Who here has a good GPS?

I had the Garmin Nuvi unit for a few weeks before I sent it down the road. It worked wonderfully for what it was. The new Garmin specifically for trucks should be the cats whiskers, albeit awfully expensive. Garmin has been in the biz for a long time.

A couple of points. One reason I got rid of the GPS unit was that it got my eyes off the road when they shouldn't have been. ie. anticipating turns, merges and unknown areas. Another reason is that my GPS sent me through the middle of a cemetary in MPLS, MN. I didn't see a "no trucks" sign but, the bereaved were not impressed and who can blame them? I would not have done it had I consulted ye olde Rand McNally first. The best route is a subjective thing. Finally, "trust then verify". One tool is not enough. A GPS is good. GPS and Streets & Trips is better. GPS, Streets & Trips plus Rand McNally is even better. GPS, Streets & Trips, Rand McNally and a call to the reciever is as good as it gets and will get you there ALMOST every time. Experience has taught me to trust a GPS last rather than first.

If you are going to get one, the high dollar ($600 for now) Garmin unit is the way to go. Just don't trust it more than you have to.

 

There are mounts available for a laptop - similar to the ones used in Police cruisers.

 

I use Streets & Trips 2009 (w/ tracker, of course). I swear by it.

Co-Pilot is very expensive compared, and there are NO updates for it. It also will only run on the x86 platform, so if you are a x64 user like me, no Co-Pilot for you unless you run a virtual machine using VMWare.

 

As I've said before, that S&T program is a good "non-truck" program for a very good price. It also allows for very versatile expansion of the POI's and routing by giving you several ways to customize more suitable for trucking as well. The CoPilot Truck version 11 is on it's last legs now as the next version is in final development stages for a Fall / Winter release. I have played with their new maps and they have thankfully done a thorough job on those (which is the primary complaint with the current version.) The upcoming release has been redone to be compatible with 64-bit versions of Vista and Windows 7 also.

 

Ok dont laugh people,im not familiar with gps s ,so here goes k?Do gps s have to be updated?Every once in awhile ours comes up saying map data files cannot be found.We got it in bransmart back in florida and its still under warranty,we just need to get back to florida or georgia as those 2 states are the only ones that have a bransmart.

 

Ok, so my sister works at Best Buy, and I asked to look and see if they carry the new garmin 465t, she went to work the other day, and asked the kid that works in that department if they sell it, she told them that I drive a truck, and i want the new garmin thats truck friendly.
He told her to tell me that the GPS that I WANT is the PC MILER..... I told my sister that he is seriously mistaken, that the Garmin is the better gps... she argued with me tellin me that he is right, that PC is the best for truckers to use... I found that arguing with a female is a no win situation... i guess Iv got some learning to do in that department.
So, im here to ask the opinion of you experience drivers.
Now, before anyone comments, please im only looking for the comparison between the PC and the Garmin. I no a lot of you dont like gps units, and only use maps, thats cool... so lets keep the map books outta this question.
so, which is better to use... the PC or the Garmin 465???

 

Neither, use one that runs on a laptop(ms streets and trips or Delorme) you can check and adjust your route before you start.

 

http://www.dieselboss.com/truck_gps_review_features.htm