Do you own a GPS unit?

[Baldrick]

Yes, I have a globasat bluetooth device for my laptop. I'm really going to need it when I'm driving in Berlin, Cologne and Leipzig this summer.


Thanks to waheed for the poll idea...so if you don't like the poll don't blame me...

[ROF]

I own three GPS devices. A humminbird matrix fishfinder GPS unit, a Navman Pocket PC with GPS, and a Magellan Roadmate In-Dash Unit. Getting lost is not an option.

[MeDiCo_BrUjO]

Yes, Tom Tom Go 700.

[FulciLives]

Unless you will be out in the middle of nowhere ... like hiking or camping in the "deep" woods ... I see no good reason for a GPS.

It's too BIG BROTHER for me I guess.

But if I got lost in the middle of nowhere would be nice if someone could track me down LOL

Assuming I wanted to be found.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[MikeV]

Yes, in the wife's vehicle. She is always getting lost in town. She just has to turn it on, press the home button, and in about a minute it gives her directions back home.

[waheed]

I own a Road Angel Navigator:



It also includes speed camera detection so alerts me when im approaching a speed camera. Very useful especially when you're not using navigation mode.

[redwudz]

I bought 8 Garmin GPS V's for our people to use. I like it because it will run on the internal batteries or plug into the lighter socket in the vehicles. I have one myself for my own car that I use on trips. It averages about 6 meters accuracy most of the time, good enough for our purposes. Our surveying people have a GPS setup that can locate within a few centimeters vertical and horizontal. Very expensive, though.

We have a bunch of people locally that use them for 'GeoCaching'. It's like a treasure hunt. You get the basic GPS coordinates, then a list of clues to the exact location and try to find a hidden plastic box with trinkets in it and a note pad. You write your name and the time you found it on the pad, and keep one of the trinkets and leave another. Interesting hobby.

[hech54]

Just the one came with my VW...a sat/nav really more than a regular GPS...pretty cool actually.

[hech54]

Yes, I have a globasat bluetooth device for my laptop. I'm really going to need it when I'm driving in Berlin, Cologne and Leipzig this summer.

Especially Berlin....I love Berlin but ONLY on a bicycle....Berlin SUCKS to drive in.

[Richard_G]

More than one. Factory fit satnav unit in company car (which also has a second GPS unit installed tied to a GSM phone as part of a theft recovery unit), Magellan for serious work, MicroFuzion speed camera warning device and an old Garmin 75.

[yoda313]

No need for one - I use the FORCE

[dwill123]

I think people are getting a little gadget crazy. Unless you're flying an airplane what the hell do you need a GPS for?

[gadgetguy]

No need. Everyone knows that real men don't get lost and always know where they're going.

[NiteLite]

Just wondering if all the "No" answers remember that cell phones have GPS built in.
My 3 yr old Nokia does but I do have the option of turning it off unless I dial 911 (emergency service in the US.)
I have read that newer cell phones have the GPS and NOT have the option of turning it off.
Now that is getting a little too "big brother" as "FulciLives" mentioned in his post.
The new phones will be auto turned on and any government agency will know where you are at any time they choose ...within 10 meters. So you have a 10 meter head start if that helps

NL

[FulciLives]

I don't now nor have I ever owned a cell phone.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[leebo]

I don't now nor have I ever owned a cell phone.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

Back in my day.....

[FulciLives]

I don't now nor have I ever owned a cell phone.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

Back in my day.....

I just see the whole cell phone phenomena as a means to get more money out of us. No thank you to that!

You know what ... I did fine without a cell phone for most of my life ... mostly because they didn't exist, yes, but still life was fine. I don't need one. I don't need another $40, $50, $100+ extra bill a month.

Plus you got the whole brain cancer issue.

I smoke. Yes that can and probably will cause cancer. My point is I already have one bad habit that can cause cancer ... I don't need more on top of it.

I could cancel my home phone and only have a cell phone but that seems too alien to me. One thing in life you are supposed to have is a home phone. Not just a cell phone. It's too strange to have a cell phone but not a home phone. Call me traditional *shrug*

As for owning a GPS ... Tom Tom can shove it up his ass!

Anything you really don't NEED is a toy ... granted in modern life there are things we feel we need that may not really be a NEED but even with that in mind you cannot convince me that you need a GPS or a cell phone ... and since you don't need them ... that makes them toys ... and boy they sure make for some boring toys. I can get excited over a big screen TV or a DVD player or a camcorder ... those are FUN toys ... owning a cell phone and a GPS ... I fail to see the "fun" in that. It's just more money out of my pocket.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[redwudz]

I've got a cell phone, a HF scanner, a VHF transceiver, and a GPS in my work vehicle, so they know where I am all the time anyway. (But that doesn't mean I am really working.)

