New to GPS - advice

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/6643

Along with rest areas you may want to load some of your favorite restaurants and of course the red light and speed cameras. As you are new to the board, there may be a fee associated with the camera files.

One other set of files that can be useful will be the truck stops and travel plazas. The ones probably the most useful will be T/A, Flying J, Petro, Love's and Pilot. If you are comfortable with Excel or another spreadsheet program, you may want to create a file of all the truck stops (or at least the 5 here) by combining them into a single file. This way if you search for the nearest, the Nuvi will list the closest to you in a straight line distance.

I would read through the FAQs and see how to set alerts using POI Loader. I will caution against setting too many alerts as you could get distracted if the unit starts alerting too often.

Best of luck on your trip. One final item though - consider purchasing the Garmin Friction Mount ("bean bag") mount. The bean bag sits on the dash and can easily be lifted off the dash and put on the floor in front of the driver's seat when you stop someplace. Leaving a GPS mounted on a windshield mount when you pull in someplace is often too tempting for theft.

My wife and I just got back from Orlando and Kissimmee.We go there every year.Here is a file I done that covers some locations for the area http://www.poi-factory.com/node/16697 .

Not sure if there's a lot of red light cameras in that area but it's always been helpful for me in my area.

Good stuff. I've been researching in anticipation of receiving my first GPS, and it's use on a cross country move.

You should get the red light camera file just for the nearly 80 cameras in St. Louis, plus all the ones along the way.

There are some other Orlando area files that you may find helpful or interesting, here:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/4773

I really appreciate all the advice and will look into the security cameras information. As I learn more about how to create these lists I hope to contribute in the future.

Load up those POIs, like red lights, and rest stops, but also add in your house, local stores, and the like. Drive around with it and get used to how it works, and how you're going to use it.

Get used to where it's going to be, and who will be doing what, so that when you take your trip, the roads and the route may be new, but the GPS will be familiar.

and have fun!

Here is another great POI to have if you like Buffalo Wings!

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/17425

I have been using my NUVI since Father's Day and my last real motor trip was from the Phoenix area to Escondido, Santa Monica CA and back to Phoenix. My GPS got me there and back without the slightest glitch. I have found the unit to perform flawlessly even when I was in doubt and disoriented. The POIs were extremely helpful and saw great use.

Be certain to save your hotel location when in Orlando so in your travels you do not have to keep entering the information. Check the forums here for suggestions on how to do that and what to name the POI.

I use my NUVI on just about every jaunt around town. We have many redlight cameras, speed enforcement cameras and school zones so those POIs are very important to me.

I hope you enjoy your NUVI and utilize this most useful tool to the fullest extent.

I never leave home without its POI file.

I've cut back, but there are times when their triple-shots kept me from dozing off at the wheel. Their coffee may be overpriced, but it's still much cheaper than an accident claim.