First I'd like to say I've used the Search engine to find an answer to no avail...

I'm ignorant regarding GPS units and am learning. I'd like a small GPS unit for use in my cars. The only real feature I'm after is plotting cruises through unfamiliar back roads of Oklahoma and Arkansas.

I'd like to be able to "mark" a route on these twisty secondary roads so I know when to turn off one onto another without stopping and pulling out the paper map. There often are no road "numbers" or landmarks to use. I'll often drive 350+ miles on 20 different country roads on a single outting.

What I do now is pull out my state specific road map(s) which depicts all the lesser travelled roads in pretty good detail. I use a highlighter to map my route but constantly have to stop to look at the paper map and get my bearings. A major pain.

I'd like the LEAST EXPENSIVE GPS which I could "highlight" my desired cruise and do away with the paper map. From what I read most are designed to go from point A to point B in a direct route. Won't work for what I do.

Does a unit exist which provides a feature like this? Be nice if I could just trace the route on the electronic map with a stylus. I guess tracing the route with the cursor would be just as good.

I DO NOT need MP3, phone, PDA or any of these other features, I will not use them. I wnat the cheapest, most basic unit which will provide this feature. Also need to be able to move from one vehicle to another.

I'm not interested in using a laptop in the car for this purpose......


I've read about Waypoints but not sure what they are, how they're entered or if that feature will provide what I'm after. Would I be able to enter a Waypoint as the intersection I want to turn onto a different road?

All advice is appreciated.

Rick

 

Get the Garmin C330. 299.00 Circuit city.

 

I can't speak for receivers other than my own (Sony), But I can't program a specific route. The program loads the route of travel on its own with no help from the user. I can deviate from it and then it will reprogram, But that wouldn't help you in what you're trying to do.

 

How about a little more detail? Will the C330 do what I'm asking? How do you do it? Etc....

Rick

 

Call Garmin or Magellan. I have a Garmin I take from car to car the C-340 but you can't save the route you traveled. That's called a trackback or breadcrumb feature. I think the 26 to 2700 series will do this. I like Garmin having used them in cars and aircraft.

Rick

 

I have the Garmin StreetPilot C320 (like the C330 but comes with the mapping software called MapSource on a DVD that you load onto your pc, then load the maps from the pc to the gps, whereas the maps come preloaded on the C330, but the C320 runs about $50 less than the C330, only because the maps don't come preloaded). Yes, like all gps units, normally when you tell it you want to go from point A (your present location) to point B, it calculates the route for you. You can deviate from the route it calculates and it will recalculate a new route. But with the MapSource software, you can plot out a route of your choice on your pc and then transfer that route to the gps, which I take it is the feature you are looking for. I'm sure other gps units do this as well, but I know the C320 would fit the bill for your basic needs.

 

Thank you! Sounds exactly like what I'm after. Anyone have suggestions for other brands & models I should consider which also have this function?

Rick

 

This is not a hardware issue. Any unit can display even a dirt track if its in the database. It'll depend on the fidelity of the mapping data for the area you buy. The only way to find that out would be to contact the manufacturer. Garmin and Tom Tom hve a good reputation but if the map data is poor you'll still be tracking across the blank on the map. I'd say, if its on a regular State map it's probably in the software for most of the reputable units. Thats normally the starting point for mapping software.

I found with the AVIC N1 even some pretty obscure tracks in Death Valley were marked yet some of the new stretches of the 215 were blank. Just not in the database yet.

If you want a multi route you just plan multiple waypoints. most systems can do that.

Drop them an E mail and ask how good the fidelity is for the roads/area you need.

 

I have the Garmin 340 and like it a lot!

 

DeeGee makes a good point about the map database. So rikhek, if you want to post here (or PM me) a sample of the Oklahoma and/or Arkansas backroads you travel, I will check MapSource to see if they show up on the maps.

 

I just purchased the Garmin nuvi 350 and it is great not only in size but in response time. It is also text to voice and you will get the name of the street not just turn in 50 feet.It costs $499 everywhere but if you go online to the arkansas based discount retailer you can order it for $389.I have mine mounted in 3 different vehicles all in their consoles and have had no reception issues.

 

Not really, none of the ones mentioned will do what you want. You need one that plots routes to do what you are asking. So you would need something like the Garmin StreetPilot 2820, 7200 or 7500.

 

Sorry to disagree with you Humanoid, but I can plot a route in the MapSource software on my pc and then upload that route onto my C320, which costs probably about a third of what the models you mentioned cost.

 

the 340 calls out street names the 330 doesn't. If you have an address of points in your trip you can add them from closest to farthest and get a plot and dwnld it to your compouter with software that u get when u register your Garmin. Points of interest along the way and attractions are already loaded in your unit,

Mike

www.garmin.com/manual/

 

Go to Garmins web site, the C series to not store any routes. The ones I mentioned store up to 50. Uploading waypoints for one trip is not that same as plotting routes. Routes are more sophisticated.

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/compare....areProduct=382

 

Same reason I haven't bought one yet. You can't preplan a trip with each turn you want to make, at least from the reviews I have read. You can plan points to pass through with some, but it still plans your route to each of these points.

 

While you are correct that the C series Garmin units are not capable of storing a route per se, one can easily plot and build a route using waypoints on the maps. It's easy enough to do, not quite as easy as creating a route on one of your suggested much more expensive units, but still capable of creating a route for one to follow nonetheless. And it boils down to this, which is one of the OP's criteria, that being "the LEAST EXPENSIVE GPS which I could "highlight" my desired cruise and do away with the paper map." The units you suggest range anywhere from $700 - $1,000 whereas the C320 can be had for just $250. Sure, you get what you pay for, granted, but I can still plot my own course in MapSource and transfer the waypoints (WP1, WP2, etc) to my C320 and have a route to follow from that. Certainly not as clean and easy as what your suggested units are capable of, but it gets the job done for a fraction of the cost of your suggested units. To jump from the cost of a paper map to a $1,000 gps unit (or even a $700 unit) is probably not what the OP had in mind. For what it's worth, my C320 works just fine for me, and I'm glad I didn't spend more than I did on a gps unit, leaving more money for mods (and other things like gas for the vette).

 

Rikhik >>> Did you purchase the Garmin, C-330 C-340 ??? if so are you satisfied ?

I also desire a GPS that is basic & easy to use .. thinking of C-340 or Nuvi 350............. Thanks ............... The Dog

 

I really like the Nuvi 350. If you decide to change from the programed route it will recalculate and give street names. David

 

great thread...looking for same info