Automotive GPS Systems

5 comments

1. 

   C. Dixon says:

   December 11, 2009 at 10:29 pm (UTC -5)

   The item turned out to be not what I thought it was. In the item description Not once was it put forth as a trail and hiking GPS. I bought it under the premise that we could use it for our car. The one good thing that did happen with this transaction was that I received it within 5 days, which was extremely good service.
   Rating: 3 / 5

2. 

   Anonymous says:

   December 12, 2009 at 12:08 am (UTC -5)

   I bought this GPS to use for walking and bike riding. Where I live it is very slow to react to changes. I have yet to make contact witht the 12 satellites as advertized, at best I can get 6. The elevation is extremely inaccurate. I live at about 3400 feet and can get readings from 3200 feet up. Several instances while I have been walking up an incline the elevation has actually gone down. For distances it appears to be extremely accurate.
   Rating: 3 / 5

3. 

   K. Steele says:

   December 12, 2009 at 2:30 am (UTC -5)

   …except the internal rechargeable battery which only lasts 15 hours and cannot be replaced by the user and must be recharged ONLY using the AC household charger. If I take this on a one-week camping trip, the battery will be exhausted before half the trip is completed. I was hoping for something I could wear on my wrist and leave it on the entire time without fear of the battery going dead. If you’re deep in the woods and the battery goes dead and you don’t have a compass/map or backup GPS, you might be sorry. At least the Foretrex could have had a replaceable battery or a dry cell battery option.
   Rating: 4 / 5

4. 

   P. King says:

   December 12, 2009 at 3:38 am (UTC -5)

   My kids and I recently purchased the Forerunner 201 as a Father’s Day gift for my running husband. He was thrilled after reading the product information! He immediately followed the simple set up directions, and away he ran a few hours later! Unfortunately, the unit just could not maintain a gps signal, and the little bit of information gained was useless and inaccurate. We called Garmin after a few more unsuccessful runs, and the technician on the phone suggested it might be a faulty unit. Amazon quickly sent a replacement. (Yippee for Amazon!)
   
   Again, my husband can not keep a gps signal for the duration of a run. The unit registers “weak signal” 20-25 times on a 5 mile run! The final mileage the forerunner has listed for the same five mile distance has ranged from 2.3 to 79.8 miles!!
   
   Garmin tells us that tree canopy can interfere and cause the weak signals. We live right on the shore of Lake Ontario (wide, open space), although we do run on scenic, shady roads.
   
   The bottom line is that the Forerunner is useless to my husband. Garmin admits that it really doesn’t function well on “shady” roads with trees around. If you like to run anywhere outside of a barren city street, think twice. A very disappointing Father’s Day gift, returned for the final time.
   Rating: 1 / 5

5. 

   K. Biba says:

   December 12, 2009 at 4:48 am (UTC -5)

   I use a large variety of GPS devices in work and play … this is a very useful device in the backcountry.

   Convenient to configure and with adequate speed and coverage even with rather substantial tree coverage.

   For HAMs it is also quite convenient to configure to your APRS station.
   Rating: 5 / 5