New Generation of GPS...

[flagmanruss]

I've had a GPS for several years... it works fine, most important I'd learned how to run it & I liked it. (We Nicknamed her Blondie... Never shuts up, even when she's wrong!) It is a Magellan 3250. I've been frustrated however that the maps were out of date... errors from the day I bought it. Currently I95 & I195 are being relocated with complete revamp of interchanges & exits. Magellan (currently) wants $49 for a map update... but there is no guarentee the update will have YOUR AREA updated. I researched this & infrequent updates was a common complaint for this brand. I don't care how good the units are, the cost of Map updates... and uncertainty of applying to you... is a deal breaker. So I further researched GPS. I decided to spend my Christmas money on a new GPS rather than spend 50% on an uncertain update. I selected a TomTom540TM (550TM is the same except for slight software changes). After I selected the models I wanted, I made the buy on a pre-BlackFriday Sale... very close to the best advertized price but I didn't have to get up at 4AM. The T stands for a lifetime Traffic update subscription, M stands for a lifetime Map update. You can see where this is going. Folks, I really like this GPS. It gives better prompts with time enough to get into the correct lane (I think it is speed sensitive), speaks the name of the new road for verification... really nice. It takes a couple of hours to down load the data to your computer... but the GPS can plug into your computer to do trip planning on the big screen. TomTom us user updateable & you can also share your corrections with others & get their corrections within parameters you set. Over the last couple of days, I've copied all my addresses from the Old GPS to the New. I have found one road in Maine where my SIL lives... that the TomTom does not recognize. I was joking that I'd have to name the New GPS Blondie 2... but then I drove to town. If I had not known where I was... I'd have really loved the prompts... exactly where they needed to be. I really don't want things stuck to my windshield. I learned very early on that GPS generally works just fine without being on top of the dash. (The only exception, my Whitney Houston CD interfered with Blondie... out on the NY Thruway... Another story) I had made my own airvent mounts for the original GPS Blondie... Bent aluminum & a bit of velcro (wedged over or under the airvent) the has served me very well... Different ones for my CTD & Cirus The New GPS comes with a clever ring mount on the back of the reciever & a suction cup windshield mount... not conducive to velcro. I had seen that airvent mounts were now commercially available. I shopped around & have ordered a airvent mount through Amazon for under $10 delivered. I am still learning the tool but am blown away by how every shortcoming of the old has been addressed... even things I was not aware of.

[ISX]

I ended up getting a TT at xmas too since sister ended up getting an iphone with gps, I got this tomtom. I guess it was really cheap on black friday. Finally took it to town yesterday and it is definitely nice. The garmin we have is old and the interstate is just one big line. This thing splits the interstate like you see it and splits every little road I have gone on. One thing I really like and would never think twice about is getting one with 3D. It is one thing to be a dot on a flat (2D) surface but 3D makes it basically look exactly like what you see out the windshield, so if you missed the turn then you must have also missed the cummins option and are driving a gasser TT also has user corrections which are uploaded to their site and downloaded to your own. So if you screw up, you can fix it (somehow, I haven't learned how yet) and it will save it and pass it on universally through their site.

[Dieselpwrram]

I bought my Tom Tom GPS last year. I'm really happy with the unit. I found it very easy to operate and update via my computer. I used the open cubby hole next to the cup holder to mount the base of my GPS to. I dumped the suction cup setup and used a screw through the base a plastic plate fitted to fit the cubby hole.

[dorkweed]

My personal opinion here.........I see no real need for them. If you live anywhere's near civilization, it's impossible to get lost in this country unless you're a complete idiot.That said, we do use them in North Dakota and in SE Missouri waterfowling. The reason being that while scouting around if you find a place where the birds are that you've never been to in the day time............it's pretty darn hard to find it driving there in the early AM in the pitch blackness of those places!!!! There they come in handy. Out by Mike's........in the Frank Church.........yeah I'd carry one!!!But where I live.......not needed IMHO.

[Heavyd1980]

I own a Garmin Nuvi 760 and love it!!! And i get updates at no cost to me from a friend of mine that works for Garmin!!! But the prompts are very good and the GPS only has a couple of brain farts but all in all its been a great unit for the last couple of years that i've owned it.

[flagmanruss]

"... unless you're a complete idiot."

[ISX]

I don't feel that I am a complete idiot. I find this remark judgemental & offensive. You do not know me. Nor do you know how & where I drive. I do not need GPS to find my way to town. But I happen to have Multiple Sclerosis which causes brain & spinal cord damage. In my case, it has taken my ability to multi-task (and I am fortunate that I am still able to drive & usually can make my legs work to get into the truck if I place my feet just right.) Example: driving in heavy city traffic (task 1) while looking for road signs (task 2) while using a set of written directions (task 3). All my doctors are in the city and not always in easy to get to locations. Perhaps the people I share the road with are more appreciative of my use of GPS.

[flagmanruss]

I am reminded of a charter boat captain... was observed coming up the winding channel (5 miles from the ocean) with his head in the radar scope on a beautiful sunny day. Periodically he's stick his head up & look around... we kidded him and he replied "The time to learn was when it was not foggy out!" Quite correct. He was learning the tool & what the echos were while he could verify them.BTW, my boss got on my case for tuning a radar with a boat on the trailer... every time the antenna would sweep the nearby highway, everyone with a radar detector would jack up the brakes! LOL. He didn't want to have a pile up in front of the shop... bad for business. I've wondered if there might be a market for junk boat radars for school zones & playground areas.

[Old_Sparky]

I have had a Garmin for over three years. I find it really helps with areas I am not familiar with. That being said, it has told me to go down one way streets the wrong way several times. Use a map, your eyeballs, and a decent GPS and you can get just about anywhere safely.

