Garmin GPS V

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Title : Garmin GPS V
Author : Garmin
Release Date : 20011015
Binding : Electronics
Regular Price : $499.99
Amazon.com Price : $399.88 (20 %)
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Editorial Reviews :
Never get lost again with the versatile and powerful GPS V from Garmin. This compact Global Positioning System receiver can be both mounted in your vehicle and used as a handheld navigator. The GPS V coordinates signals from 12 satellites to pinpoint your position anywhere on the globe, and has WAAS capability.
The Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) is a system of satellites and ground stations that provides GPS signal corrections, giving you up to 5 times better position accuracy than just the GPS signal. A WAAS-capable receiver can give you a position accuracy of better than three meters, 95 percent of the time.

With 19 MB of built-in memory, the GPS V can store dozens of maps and routes in memory. Download data from your PC with the included serial cable. The GPS V stores 50 routes with 254 waypoints each, and 3,000 tracklog points.

The GPS V comes with autorouting for the shortest and fastest way to your destination, plus turn-by-turn directions throughout North America and major cities. The GPS V will show you how to get there and give you an estimated time of arrival, then alert you to upcoming turns with an audible beep.

The included MapSource City Select CD-ROM--designed specifically for the GPS V--gives you detailed street-level maps indicating points of interest. City Select includes highways, interstates, business and residential streets with attributes such as turn restrictions and speed categories, and other navigation features. The software automatically creates point-to-point routes in MapSource and on the GPS V. It also displays restaurants, hotels, attractions, entertainment, shopping, and location of emergency services along your route.

City Select contains detailed maps of major metropolitan areas in seven defined regions in the U.S. and Canada. You'll get access to one region of your choice, which must be unlocked after visiting the Garmin Web site or calling Garmin customer service.

View data on the 2.2-by-1.5-inch four-level grayscale LCD, with resolution of 256 x 160 pixels. A multilevel backlight allows you to see the screen clearly in a variety of lighting conditions.

The GPS V comes with detachable antenna, PC interface cable, dashboard mount, 12-volt adapter cable, wrist strap, and owner's manual.

Buyer Reviews :
The Garmin GPS V is a great unit, the operating system is very easy to use and master. High quality feel and construction make it seem worth the money; also, the included accessories (cigarette lighter adapter, and both temporary & permanent dash mount options--the latter being an awesome tilt/swivel unit) are first rate and leave nothing to be desired. However, if you live outside a major metropolitan area there are some distinct limitations to the street mapping software.

Be sure you understand that BOTH the GPS unit you are buying AND the Garmin CD-Rom software have to be 'auto routing' capable in order to use this feature. Also, each different CD-Rom can only be asked to search for and 'FIND' certain things, whether you are using it on the PC or on the GPS V. Here's the breakdown as I understand it now:

CitySelect: Comes with unit, is 'auto routing' capable, great for metro areas--but almost no detail away from major roads/interstates. FINDS Points of Interest, Adressess, Intersections, Waypoints, Cities and Exits (all being near major city/road/highway).

Roads & Recreation: NOT 'auto routing' capable. Tons of small town/county road detail, and lots of things show up on the map like boat ramps, camp sites, parks, schools etc., but the only feature it can search for and FIND are cities. This doesn't make any sense to me, and seems like a major letdown.

MetroGuide USA: Appears to be the best parts of both worlds, can FIND most all things mentioned above, and has good detail down to county road level. Also 'auto routes' from point to point. I have ordered it, but haven't really used it yet.

Lastly, each CD Rom can be installed to your PC, and selected areas from each CD mentioned above can be downloaded to the GPS V; once there you can select/deselect which one(s) you want to utilize. THEY DON'T 'OVERLAY' each other and add increasing detail, they are based on a hierarchy and exclude each other: 1) CitySelect, 2)MetroGuide, 3)Roads&Recreation in that order.

Overall it is an awesome piece of equipment, and for me worth the price. The mapping software needs some more improvement to really take full advantage of the GPS V capability.

(by An electronics fan)

Features/Technical Specs :
* 12-channel GPS unit with 19 MB of built-in memory
* Includes MapSource City Select CD-ROM with street-level maps and points of interest; unlock capability for one region in US or Canada
* WAAS capability provides position accuracy better than three meters
* Autorouting gives access to the shortest and fastest routes
* Turn-by-turn directions; audible beep alerts you to upcoming turn; mount on the dashboard or use as a handheld device

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