I use the GPS quite a bit for getting exact locations of problem areas. It also names roads that have no signs. I mark those locations as waypoints and input them to a computer map for future reference. I also use it to find these same locations at a later date. Most all of our emergency vehicles and utility companies have GPS, so I can give them an exact location without worrying about a street address.

And I do occasionally use it to find my way to a location.

[manono]

Most open ocean fishermen have them. I've had one for years. You mark good fishing spots with them, and use them to find your way back to the harbor at night or during storms.

[mats.hogberg]

Just wondering if all the "No" answers remember that cell phones have GPS built in.

Not so. But all cell phones (like any radio transmitter) can be located by triangulation from the base stations. But that doesn't make the GPS receivers.
A true GPS receiver can't be located - it knows where it is by triangulating its position (the GPS satellites are the transmitters) but without any other kind of communication device (like hooked up to a cell phone) that's it.

/Mats

[ROF]

Anything you really don't NEED is a toy ... granted in modern life there are things we feel we need that may not really be a NEED but even with that in mind you cannot convince me that you need a GPS or a cell phone ... and since you don't need them ... that makes them toys ... and boy they sure make for some boring toys. I can get excited over a big screen TV or a DVD player or a camcorder ... those are FUN toys ... owning a cell phone and a GPS ... I fail to see the "fun" in that. It's just more money out of my pocket.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

I can agree on the cell phone not being a fun toy. I have mine for it's convenience factor. I also own my GPS devices for the same reason. Not as toy or something to get excited over but as a convenience factor. As someone else pointed out I can now go out fishing on the water at night and not have to worry about getting home. I can drive from point A to Point B and if I end up at Point C I can quickly and conveniently find my way back to point B.

A big screen TV or new DVD player will only make your imprint larger on your favorite sitting spot. That's something to get excited about.

[NiteLite]

Just wondering if all the "No" answers remember that cell phones have GPS built in.

Not so. But all cell phones (like any radio transmitter) can be located by triangulation from the base stations. But that doesn't make the GPS receivers.
A true GPS receiver can't be located - it knows where it is by triangulating its position (the GPS satellites are the transmitters) but without any other kind of communication device (like hooked up to a cell phone) that's it.

/Mats

Thanks for the info.
Cell phones allow "Location Info Sharing."
While not labeled now as GPS it appears to have the same end result.
Ex. A car can be tracked by GPS...a person can be tracked by using a cell phone.
Soon if not already they will have cells with (pick a name) that will be always on and allow tracking by those who have power and means as decreed by gov't approval.
Thanks again for the clarification.

FulciLives wrote:

Anything you really don't NEED is a toy ... granted in modern life there are things we feel we need that may not really be a NEED but even with that in mind you cannot convince me that you need a GPS or a cell phone ... I don't need one. I don't need another $40, $50, $100+ extra bill a month.

My congrats. I wish more people felt the same.
My cell phone bill is 15 cents per month. I have to make one call per month to maintain service. I go months w/o needing it With my old phone I went 4 yrs w/o using it. So I can relate.
However; with only a two person family and my mother's health issues it is needed to be in contact with her when I am not near a land based phone. I wish it wasnt but it is now a necessity.
Most all Technology has it's good and bad points.
Toy? Not for me. For those people driving towards me text messaging, tuning radio stations, or watching TV on their cell phones, it's beyond toy, It's a horror movie.
NL

[mats.hogberg]

Cell phones allow "Location Info Sharing."
While not labeled now as GPS it appears to have the same end result.
Ex. A car can be tracked by GPS...a person can be tracked by using a cell phone.

No, wrong again. A GPS unit can't be located. It knows where it is, but it doesn't in any way transmit this information to anyone besides the one watching its screen.
A phone (while not a GPS unit) can be located by finding what base station it's connected to. Depending on how big the base station grid is, this can be a matter of square miles in precision.

/Mats

[NiteLite]

Cell phones allow "Location Info Sharing."
While not labeled now as GPS it appears to have the same end result.
Ex. A car can be tracked by GPS...a person can be tracked by using a cell phone.

No, wrong again. A GPS unit can't be located. It knows where it is, but it doesn't in any way transmit this information to anyone besides the one watching its screen.
A phone (while not a GPS unit) can be located by finding what base station it's connected to. Depending on how big the base station grid is, this can be a matter of square miles in precision.

