Anyone have a Garmin Emap. I'm about to pick one up and watned some feedback from owners

thanks

I'm about to buy the GPS V from Garmin. Found a guy on eBay that is willing to sell a brand new one for 390 delivered...

- Jon

Wow, those are really cool. I looked into them some more and realized that the Garmin V is the one i want. Primarily because i think its the least expensive of the ones that does turn-by-turn directions. Happen to know if he has anymore?

Yes, I believe he has more. Write to Eric at eric@getitgotitgood.com. Tell him that I sent you!

- Jon Bauer

To follow up on this... I just found this place:

http://www.onlinemarine.com

that has the Garmin V for $358!!!!

I just got mine off of EBay for $377 shipped... could have gotten it from there for $366 shipped. Doh.

Damn. That's a great price! I ended up paying 395 for it delivered... Oh well. I'm still trying to figure out if I'm keeping it or not...

- Jon

Not that anyone here is needing one of these sonar/GPS combo units, but this is what's getting put on my new boat. Sonar and GPS logging that you can save to an MMC card and offload to a PC. This unit is sweeeeeeet!

Why are you thinking of not keeping it Jon? Not what you thought it would be?

I'm trying to get used to it. The thing that really pushed me into getting a GPS is using Hertz rental cars "Never Lost" system. That one is very clear to use, the maps are clear, and I literally never got lost (the name does fit). I've travelled all over Florida and the east coast with nothing more than that unit - no map or directions - it got me right to the door each time.

I'm finding that the GPS V's mapping to be slow and hard to read. Also, the mapping with MapSource is less than stellar. I'd like to be able to do something like "show me all the banks local to this area", or "what hotels are closest to this waypoint". Can't do any of that kind of stuff.

Also, if you don't like the route that it picks for you, getting it to use your preferred route is another pita. I tried to use it this morning to go from SF to Sunnyvale, and it was absolutely hell bent on forcing me to take 101 even though I had waypoints set up as part of the route on 280...

The speed of the unit also concerns me. It sometimes takes 20-30 seconds to draw or re-draw the map. That's slow and if you don't know where you are going, can be uncool...

What's your experience been like so far?

- Jon

ahhh... interesting. All valid concerns for sure. The 280 part sounds aggravating... as i f'n hate 101 and take 280 at any chance i get. Interesting. 20-30 seconds to redraw a map seems very excessive, aggravatingly so. As for having features like "closest bank to waypoint"... there's no way you're gonna get anything like that for $400. Systems like that cost upwards of $1600... so that's part of the tradeoff i knew i was getting into for such a cheap unit. Wait... now that i think about it... doesn't the included CD have CityGuide typs tuff with info like that that you have to load up for a certain city?

My experiences so far have been me tracking it on the UPS website. So far it seems pretty accurate... it says it has left it's destination...

I'll post my thoughts as soon as i get it. Visuvius just ordered one too...

[edit] yeah... for the points of interest stuff. It should do stuff like that with the MetroGuide info...
http://www.gpsinformation.net/gps5/findpoiscreens.htm

FYI, I think you can do quite a few of these features if you hook the GPS up to your Palm. Yeah, it's a pain because it should be built in, but if you really want it, there's various software available.

I'm currently trying to determine what software is the best for what I want to do.

Hm. Yeah, you can do a lot of that from the GPS, but not on the Windows side...

Let me know how you like it when you get it.

- Thanx
- Jon

I love my GPS V. It takes a little while to get use to, but then its all gravy (ghetto slang).

The unit actually will do what you're looking for. You can move the arrow around with the rocker keypad, then hit Find, and look for Points of Interest. From there, you can choose to find the ones that are closest to the cursor. You can have it display all the banks, bakeries, fast food places, ATM's, etc, etc, etc. Of course, you must have uploaded the info from the CD, as the basemap doesn't have all the detailed info.

Also, i'm 90% sure that there is a way to find the closest "whatever" to a waypoint.

As for redrawing the map, it can be slow at times, but i havn't had 20 - 30 sec slow. My biggest complaint is that at times, it gives you the turn too late. Other than that, i'm stolked.

- off to go look for a good deal on NiMH's.

Hm. I saw that you could search for a local place on the unit, but can you do it from the PC side?

Is there a mapping program that's compatible with the GPS V that is more fully featured? I once ran "Microsoft Streets" and it had all kinds of features that would be nice to have with my Garmin...

