Using portable GPS

[mwr]

My 2015 FFH SE doesn't have nav, and I'm considering getting a Garmin Nuvi 5" or 6" GPS. Is anyone using a portable GPS with their FFH? If so, how and where to you mount it, etc? Do you recommend a 5" or 6" (larger is better unless it makes using it more difficult).

[Texasota]

I have been using a 5" Garmin (with lifetime map updates) for around the last 5 years. I use a friction dash mount similar to this:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Portable-Friction-Mount-Frustration/dp/B002OL2MU4/ref=pd_lpo_107_bs_tr_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=KAVQF0XQ0JVQP2MZR8WD

 

I like this dash mount a lot and the 5" size has worked well for us. Never had a 6" so I can't comment on the larger size. The friction dash mount has never slipped around and is easy to move back and forth between our two vehicles. It is also easy for my co-pilot to grab the GPS (and mount) from the dash and change settings/destination while driving.

Edited March 14, 2017 by Texasota

[mwr]

I have been using a 5" Garmin (with lifetime map updates) for around the last 5 years. I use a friction dash mount similar to this:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Portable-Friction-Mount-Frustration/dp/B002OL2MU4/ref=pd_lpo_107_bs_tr_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=KAVQF0XQ0JVQP2MZR8WD

 

I like this dash mount a lot and the 5" size has worked well for us. Never had a 6" so I can't comment on the larger size. The friction dash mount has never slipped around and is easy to move back and forth between our two vehicles. It is also easy for my co-pilot to grab the GPS (and mount) from the dash and change settings/destination while driving.

Thanks! It it's not too much trouble, could you post a pic of your Garmin GPS mounted in your FFH?

[mwr]

Tonight I ordered a Garmin Nuvi 57LM 5-Inch GPS and the mount suggested above. It's supposed to arrive in two days, so I should have a report by the weekend.

[mwr]

The GPS and mount arrived yesterday, so I downloaded the maps etc and used it (as a newbie) today on about a 100 mile round-trip drive. Lots of learning to do and this isn't the forum for that. But the mount works perfectly as described above!

[djminfll]

I guess I'm a little late to the party, but have you tried the Waze app on your phone? I used a TomTom portable GPS for years, but gave it to my dad a couple of years ago when I found the Waze app. It not only provides superb directions, but users post traffic spots in real time, so you can decide to re-route, or the app will re-route you.

[Texasota]

Waze and Google maps is great in cities and urban areas. But, when traveling cross country there are many areas where we get poor or no cell reception. A trip to the western states revealed numerous areas in Wyoming where the cell phone was useless.

 

I like and use both but have always liked using the portable GPS on long road trips. I also rely on the speed limit information provided on the GPS. If there is a way to get speed limit information on the phone apps I am unaware of how to do it.

Edited March 23, 2017 by Texasota

[mwr]

I also rely on the speed limit information provided on the GPS. If there is a way to get speed limit information on the phone apps I am unaware of how to do it.

I noticed the speed limit info right away and like it a lot. i find it uncanny they way it switches to the new limit exactly as we pass the sign announcing the new limit.

[Texasota]

i find it uncanny they way it switches to the new limit exactly as we pass the sign announcing the new limit.

Same here. But I have noticed on several occasions where the signs and GPS do not agree. I think it has typically occurred when the highway has raised the speed limit and the GPS still has the previous speed limit data. I assume that when you update the lifetime maps that the speed limit data is also eventually updated.

[KandB]

re: places with no cell service, we used the GPS on the phone when driving through Panama with cellular service disabled; the phone handled the GPS signals just fine (we downloaded the maps before leaving the country). True, there was no traffic data available but it worked great for tracking and directions.

Edited March 24, 2017 by KandB

[djminfll]

I also rely on the speed limit information provided on the GPS. If there is a way to get speed limit information on the phone apps I am unaware of how to do it.

 

Maybe we have different versions of waze, but mine shows speed in the bottom left corner, and when I exceed the speed limit, it turns red. Isn't this the case with everyone?

[Texasota]

 

Maybe we have different versions of waze, but mine shows speed in the bottom left corner, and when I exceed the speed limit, it turns red. Isn't this the case with everyone?

Waze shows that for me too. But, isn't that the current speed of my vehicle (i.e. the same info that my speedometer tells me) as opposed to the road/highway's speed limit? Having it turn red is helpful but not as useful as displaying the current legal speed limit that my GPS does. In order for Waze to turn the indicator red it presumably has the speed limit information available. Is there a way to have waze display that?

[Timewellspent]

Waze shows that for me too. But, isn't that the current speed of my vehicle (i.e. the same info that my speedometer tells me) as opposed to the road/highway's speed limit? Having it turn red is helpful but not as useful as displaying the current legal speed limit that my GPS does. In order for Waze to turn the indicator red it presumably has the speed limit information available. Is there a way to have waze display that?

You can go into Waze settings and have it show the speed limit when exceeding speed limit, Always show or don't show. This is different then the show speedometer setting.

 

[Texasota]

You can go into Waze settings and have it show the speed limit when exceeding speed limit, Always show or don't show. This is different then the show speedometer setting.

 

Thanks for the tip. We are more familiar with Google Maps than waze.

[devinron]

I have a Garmiin nuvi on another car and I can say that the map is very accurate.

[mwr]

My Garmin map isn't accurate at least for one place, my office. The map shows the address for my office on the road which the address says it is on, but in reality the building my office is in (and two other large buildings) are on an adjoining small road (with no separate name) that is not on the map at all. There are no buildings "on" the named road for those addresses. I knew this earlier when clients couldn't find my office building using GPS, and since then I've always sent them specific directions. I don't know where Garmin gets its maps, but there are mistakes in them.

[Texasota]

I don't know where Garmin gets its maps, but there are mistakes in them.

We have been led astray numerous times by both our Garmin GPS and the Google Maps phone app. They are fantastic tools that have greatly simplified navigation when on unfamiliar roads but they are not perfect. When we use these electronic marvels we also keep an old fashioned road map handy (trust but verify).