Thursday, August 26, 2010

Garmin Dashboard Disk 2-Pack Immediately


I will just copy and paste the previous review because it says it all "When I received them I cleaned the dashboard with alcohol to make sure the adhesive would stick, removed the cover from the adhesive disk, and pressed it against the dashboard. Would not stick. I tried the other one. No-go."

I did not try to get a refund, but maybe I should, this was a total waste of money - I ended up having to use super glue to make it stick.Get more detail about Garmin Dashboard Disk 2-Pack.

Garmin Edge 305 Bicycle GPS Navigator with Heart Rate Monitor and Speed/Cadence Sensor (Factory Refurbished) This instant


Although this unit was factory refurbished it looked new coming out of the box. I have had no problems with it whatsoever. The kit is complete and has everything you need (unit, mount, heart rate sensor, cadence sensor, and software). Buying the factory refurbished unit brought the Edge 305 into my price range and I am very happy with my purchase.Get more detail about Garmin Edge 305 Bicycle GPS Navigator with Heart Rate Monitor and Speed/Cadence Sensor (Factory Refurbished).

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Garmin Zumo 550 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator Review


Easy to use. feature rich out of the box. Ready for mounting. Open to on the bike to on the road in no time.

Some people say GPS minimizes the adventure spirit of motorcycling. I disagree completely. This device allows you to wander and find your way back very easily.

Buy itGet more detail about Garmin Zumo 550 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator.

Garmin Dashboard Disk Mount for StreetPilot i2 and i3 (010-10646-01) Top Quality


Nothing special but these disc mounts don't really need to be anything spectacular. They do the job exactly as they should and are pretty useful if you need to mount your GPS on mutltiple cars.
Only bad thing about them is that they are almost permanent and will most likely damage your dashboard if you try to remove them. I myself haven't tried this yet since it really isn't a big problem and we forsee using these for a long time.Get more detail about Garmin Dashboard Disk Mount for StreetPilot i2 and i3 (010-10646-01).

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Where To Buy Garmin nuvi 1450T 5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with nuMaps Lifetime


It isn't everything it could be. Maybe it isn't fair to compare something to what I want as opposed to letting it stand on its own merits, but then again that's part of what a review is for. First off a bit of history. My first automotive GPS was a Garmin Streetpilot 3+, a beast of a unit that was huge and heavy (due in no small part to the fistful of batteries required for out-of-car use) and that used a rather small memory card to hold area maps instead of the entire U.S. While it was a nice unit for its time and quite sturdy, it was very slow and ungainly. My next unit, a Garmin Streetpilot 2620, served me fabulously well from 2005 until a few weeks ago when the hard drive failed. I also own a Garmin 7200 with a seven inch screen and XM radio which my wife has commandeered. The 2620 and 7200 are, in my opinion, a couple of the finest GPS's ever built and have forever altered my perception of what a GPS should truly be. Since receiving my Nuvi I have had the chance to give it a small workout and find it quite similar to my other Garmins with some updated graphics and better spoken information. My other units showed an arrow as a track marker while the Nuvi has optional markers that look like cars, trucks, even feet! The entire display is updated with much smoother lines and richer colors. It's a bit like moving from VGA graphics to a 32-bit true-color PC display, nice to look at and much easier to tell what things are. This unit continues Garmin's wonderful tradition of announcing which side of the road the destination is located on, a feature lacking in some units, and adds a (new to me) feature of speaking names of destinations rather than simply calling them "destination" as with my older units. Satellite acquisition is fairly fast compared to my other Garmins and location data appears to be very accurate. I haven't had the opportunity to experience the intersection lane position feature, but am looking forward to that. The suction cup mount is the first one I have ever used and is surprisingly good! The lifetime traffic and maps features should prove to be worthwhile options and I intend to make use of them both. The database of businesses is in typical Garmin style well represented with even small 'mom and pop' establishments listed. Routing is intuitive and works as well as my older Garmins which is a real blessing. You might be wondering why I didn't give it five stars instead of four. Well, one really huge disappointment for me is the lack of a remote control. My 2620 and 7200 both have remotes and I can't begin to tell you how much I grew to depend on them. It is so much easier to input route information with a remote while driving since you don't have to take your mind off your driving and lean forward to fiddle with the touchscreen. Ask yourself this: would you like to go back to changing TV channels without a remote? If you've ever had a GPS with a remote you probably won't be satisfied with one that doesn't have one. Unfortunately you would have a hard time finding one with a remote anymore since everybody is going for tiny ultralight units. Bad decision!!! Another sticking point, and this one is minor although it does bother me, is something Garmin started somewhere between the 2620 and the 7200 and has continued to the Nuvi. Sometimes the voice prompt will say "...please navigate to the highlighted route..." without telling you how to get there. My 2620 would NEVER tell me that! The 2620 told me exactly where to go at all times. The 7200 and the Nuvi, however, both have this same deficiency and I am not sure why Garmin is not correcting it!?!? Minor, but an issue nonetheless. Another area where the Nuvi is lacking is the absence of a way to connect an external GPS antenna. OK, so if you always mount the GPS on the windshield that will never be a problem, but with my 2620 and 7200 units I could put them on the floor on top of the tranny hump where they were out of the direct sunlight and put an external antenna on the dash or on the roof and get wonderful reception. In fact, an external antenna produced MUCH better reception at all times compared to the internal antenna. So why did Garmin do away with the connector? Ignoring the things I prefer, this GPS rates very high in functionality and features and is a worthy unit. I anticipate it serving me well for a long time. One other thing: some folks have indicated that the cigarette lighter power cord isn't up to the challenge of operating the GPS and keeping it charged at the same time. This unit offers to turn off whenever the cord is disconnected which leads me to believe that the cord is plenty able to handle the power requirements of the GPS. I would expect nothing less from Garmin!Get more detail about Garmin nuvi 1450T 5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator with nuMaps Lifetime.

