Portable and in-car GPS units

im new on this site and this might be an old topic but i have a garmin quest (actually 2). i think that it is worth its weight in gold. i feel like a native when i am looking at jobs in the city. i think it saves me several hours per week! i liked it so much that i purchased another for my crew. i hired a foreman that was from out of the area and i thought it would take him a long time to learn his way around but between his skill, the gps and a cell phone he does as good a job or better that i could! this unit sells for around 300 dollars. how long does it take to make up that if it saves you or a crew with a couple of trucks from getting lost a few times. it is also nice because it has a feature where you just push a button and it navigates to your home location. let me know if you have any questions. i think that their great! they also atach to your winshild or dashboard, you can also unattach it and put it in your pocket. it has around 20 hrs of battery life.
jon
 
I bought The mio A701 about a month ago GPS navigation Tri band telephone camera1.3 mega pixels blue tooth and PDA all in one I think its great Its my mobile office Plus about everything else you can point a stick at

Didj
 

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the garmin quest is a little older technology. it has general maps of the US and you down load specific areas that you need. mine will hold most of eastern pa. some of the newer and larger units hold all of the US without doing the downloads. I will definately purchase one for every crew that i add. i will probabally look at some of the newer units but i still think that the ones that i have are more than sufficient! for me it is a necessary tool, just like a chainsaw. would definately not be without one!
 
I have the Garmin street pilot C530.. I cannot imagine not having it. Like someone said earlier, it saves me so much time when I go around doing many estimates. Also, it finds local places to eat, so when you need that mid day coffee to keep you going, you can get it fast. My only complaint with it: You can only program in two locations at one time... It would be sweet if you could plan out your entire route for the day, say, you had 10 jobs to look at... You could plug all the info in the night before, then just go the next day. Maybe the next model will have this.

If any of you are holding back and still using your map, get one of these. They will prove to you to be a HUGE timesaver. The one I have also has a built in traffic receiver (you have to subscribe... like 50 bucks a year) that warns you of traffic, then you can choose to reroute around it. This tool will change the way you travel when bidding.
 
on my garmin quest you can plan your whole day on the computer, i think as many stops as you want on a route. i wish mine did the traffic thing. if you are on the road allot like me or if you dont like getting lost then these are the ticket!!! again i think they are worth their weight on gold!
 
A paper map works well too
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A paper map works well too
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Ahhhhh, yes..

Just like a blake hitch works well, instead of a VT.... or, a dual ring friction saver, instead of the ART...

A map works, but this is a tool that will make you more efficient. Give it a try, you will wonder how you got by without it for so long. I agree, if you are only looking at a job or two a day, no big deal to pull out the paper map. But, any more than that and it is a major benifit. I kind of sound like a Garmin salesman, don't I?
 
what i meant when i said that you can plan your day on the computer is that you can route your day, and then load it on your gps. or you can put in the addresses one at a time by entering the address directly on the gps unit. i sound like a garmin sales rep too... i just wish i could get a commission for all of my friends that i got to buy one! just saves so much time. i dont spend 5 min getting directions from an old lady who doesnt seem to know where she lives and then get lost trying to figure out the directions. so many times i have missed my turn because i was talking on my cell phone but when i am using the gps it talks to me and tells me that my turn is coming up. i also dont have to spend time explaining to the crew where the job is. more time to explain it again to the stump grinding crew. or have to figure out where my lost crew is and how to get them back on track. some times we will have 3 or 4 trucks going to the same job. it doesnt have to save too many times getting lost to be able to justify the 300 dollers per unit that i have spent. especially at 300 dollars per hour for a 5 man crew and a couple of trucks. one of my best investments yet.
 
Last week I got my GPS. After doing a lot of research I chose a Garmin Street Pilot 2780.

There are two features that really clinched the deal for me. One was that the voice directions are given using the street name like this, "In point two miles turn left on Treebuzz Street." Then, at the corner the voice says, 'Turn left onto Treebuzz Street."

The other feature is called 'salesman routing'. Program in several stops, hit the button and a circular route is plotted.

There are other features that are pretty common across the board.

The unit that I bought is factory reconditioned and carries a one year warranty. The recon saved me about 50% of the cost so I got a unit with more features at a considerable savings.

One thing that I gave up is portability. It doesn't have a battery and it's quite bulky. On the other hand, paper maps work well for walking around. If I ever think that I need to walk around I'll wire together a bunch of dry cell batteries...not likely to do that though.
 
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