I'm considering buying a portable GPS Navigation unit to get to appointments and project sites (I normally roam a lot rather than asking directions). Has anyone tried something like a Garmin Novi 350 or a Magellan Roadmate equivalent?

I find that a map and knowing how to read one is much cheaper.

-Hal

I've considered purchasing one of these for each truck. My guys can get lost driving anywhere. I think I might save the cost in short time just in labor time to the jobs.

I have used a Magellan Roadmate. It got me to my destination. Also had problems with it. Checking the review section on Amazon.com I found the problems I had were very common to Magellan units. Go with a Garmin unit. They make quite a few models. I am looking at a Garmin C550.

Al

I can see some use for GPS... especially if you document the heck out of your jobs. You can plot the locations of lines and boxes that just might be hard to find after the parking lot is paved...

Out here in Nevada, I have received "addresses" that read 'Take I-80 to exit 245, then drive 70 milen NNE' - and the pavement ends right at the exit! GPS might be a real aid for the mining / ranching districts out here.

BUT- Neither maps nor GPS are a substitute for an awake mind. "100 feet ahead" from the GPS just might leave out details like the 50 ft. cliff just in front of you! Nor will it tell you that the route it's chosen just might be flooded, shut for repairs, or be too soft for travel.

Tom-Tom, How do I get to work?
Tom-Tom, I think we dropped a ladder off the rack on the freeway?
Tom-Tom, we're lost - Screw it, lets go surfing.

Anyway, I'm with Hal on this. A Thomas Bros. , accurate, inexpensive, reliable. And no one will break in to your truck to steal it....

Before calculators came out, I could multiply figures in my head. Got dependant on calculators and lost it. We have a really good street map book, which is a must for a place where just about every street name starts with, a K, or a W. (occasional L also)

I use a very inexpensive GPS unit, along with old fashioned maps or Internet directions.

The GPS I have will tell me the street name I am on and cross street I am coming up on.

In the cities in this area street signs are almost non existent.

I don't care how good I am with a map when I am in heavy traffic the GPS helps.

Yes there are limitations, when I was riding with "Capt Al" the GPS we where using kept steering us to parkways that we where not allowed on.

Right now as much as I like electronic toys I can not justify $750+ for a co-pilot.

I have a Garmin Street Pilot, about 500 bucks on Amazon. Its not really portable(as in stick it in your pocket) but can be moved from vehicle to vehicle and does have have batteries so you could use it walking I suppose. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I could get lost in a closet so its great for a direction challenged person such as myself. I got it to go to Milwaukee. It was a life saver as they are doing a huge amount of construction on the major interchange in the city. Got to the Bradley center, Miller Park and all around without too much trouble even though many exits were closed and detours were everywhere. Can't wait to use it in Boston

I used to use one with a previous company. They were hit or miss if you ask me. Any time I was in a wooded area in south Jersey I couldn't get a signal from the satellite and I was well, you know, SOL. I prefer reading a Hagstrom map. If it's not broke don't fix it.

A friend and I took his Acura MDX with it's built in nav system to Santa Barbara... While I just simply had it on, following along, it stubbornly insisted I was attempting to drive into the ocean when I pulled onto Stearns Wharf to park, and continually pleaded with me to make a U turn!

For the greater part, I'm with Mark (e57) on this... Thomas Guides will get you to 98% of the places you're looking for in CA. Newer developments are the only place they seem to fall short on (At least in the Orange Co editions) Nav systems are a novelty to me until they come down in price

If you use a laptop in your truck you may want to try MS Streets and Trips. The maps seem to be pretty good, but I have not spent much time with it.

You can add pushpins to locate your customers.

You can get a version with a GPS locater that plugs in to your laptop. About $125, or less on sale. The version without the GPS hardware is <$40.

Doesn't that hurt the display?

I got the Garmin c550 last week after a frustrating excursion accross the state and accross Boston.

The c550 is a very good GPS. It tells you the street name and when to turn.
Like Capt Al said it wants to take you on the highway most of the time.
When I deviate from its planed route, it recalculates.

I think it will be a good time saver between service calls. As long as our dispacher can give us the correct address.

I used to be able to get you anywhere in Boston before the Big Dig.... But if I go home I just ask my Mom, a Boston Cabbie for 20+ years, GPS does not know traffic, she does.

You know, just yesterday I had to do some work on a bus shelter. Last week, it was at the local University. Then, there are the lights I maintain at an apartment complex....

"Street addresses" are pretty useless for those sorts of jobs, so there just might be a place for GPS identifications. I wouldn't toss out themap, yet, though!

Maps are not very good in Boston without the street signs.

I thought it was a state or federal law that required street signs for the emergency 911 response system.

Maybe they are getting stolen for scrap??

tkb,
In Boston, the same bureaucrats who invented the "Big Dig" decided that making the stop signs out of copper would be a good idea because it is non-magnetic and does not rust.
~Peter

I just got back from a trip through Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia. When I rented the car I got the optional GPS system. It was basically a Nextel phone with GPS so I have no idea what it's worth. Anyway it worked great. One thing I really liked was when driving down a highway or road I have never been on before, in the dark and no street signs, it tells you exactly where to turn. I had it for 4 days and had no problems. Still, the $800.00+ you guys were talking about is too rich for my blood. If it were $100-200 I would jump on it.

In my work as a Faultsman, I used to be sent to the far-flung areas of our PoCo district.
After a while you would get used to the different areas road names and what have you.
Having said that, I had a lap-top with Line-CAD software on it, GPS built into a TUMONZ mapping system and a tracker installed in the Faults truck that told the Control room where I was at any given time.
Line-CAD used to instantly tell you where the fuses/transformer/pole was, as it had all been mapped out in 2001 and is updated every day as to changes in our Network.
As opposed to pure Navigation software, this used to tell you a route based on a straight line.
Never once did it send me on a wild goose chase.
Biggest problem here in New Zealand has been getting proper maps, TUMONZ solved all of that .
I also agree with Hal, nothing can substitute good map reading skills.
As a Rotary-Wing pilot, I'd sooner trust my own instincts, rather than anything Electronic, being up in the air.