How many years have you had a GPSr?

Coming up on my one year anniversary. Something tells me I am not going to win this one...

Bought my first hand-held Magellan GPSr in 1999.
2nd was a gift in 2003 - again hand-held
My 3nd was a C330 1 1/2 years ago and I just ordered my 4th (C340) 2 days ago. (wanted the TTS). Was less than $200 @ circuit City which was less than my original Magellan which did not have routing capabilities. Just location, tracking etc.

You and me both....lol

Ok, so far it is 1999, Ken how much did it cost. It is amazing to me how fast they are going down in price.

I got my first one as an installed option in 1995 (and every year since then). I have only had an after market unit for about a year so I could also have one on the bike. It is nice to have the ability to wonder about then hit "home" to help find your way back.

..find any "veterans" here

I just got my first 2 GPS systems yesterday. First, I got a Navigon 2100T at Staples (BF Special) for $99. I then went to Costco and picked up a Magellan 4250. I will compare the two to decide which to keep. Initially, I like the Navigon - especially the price. But due to limited POI info, it may become a gift. The Magellan is very intuitive, but as I posted in another thread the custom POI update process seems cumbersome. Costco gives me 90 days to return it, so I when all is said and done, I may end up with a Garmin.

The hand held Magellan in 1999 with just tracking, position, speed , direction and location storage BUT no routing I believe it cost about $265 but you are really pushing the memory of this tired 71 year old brain - or what's left of it !
That unit died about 3 years ago ! RIP
The GPSr that is !!!!!!!!

Got my first GPS (Magellan GPS315) on 2/10/2000 at Staples on sale for $126.40. It's still running and I use it when I need tracking and sunrise/sunset, features my nüvi doesn't have.

Got my nüvi 350 on 1/19/2007 for $485 from Neweggg.

RT

My first Garmin was a 350 in 1991, followed by a III,
then a V and now a 660.

Got mine at the Navy Exchange and paid around 525 for it, but now they are CHEAP, But had to have one, never regreted it.

Started off with a GPS for my PDA. Sold the PDA and bought a GPS. Go figure. LoL

I bought a Garmin E-trex in March 2000 and paid $165. I then bought the GPS that comes with MS Streets & Trips in 2003 and just bought a SP C530 last July from Dell Canada and paid $349.

My GPS history includes Garmin StreetPilot, StreetPilot III, StreetPilot 2620, nüvi 660 and nüvi 760. I still have the last three.

The StreetPilot 2620 is a loaner for the family members and the nüvi 660 is now my spare as I cannot leave town without backup. I have become horribly dependent upon these things. It is very relaxing to not worry about getting anywhere I need to be in an unfamiliar place and to arrive on time.

I think the timing goes back to 2002 or 2003. I am constantly reminded that they all of them cost too much, but they seem to be OK when it's time to take one shopping in another city. I carefully load all of the waypoints for the shopping destinations before the girls leave to spend way more than the cost of the GPS.

Those of you who can remember the day you bought each unit and how much they cost have my respect for having such good memories.

Bill

It's not "good memory" but good record keeping with Quicken!!

I'm a newcomer too. I just got my first one last spring.

it was about 2000 when i got my first one.

That's according to my MS Money entry.

Picked it up on the way back from accepting delivery of the Camry.

Does this 'Build-your-own CarPilot' count? This was my first ... pre-1985.

RT wrote:
"Does this 'Build-your-own CarPilot' count? This was my first ... pre-1985."

I wonder if there was a portable back-pack model for hiking ????????

It wasn't really a GPS as I used the cruise control signal to calculate the mapping and vehicle location

RT.

Shame on us for complaining that our GPS might not report what side of the road our destination should be located.

We've come a long way! Thanks for sharing your great article. Let us know what the prize is for winning.

Bill

I got my first GPS, a Magellan Pioneer, back in 1999 or so. I then got a MAP330, then a Meridian Gold and now a TomTom One. I Still use all of them.

Got my first Lowrance handheld about 10 years ago. I thought it was the coolest thing. I still have it but never use it. My auto GPSrs are the coolest thing now.

Wow I got my GPS III Pilot about 10 years ago too and it cost me about $1300. Best little contraption I ever bought. I still use it now as a backup to the Avidyne display that seems to blow up every year or so at a cost of $35,000 ( long live warranties!! )

Although the Global Map 100 isn't an aviation GPS, I carried it as a backup when I was a US Navy SH-60B helicopter pilot. Our system would crash all the time and it was nice to mark the position of "mother" (ship) before we launched. I have fond memories of my friends making fun of me when I was walking around all over Andros Island (AUTEC) playing with the thing.

I didn't think Lowrance made anything but aviation models. Back in 1997 I'd also use my GPS III in my car. My wife thought I was nuts of course. It only displayed major highways and railways, but I'd be able to input waypoints along the perceived route and get a pretty consistent arrival time at the end of trip. Final ETA was about all it was good for and even then only when the traffic kept moving and the speed was consistent. Ahhh good times!

