Date: Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:47:12 -0700
Reply-To: Poppie Jagersand <poppie.jagersand@YAHOO.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Poppie Jagersand <poppie.jagersand@YAHOO.CA>
Subject: Re: Maps vs GPS
In-Reply-To: <9AE15B215EF147908C36D4BD4DF54A44@mike2d93581d7f>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
When my wife and I did the Europe trip we had both maps, a GPS and a laptop with a mapping program.
For planning we'd use the maps. If we wanted more precise route distances it was convenient to use the laptop. Likewise it was nice to have detail electronic maps of everywhere in Europe should we decide for s side trip not in the original plan. We'd use the laptop to enter waypoints, attractions and routes, then upload these to the GPS. Much less tedious than entering information directly into the GPS, then turn off and stow the laptop. When driving we would use the overview map and detail view on the GPS. Should we change our mind along the way we would usually have uploaded route variations from the laptop; thus just a few clicks on the GPS would take us to the new goal, instead of searching through the 2gigabyte waypoint database onboard the GPS. (Which amazingly seemed to list every attraction you could think of, like literally every restaurant along a street. And there are *many* tiny restaurants in Europe! Of course for restaurant reviews we'd
have to turn to Lonely planet which didn't list nearly as many, or local advice where we could make ourselves understood.
--- On Sun, 10/11/09, Mike <mbucchino@CHARTER.NET> wrote:
> From: Mike <mbucchino@CHARTER.NET>
> There's no excuse for this,
> because the 'big picture' is available at your fingertips by
> zooming out on your GPS, until you see as much as needed to
> be able to see it all.
Sure the GPS will show me the broad outlines of the whole route if if I zoom out. But I usually want to be able to see overview and detail at the same time. For instance when I plan a vacation I may have initially thought to drive a loop visiting A, B, C, D but a quick look on the map may suggest that another order of the goals passes by more scenic worthy stops on the way than my initial. There is no way to just "see" this at a a glance of the GPS.
Another observation is that when I drive with just the GPS, (even on a day trip), I may end up in some slow going traffic going through a city, and I want to just look at what would be the consequence of finding a route further north or south. Then I find myself furiously clicking zoom out and zoom in trying to both see how the re-routing affects my overall goal (of say 400km driving), and at the next moment wanting to see what I would have to do for the next few intersections in the city where I'm jammed in traffic.
The screen areas of the different on-the-road devices are on the order of:
8 sq-inch 4.3" widescreen GPS
105 sq-inch 15.4" widescreen laptop
2300 sq-inch 4x4ft map
I like the Garmin maps. I travel to many different countries, and I find that their coverage is better than competitors. It would be nice if maps, mapping software and devices were more interchangeable, but I suspect this is not in the manufacturers interest.
When I lived in the US (in the before GPS age) I used the DeLorme map books, so I assume (hope) that their digital maps and attraction information is as good. Here in western Canada there is a "Backroads maps" from Mussovi (sp?) Brothers. I don't find them as good as DeLorme, though I use them for pre trip planning.
Martin (and '82 Westy 1.9TD "Poppie")
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