Auto routing Cheep GPS??????

[Bikergary]

Spent quite a lot of time reading through these threads hoping to come up with a solution, but getting more and more baffled, so I thought I'd tap into all this knowledge and ask the question out right.

a)I'm after a gps unit that can be used in the car and on the bike
b)A unit that can tell my misses how to get to the Garage 20 miles up the road
c)A Unit that I can use for visiting places in the UK only and that I can do a Find to find local places doesn't need to be that quick.

Some look pretty promising, (searching on good ol ebay) and I have a small budget (to many other toys to buy as well), but from what I understand the unit that fit my needs are
GPS V, Streetpilot and StreetPilot III, what about the new 60c?
or are there any other maybe other that Garmin.

 

[TST]

sounds like the Garmin GPSMAP 60C is what your looking for. Or maybe toy save a bob or two by going for TomTom and PDA?

 

[Howard Millichap]

How cheap?

If your budget goes to £500 ish Go for a SP3. Suits me sir!

 

[littleredrooster]

Secondhand SPIII seems to fit the bill, sir!

Best gadget I ever bought.

 

[PanEuropean]

I agree with Howard and Rooster. For the performance specifications you quoted (and, by the way, you did an excellent job of defining what you want the GPSR to do for you - I sure wish everyone thought things through like you did), a secondhand SP III would be perfect.

Just make sure of the following:

1) It has a European basemap
2) It has a 128 meg data chip (or a 256 meg chip)
3) It comes with the current version of CityNavigator Europe, which is version 6
4) The vendor supplies you with the unlock codes, both on paper and exported to a floppy disk
5) The vendor supplies you with the original Garmin CD's, including any previous version (e.g. CN version 5) CD's that the GPSR may have shipped with. You can't install the CN version 6 'upgrade' CD's without first having installed CN version 5 'original' CD's.
6) All the appropriate cables, beanbag mount, brackets, etc.

You might want to ask the vendor if he/she has used his/her registration of the CityNavigator cartography to obtain a second unlock code for another GPS. If so, you should expect a substantial discount on the package price, because you will not be able to obtain a second unlock code if you buy a second GPSR.

There is a member of this forum advertising a used SP III with current cartography for £400. I have no idea if that is a good price or not because I don't know what the market is like in the UK. Knock at least £100 off that price if a second unlock code has already been registered against the serial number of the GPS offered for sale.

PanEuropean

 

[Capt Over-reaction]

If you are looking to kit yorself out with a GPS, cheaply as possible, don't forget the mounting solution for your bike. If you get a 60C, a touratech mount is about £55. For a StreetPilot III again you are looking at £55. I recently sold my StreePilot Mono (The first one) and threw the TT mount in with it. See if you can find a deal that will help with your mounting soloution:illbe

 

[Bikergary]

Thanks for all the reponces, still unsure yet (tight budget) and not 100% sure yet.

Seen a couple of GPSIII and GPSV around for between £50 - £80 I was considering as a "TOY" to see how i get on,
Saying that the StreetPilot III does look like a good option, and relatiovely cheep, but i see the Quest is out there now, seen good reports and they appear to be going for around the £300 mark which not too bad and I guess this also could give me what I want.

Or am I going completly off the rail??

 

[MikeO]

Gary,

since it's taken you over 4 months to get to this peak of indecision, I'd think about it a bit more if I were you.

Mike

ps Get a secondhand SPIII - if you don't get on with it you can probably just about get your money back selling it on Ebay...

 

[Lunsarboy]

Bikergary before making any final choice on secondhand check https://www.aspidshop.com/export/store/default.php This has been used by several members on this forum without problems and are currently selling SP3 Deluxe £443, Quest £420 and 2610 £562 it may be worth paying a little extra for a new unit.

 

[Bikergary]

Lunsarboy: thats why I thought this was a good buy...
http://s111362677.websitehome.co.uk...= &PN=Garmin_Quest_units.html#a1_2133#a1_2133

Mike O: I know, takes me ages, it's a toy I would like, but had to buy bits for car recently, which has left me short ;-)

 

[Taff]

Bikergary - Nothing wrong with taking your time lad. I used Aspid (link above) and must say I'm delighted with my SP3. I paid just under £400 approx 5 months ago - it seems that the prices have gone up since then. I have not had any experience of more expensive GPS units, but if they are significantly better than the SP3, they must be seriously impressive.

I bought a "Migsel" mount for £50. The Ram bits to attch it to the unit was approx £10. The only reason I decided on the Migsel mount, against a Touratech mount was because I did not want to have to take my eyes off the road to look at the unit. With the Migsel, even when checking the unit, you still have the road in your peripheral vision. Mounting took approx 1 hour.