Lowrance makes the Iway auto gps units, too. They got their start in marine electronics. Personally, I've never even seen a Lowrance aviation unit. I've only used Bendix/King Air and Garmin aviation units. And the "whatever" piece 'o crap unit the Navy put in the old SH-60Bs...

my daughter bought me a garmin i2 in march 2005. I needed the unit because I'd get lost going around the block! I soon had several of my friends buying the i2 and i3. nothing but praise for these units. Last march I bought a garmin c330( gave the i2 to my son). I think the lowly c330 is the greatest but I now want the features on the nuvi660. I'v got to figure out what to do with the c330 so I'll have an excuse to buy the660! I do have another daughter mmmmm?

I got my first GPS (Garmin GPS III) back in 1997. Ten years later it still works fine. I only had to have the 10 year lithium battery replaced ... and get this Garmin paid for it even shipping. This gives me hope that in a few years when I need a new Nuvi battery I may not have to pay for one!

First stand-alone (had software and plug in antenna for a laptop around 99) was my Etrex Vista in 2001...followed by a StreetPilot III, a GPSMap 60C, StreetPilot 2610, GPSMap 60CSx, and now the Nuvi 750. Still have all but the III and the 60C, but hefty crack in the Vista screen (but still oerates fine, just difficult to see some stuff) and a fading display on the 2610 (extremely difficult to see in the day...sometimes bright, sometimes dim). I'm thinking the next one should be the implanted chip in my brain!

Got my Garmin GP72 in December 2001 after some extremely hard hitting hinting to all the family back in South Africa.
So got my grubby little mitts onto it as a Xmas gift for the first visit home! Absolutely brilliant when dune bashing in the desert and not getting lost in some God forsaken wadi.

Bought the Nuvi 670 in March 2007 and it is a great piece of kit.

Have just received a GPS unit bundled a purchase of the new Sony Ericsson P1i smart phone. So far not much joy and a pain the the b*tt to set up. Will keep trying though to see if it is even worth using...

and my GPS Map 76CX a year ago. Found both to be invaluable very quickly. What's really changed a lot in this past year is this site. When I joined it there were something like 10 poi files, and about that many members too.

GC

For four years...I bought my first GPSr (a Garmin Street Pilot III) in May '03 and being a Mac user, I had to use a friends PC to program the 128mb SD card.

When I heard Garmin was planning support for the Mac OS, I was ecstatic!!!

Almost four years to the day, I bought a Nüvi 670 and couldn't be happier. Compared to the Street Pilot III (now discontinued), the Nüvi 670 is light years ahead in features "and" supported on the Mac OS.

Aaaaah, life is good and getting better...

Regards,

tailspin

P.S. Now if a Genie appeared and gave me only one wish, I'd ask for Mapsource software, for the Mac OS.

P.P.S. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it...

Regards,

tailspin

Nüvi 670
Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard)

About three months.
I was visiting a friend in a coutry
location. No trouble getting there, but
coming home at night was always a problem.
No street lights, and the was back was
different that the way there.
Sooo, GPS inspireation came on.

Hmmm about 9 months. Have had the other handhelds for Geocaching) for abotu 2 years. I read a map very well but I don't know what I need without it.

SP 27720 2 1/2 Years and The C330 They are both awesome

I just got my garmin nuvi 200 as an early holiday gift. I love it so far. I am also a new member here and this is my first post.

welcome, you will love this site (esp. since you are a garmin user)

I found a HPiPAQ rx5915 on sale. Since I was looking for a pocket PC to replace my PDA and this has Tom Tom built in, it was a no brainer for me. Use the PC more than the GPS but it still is a nice combo.

Cheers

Brand new to GPS here. Nuvi 200w for Christmas...

I bought a Lowrance GM100 - believe it was the first one with downloadable map capability.

Still have it and it works fine, although I never use it anymore. My SporTrak Pro is a more capable GPS and it's smaller and lighter. Thing runs forever on only two AA's.

Received my first GPS the Christmas of 2006, a Garmin 320. Gave it to my son and bought a NUVI 350 in May 2007 for myself......Guess I'm considered a rookie. Jake

I bought mine originally for my wife who was taking a road trip with one of our daughters. I had used them for several years in rental cars. Now it looks like they are one of the hottest selling electronics items for the holidays.

I had a pda that I had a half way workable gps on and I used it for about a year. It was awkward to use.
Then went to laptop with MS streets... I found that to be awkward also.
Bought my Nuvi 350 in June... and use it all the time (never leave home with out it).

I can see in maybe a year or so.... upgrading to one that has the 3-d maps on it.

While at best buy on black Friday, I almost bought about 10 of the 660's they were selling. I had them in my basket and then backed out because I already had several computers. The 660's were going for $399 and today they are $799.
But I bet they will drop to about @$299-$399 before long.

oh well.

I bought my mio c310x in Feb. 2007. Although In was no stranger to the world of GPS, I was waiting for one I could afford o my teacher's salary.

I bought my first one about a year ago a tom tom, i didn't like it now i have a c-530 garmin i love it

Got my first GPS (C530) on August 25th, 2007, and love it.

My first gps is the Navman PIN100 in 2003. It still going strong and the red light cameras work with my Nuvis and the Navman PIN100 too.

What do you mean by that? The 350 has 3D maps already on it. Unless you are talking about something else...a little confused here.