unsure of the city but have an idea of where it is).
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Brad B.

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