Shop For GARMIN 010-10723-08 AC/DC Converter


The power converter allows me to charge the GPS at home. So I do not have to limit the function when I am driving.

Garmin AC Charger with International Adapters for nĂ¼vi [Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging]Get more detail about GARMIN 010-10723-08 AC/DC Converter.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Sky Golf SG4 Rechargeable Battery


I searched the net for a replacement battery for my Skycaddie and found them priced from $39.99 to $19.99. I was skeptical about whether or not the $19.99 item, branded Magellan, was the same as the more expensive ones. I contact the seller and he assured me that they were in fact the same. It turns out that Magellan manufactures the batteries for Sky Golf. The battery works great, I highly recommend this replacement battery.Get more detail about Sky Golf SG4 Rechargeable Battery.

Order Garmin Nuvi 750 755t 760 765t 770 780 775t 780 785t OEM Cradle GPS Holder


The socket of the unit that came with the GPS broke after 6 months.
I had to buy a replacement. Hope it will last longer that the first one.Get more detail about Garmin Nuvi 750 755t 760 765t 770 780 775t 780 785t OEM Cradle GPS Holder.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Buy Garmin nuvi 750 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator


So this was the first GPS I've bought before. I bought it awhile before a big road trip I was taking to the northeast US (from Madison, WI) so I could get acclimated to it. Since, I've been on the trip and didn't get lost and argue with family members about where we were once (unlike most every other trip), so that was a big plus. I like being able to add via points when you don't agree with the route it gives you. Also, the time of arrival is pretty amazing, 3 hour trips on back roads and its within a minute or two of the right time. Only traffic or red lights seem to stop that from being right on. Was very helpful when deciding if we had time to make it to a party 3 hours away one day, we made it only 10 minutes late, just like the device told us 3 hours earlier.

A couple minor annoyances I had out east was when I wanted to go around NYC, I had a fairly specific way I wanted to take interstates to go around it, and even after adding a number of via points, it seemed to just turn the route planning in circles and really was hosed up, I ended up having to use it just as a "where am I" thing while following a good old map for what roads I wanted to take. I think when its in a major city, there's just too many roads for its programming to decide from that if you want to change it any, its a major pain. Also, for some reason going around Buffalo, it lost sattellite signals for a couple hours, and I ended up having to take the battery out and putting it back in again to reset it and get the signal back. Not sure what that was about, it only happened that one time.

But other than that, its been great. Very helpful at night when you're in a city you don't know and are trying to find a place to eat or your hotel 15 miles away in the suburbs and don't know where you're going. Normal atlases and state maps aren't going to have all those little city maps, and this thing not only has them all but tells you exactly when to turn and how long to your next turn.Get more detail about Garmin nuvi 750 4.3-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator.

Purchase USB to Serial DB9 (RS232) Adapter Cable (Garmin compatible)


Cheap and perfect piece of equipment. Garmin sells one like this for 60 bucks. I would take this over any other one. I did have some confusion setting it up since the disk that they send is for more than just one type of cable but I am from Georgia so I am not all that smart. Great product!Get more detail about USB to Serial DB9 (RS232) Adapter Cable (Garmin compatible).