/Mats

Mats I guess we are from two different thoughts.
What do you mean a GPS unit cant be located.? How do law enforcment track a stolen car with GPS if it cant be located?
As mandated by US gov't the cell phone can be located within 10 yards not square miles.
Again, how is this different from the other. They are both used as tracking devices.
Truly I am open to clarification.
NL

[Baldrick]

gps units can only receive, you must have something that transmits the data where you are to be able to track it. Like a built in cellular, radio, satellite modem or similiar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPS_tracking

[mats.hogberg]

Xactly.

which also has a second GPS unit installed tied to a GSM phone as part of a theft recovery unit

- because the GSM unit by itself is of no use for finding it.

/Mats

[NiteLite]

Ok, think I'm getting what your saying.
The woman kidnapped in her GM car with GPS was tracked to her location only because of the addition of a secondary device (cell phone 2-way communication), (built in computer interface with the on-screen display) that allowed reception to GPS and the tracking thru GM and local law enforcement.
NL

[yoda313]

I don't need another $40, $50, $100+ extra bill a month.

Do what I do and get a "pay as you go" plan. Tmobile has a option to do monthly minutes or a year plan. I can get a 1000 minutes for a $100 and it lasts for a year. Then I just renew before it expires.

I hardly talk on the cell phone much. Its just a nice emergency feature to have. You never know when you might need it. Plus mine has limited web access. I get cnn and espn free so I can read sports at lunch free on my cell anywhere I go. Pretty nice deal if you ask me.

I don't need to spend $40 a month for a 1000 minutes a month. Its been almost a year and I still have 700 minutes left!! (oh yeah forgot to mention the minutes roll over too )

[Richard_G]

Ok, think I'm getting what your saying.
The woman kidnapped in her GM car with GPS was tracked to her location only because of the addition of a secondary device (cell phone 2-way communication), (built in computer interface with the on-screen display) that allowed reception to GPS and the tracking thru GM and local law enforcement.
NL

Your getting there. A GPS unit only knows where IT is, mhence the uses for two of mine. The one in the Satnav in the car knows where it is and, as I've told it where I want to go and it is programmed with a detailed road map, can tell me which direction I need to travel in. It can't tell anyone else where it is though. Similarly, the speed camera warning has a database of where the speed cameras are and knows where it is so can warn me if I am within 500 yards of a speed camera.

The theft recovery ststem is a bit different in as much as it can tell someone else where it is. It would be a bit pointless otherwise. It consists of a GPS receiver and cellphone. If the car moves more than 1/4 mile without the ignition being switched on (because it's on a trailer), it phones it's base and tells them where it is. If I was to drop the keys and someone picks them up, as soon as I realise it's missing, I contact the service operators and they phone it up and ask it where it is. Very good system and very simple too. The operators claim to have never had a failure. They thought they had lost one car a couple of years ago. It was stolen in the UK and they were unable to contact it. 2 months later they got a call from it telling them it was in West Africa. It had been stolen and put in a steel container, hence no GPS or cellphone coverage. As soon as it was taken out of the container, it got cellphone service and a GPS fix, realised it wasn't within 1/4 of a mile of where it had last been and phoned home to tell them where it was.

Unfortunately, this system works in every country in the world except for the US because it uses a GSM phone and a US version of the same system wouldn't work anywhere else in the world because the US don't use GSM (much).

I suspect the kidnapped woman you mentioned, wasn't tracked by GPS but by cellphone. As has already been said, a cellphone can be tracked because the network knows which cells it is logged into. In a city centre, these cells (GSM anyway as that's the system I work with) can be as small as less than 100 metres square. In a rural area, the maximum range between cellphone and base can be up to 21.4 miles, so base stations could be 40 miles apart.

How do these people who say they don't have a cellphone live? Do you never go anywhere? I never publish my home number for work reasons, only my cellphone. If I am at home and aren't working I can switch it off, the rest of the time I don't lose out on any work because I can be contacted no matter where I am. You obviously don't work for yourselves....

[gadgetguy]

... How do these people who say they don't have a cellphone live? Do you never go anywhere? I never publish my home number for work reasons, only my cellphone. If I am at home and aren't working I can switch it off, the rest of the time I don't lose out on any work because I can be contacted no matter where I am. You obviously don't work for yourselves....

I work for myself and I do not have a cell phone. It was one of the reasons I went into business for myself. I spent 20 years wearing pagers and/or cell phones and it burned me out. I have a land line and an answering machine. Most of the work I do is from my office at home and if I have to go on site, then my full attention is on that task without annoying interruptions.