Last year, there was much discussion regarding a GPS unit. Some like a Garmin found on Ebay for only $50? I believe.
Does anyone have a link to that which is still for sale, and if not, what is the model of the Garmin?
Last year, there was much discussion regarding a GPS unit. Some like a Garmin found on Ebay for only $50? I believe.
Does anyone have a link to that which is still for sale, and if not, what is the model of the Garmin?
Wayne, I have both the Garmin 50 which I picked up back in '17 and a model 52 which I recently picked up. They both work fine. I use Garmin Base Camp to map out the routes on our computer and transfer the route to my Garmin units.
Walter
Another advantage of club members having a Garmin GPS unit is the GPX files can be shared between each other. Louie, Ken Hill and I have shared these files with each other. Also, once you received a GPX file, you can begin your own registry of Club Drives.
I'm using a Garmin Drive 52, and I also have exchanged GPX files with Walter and Louie. I use Garmin Base Camp to lay out routes, as well. One feature of the Drive 52 I particularly like is that it displays both the name of the road you are on and that of the next crossroad. This can be helpful when the signage is poor.
It's important to note that your Drive 52, your Base Camp application and any GPS that will share files with you must be running the same version of the map database! I always update my Drive 52 and my Base Camp application with the latest map versions.
Silver 2011 NC PRHT Grand Touring (actually Janice's car)
One thing that is important to me is traffic updates and automatic notification of a better route because of problems ahead when on a road trip.
my Tom Tom has it. I’m seeing some garmins require a cell phone for this, but I don’t want that requirement.
Wayne, I have the Garmin Drive 50 and 61. Both have lifetime maps. Both refurbished on Ebay. $50 for the first and $70 for the other. They download maps onto their memory cards. They do not have instant traffic data. For that, Google maps or Waze will tell you that. What these allow, is mapping out a route and then leading a Run by just following the purple line on your screen.
2014 Club 2.5L "Punisher Edition", 2017 RF GT
The Garmin Drive 52 has traffic alerts, but I've never used them, Wayne. Not sure how they work.
Silver 2011 NC PRHT Grand Touring (actually Janice's car)
Wayne, I have the Garmin Drive 50 and 61. Both have lifetime maps. Both refurbished on Ebay. $50 for the first and $70 for the other. They download maps onto their memory cards. They do not have instant traffic data. For that, Google maps or Waze will tell you that. What these allow, is mapping out a route and then leading a Run by just following the purple line on your screen.
do you have the link to those on ebay?
There might be a cord to buy for the traffic alerts to work.
The Garmin Drive 52 has traffic alerts, but I've never used them, Wayne. Not sure how they work.
The alerts are amazing. Great to have on a road trip, and pre-pandemic, I would use them on the way in to New York so I would know which tunnel to use, and one time even rerouted over the GW Bridge as it was faster while still headed to lower Manhattan.
It uses a charger with an antenna cord, it costs up to $70 for that, but totally worth it.
2014 Club 2.5L "Punisher Edition", 2017 RF GT
The Garmin Drive 52 has traffic alerts, but I've never used them, Wayne. Not sure how they work.
The alerts are amazing. Great to have on a road trip, and pre-pandemic, I would use them on the way in to New York so I would know which tunnel to use, and one time even rerouted over the GW Bridge as it was faster while still headed to lower Manhattan.
It uses a charger with an antenna cord, it costs up to $70 for that, but totally worth it.
I now recall that I did use the traffic function several years ago. It was on an RV trip to Charleston, SC, using an older Garmin model. I-95 was a mess around DC (as usual) due to construction, so it sent me over a parallel route heading south from the DC area. Yes, it was worth it!!
Silver 2011 NC PRHT Grand Touring (actually Janice's car)
78-81-77-26 = much nicer route 😛
it looks like it's a lot longer, but the difference is less than 50 miles.
78-81-77-26 = much nicer route 😛
it looks like it's a lot longer, but the difference is less than 50 miles.
I learned that... I've been traveling that route since my first experience with DC congestion!
Silver 2011 NC PRHT Grand Touring (actually Janice's car)
Thank you for the responses, but here's where I'm at:
My first GPS was a Tom Tom, loved it, but it got old and was no longer supported. Bought a new one a few years ago, never loved the interface (it was different from the older one).
Now this unit sometimes takes forever to grab a GPS signal, so I've been looking into something else.
Traffic updates are very important on a road trip, but not so much when I want my wife (and once in a while me) to have something to find her (my) way around locally.
It looks like the way to get those updates is either the old style cable that gets radio signals from wherever traffic info is out there (a $70 addition), or using the Bluetooth in my phone to do it.
I really don't love the idea of relying on my phone for navigation on a road trip, and don't want to be plugging in all kinds of devices either.
Since the Tom Tom still works, but just takes a while to get a signal, I'll continue to keep that around for any road trips. These trips are rare anymore, so why buy something I may not need. If it craps out on a road trip, I'm sure I can find a Best Buy to get one right away, or just use my phone the rest of that trip. By the time that happens, my wife might have her next vehicle, and it might have an in-dash GPS anyway.
With the move to GPS units using our phones for traffic updates, I know that means one of two things:
1. the radio signals for traffic are going to disappear
2. the GPS makers just want our data
In the meantime, I will use Waze, and my wife can find which app she likes for local use.
between the 50 and 61 models. The 61 has the 6” screen. Looking to get one. Do you find the 6” too big meaning takes too much viewable area from small windshield? or is there not much difference in size between them?
First Miata. Blue 2006, 2.5L, FM Stage 2 suspension, 6MT
