Date:         Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:51:36 -0800
Reply-To:     John Bange <jbange@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Bange <jbange@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: GPS for farsighted eyes?
Comments: To: Michael Elliott <camping.elliott@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <478F7880.3090409@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

> Any older folk out there with farsighted eyes (I use 2.25 or 2.50 for
> reading) tried using any of these little TomTom/Magellan/Garmin GPS units?
> Screens look to be too small to be useful for me. Look like they would be
> really washed out in direct sunlight, too.
>

I'm nearsighted and use contact lenses to correct it, which ends up making
me more than a little farsighted in the 2-4 foot mid-range. Last year I
bought a Garmin Nuvi 660 and it's been great. Decent sunlight readability,
voice prompts for navigation, and a pretty good map database have made it
indispensable. As a locksmith with the Los Angeles Unified School District,
I spend my days driving from school to school. With something upwards of 800
school sites, I'm frequently going somewhere I've never been before. My
Garmin has never let me down. I also had a Garmin GPS III velcro-ed on the
dash of my Vanagon left of the driver's side defrost vent as a speedometer,
but it got stolen over  the holidays and has been replaced with my Garmin
GPS V. I am a bit of a Garmin fanboy. My first GPS was a TERRIBLE Magellan
unit (2000XL) which I replaced with the Garmin GPS III. I've been a Garmin
customer ever since.
 I've tried both Mio and Tom Tom units and, while they seem usable, I found
them not quite as easy as the Nuvi. The screen visibility is just as good
though. I think the key to getting a good screen is paying at least $300.
The cheap ones all seem to have cheap LCDs.

--
John Bange
'90 Vanagon - "Geldsauger"