Navigation & GPS Systems: Garmon Street Pilot III

oops i meant "Garmin" not "Garmon"
Is this an older unit? Is that why it's on sale? How long has this unit
been out and does anyone know if a "new improved" model in on the horizon?
TIA
dot


"dot" <com> wrote in message
news:uMazb.1684$socal.rr.com...
I have this unit on order. Anybody have one that can tell me about it? I
know absolutely nothing about it and GPS in general. Any tips would be
greatly appreciated. I got it for my husband for xmas.
dot

Its quite a good GPS unit. Esp if you load the latest map on it.

a new model is out .. they are the Garmin SP 2610 serie. [check in
www.garmin.com]
much better features [touch screen ,remote control , faster calculation etc
etc ] ,
but overall .. same functionality [ point a to point b ]

=bob=

"dot" <com> wrote in message
news:uMazb.1684$socal.rr.com... 

"dot" <com> wrote in message
news:mnczb.2322$socal.rr.com... 

Yes it is.

Is that why it's on sale?

The StreetPilot III is a current unit however most customers are paying
a bit more and getting the StreetPilot 2610.

How long has this unit 

We shipped our first units on 3/28/01

and does anyone know if a "new improved" model in on the horizon?

No but the 2610 is already out and it is a much improved model.
--


Darrel Goheen
com
http://www.tvnav.com

On Wed, 03 Dec 2003 01:12:58 GMT, "dot" <com> wrote: 

Lucky guy, although if the same thing happens with your family that
happened with mine, the SP III will soon live in my wife's car, not
mine. I bought it for myself, but she likes it so much, she's claimed
it for herself.

What is it? It's a wonderful automotive navigation system that you can
keep in one car or move from car to car. It will "speak" instructions
on turns coming up if you've told it where you're going, by street
address or other indication (ie, by picking out a restaurant from a
list of restaurants it knows about).

It works best with a Windows PC from which you load maps and possibly
way points (more on these later) through a USB device or a serial
cable. You can also upload from the SP III to the PC the tracks of
where the SP III has been while it's been powered on. (You can also
download firmware upgrades for the SP III from the PC, and there have
been some nice firmware improvements in the 18 months I've owned
mine.)

The maps you download include streets, street addresses, and
information about "points of interest" in a region, such as gas
stations, ATMs, restaurants, rest areas, and so forth. It's very much
geared to people taking automotive trips. We tend to use it more on
trips across the region rather than around home, but if we're going
some place in the metropolitan region that we've never been, we don't
hesitate to plug in the address and let it tell us how to get there.

The program on the PC is sometimes easier for looking up specific
addresses; the user interface on the SP III is a little difficult to
use as you scroll through letters of the alphabet putting in the
letters to spell out a street name or city name. If you find addresses
on the PC software, you can make the "way points" that you then
download to the SP III. It's a lot faster to select a saved way point
as a trip's destination than punching in an address on the SP III.

For the past year or so, SP III's have been sold as SP III+, the "+"
meaning they came with 128 MB memory chips, unlock codes to cover the
whole USA, not just (any) one of eight regions, and the
previously-optional bean-bag mount for the SP III. I bought mine
before the "+" package was out -- but bought each of those upgrades on
my own.

The 128 MB memory chip (instead of the previously standard 32 MB) lets
you store many more maps in the SP III. This reduces the number of
times you need to reload which maps are on the SP III on longer trips.
The SP III includes a baseline map of the whole continent's major
highways, but the resolution and accuracy is much better if you have a
region's maps loaded (and active).

The beanbag mount lets you move the SP III between cars easily. You
unplug the power cord from the cigarette lighter and take the whole
mess (cord, SP III, and bean bag mount) wherever you want to take it,
such as from his car to yours, or vice versa.

Down sides? As others have noted, its replacement, the Garmin 2610, is
already out. I probably wouldn't buy an SP III now if I could afford a
2610, but the SP III is still a good unit. If your husband is "up" on
GPS devices, he might wonder why you didn't get him the Latest &
Greatest instead of last year's Latest & Greatest.

Also, it's heavily dependent on the PC to support it. That's probably
no big deal if you're computer-savvy enough to post to a newsgroup,
but it's kept me from recommending one to some computer-phobic friends
who otherwise would really benefit from one. ("No, the shortest way
from Cleveland to Washington doesn't take you around the Baltimore
Beltway!")


*--
That which I take seriously, I take very seriously.
Everything else, I mock, in proportion to how excessively
someone else takes something seriously.

Dot,

All these bits of kit are excellent! Older units or the latest
wizzo-featured box all basically do the same job. They get you from A-to-B
without bothering to consult another human being or wrestle with a map.
They may not always choose the all-time, most economical way to do the
journey but it will do it with endless patience and never get annoyed, upset
or sulks - and for the whole of continental Europe (or the US if you're
located there).

My daughter now lives in her second location in London (after university)
and, even though I lived there as a youngster, I would not drive into the
City without the magic box on the dashboard. It certainly takes the hassle
out of it.

The simple joy of not caring whether you take a wrong turn, get in the wrong
lane or have to leave the motorway unexpectedly will completely offset the
cost of the kit. Driving into unfamiliar areas without bothering to consult
a map - get to talk with your co-pilot instead of getting into aggro about
the directions... brilliant! and makes motoring more enjoyable all-round.

My wife is delighted to have the box do all the directing and talking too!

I would recommend buying an external powered aerial too - cheaper from the
States I'm afraid. They significantly improve reception in wooded areas and
urban canyons.

Bernie