New Garmin Models Coming 2nd Quarter, 2008

good im about ready to update my c530

Was looking at the feature descriptions on a couple of the new units and saw the feature of "dead reckoning". What's that?

Read http://www.pilothouseonline.com/IS2V1_00/Lessons/main0001.ht...

Quite detailed explanation !

Dead reckoning is estimating where you are now based on your last known position (or fix), heading, wind (or water) currents, speed, etc. Essentially, it lets you estimate where you are now, or will be in the future, with no external inputs. I quess it could be useful if you lost your GPS signal, say in a tunnel, but I'm not certain that it's really useful for an auto GPS.

After all, if you lose your signal you can still stay on the road and read the signs. It's very unlikely that you'll run out of fuel, crash and burn.

Cool

The 255 is shown as having more features than the 260, but at a list price of $50 less than the 260. So what are they cheaping out on to make it less expensive???

Battery life is 1 hour less; that's all I can see. And who knows whether that is even real. By the time the 255 actual hits the shelves, the 260 will probably be down $50 or more.

It'd be great if they didn't get ahead of themselves and would fix the simple programming issues in the current models -- such as the currency converter that's full of errors.

When asked their response is "it's a known issue"-- as if that makes it better. That response on a simple issue like this, coupled with their lack of any effective response (in months), leaves a customer pretty cold when it comes time to pick a new unit.

The concept of dead reckoning in a pre-GPS world I knew. I just didn't know what the Garmin marketing data was referring to. I searched in the Garmin site and found a reference to the 2650:

StreetPilot 2650 has dead reckoning capabilities, so you will continue to get navigation guidance even when GPS signals are obscured. To use this feature, a special dead reckoning cable must be connected to your vehicle's speedometer and backup lights by an authorized Garmin installer. Once installed, your StreetPilot will acknowledge your turns as well as your distance traveled when GPS reception is unavailable. Driving with dead reckoning capabilities is so seamless, you won't even know if you've lost GPS reception.

Speedometer connection I can understand, but what do you think they do with the backup lights? And how do they detect a turn?

Maybe they meant turn signal???

That's what I was thinking, but then how would it differentiate between a turn vs signalling a lane change?

I had a DeLorme laptop-based GPS a few years ago with dead reckoning. They just didn't refer to it that way. This was before the SiRF chipset, so it lost signal much more easily than today's GPS systems. It would just assume you were continuing at your last known direction and speed until it got a lock again. It was kind of funny sometimes, especially if I made a turn or was on a winding road.

I read the manual and they do mean back up lights. Apparantly, the unit has an "internal angular sensor" which must be used to detect turns (good luck with that). So the back up light connection is probably used to determine if your coming or going. Interestingly, the unit can also lose "position confidence" if it's been running in DR mode too long. The whole concept for an auto GPS seems pretty tenuous at best.

It looks like the nuvi 900 series will actually receive digital TV. I'd rather play iTunes movies and TV shows. Does anyone know if that will be possible with the 900?

thx,
Jen

http://www.gpslodge.com/archives/011650.php
If I am reading this correctly, it sounds like they can do this with accelerometers and other sensors that you don't need to wire into your car. Wouldn't that be more accurate than this and less intrusive? Plus with the wiring, it would now be dependent on the vehicle you installed it in and takes away from portability.

Now if Garmin would only reduce the price.... lol

But it will only be available in Italy. Most places such a device would be illegal in the front seat.

Just remember: Anything and everything can be written up in a ticket. you can apply "failure to stop" to any suituation. You can apply "obstruction of view" to anything on or near the windshield. In most cases, you just have to choose your poison.

For instance, is having a radar detector any worse then speeding in a state that doesn't allow RDs?

Finding you way vs not having a gpsr, etc

I think the retail prices are irrelevant. I just bought the Nuvi 260 last week for just under $250. The "Compare" feature on the Garmin website appears to indicate that the 255 and 260 are very similar. The only plus I see with the 260 is slightly longer battery life.

The 255 will have a "Where Am I" emergency feature and will allow you to pay for MSN Direct and FM traffic services, which you can't get with the 260. There's also more waypoints than with the 260 (1000 v. 500).

From GPSLodge came the following additional info, which comes from Garmin, I assume. The new [Nuvi 2x5] models feature ...

New faster processor, making for a faster routing and map drawing.
New shaded elevation maps.
Garmin HotFix capability to automatically calculate and store satellite locations, thus reducing initial satellite acquisition time.
Geolocated Picture capability-Download geotagged photos to the Nuvi to navigate to a loaded picture; works with Google's Panoramio photo sharing community and Garmin Connect Photos website.

In sum, if they were the same price today, I'd get the 255. I want a GP for an upcoming trip, so I'm not going to wait for the 255 price to decrease to, well, 255.

I assume the 260 will go away quickly. The price on Amazon was $250 before Garmin's release. Today it's $243.

You are so right. Magellan's 4250 model is very similar to the Garmin 850 model and the prices are astronomically different.