Using a GPS for fuel economy
 

Please list some uses and what types of units you guys are using of GPS'.

I am looking to map my commute with elevations, speed and distances in realtime.

I have a Garmin Nuvi and a Tom Tom. I like the Nuvi best. Neither tell altitude but the Nuvi has a "max speed", "average speed", "average moving speed", "moving time" and a few other items on one screen - I like that option a lot.

I had a Zire 72 with a Delorme Blue Logger - both ended up having battery issues in the end.

As far as altitude goes, I had a laptop with Delorme software and GPS - IMO 6 years ago it was superior to the Garmin or Tom today for detail/altitude etc. The new GPS are great for finding stores etc though, VERY quick to find a nearby store.

Hope that helped a little.

I just got a TomTom One, 3rd generation. It has the max speed feature as well which is a nice compromise between "plan shortest" and "plan fastest" since 52 is about what I average on the highway.

I have my TomTom alert me if a restaurant that was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives is on my route...

Nifty! A lot of the POI lists are obsolete, unfortunately. This is a real pain since I live in the sticks, so it shows the nearest Lowes as 200 miles away and stuff like that.

I have a Nuvi. I seldom use it - it mostly stays tucked away. But when I am going to someplace new or unfamiliar, I pull it out. (It seems silly to mount the thing on my windshield for the routes I drive every single day, too much clutter and I have no desire to be a blatant gadget freak.)

I also use it when I am going between two points that I know, but I just don't know the best route. For example I know where my mother lives and where my brother lives, but I might not know the best route between their houses. Since I can utilize the GPS to figure an efficient route, that saves me gas when compared to taking a not-so-optimum route.

I will also occasionally use it to double-check the routes that I take every day. For example it did give me an alternative route from the gym to work that I'd never have considered, which is actually shorter & quicker than my old route (hence saving me some gas). The only other time I will use it is to calculate an ETA - then I turn it back off and put it away.

My GPS was a gift - I would not have bought it on my own. I know I would NEVER pay back the $199 (or whatever) on gas. I *might* have saved $5 in gas in the time I've owned it.

-BC

I got my GPS mostly so I could calibrate my speedometer for a coast down test. I also really hate driving in city traffic while juggling directions. Refurbished TomToms have gotten so cheap I found it hard to resist finally getting one. Half the price of what I paid when I got one as a gift fro a friend who gets car sick when trying to read and drive (and is therefore navigationally challenged).

My Nuvi 350 has altitude. I knew it did last night when I was on line, but damned if I could find the screen then.
Today's a fresh start.
On the 350: "Where to?", "My Locations", "My Current Location". This brings up present coordinates and altitude.

<p.s.>Based on that information on my level of knowledge (or lack thereof) of the unit's capabilities, it should come as no surprise that I have absolutely no idea if that information can be logged and downloaded.<end p.s.>

Actually all GPSs compute altitude (they compute position 3-dimensionally), but many don't show it. Your average soccer mom probably doesn't even know what altidute is...

One more point of interest - your GPS is actually the most accurate clock you own...

-Bob C.

I have an old Garmin GPSIII+ which does display altitude as well as tracks where you have been and time and speed for each segment of the trip. Great when you get into a crash because it records the exact time and location. I use the altitude once in a while when I see my mileage dropping on trips and can't figure out exactly if I am going up hill or not - it really shows where the gas goes in those situations. I also have a TomTom 710 with out of date maps even when purchased new and within the first year of free updates got no new maps even though they were out of date to start with. Seems to be a reoccuring charge marketing ploy . . . It has the Mount Hope Bridge as a toll bridge which is has not been in about a decade. Other than that it is great for having all the roads on it where as my Garmin only can hold maps for a few selected areas at a time and they have to be loaded and removed as needed because of limited memory.