We went back to SC @ Christmas and we used the GPS going and the trip took 36 hours.  I have made the trip many times and it ususally takes 30-32 hours non-stop but I was concerned about detours since they had the big rock slide on I-40 so I used the GPS.  I didn't use it on the return trip and it took 32 hours.  Will stick to the maps and let the Garmin gather dust.  Glad it was a gift from a relative or I would be returning it.

I've written many times about our love/hate relationship with a GPS.

A few years back, based on so many RVers raving about their GPS units, I bought an $800 Garmin.  I took it back and got a refund after about two weeks of use.  We now have one that cost about $100 - it's probably worth that, but it's a close call. 

It is great to have in our Jeep when we are in a town looking for a particular store or restaurant or even the closest restaurant/store.  However, all too often the Points of Interest are outdated (yes, you can download updates, but even the updates are often outdated - especially with recent closures of numerous businesses).

Still, the GPS is convenient and is great when it takes us right to the door of a place.  And it is nice when you set your current campground as a "Favorite" or "Recently Found" to get you back home when you'be been wandering around.  However, we use it with what I call "hopeful skepticism" and we often ignore instructions that we simply know are wrong. 

Our experience on accuracy has been far less that Luvglass's 95%. 

We've learned to NEVER rely solely on the GPS while towing the rig.  Too often it has taken us on routes not good for a big rig (some units have "Trucker" or "Motorhome" settings that help that problem, but ours doesn't).  And, in remote locations, which we like, it is often just wrong.

When towing, I do a Mapquest (which has its faults, too), AND I get directions from the next campground's website (usually the best route for bigger rigs once you get close), and then we use the GPS as a supplement.  That seems to work best for us.

I've had several people tell me I don't understand how the GPS works, several people tell me I'm not using it right, and several people tell me it's the greatest thing in the world.  It's nice to have, especially in the Jeep while not towing, but I'm with you - I'm not particularly impressed. 

P.S.  Streets & Trips hasn't been of much use to us either. 

What I like about our navigation GPS, a Magellan, is it is small and easy to carry. It normally knows the roads and street addresses, but not always the points of interest. If I input the address we can find the place.

When we get to a campground I go online to Yahoo Yellow Pages, put the campground address in (or someplace close that Yahoo understands in some cases) and then I can find everything within 50 miles. The interesting places I write down in a notebook that goes into the car. Put the address in the GPS and off we go. If you have a Yahoo ID then it saves the list of "home" addresses and lets you name them like "Charley's Campground" or "Mom's" and retrieve them next time you camp there. Using Yahoo Yellow Pages online I can do shopping or restaurant trip routing and print out the routes, but I think I have only done this once. The list Yahoo maintains is much more complete than any GPS, though it can be out of date like anything else.

Streets and Trips I use for routing, but even a netbook (which we own) is much larger and harder to carry than the GPS.

-- Edited by bjoyce on Monday 11th of January 2010 05:10:40 PM

Penny and I really like our Magellan (Maggie) even though the maps are from 2006 and aren't able to be updated. The only times she's failed us is when we've used the "shortest distance" routing feature. That mode is definitely not RV friendly. I've found that if I want to plan a route to a non-addressed destination, I can zoom out and browse to the area where I want to go, then use Google maps/ satellite to zero in on the exact coordinates. I set the destination there and away we go. It also has a screen for giving your immediate location in Lat/ Long, compass heading, road, and municipality. (Very handy for getting to the general location of a Geocache.) We haven't had to use a map on a paved road in three years. For remote locations, forest roads, utility right-of-ways and the like we use Gary (a Garmin eTrex hand held) and it's related mapping program.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE maps. Just not while we're driving.

-- Edited by RangerPaul on Monday 11th of January 2010 08:52:38 PM

Very interesting thread! It just underscores how different we all are. I am a dinosaur when it comes to technology but I believe the GPS is the single biggest advancement in technology in the late 20th/early 21st century. Let me explain with a couple of scenarios.

PRE GPS:
DW and I are in strange town/city we have never been in. Lets go for dinner at Joe's Diner...out comes the map (if we have a local city map) otherwise we have to go to gas station to get directions. En route goes as fellows "Where do i turn?", "Iam not sure", "I asked you to guide me", " I AM", "QUIT YELLING", "I'M NOT!", "SHUT UP!", "STOP AND ASK SOMEONE YOU IDIOT!", "I CAN FIND IT MYSELF. GIVE ME THE MAP!", "PULL OVER YOU ARE GOING TO KILL US!" etc, etc. You get the drift. We give up and go home upset or we finally find the place and have a miserable dinner.

POST GPS:
DW wife and are in same strange town/city...Lets go for dinner at Joe's Diner...out comes the GPS and we plug in the address. In 20 minutes we are at the restaurant having a great dinner and who knows what later when we get home.

See what I mean...the best invention of the 20th/21st century!

We resisted having a GPS for a long time but prices came down and our normal techniques failed on us a couple times in a short time period. Getting around Charleston, WV without either a detailed map or GPS was no fun. The roads follow the valleys and cross streets to go between them are not that well marked. When we were in the Miami, FL area a couple months later we had a tough time finding the stores and restaurants we wanted because the shopping centers had too many trees to see store fronts. We had trouble knowing if we were in the 24800 block or 24700 block and kept having to turn around to get where we wanted. We picked up the GPS while in Miami and it helped us immensely. But we quickly learned the points of interest were already out of date and no way were they complete.

