User Programmable GPS? (auto, motorcycle, lane, best)

[Leisesturm]

Hi. Full disclosure, I've also posted this in Consumer Electronics. But you'll see why I think I might get more responses here -- I have a Garmin Nuvi 255 and it works fine, but I want to try again to get the kind of GPS I wanted in the first place: one that lets me tell it the route I want to take ahead of time and then it keeps track of where I am and tells me the turns I need to make with enough warning so I can get in the right lane, etc.

The dealer where I got the 255 said nothing like what I wanted existed. I was dubious because back in the day I had a Garmin Quest that worked exactly that way. I never used it because it was just a beast to use. It only had 170k of memory so you had a CD of just two states of your choice and you could load in pieces of a given city at any time. Then you mapped a route with still another software program on your PC and fed it to the Quest with a USB cable.

I know some of the off-road GPS's can take route information but I need a unit that recognizes streets and highways even though I will be using the unit to follow pre-planned routes for bicycle club rides. The Quest was $300 and I never used it. The Nuvi 255 was $125 five years later and I've used the hell out of it. Now its another five years and I'm thinking maybe the program feature has made it to the $200ish price point?
Does anyone know?

H

[ukrkoz]

I am really not sure what you asking for. GPS does not have differentiation enough to tell you what hwy lane you are in. Best are good up to maybe 40-50 feet presion, most are 100-200 feet. Likely that's why your dealer told you what he told you.
Otherwise, my GPS units tell me street names and such.
But lo and behold, I quit using them. Why would I, if they need to be updated continuously and I have Waze or Google maps that update themselves continuously and Waze controls your route bazed on other members reports also?


Here's also this:
Here's as far as I've gotten:
1. Create the route in Google Maps
2. Save the route to My Maps (at the bottom of the directions pane there's a Save to My Maps links)
3. On the Android Mobile maps app, go to Layers > More > My Maps > and show that as a layer on your mobile device

You can see the route and your "my location" on the phone. You can follow your way around it manually. But there's no way I can see to make the Navigator follow that route. You just have to do it by looking at it or by plugging in points along the way.

On the mobile be sure to use the layers in My Maps, NOT the mobile My Maps editor helper app. If you view the map there in the editor, you get only straight lines connecting the waypoints, not the road-following route.

There are also some options to export the route from My Maps to Google Earth in some common formats that can be used to import into another app (?) or device. Just not (yet?) the Android Google Navigation.

[manderly6]

For dictating your own route. I know if you go to mapquest you can move the route around to however you want by dragging the route indicator. So I think that would get you what you want as far as customized directions.

Once you do that there is a "send" button. When you click on that some of the options are: mobile/car/garmin gps. I'm guessing if you can send the route to one of these devices it will do what it normally does for a route and give you turn by turn directions. I seem to remember doing this a few years ago sending it to my phone, but I don't really remember how well it worked.

Not to get off on a tangent, but what I always wanted was for a GPS/phone to remember the route you actually drove and then somehow store that. That would be very useful if you know a shortcut, but the GPS would never come up with it.

[Leisesturm]

Thanks, I know that the resolution of a GPS isn't enough to tell you what lane you are in, but, if you know that the next turn is yours you can position yourself accordingly. I don't have eyesight good enough to see the street sign from a block away which is what you need in some places to make the right merge. Or at night when it is impossible to tell where you are even in areas with with you are familiar.

I've learned of a software called "Base Camp" which is a Garmin product. It seems perfect for my needs. I don't use a smartphone and I wouldn't be able to see the screen of one while driving. Most any GPS like my 255 talks to you and Missy as we call her has been a lifesaver, literally. Check out Garmin Base Camp, you might like it. I'm off to learn more about it right now.

H

[irman]

Do not know if this might help, but can you *program* your route with several waypoints ?
Not just two (start and finish location) but with start, then via waypoint x, y z, etc, then to final destination ?

Unless you have a real doozy Garmin, ours lets us know about 1/4 mile maybe ahead, on when to turn and then it tells us again about 50 feet before !
Since I like to keep an eye on the raod, I never see which lane I am supposed to be in, but ours DOES let us know with a visual picture, almost like a real picture, of the turnoff on major freeways.

[Kenjaco]

Hi, I have a Zumo 660. It's pricey but I lead a motorcycle group on rides. I program the route, (all back roads), on my computer using BaseCamp, then download to the GPS. I also then send the route to a couple other riders to help lead. I couldn't do these rides without a "programmable" GPS.
Ken

[Vannort54]

I just use my Iphone and google maps always up to date no need to pay for updates and it gos through our blutooth so we can here it through the speakers ver precise.

[FDeet]

I want to re-emphasize the need to be able to pre program my GPS for an upcoming motor trip. Let's say I want to take a trip across the USA. I want to see certain parks, cities, scenic routes, etc. I want to be able to plan my route ahead of time and have it ready to go in my GPS. I want the GPS to spit out my turns as I go. I want to hear the little sweetheart tell me that in 100 yards I should take an exit that I had planned on taking when I plotted my trip.
So I'm thinking that I should be able to go into some map program on the computer, highlight the roads I want to travel, then download the route into my GPS. I am not looking for the fastest or most direct route. I want my route.
Is there a GPS manufacturer that has this capability?

[notnamed]

Google maps on your phone.

[z28lt1]

Originally Posted by FDeet

I want to re-emphasize the need to be able to pre program my GPS for an upcoming motor trip. Let's say I want to take a trip across the USA. I want to see certain parks, cities, scenic routes, etc. I want to be able to plan my route ahead of time and have it ready to go in my GPS. I want the GPS to spit out my turns as I go. I want to hear the little sweetheart tell me that in 100 yards I should take an exit that I had planned on taking when I plotted my trip.
So I'm thinking that I should be able to go into some map program on the computer, highlight the roads I want to travel, then download the route into my GPS. I am not looking for the fastest or most direct route. I want my route.
Is there a GPS manufacturer that has this capability?

As noted earlier in the thread, the Garmin Zumo has this capability. Also as noted, it is a bit expensive for an auto GPS, because it has some extra features (such as being weather/water resistant) that you would not find on an auto-only GPS.

Many of the other Garmins allow up to 200 waypoints on a route, so in essence, you can force a route, but that's not as convenient.

Finally, Garmin lists a whole mess of GPS units that are able to receive routes from Basecamp, but cautions the route may change depending upon GPS settings, so I'm imagining many times it is only start and end and waypoints that are sent. It's probably worth a call/email to them to confirm which ones really support routes. Here is the list:
https://support.garmin.com/support/s...-000000000000}