Let me know what you end up getting for NiMH's as I'll prolly end up getting some too. Everyone raves so much about the GPS V that I'm starting to think I'm just not giving it a fair shot...

- Jon

Using the Mapsource software, you can search for pretty much anything. Click on the binoculars in the toolbar, that should do it.

I don't think there is any other mapping program that will work with the GPS V. Go to the Forums section at www.geocaching.com, there is a good GPS hardware forum. I've only had mine a few days so i'm still exploring.

As for batteries, www.thomasdistributing.com has 4 AA - NiMH's (1800 ma) and a quick charger for 40 dollars i think. I'm probably gonna get that and an couple extra sets of AA's off of ebay. This should do the trick. I hate having the big, ugly 12V cord in my car. Its too bad my dash is has a weird contour to it, can't seem to find a good place to mount the GPS.

hamid

In reply to:

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- off to go look for a good deal on NiMH's.

---

When I got my Kyosho Mini-Z I went on a quest to find good (high mAh) NiMH batteries. One site is Greenbatteries. They are one of the few places I've found that sell 1800 mAh AA cells for around $3.75/ea, and AAA cells for around $2.50/ea. Another one that is a little cheaper is Thomas Distributing. They have 1800 mAh AA PowerEx cells for about $3.72/ea, and 700 mAh AAA PowerEx cells for about $2.39/ea. I use them in the Mini-Z, my digital camera, wireless mouse/kb, wingman cordless rumblepad, and all my remotes. It's a good idea to get a good 1-hour charger as well, which you can usually find for around $30.

Anyway, hope that helps....

So are the 1800 mAh cells the preferred ones to get? What does that number actually represent? Any recommendations for a good charger? So I guess no name batteries are just as good as brand named ones?

Thanks.

- Jon

So are the 1800 mAh cells the preferred ones to get?
For AA, yes, 1800 is the current highest rating.

What does that number actually represent?
Milli-Amp Hour, which is the capacity rating for the cell. Therefore, the higher the rating, the longer it will last.

Any recommendations for a good charger?

Now here's where the fun part is... Good rule to go by is: Charge slow, your batteries will last longer. So, only use a rapid charger if you NEED to. There are a few models that will actually allow you to switch their charging "behaviour" from trickle, to medium, to rapid. This one is probably "the best" one to get at the moment; it could be said that it's the uber-charger as it has a digital display that shows voltage, and capacity (among other things). The one under that is probably the best buy for the money. It will charge just about any NiMH & NiCAD you could find, it does trickle and rapid charging, but it will require that you also purchase battery holder(s). Something like this is good to have around as a secondary charger (maybe even just for conditioning), and is definitely good enough to have as a primary as well, if you're not going to be doing a lot of charging and switching. The other chargers go down from there, I guess it really just depends on how much you're going to be using them and how much you're willing to invest.

So I guess no name batteries are just as good as brand named ones?

As far as i've seen, yeah. I've used Panasonic, PowerEx, Energizer, Rayovac, and a few others that I can't remember right now and all of the ones that have the same mAh rating have performed pretty much the same. There are a few brands that tend to test at higher mAh ratings than they are sold at, but most of the time it's not really significant enough for it to be worth paying more for them. Of course, if you can find them at the same price, or cheaper, then go for it.

There's a ton of information on the Thomas Distributing site, and most (if not all) of the products they sell are of pretty high quality.

Oh, one more thing I should note: When you put batteries into a device, it is recommended that you use the same brand and rating. If you start to mix brands/ratings you might notice weird behaviour and/or a decrease in battery life. I've put two Panasonic's and two Rayovac's into my Mini-Z (because they were the only ones charged and I just wanted to get back into the race) and had it respond sluggishly, as well as having the two Panasonic's die within just a few minutes while the Rayovac's were barely touched. Needless to say, I never did that again.

Hope that helps..... Now I'm REALLY tired.....Time to go charge MY batteries (couldn't resist)

Ricin, thank you for the info!

Went on my first geocache expedition today. Right down the street from my house, so it wasn't much of an expedition, but I can see how it could be a lot of fun. You guys into geocaching?

