Officially Retired My GPS

[fpdsniper]

I was out of town with a buddy this past weekend in his Mercedes Benz SUV with built in GPS. Everytime we needed to find someplace, he said "let's use your Droid, it works better".

 

[ragnoir]

Retired my TomTom

Ever since I got the droid my TomTom has been collecting dust under my car seat. In fact I just gave it away last week to a friend that needed a GPS because his got stolen.

 

[Coop1969]

I was looking to get a Garmin after the holidays, but my Droid is almost all I could hope for. It has this annoying habit of always wanting to take the expressways as opposed to surface streets even when surface streets are faster, but other than that it is all one could want.

Yes, this is pretty annoying. Why it just can't default to the quickest route is beyond me.

I also think that dedicated units are better at saving favorites, and finding pit-stops while driving. It seems easier with my Garmin to find a place to eat when i'm on the road.

 

[DessoThumbs]

A couple of areas where my Droid outshines my TomTom One XL:
- maps are updated for free (last I checked TomTome home wanted 99 bucks! prolly cheaper now).
- finds GPS signal WAY WAY faster, TomTom would take upwards of 5 mins even after a fresh install of GPSFix or whatever it's called.
- Droids GPS/Google Maps are so accurate it's scary. I can zoom way in on my house and the blue dot follows me from the living room to the bedroom! If someone wanted to use it for a smartbomb, I'd be like that dude on the BudLight paintball commercial.

 

[lmapp]

Since I already have the Garmin I will continue to use it. I doubt that I'll replace it or pay for a map upgrade, though. The Droid really does a great job but let's face it...it can get cumbersome using Droid Navi and fielding calls.

Not that it's a huge deal, but in a perfect world having both is nice. I'm just sayin....

 

[pudah]

I didn't think I would because I figured the Garmin would work better, covers me out of cell service, etc. I was wrong and retired my Garmin within days of getting the Droid. It's in the girlfriend's car now, and if i go anywhere that I expect to have cell signal loss, I'll take it with me on a vent mount. I have used it on occasion since and get frustrated in it's speed, bulky size, lack of updated info/traffic/etc., but it's nice for her. FWIW there are free Garmin/TomTom maps out there too.

 

[REMilk]

Since the latest version of Maps with less bright screen for night driving, I have retired my 3 year-old Magellan RoadMate and use my Moto Droid exclusively. I have used in for trips between Richmond, VA and Baltimore, MD; Richmond and Raleigh, NC; Richmond, VA and Edgewater, FL and around Reno, NV. Beginning next week, I will be using it in the upper midwest, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The Droid locks onto satellites faster; the maps are clearer that the RoadMates. The voice navigation of the Droid is not a feature on my RoadMate. The Droid's POIs are more current than any stand-alone GPS I have seen.

The only problem thus far is that sometimes Google Maps/Navigation shows me off the interstate. This 'drift' has not occurred off interstates. I always have the GPS active.

Bob

 

[Murz]

A Garmin/TomTom and Satellite Radio had been on my wish list for a while. Fortunately certain buttons on my old phone started acting up right around the time the Droid was released, lucky me. Problems solved.

 

[RW-1]

I'll always still use my 496, still great in the car, and the helicopter.

 

[Se7enLC]

Until Google gives us a way to pre-cache some maps, there's no way it can replace a real GPS. There are plenty of places in NH, VT, ME that don't have any data service. Getting there is fine, because it will cache the maps on the way there, but it doesn't cache the return trip or the area.

 

[knotbeerdan]

Has anyone traveled outside of the service area using google nav?
Im wondering if it will stop working without cell service to load the maps

 

[Zargon]

My Garmin is hanging around for a while, because I can use it in Europe. I don't know that I'll use it again here in the US.

 

[mwhartman]

My RX 350 is built in so that must stay. I do, however, use the Droid in my Camry and frankly find it to be more accurate than the RX

Mike

Now that is impressive that it more accurate as a built in.

I am a tech for ford next time I have a customers car with a built in for a extended road test ( this happens sometimes with odd noise or drive ability problems) I will compare the nav in the droid to ford's OEM

Yes, last month, we drove the Camry to NYC and used the Droid. It was excellent. We thought that the way it alerted us to turns and exits was better than the RX. I liked is so much that I went into a VZW store and purchased a mounting kit.

Mike

 

[acedzero]

There is also a GPS program for Android called CoPilot Live which, in my experience has worked decent. It also stores the maps on your SD card (takes up a little over 1GB). Other users have given it mixed reviews, but my experience hasn't been too bad.

I was using it on my Sprint Hero before I recently switched to a Droid and it worked well. I do like GM/GN on the Droid though. Like others have said it just needs a new minor tweaks (avoid toll rods is a big one for me).

 

[caboyzcoti]

i have a tom tom and a mio both of which i installed some different stuff onto to make them much cooler like my tom tom can have updates to the firmware and maps and everything for free with the help of opentom and my mio was really sick cause of the win ce on it but the droid as far as a nav blows both of them out of the water with ease, the only reason ill be picking up either of my devices anymore will be to sell them lol