Everbody wrote:$300 will buy a LOT of maps and pay for a few miles driven the wrong direction. Use the computer you have now to print a map. Buy a topo if you're hiking, they don't need batteries.
Yes, it will buy a lot of maps, but good luck using them all while driving. I have one of these and use it every day just driving to work. It reminds me that I'm coming up to my exits in case I'm rocking out too much to my stereo.
I used this on a trip to North Carolina and it got us around without any problems, and I never touched a paper map. We also drove up to Williamsburg, VA, with it. We had never been to either place before, and it worked very well. Spoken directions tell you when turns are coming up, so there's no need to keep looking at a map and tracking which street you just passed.
Yes, we missed a turn or two, but that's what's great about GPS navigation systems -- automatic rerouting. I didn't have to look back at the map and try to figure out the best way to get back on track.
My wife, the most techno-phobic woman I know (she can't even program a show on my Replay TVs), took it when she went to visit her parents on the Jersey Shore. She flew into Philadelphia and didn't want to worry about getting lost. I showed her how to use it for about 10 minutes and that was enough to get her through it.
And there's no more asking "How long until we're there?" The system displays the distance to the next turn and (in a smaller font) the time and distance to your destination. It's great when you have kids.
Plus, it's a Pocket PC, too. That means you can store your Outlook Calendar, Contacts and Tasks in it and get reminders. You can hook it up to your car stereo with a cassette adapter (or FM transmitter) and play MP3s, too. The driving directions play over the music.
I have an iPAQ 5550 with ALK's CoPilot Pocket PC, but I use the WayPoint in my car for navigation. Many Pocket PCs can hook up with GPS receivers, but you won't get many for $300 that do.
If you have any questions, I can probably answer them.
Steve