Mike O's point about e-bay is a fair one. If you find that GPS isn't for you, or you just don't like it (I will be very surprised if you want to sell it), bang it on e-bay and recover your costs. This is what eventually clinched it for me. Seriously, I have seen SP3s on e-bay selling for over £500. Why ? You can buy a brand new one for 25% less and you know it hasn't been abused, you know all the parts & CD's are included and you've got a guarantee if it goes tits up. I suppose some folks just don't do their homework, and haven't got the benefit of this site.

Have a look at this one on e-bay at the moment.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=75327&item=5740290100&rd=1
It's up to £300 already and there are 5 days left to go. It will be really interesting to see what this ends up selling for, but let's face it, it won't be less that £300. Personally, when you can buy new for just over £400, even if there are no other bids, I would buy a new one.

 

[Bikergary]

I was looking on Ebay for some "dirt" cheep one, must admit, hence the GPSIII and GPSV, then I found that link which had new Quest's going for £340 new inc vat, made me think more about holding on and go for that one.

i only buy stuff on Ebay that I know about, and bagged a few bargains in the past, but for things I'm not sure on.. like GPS, i agree for a good quality one I'll buy either new or second hand from someone I know and trust.

Question though... is this Quest any good? sounds like a real bargain at that price.

 

[ianf]

Seems to do what it says on the tin very well. - I've only had mine a couple of days and it'll be a few weeks before it goes on the bike. - once touratech get back off holiday and I can order a mount for it.

There's several others already using them in the club.

The RAM mount is another option but the quest might be a little fragile, there's been a few hard failures reported here.

It is a cutdown streetpilot rather than a 'proper' gps. So it's use off the beaten track will be a bit less practical.

Nevertheless to autoroute the whole of the uk in a pocket sized device was the reason I got it. Also the screen is clearer than the 76S i'm replacing, even though it's a shade smaller.

The other issue is power, it appears to have all the regulation in the psu/car adaptor, and has a non-standard connector. So you either have to get the marine mount (42 quid out of stock at gpsw) and butcher it, or the car mount. - I'll keep that for when the wifey wants to use it.

touratech.de have a power/audio lead, 01-065-0257-0 I have an email into the uk touratech distributor to see if it's available here.

If you get one, you might need to update the firmware to 2.90 to get the volume control in the unit. for use with an autocom. Mine was still 2.80.

 

[Bikergary]

cheers for that, I think thats may well be the one to go for once I have saved up some pennies,
but first.... get my Ohlis re-built as the handeling has turned very sour and replace the clutch as it's slipping too much :-(

 

[Taff]

Just checked the Aspid site for myself, so my previous post is slightly incorrect. The price of the SP3 at Aspid is £372, and not £443 as quoted above.

See here: https://www.aspidshop.com/export/store/product_info.php?cPath=3_7_8&products_id=17

Satisfy yourself whether the VAT applies to you - it didn't in my case, as I am VAT registered. A very good price in my opinion. I saw the Quest at the NEC - it is smaller (so you can stick it in your pocket when not on the bike) but the screen was too small for me. With my bad eyesight, I would have been struggling. If your eyes are better than mine, then consider it.

Even though the SP3 advertising blurb (and their instructional video) says you can use the unit with just the built in basemap, ie without downloading the detailed maps - don't believe it. Using just the basemap, was a total waste of time. With hindsight, I would have asked whether I could have upgraded to a 256 Mb card from the outset (rather than the 128Mb card that came as standard). The 128 Mb card stores all the maps for an estimated 60% of the UK (more than adequate for me at least, while in this country), but not enough for the next trip to Europe, so I will need another card. A 256 Mb card would hold the Dunkirk area of France, Belgium, most of the Netherlands and approx 50% of Germany.

Costs are: £62.54 for a 128 MB card & £109.57 for a 256 Mb card - again from Aspid, but 2nd hand ones appear on e-bay regularly.

 

[Bikergary]

Well for now I have accuired a GPS III Plus from a very kind person on here, so for now I shall play with this and see how i get on.
I know it's not the turn by turn divice i was after origially, but funds have run dry for now and I managed to get away with getting this "navigation equipment" very cheeply by the other alf.
Thanks for all your help though........ just neet to work out how to use it..

 

[Taff]

Well done. Hope you are happy with your purchase. Just in case anyone comes across this thread in future, while doing a "search" the SP3 advertised on e-bay and mentioned in the previous post, sold on e-bay for £400

That's just £38 less than he could have bought a brand new one (or £32 more than a brand new one - if he was VAT registered). Aspids are currently advertising them for £368 exc the VAT.

Just goes to show that at least you could get back what it cost you, if you decide that GPS isn't your cup of tea.