ray1968

I have a Garmin , wife has a tom tom, user interface in Garmin is much better in my opinion. Been a God send. Used is States recently was very good. They are not fool proof but will get you to where you want to go. Make sure they are updated as well , esp with level of new city roads being built in places like Calgary, GTA and Vancouver.

Also recommend one with a Bluetooth receiver for hands free calling

adrianv

Have you a GPS-equipped phone? Check out Co Pilot Live (google it/other search engines are available). In the region of 20-30 quid for Co Pilot on the iPhone for US and Canada. Good value. The advantage of these over the embedded iPhone mapping program is that the maps are stored on the device, no data required. Another one to check out on the iPhone is gMap. Looks cheap and cheerful.

If you do a search of the entirenet, you'll find endless discussions about TeleAtlas vs Navteq (the different companies which supply maps to TomTom et al) and which is better. Both TomTom (PDA version) and Garmin (Nokia E71) have both been prone to sending me round the houses. Purely anecdotal non scientific evidence, but I think they're all much of a muchness.

Like the poster above, I like TomTom, but have not purchased it for the iPhone as it's way more expensive than Co Pilot, which I'll buy when I get to Canada.

Aviator

Garmin no question. I use Garmin in the air and my OH uses a Garmin on the ground. Get one you can program the routes in through Google maps and upload to your GPS, then you can plan and set your own route. The highway maps with all GPS devices are OK, they take you some on some really weird routes if not programed properly. Cheap ones don't allow you the flexibility in programing.

Maps are still the best for highway nav, problem relying on GPS is you never learn the routes as well as using a map. The OH has driven all over the Lower Mainland and still needs a GPS to get anywhere as she follows it religiously, without paying attention to the route.

adrianv

Aha a fellow pilot - I'm sure I'll be picking your brain re aviating once I get settled in Canada.

Good point about the Garmin PC connectivity - their PC software is good and I like the way you can plan and transfer to device, an aviation 496. But I found the device itself a pain to use - too much button pressing! Ditto the aviation GNS530. But I also like the way that Garmin products can load different types of maps to one device eg hiking and driving maps together. This is probably more in depth than neede by OP but good chat nonetheless!

ukcanuck

Hi there
pretty much all the GPS devices are user preference. I used garmin professionally but love the Tom Tom for out and about. It is easy to use for the wife and has things like closest restaurants gas stations etc. Also you can up date it via the web using their community function.
My only firm advice would be to wait and buy one over here. I found them a lot cheaper than the UK. If you can consider renting the different types you are looking at then chat with the OH about which one you both prefer. Costs but might save you in the long run. We had rented a Tom Tom with a rental car one trip so I knew the OH liked how they worked and interfaced.

Being honest unless you are moving to one of the bigger cities once you have been here abit you won't use it apart from trips. Canada doesn't change much and of it does it does so at glacier speed

All have good and bad

hope the move goes well

allicat001

Just to clarify, the reason we need a GPS is that my OH is a truck driver and will be doing long haul trucking as of the end of this month. For the last 2 years nearly he has been shunting in a yard in High River AB. Now he will be traveling all over Canada and the US so has to be easy to operate while driving an artic.

ukcanuck

sorry reading this via iPhone causes to miss points.
I would rec the Tom Tom then nice big screen easy to program on the move although illegal in most provs lane advice, covers the whole of N America and would give him the closest eateries etc when he is in a place ge doesn't know.
Most of the truck drivers I have met are using a Tom Tom.
Lots of add ons to the POI via the web page for different chains and hotels for when he is on the road.

It's what I would use if doing the same thing.

Safe driving

Bob

I've got a TomTom 340XLS, the missus got it for me from Amazon when they had it on sale going for cheap.

I like it...the pluses -

Quite to load and lock onto a satellite, even in built up areas it generally takes seconds and only a couple of times has it taken longer than a minute, usually bad weather.

It's quick to route and if going through tunnels it predicts where you might be in the tunnel based on your speed which is handy.

Clear display, great at night, nice menu that's quick to get info/POI's and directions.

Good battery life if you want to take it for a walk, it'll even route cycle/foot directions.

Decent map updates and easy to edit the maps and POI's.

Cons -

No cancel button in the menu, so a few extra presses to get back to screen if you are browsing though.

No quick button to the base map from the short cuts, it's a couple of menu clicks to see it and you've got to be on the map view to get details of POI's.

Suction cup is a bit fiddling to stick on the windscreen, but it does work well, just get a dash beanbag time stand thingy.

If for some reason it is recalculating a route, it doesn't revert to text view of previous directions so if your going fast on the motorway, you might have to hope you don't miss your exit and quickly getting off the next one sort of thing.

No SD card slot and there's not enough room to add other maps like EU maps without clearing the whole lot as the US/Canada maps are one thing and backing the maps to computer hard drive takes bloody ages.

cargomatic

you need the Cobra 7700 Pro, or Rand Mcnally TND 500 which are proper truck specific GPS for both Canada and the states. Google it to get all the info. they have all the truck stops and everything on them. both are the best you can get. the cheapest place to get it is in the states from either the pilot or Flying J truck stops the garman 465 is truck specific but only in the states. no normal car one is just no good at all.

Almost Canadian

Are there really routes that a truck could not use in North America? One would assume that load is not an issue on North American roads and, if an articulated lorry can back into an entrance in a tiny road in Burton-on-Trent, I fail to see how a good driver would have difficulties in backing into anything in North America. Having said that, I watched a Trail Appliance "semi" take about 30 attempts to back into a single stall that only had about 100' of clearance on both sides so I suppose anything is possible

dbd33

Trucks are not allowed over various mountain passes and on some dams, the Hoover Dam, for example.

cargomatic

The main things you have to watch for is restricted routes where trucks can not go, plus low bridges/underpasses, and also weight restricted roads that trucks can not go on. Someone I know had just got a car GPS which took him down this road with a low bridge. He could not get under it, so had to call the police to block the road off so he could reverse back up this road. The police then gave him 3 tickets which come to more than what it would have cost to buy a truck specific GPS in the first place. Yes a map can take you on the main Highways to where you go. Its when you get to the towns when the problems can start.

I have the Cobra 7700 Pro. I can do multi routing, takes me on all the right routes, tells me where all the truck stops are along my route, or where ever I want to stop. If I brake down it has all the contact details of all the brake down services and repair shops in the local area to where I am including Phone numbers etc. so you can see it is an essential peace of kit that no trucker should be without

G77

There's even some roads in Windsor that trucks are not allowed to use and my TomTom certainly doesn't tell you which they are! So it seems very wise to get one of the truck devices suggested!

jamesmc

i use a garmin nuvi 265, but i carry a bag of maps to check out new drops..
would like a truck one but $300-400, a bit to rich for me..also use the updates 2times a yr..
james

fledermaus

Canadian maps are crap, often wrong. The roadsigns are often non existent or pointing in the wrong direction so a GPS might be a good idea if only they weren't based on the crap maps.

Oh how I yearn for the rigours of Ordnance Survey maps.