- Jon

ha! I really like it. My friends and i love to just drive around aimlessly; geocaching gives an actual purpose to it. Of the three that i've done so far, i've found the actual cache on one. A lot of times you can't trust the GPS once you're within a certain range. For the cache that i did find, the GPS read that it was 300 ft away from where i found it.

It can be frustrating, but still really fun.

what's up with that? i thought those things were acurrate to less than 3 meters with the WAAS stuff.

turns out that there are two WAAS satellites curently up, one over the pacific, one over the atlantic. On the GPS V, it comes turned off by default, you have to go to the menu to turn it on. So far, i've noticed that it has done nothing.

Another cache that i went on was a little better, it narrowed the area down to about 20 feet, which is normal. If it got any closer, it wouldn't be fun.

When the GPS is outside, i can usually get an accuracy of 12 to 15 feet. Pretty standard according to the geocaching forums.

hamid

How do you use the GPS V for Geocaching? Do you turn off the "snap to street" feature that tries to put your triangle on a street? How can you see your position as you move around? I found my cache by blind luck... Just kept searching til I found it...

- Jon

I don't think "blind luck" is a particularly apt description when you have a handheld device capable of pinpointing your position anywhere on the globe and a set of coordinates for the general area of the target

Blind luck would be replacing the GPS unit with a fake star trek tricorder and still finding the target.

Hugo

Haha. True. Well, I read about this cache on the www,geocaching.com web site, and they described it so well that I was able to drive there (I knew where it was), and find it without really using the GPS... I don't yet know how to continually show your GPS position on the unit I have... I only know how to show it for your current position, which I did to verify that I was in the right ballpark...

The cache was hidden in thick bushes at the site, and I stumbled onto it...

I have more to learn about GPS...!

- Jon

Hey I've just thought of a fun idea for an empeg-meet. Try and persuade someone at Empeg to geocache one of the units they reserved for support use. Instant meet

I know the question isn't about non-rechargables but the Alkaline Kirkland "Costco" brand batteries do not have a good shelf life. If you sit them around for a few months to a year, the batteries degrade very fast. Duracells last a long time in storage however.

speaking of batteries and charging... one of the electric bikes I have has a 36 volt battery that has a charged voltage of 42 volts and requires nearly 50 volts from the charger.

Calvin

Okay, i got it Friday and started using it a little this weekend. So far i'm impressed. I'm comapring it mentally to the $1600 system that Rob (CruzThs) had, and for 1/4th the price with almost all of the same functionality, i'm doubly impressed. Oh... and it's TINY!!! When they say handheld they meant it. I was amazed when i opened the box, i had thought it would be twice as large. Build quality, looks and usability are all up there on the scale. I used it Sunday to direct me to a BART station (which was in the mapsource info... nice) to pick up a friend and then to the airport, and it worked great.

I can see what you guys were saying about slow map redraws and quasi-late turn notifications. It was never so bad as to cause me to miss a turn, but it was close in some instances. The map redraw is pretty bad at times... i haven't expiremented with turning off some of the map details though, which i'd assume would help out on that front. Rerouting and routing in general isn't superfast, but it's not too bad. The thing could definitely have benifited from a faster processor though.

The one problem i had was when i was testing it to get me from Cesar Chavez Park in Berkeley, home to downtown San Francisco. I got on the interstate, and it thought i was on the service road which runs directly next to I-80 South. This caused it to freak out when it realized i was actually on the interstate, and it spent the next minute trying to recalculate a route. If i didn't know where i was going it wouldn't have told me to take the SF exit in time... but that's what signs are for i guess. It didn't figure out where i was and a proper route until i was on the bridge. Other than that little flub, it did very well.

Overall, i'd give the unit a B or B-. It has flaws, but for the price, you can't beat it. It's funtionality matches that of systems that cost way more, and it's tiny and portable. I'd definitely recommend it if you're looking for a cheap turn by turn GPS for your car.

word

Agreed. Same thing happens to me when I cross the Golden Gate Bridge. It always thinks I'm on the road under the entrance to the bridge...

I'm really starting to like it more and more. I don't fully trust the directions it gives me yet...

There are some other pretty nasty bugs with the current firmware, so I'm expecting Garmin to release the next one pretty soon.

I also read that they are going to be offering the GPS V with ALL of the unlock keys soon. I think the timing of my purchase will not allow me to take advantage of that offer, but I read that the upgrade is 50 bucks, so that's not too bad.

- Jon