Stand alone GPS? Smart phone? whats the verdict

It depends what you do with it I guess. I ride a motorcycle which means I need something water- & shock-proof. And I also like to travel through different countries, which would make navigation via google maps expensive & unreliable (I like unpopulated areas). Smart-phones also get too hot after extended use to put them in a waterproof encasements unfortunately, but this goes for many dedicated GPSes too nowadays (less of a problem with older models ime).

Why are you considering getting one though, since you state your smart-phone works fine for you?

good things to consider......

thinking about it since GPS does suck a fair amount of battery.....would be nice to have something in my car that wouldn't occupy my phone


but all that aside, I'm always looking for an excuse to tell my wife "we need this piece of electronics" 

Haha, you should've just titled this thread "give me arguments to convince the wife we need a GPS" then :gloat:

But saving your bats is a good reason imo. It would sure suck to be out of battery on your phone from navigating when you need it for an emergency, or vice versa. Or when one device malfunctions or gets lost for another reason you'll at least still have the other.

Sorry, I'm single. I was pretty good at it once, but I kinda forgot how to make a good argument to sell stuff I want to the other sex :quix:

My Zumo 220 is rated for 2 meters accuracy I believe, but I haven't used it enough to know if it doesn't drift off every now & then yet. I only took it for a test-spin yesterday, haha, but it did handle every test I threw it well so far. I just need it to stop bitching when I'm speeding. I haven't found the setting for that yet & the alarms get pretty annoying when you really open up. Distractions like that at those speeds are pretty dangerous, Garmin, you might want to re-think that function :nana:

Reasons why I picked this one is because it has the best battery life of the Garmin Zulu series & it also is the only model from that range that can be used for hiking and bicycling like an eTrex. I also liked that it's small so it's easy to put in your pocket or find a spot to mount it on the handlebars than larger wide-screen models. I happened to get a really good deal on a package including all EU maps & RAM motorcycle-mount etc. but that was more of a bonus than a motivation.

TomTom also makes a simple but good bike-GPS, but their flaw is that they don't have an expandable memory,non of their GPSes asfar as I know. You can buy one with maps of all of Europe, but when you try to install them you have to pick one of 3 pre-selected packages because the device simply can't store them all, & you'd need to bring a PC if you need to change your maps-package on your journey. Not well thought out at all, Garmin solved this by simply adding a micro-SD card slot. TomTom doesn't really advertise this so I ended up buying one & then going through the fun process of getting them to take it back & getting my money back, all just days before I was heading out to a month long journey & had plenty of things to do already.

I was looking at the eTrex 20 initially and had almost bought one, but I ended up deciding against it because I was afraid the screen would be too small for biking (I don't like taking my eyes off the road for too long) & the fact that I had to buy more maps before I could use it on the road like I wanted to as well.

Sorry, most of my reasoning is clearly from a biker's perspective and as a European at that(no experience with American maps & their availability whatsoever), but I hope it's still helpful in some way though.

I just timed my Zummo 220 for ya, it took exactly 26 seconds before it was all fired up & knew where it was. Keep in mind this is an older model (2010 I believe), the latest generation is suppose to be even quicker.

Hey, if it works it works.

What phone do you use though? There's a full working version of Copilot Live for Android on piratebay if you'd like to be covered when there's no phone reception too. I have it on my Tab as a back up, it works pretty good & comes with maps of the entire world if you like (you don't have to install all the maps if you don't need them).

I stay away from the bay. I'd use kickass.to if you don't wanna sign up to the one I use.
This message will self destruct in... a few.

It's not that bad as long as you check the comments & uploader first. I have downloaded so many stuff without problems over the last few years myself anyways.