Originally Posted By: vsantos This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
ok… enough is enough already.
I have an awful sense of direction and seem to get lost every other inspection and it's making me late at times. Today I pulled up ten minutes late but luckily my client was 20 minutes late so he didn't know.
I am looking for a GPS type device that I can use when I end up on 94 when I should be on 23 like today.
I need some recommendations as to what is good for the money etc. I pretty much need something that will give me detailed directions on how to get from point a to point b.
Originally Posted By: vsantos This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I use map quest or yahoo map to find the destination but they don’t list construction so sometimes I get turned around.
Today I just didn't stay on the right highway and ended up about 15 minutes off course. I'm looking for something like a navigation system I can take with me in the van. Maybe GPS is not the correct thing I'm looking for.
Originally Posted By: cmccann This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Vince,
I had 3 inspections today and I used Microsoft streets and Maps. I take my lap top with me and it sits on a desk in the passenger chair. Works great for me, and I if I do get turned around I have all the mapping I need to find my way instead of print outs that are useless once your off track.
Originally Posted By: bbadger This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I own an inexpensive GPS (about $300) with accessories and while it has a small display I find it helps a lot.
It has a feature that posts the name of the cross street your coming up on and the one your travailing on. With that info and internet directions your can not get lost.
I also have borrowed someones $1,200 GPS, it had a large touch screen and it talked to you.
"Right Turn in 1/4 Mile" etc.
It also had a large built in data base of locations.
For me it was a great toy but for my use I can not justify the $900.00 price difference. If I was a full time traveler I would get it.
I was using the $1,200 one out of state in areas I had never been, it could tell me the nearest 100 Coffee shops, very important first thing in the morning. 
My buddy and I also used it to get to a strip club.
It struck me as we where on the way, billions of dollars in satellite technology put to use finding drinks and striper's.
What a great country we live in. 
-- Bob Badger
Electrical Construction & Maintenance
Moderator at ECN
Originally Posted By: lkage This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I used CoPilot 2000 when I was doing FEMA inspections. It worked very well with the GPS and voice prompts. I ran it on my laptop but they run on most anything now. The newer versions are out now and are around $300 or so:
Originally Posted By: James D Mosier This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
vsantos wrote:
I use map quest or yahoo map to find the destination but they don't list construction so sometimes I get turned around.
Be careful with these on-line mappers, I printed one out and only paid attention to the far end of the trip which was OK, but I did notice that at the very first freeway ramp they had me getting on in the wrong direction. The next week at work I mentioned it to a co-worker who had a story about his wife's experience with the same mapper (can't remember which one anymore). Being new in town she only needed the directions for the beginning. She did what it said and turned a 4 hour trip into a 10 hour ordeal. The sad part was that where she was leaving from was only about 2 blocks from a different on-ramp to the correct freeway, going the correct direction.
Originally Posted By: vsantos This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
cmccann wrote:
Vince,
I had 3 inspections today and I used Microsoft streets and Maps. I take my lap top with me and it sits on a desk in the passenger chair. Works great for me, and I if I do get turned around I have all the mapping I need to find my way instead of print outs that are useless once your off track.
The only problem is I don't have a laptop. So I need a handheld device that I can hook up to my PC to download maps to it. And take it with me on the road.
BTW
I don't know how you handle three per day. I am pushing myself with one a day and a regular FT job. Hopefully when I'm in business for a while I will be receiving inspections steady enough to leave the regular FT job.
Anyway, back on track. Can anyone recommend a handheld device?
Originally Posted By: cmccann This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
vsantos wrote:
BTW
I don't know how you handle three per day. I am pushing myself with one a day and a regular FT job. Hopefully when I'm in business for a while I will be receiving inspections steady enough to leave the regular FT job.
Very rarely will I do 3 in one day. These all came from the same Realtor. He sold 3 homes last week and over the weekend. One was across the street from the other. I'm just now finishing up the reports. Very long day.