Compass Or Trip Computer?

[Sidecar Bob]

Get a GPS. Then you will know where you are going and they have a compass. You can still use a map.

 

[CheeseheadEarl]

Get a GPS. Then you will know where you are going and they have a compass. You can still use a map.

Get a map. Then when the GPS dies, you still know where you are.

Of course I'm gonna have to admit that I do have a GPS. I use it from time to time. But the best drives are found via Delorme's Atlas and Gazetteer. I have 4 of em, each 100+pages that cover one state. Every goat path, fire lane, and just plain old back road in the state is on em, along with other good stuff like boat landings, etc.

Gotta get off the beaten path.

 

[tazairforce]

Get a map. Then when the GPS dies, you still know where you are.

Of course I'm gonna have to admit that I do have a GPS. I use it from time to time. But the best drives are found via Delorme's Atlas and Gazetteer. I have 4 of em, each 100+pages that cover one state. Every goat path, fire lane, and just plain old back road in the state is on em, along with other good stuff like boat landings, etc.

Gotta get off the beaten path.

Cheese,
I'm with you on this one. Throw the Electronic toys in the trunk. Get a paper map and plan the whole trip ahead of time, not as you're leaving home. Plan ahead of time, plot your trip til the next pee/gas stop. Then look at the map and set a route to the next stop. I threw away my GPS after 'That Woman' would keep telling me where to go. She would 'Bitch' at me if I missed a turn off then tell me to turn around. I'll go where I want to go, if I change my mind, as to a route to get to my destination, I don't want her/any one to say a thing. I'll do it my way or not at all, has worked very well for all these years of riding/traveling. I have always managed to get there and come back home.
A Rand McNally/Wall-mart paper map has carried me Far and brought me back home safely.

 

[Lil4X]

I've used maps and charts since I was a Boy Scout, and developed a love of geography early. The great advantage of GPS over a map is that it gives your current position in real time. That saves a lot of head-scratching trigonometry, working out an accurate fix from a few bearings.

On a road map you can assume one line of position, the road, so a single bearing and a hand compass can produce a pretty good fix. But that's still going to take a minute at the chart table with a parallel rule or a protractor. Otherwise, you can make a good estimate of your position, working with mileage and your last good landmark.

A map and a good magnetic compass still can be valuable tools when you want to know where you are. For size and reliability, they're hard to beat.

 

[Joshua Caldwell]

I used my phone to navigate our way to a new hospital for some tests on my wife this morning. I'd played around with Drive+ on Nokia, but continued to use the TomTom for my primary navigation tool. This morning TomTom was no help finding the POI I needed, so Drive+ it was. I'm amazed.

Drive+ is outstanding, but requires your data to be turned on for traffic and weather updates. I just us the data during boot-up, then turn it off. Updates aren't really necessary on a short trip, and I don't need to burn data at that rate.

Those tools don't really use a lot of data. In May I went on a 2000 mile trip using Waze the entire time, only 100mb was used by the app during the trip.

 

[Jayne Shelby]

Personalize to your hearts content! I still say we need a one year reunion of Elio buyers to see what they've done to their vehicles. That would be fun. I'd drive a long way to attend that. Maybe the company would sponsor that. What advertisement that would be.

Count me in on that. I don't plan on doing much but it would certainly be cool to have fifty or so Elio's pull into a parking lot to have lunch. I am sure it would cause a stir.

 

[Lil4X]

DeLorme offers some outstanding GPS applications too. I used an early addition of "Streets" a dozen years or so back to plot and track a 6800 mile trip to the Pacific Northwest and back, hitting all the springtime roadside vistas I could. It ran on my laptop and I'd installed a "Jotto desk" in my new RX to put it in easy reach of my right hand, with the GPS antenna riding on the moonroof's sunshade, looking up through the glass. It was a revelation in terms of finding my to (and back) from even some soft-roading on fire trails in the Rockies. I always knew where I was - and one mouse click away from finding my way back. At night I could take the laptop into my motel room and plot the next day's adventures, selecting "quick", "short", or "scenic" options from the route menu. Guess which one I always chose.

A few years later I updated the software package and found to my horror it had stepped WAY out of bounds. It was now a bit more flexible with a lot of new features, but the interface was so clunky as to make it almost unusable. I broke down and bought a dedicated nav system with my new car - that was much more user-friendly. I miss that DeLorme navigator and may give them another try to use as an entertainment and investigative tool for my Elio's backseater. Just don't call her "Goose".

 

[wizard of ahs]

Thank you everyone for your advice on where I can put my phone! o_O

 

[Elio Amazed]

I miss that DeLorme navigator and may give them another try to use as an entertainment and investigative tool for my Elio's backseater. Just don't call her "Goose".

Hey Lil4X...
If for some reason you don't still have your system, I've got a Delorme Earthmate GPS LT-20 sitting in front of me right now along with Delorme discs. First one is a Street Atlas 2006 USA and the second is a Street Atlas 2009 USA. 2006 is a "install" disc and a "Program Data" disc, and 2009 is a "Program and Map Data" disc.The USB antenna is in good shape and the discs are pristine. Paypal me $30 and I'll buy the shipping to Texas. If you still have yours, the offer is open to any of my Elio family here. This system, though not updated since 2009, is far more in-depth than any standard GPS unit or phone app I've seen. The only drawback is that it runs on a computer. It's great for trip planning and yes (correct me if I'm wrong here Lil4X), I believe it talks to you turn by turn while you're under way and yes, it will re-calculate and re-route if you miss a turn. The suction cup for the antenna got lost, but you can use some double faced tape or a velcro set-up to position it. I used it when I drove semi cross-country. I just don't see myself using it in the next five years. I'd like to think that someone else is enjoying it instead of it just sitting around.

 

[Danno]

Have not seen this discussed. I use a compass when driving in unfamiliar territory. If I get lost it helps getting oriented and back on track, especially on cloudy days. Here in the mid-west most roads go north-south-east-west. Could use a GPS but I'm old fashioned and like maps.

I realize that is not true everywhere. Once in Pennsylvania I was given directions like this: "Well, you take this road 'til you come to the old barn that burned down ten years ago, take a left at the old tree that ain't there nomore and keep going 'til you run out of pavement."

I think you should stay home.