We do not trust the GPS to get us to campgrounds, we follow the campground directions. We do have the GPS running just for a backup.

Our GPS came with Bluetooth and we have it paired with my phone. When one of us goes out on our own we take my phone and connect with the GPS for hands free calling. It works great and we stay legal in states it is illegal to use a cell phone without hands free. It is still distracting to talk on the phone while driving using the GPS, so the conversations are short.

We have a notebook computer and had used Delorme Street Atlas with its yellow GPS to get us to places, but the notebook was too big and Delorme's GPS broke fairly fast. I do use Microsoft Streets and Trips for planning, which I prefer to Delorme's program. Even a netbook is too large to lug back and forth between the RV and car for local trips, in our opinion.

I do agree with Fred on the difference between small or familiar places and not as small or not as familiar places. A GPS is not much help in places like Quartzsite, AZ after a couple day stay but is definately helpful in Minneapolis/St. Paul even after a couple weeks. When we are in a familiar area we rarely use the GPS, including some fairly large metro areas we are very familiar with.

We have two GPS systems one built system for the Truck and a Garmin 2720 portable, which is used in our HHR and the Silverado P/U. Delaine also has a Apple Iphone with the Nav app. All systems work very well as long as you have a hard address. The I-phone has been a great surprise. Just as soon as we get back to Tennessee I will be getting one also. We also use Street and Smith, and Map quest we like the Street and Smith the best. And yes we also stay mostly on the major highways, just safer for us and the way we travel. With the I-phone we didn't have to buy a small Laptop for traveling, we had went to get the small laptop for size and ease of use while in the tow mode. But after looking at eh I-phone we decided the I-phone was best for our use. GBY..

  I'm still of the old school when it comes to travel. I study all the newest maps and plot our coarse, put that in my menory bank and head out on our adventure. Must come from being in the Navy.                                                                          If we run into traffic then we check the gps in the DW's car to find away around. Sometimes that is an adventure.
  With many trips to Texas we've learnd to bypass Dallas. They seem to always be building a new road or have one under repairs

I love my Garmin GPS.  It has kept me from getting lost many times, which I have a tendancy to do!  When I've been out scouting for campgrounds, it has led me directly to them.  While it is not accurate 100% of the time, it is usually right.  I wouldn't be without it.

I am directionally challenged. If someone were to turn me around twice in our garage, I'd have a hard time finding my way out of our driveway! It doesn't help being married to someone who even remembers where the "work zones" were the last time we were in an area-even if it was 10 years ago. About a year and a half ago, I invested in a Garmin and it has made an amazing difference in my life...best money I ever spent! I would never give it up :)

Well...I could listen to my wife or the GPS and I chose the GPS because she never raises her voice. She is always calm and very clear on what to do.

Whichever one you choose, look for one that can have the maps updated. IMHO, it's worth any extra $ it may run. Ive become amazed at how many roads, exits, etc have been redesigned since Maggie was built. Also try to find one thats big enough to see with a glance (like you'd use a side-view mirror). Consider where you will mount it. I learned that mine will block just enough windshield to hide a small child on the road. I had to do some creative mounting.

I love our Microsoft Streets and Trips with the GPS dongle. I can change anything mid-trip, adding or subtracting stops or changing routes with a click of mouse. Combine that tool on the laptop with an aircard hooked up online, I can pull up websites of interesting things we see on the way, even if it's a billboard or ad for a campgrounds. All while we are driving down the road. I can look ahead to the next town on the GPS, then pull up it's Chamber of Commerce website, or google the town's name, and find out more about the town or campground before we even reach it. I can GoogleEarth while getting close to pick out landmarks or view a campground from up above to get the lay of the land.

And the BEST part of having my laptop Microsoft S&T with GPS on MY side of the motorhome, is that I can see on MY screen exactly the speed we are going!!! It shows me the MPH. I can not see Steveio's speedometer gauge from my passenger seat.

Now when I chastise Steveio upon entering small towns:
*Honneeeyyy it's 35 here*
He can not reply *I AM.. I AM!* (lying to me)

Now I can see he is actually going 42 or 44 ... Haha no more speeding tickets in small town speed traps!

KarenInTheWoods wrote:

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And the BEST part of having my laptop Microsoft S&T with GPS on MY side of the motorhome, is that I can see on MY screen exactly the speed we are going!!! It shows me the MPH. I can not see Steveio's speedometer gauge from my passenger seat.

Now when I chastise Steveio upon entering small towns:
*Honneeeyyy it's 35 here*
He can not reply *I AM.. I AM!* (lying to me)

Now I can see he is actually going 42 or 44 ... Haha no more speeding tickets in small town speed traps!

 

My Garmin does that also and believe me when I say Linda lets me know about it as I have a tendency to push it a little. Geeze a guy doesn't stand a chance. Not only do I have 2 women telling me where to go now I have 2 reminding me of my speeding. Actually it is very handy as sometimes speed limit signs are hard to find.

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