GPS Tracklog

Open Street Map on a Garmin handheld

In last week's Waypoints, I issued a challenge to Free Geography Tools' Leszek Pawlowicz to check out Open Street Map (OSM) on a Garmin handheld, now that OSM has incorporated U.S. TIGER data. He good naturedly accepted the gauntlet and posted his findings. The screen shot at left shows a sample.

I'm disappointed that using OSM data in this way doesn't allow for autorouting. Still, for those of you with Garmin handhelds that don't want to lay out the bucks for MetroGuide or City Navigator, this is another option.

Thanks Leszek!

The Return of Waypoints

Between the holidays, a baby in the house, a trip to Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show and a cross-country move, I've let Waypoints slide since late last year. We're settling in nicely in our new digs now, and I'm actually finding time for a link roundup. Many thanks to all our loyal readers for their patience.

Top stories

• Dash delays shipping the Dash Express by a month. And GPS Review covers has a new Dash video.
• Garmin has released new firmware (v 2.40) for the Colorado series. Here are the links -- 300, 400t, 400i, 400c. Changes include improved backlight, NiMH battery, geocaching, and custom POI support. There is a discussion thread at Groundspeak. In case you missed it, here is my Garmin Colorado 300 review.

Garmin nuvi 780 review

The Garmin nuvi 780 is the new top of the line member of Garmin's nuvi 700 series. It adds a second generation MSN Direct receiver to the other high-end features new to the 700 series:

• Multi-destination routing
• Automatic sorting of multiple destinations to provide an efficient route
• Tracklog recording
• Speed limit display for many interstates and highways
• The newer internal antenna found on the nuvi 200 series
• Automatic marking of your last position when the unit is turned off (to help you find your car in mega-mall parking lots)
• A "Where am I" safety feature that gives your current location, nearest address, nearest intersection, along with quick access to POIs for the nearest hospitals, police stations and gas stations

Garmin nuvi 260W review

The Garmin nuvi 260W is the newest member of Garmin's popular entry level nuvi 200 series. A 4.3" wide screen version of the nuvi 260, the 260W is identical to it in all other respects.  The 260 and 260W are the only two models in the 200 series  to include text-to-speech, the ability to call out street names. That way you'll get "turn left on Highway 128 in 200 feet", rather than just "turn left in 200 feet."

Traffic performance compared

Laptop Magazine has compared the traffic performance of GPS models from each of the top selling U.S. brands.  These are brief reviews that focus on interface and cost, rather than the accuracy of traffic reports. The latter is quite difficult to gauge, since performance will vary from one city to the next. It's too bad they didn't also look at an MSN Direct receiver. Anyway, with those caveats, on to the links...

Discounted Garmin Colorado 400t

UPDATE: Read our Garmin Colorado 400t review.

One of our favorite vendors, GPS Now, has received a shipment of the Garmin Colorado 400t and is offering it for $529.95. This is a bit of a surprise, coming a few days ahead of the anticipated end of REI's exclusive, which was supposed to run until February 11.

The Colorado 400t is very similar to the Colorado 300 I reviewed the other day, the main difference being that the 400t comes with pre-loaded topo maps of the entire U.S.

Moving day!

 

 

Yes, I'm leaving the redwoods. The moving truck arrives this morning. For a while, it looked like we would move to the desert southwest. But a trip back home to Asheville, NC, convinced us otherwise.

More on Asheville in a moment. But first, what does this mean for GPS Tracklog and its loyal readers? Well, posting will slow down and comment response will be very limited for a week or two. Once we're settled in though, I hope to bring you a slew of hands on GPS tests from the trails and cities of the southeast, a return to the (formerly) weekly Waypoints posting and more. So please, stay tuned!

Garmin Colorado 300 review

UPDATE: I'm recommending the new touch-screen Garmin Oregon series instead of the Colorado. It has a superior interface, along with almost all the other good things found on the Colorado. Read my hands-on review of the Oregon 400t for more information. I've also posted a page on the comparable model in the Oregon line -- the Garmin Oregon 300.

The Garmin Colorado 300 is one of the first in a new line of handheld GPS receivers from Garmin. It has a completely new interface, very different from the eTrex and 60/76 series units. I've had mine for a couple of weeks now and have been enjoying getting to know it.

Mio Moov and Mio Moov XL

UPDATE: Read our Mio Moov 200 review and our Mio Moov 310 review

The bovine-sounding Mio Moov and Mio Moov XL are making their way through the FCC approval process, getting one step closer to our dashboards. The Moov units should be the first to ditch the old iGo interface for a newer, more intuitive one born of the Mio / Navman merger.

Top 10 GPS for January 2008

Not seeing last month's list? Click here for the latest listing of the top 10 GPS receivers on GPS Tracklog.

There was very little change in this month's top 10 sport / handheld GPS and top ten auto GPS lists, shown below. The only change, in fact, was the Mio C520 knocking the Magellan Maestro 3100 out of tenth place in the auto category.

We'll see more shifts over the next few months, as new handhelds and auto units start making their way into the marketplace (and I get new reviews posted!).

As usual, the rankings are based on the number of times the units' reviews have been read here on GPS Tracklog, which seems to be a pretty good indicator of the overall GPS market.

Top ten auto GPS

1. Garmin nuvi 260
2. Garmin nuvi 650
3. Magellan Maestro 4250
4. Garmin nuvi 350
5. Garmin nuvi 200W
6. Garmin nuvi 660
7. TomTom ONE XL-S
8. TomTom ONE 3rd edition
9. TomTom ONE
10. Mio DigiWalker C520