After staying in South Florida all winter we’re back on the road again! We’re currently in Perry Georgia for the FMCA International Convention. We’ll be giving lots of computer seminars here this week. When we’re not giving a seminar, you’ll find us at the Computer Help Desk area. If you’re here too, stop and say hi!
For the entire 5 years we’ve been on the road we’ve used a GPS navigation system on our laptop to help us find our way. I wrote about this in a previous post, including a short video. This time, we also have a Garmin Nuvi ‘dashtop’ GPS. It is so much more convenient for taking with us in the car, and it has a much louder speaker than our laptop. Today was the first time we used *both* the laptop and the smaller ‘dashtop’ unit.
Here’s a picture of the Garmin:
And, here’s the laptop with MS Streets and Trips at the same location:
I SO appreciate the big picture! You can click on that image above to see a bigger one. And, planning your trip on the computer is so much better as well. It seems you need to already know where you’re going before you start programming it into the little one. I know I still have a lot to learn about using the Garmin, but, for RV travels – we’re going to hang on to the laptop with Streets and Trips.
How about you?
Chris Guld, www.GeeksonTour.com
Computer Education for Travelers
Gerald Bentley
I prefer the laptop for my motor home I have the room and I like the large size
RV LAD
MY FIRST GPS SOFTWARE WAS GARMIN 99S DISPLAYED ON MY LAPTOP, A 19″ TOSHIBA. I WAS VERY PLEASED AND AMAZED WITH THE INFORMATIONAL DATA AVAILABLE AND ALL THE FEATURES AVAILABLE. ACTUALLY MUCH MORE THAN I’LL EVER USE, BUT VERY COMPLETE WHEN NEEDED. THE ONLY DISADVANTAGES WERE THE CUMBERSOME SIZE OF THE LAPTOP WHEN I USED IT IN MY TRUCK, AND THE BIG PROBLEM WAS THAT I WAS USING A NON TRUE SINE WAVE INVERTER TO RUN MY LAPTOP AND CHARGE ITS BATTERY. VERY BIG NO-NO, AS I LEARNED THE HARD WAY. I LOST THE SCREEN ON MY LAPTOP BECAUSE AS I LEARNED, ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY DOES NOT LIKE ANYTHING BUT A CLEAN SINUSODAL POWER SOURCE. IN DESPERATION I BOUGHT A DASH (HAND HELD) TOM TOM FOR ABOUT $100, AND FOUND IT WORKED VERY WELL AND IS MUCH EASIER TO USE FOR BASIC POINT T POINT. SO IN MY CASE NOW IT DEPENDS ON THE TRIP WHICH ONE I USE AND MOST OF THE TIME I USE BOTH. ONE OTHER NICE FEATURE OF THE HAND HELD IS THE POTABILITY. I USE IT WHEN WE HIKE OR JUST WONDER AROUND. IT ALWAYS TAKES US BACK TO OUR RV
LARRY D.
Jeff Mawbey
A month ago I purchased a 2010, Northern lite 9.1/2 ft camper.
Not knowing a thing about GPS, and noticing there is alot of different models on the market, any suggestion as to what brand and model I should be thinking about purchasing.
Thanks
Jeff