[flagmanruss]

The GPS that does not note one way streets is an OLD DATA problem. My old one has never been updated & tells me to go the wrong way to daughter's house on a one way. This is exactly why I decided to opt for a new one specifically WITH updates for life... On another note, the air vent mount I'd ordered arrived today. It's "functional" but I don't like it. I think that I'll scavenge parts from it to modify my custom GPS mounts which I'll be reworking to the new TomTom.

[ISX]

The GPS that does not note one way streets is an OLD DATA problem. My old one has never been updated & tells me to go the wrong way to daughter's house on a one way. This is exactly why I decided to opt for a new one specifically WITH updates for life... On another note, the air vent mount I'd ordered arrived today. It's "functional" but I don't like it. I think that I'll scavenge parts from it to modify my custom GPS mounts which I'll be reworking to the new TomTom.

[stodg73]

I have mine magnetically held to my triple pod gauge mount.

[flagmanruss]

I have mine magnetically held to my triple pod gauge mount.[ATTACH=CONFIG]2360[/ATTACH]

Hey, stodg, thanks, that's unique & clever. Tell us more on the mount. Russ

[ISX]

Have you gone to a big city with that thing yet Russ? I just went to Kansas City and holy crap! I would get close to a mess and it would tell me which lane to be in and which to stay in and everything. I had to go to a part I had never been in for a job and the 3D thing makes it 10x easier than then 2D crap. Just incredible! I like how this one also shows the road your currently on as well as the road you'll be on next.

[flagmanruss]

Yes, I have. I love the lane guidance & road names. My only complaint is I haven't figured out a good way to cancel the route... you arrive but the GPS doesn't register it yet. So all the local trips, I can't leave the map on. I'd like a one touch button to cancel like Magellan. I've posted on Tomtom's site & maybe they'll update with it. They actually responded & said they'd forward the feedback to their R&D. I've bought a cheap mount & "borrowed" the mounting ring which I've bolted to my old handbuilt mount (from my old GPS) for the Cirus. (Wedges in the top of the air vent, holds the GPS to right of instrument cluster. Only down side is it reflects on the windshield, solved by placing a baseball cap with visor shading the screen. I've decided in front of the airduct on the CTD... I can't stand things blocking my vision... so I stuck the supplied self-adhesive mounting disc on the top of the dash & turned the suction cup over so the GPS is that location. I'm still wondering how one uses a magnetic mount on a mostly plastic dash. I don't kow if it would hold but I have the magnetic base of an old antenna that would be interesting to try. I still have to use the GPS more & better learn the tool.Russ

[stodg73]

I used JB weld to glue some magnets to the base of the TomTom. I then glued a piece of thin steel in the bottom pod of my triple pod. Then magnets that I used are neodymium magnets, just don't let them get close to any credit cards or computers, as they are very powerful.

[flagmanruss]

Magnets... install some sheet steel. Why didn't I think of that? Thanks for the tip. I'm thinking that steel could be added by removing the dash bezel... Hmmm.I've found the TomTom suction cup grabs glass & formica very well, as well as the supplied adhesive disc (only 1) but not other surfaces I've tried. I had some painted metal & plastic with a fine texture... NADA. My old GPS mounts were 1.5" aluminum strips wedged in the vents, bent in a Z to form a shelf. I put velcro on the back of the GPS & the upright of the mount. It could be dislodged from the air vent by clumsy passengers but the velcro never separated. Russ

[flagmanruss]

Well, I thought I could do better for the GPS mount in the truck... I used the OEM mount & put the sticky disc on the top of the dash. I could not get the dumb suction cup thangy to hold. Our camping trip was coming up... I gave up & started looking for another place. I decided to use the OEM mount & jammed it over the visor. My truck despirately needs shocks & when I hit a pot-hole towing heavy down some back road, the Tomtom came out of the mount, bounced off my noggin before landing in my lap. When I grabbed for it, I hit the touch screen & messed up what was going on. I really don't like to search the sky for instruments (I'm short) so I'm not really that interested in putting it back on the visor.

On the way home (after the hurried pack up before the tornado), I had a canvas tent on the passenger's seat... I punched a dent into the pile & that's where it stayed on the way home.

On the last trip, running light, I ended up jamming the OEM mount under the rubber floor in the storage bin to the right of the radio... with a work glove stuffed above the rubber it stayed in place. However, I couldn't really see it & had to rely on the audio. I like to have navigation assistance regularly & wifee does not want to be bothered, so having the unit nearer the passenger doesn't work for me.

After playing with the OEM mount & the bits & pieces of various GPS & radio mounts in my bag of tricks... nothing!

I ordered a "stick-on" mount from Mount guys I've been looking for a mount that'll work for me & think this could be mounted or used as an adaptor on my home-made airduct mount. car dash sticky mount I had bought a manufactured air duct mount & it was a flimsy POS. I also note these folks also offer a Visor Mount which I've not seen elsewhere. The cost is very reasonable but I saw a box for a coupon so I opened another tab & Googled mountguys coupon & got the code "save10" to enter in the coupon box!

PS: Wifee has "blondie" (my old Magellan GPS) in her car. She tried navigating to the town of Cumberland, RI... & claims that the blondie does not know such a place in RI. She did successfully use it to find 2 addresses in Framingham, Ma where she had to go pickup our GrandDaughter from a friend. (Our daughter was pressed into service to be with a friend in labor... baby boy born after 8 hours... the husband was in South Africa when this went down & is due to arrive Boston at 3PM after 36 hours in transit.) I think the issue may be lack of updates. The if a road is new or name changed... it will not be in the GPS database.