Garmin 010-00321-00 GPS 18 Deluxe USB GPS Sensor with nRoute and City Select Navigation Software
By: Garmin Average Rating: 4.0 Total Reviews: 78
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 On: 2008-06-11
We are still learning to use the sensor and software on our laptop computer in our motorhome. We have only taken one trip using the same but are very pleased with the map and spoken directions.
On: 2008-03-27
5th Garmin product. I had the 10 for over a year and it NEVER worked correctly. Took over 30 min to set up each time. Wonderful when and if it worked. Gave up and trashed it and purchased the 18. WOW is it great; plug and play. Less than 1 min. Out Damn Standing. Still mad at Garmin but not like before.
 On: 2008-02-08
It was easy to load on laptop computer and works fine. It will even pick up several sattelites inside my house. It picks up a lot more outside and is a lot more accurate when picking up more sattelites.
 On: 2008-01-12
I am returning this product, because maps must be at least 4 years old.
An update to current maps released may 2007, must be purchase at the company web site where GARMIN demanded an additional $75 dollars.
What a terrible way to do business. I would not touch any other model and am currently shopping for a TOM TOM.
On: 2007-11-15
Works exactly as described. Very easy to setup and start using. Maps are very accurate. GPS positon while driving is very accurate with minimal lag. Works better than my Mazda RX8 OEM system at a fraction of the price. Excellent product.
On: 2007-10-28
I was very excited to purchase this product. I typically have my laptop open while my husband is driving anyway, so I saw this as a great way to get full GPS navigation capability at a fraction of the price of a standalone GPS unit.
However, the nRoute software that came with this unit is a catastrophe. Garmin has written fantastic, intuitive, usable software to run on its standalone devices - but nRoute has none of those characteristics. Use it for 5 minutes, and you will be pulling your hair out.
I write software for a living, and Im always the person my relatives turn to when they need their computers fixed. My friends are always amazed at my ability to figure out and use complex software applications. But nRoute contains enough flaws that it becomes frustratingly unusable, even for a tech-saavy individual like me.
What is the most common thing you would want to do with a GPS navigator? Why, enter a street address and route to it. Unfortunately, this simple act is virtually impossible. To select the street, you type a portion of the street name. The software then ignores the city/state/zip code youve already entered, and displays every street in North America that looks similar. For example, I tried to do a search for "River Road". Over 50 different river roads are listed, with such useful names as "River Rd", "River Road", "River Road Rd", "River Road 1", "River Road 2", etc. The best you can do is choose one, make several mouse clicks, and then be told that there are no matches. (That street doesnt exist in that city - no matches!) So you attempt to select the next street in the list (which requires 5 mouse clicks), only to be told that there are no matches there either. Working your way through 50 different possibilities can take several minutes. After a week of use, I have NEVER been able to get the software to recognize a single street address.
If you already know the exact location youre trying to go, you can manually find the location, right-click, and choose "Route to here". But can you imagine using an interface like that, for example, in Google maps? "Heres a picture of LA ... just manually find the place youre trying to go, zoom all the way down to the street level manually, and right-click..." Thats absurd, but thats what you have to do. So the only way Ive been able to use this software at all is to do a preliminary search with Google Maps, visually identify where Im going, and then manually locate that same location in nRoute. If you happen to be in your car without an internet connection, youre out of luck.
For the record, it is easier to search for a point of interest in their database. So if you know youre looking for the Hilton, you can search for potential matches, pick one, and route to it. When other people report success with this product, I imagine that they must be using it in this way.
Of course, if you perform a search for a generalized category like "Restaurants," the user interface becomes maddening once again. It would make sense to display the results on a map, but instead they are displayed in table form. You can click on the results one at a time, and the map will zoom down to show you the intersection where that one result is located - but it zooms down so far that you cant see where it is located in the overall scheme of things. You cannot interact with the map to change the zoom level until you dismiss the table of search results. Then if you want to see where the next search result is located, you have to open the search window and restart your search from scratch. So there is no way to do something simple, like see whether a bunch of restaurants are clustered together nearby.
When youre in motion, the software gives voice prompts, like "in 0.7 miles, turn right." Unfortunately, these voice prompts are useless. It would be nice if the software could say, "turn right on Main Street" or even "turn right now." Since it does not, you need to become very talented at judging exactly how far 0.7 miles is so you know when youre supposed to turn. If youre in a city with side streets each a block apart, this is impossible. Ultimately, you MUST have a dedicated navigator in your passenger seat who is watching the map and telling you when you need to turn.
Also, the software doesnt provide any convenient way to alter the route. In my case, it wanted me to turn down a private road that had a locked gate. I obviously couldnt turn, so it would eventually recalculate the route. But every time my travels took me anywhere near that road it would give the voice prompts of "in 0.7 miles, turn left." Since the voice prompts are giving you so little information, you have to become talented at remembering where you are located so you know whether to heed or ignore the voice instruction. Wasnt that the whole purpose of having a GPS???
With the other wonderful products they create, I cant imagine why Garmin would release such a worthless piece of software. I wonder if they intentionally distribute this worthless software in an attempt to push consumers toward a more expensive product.
On: 2007-10-27
I was very excited to purchase this product. I typically have my laptop open while my husband is driving anyway, so I saw this as a great way to get full GPS navigation capability at a fraction of the price of a standalone GPS unit.
However, the nRoute software that came with this unit is a catastrophe. Garmin has written fantastic, intuitive, usable software to run on its standalone devices - but nRoute has none of those characteristics. Use it for 5 minutes, and you will be pulling your hair out.
I write software for a living, and Im always the person my relatives turn to when they need their computers fixed. My friends are always amazed at my ability to figure out and use complex software applications. But nRoute contains enough flaws that it becomes frustratingly unusable, even for a tech-saavy individual like me.
What is the most common thing you would want to do with a GPS navigator? Why, enter a street address and route to it. Unfortunately, this simple act is virtually impossible. To select the street, you type a portion of the street name. The software then ignores the city/state/zip code youve already entered, and displays every street in North America that looks similar. For example, I tried to do a search for "River Road". Over 50 different river roads are listed, with such useful names as "River Rd", "River Road", "River Road Rd", "River Road 1", "River Road 2", etc. The best you can do is choose one, make several mouse clicks, and then be told that there are no matches. (That street doesnt exist in that city - no matches!) So you attempt to select the next street in the list (which requires 5 mouse clicks), only to be told that there are no matches there either. Working your way through 50 different possibilities can take several minutes. After a week of use, I have NEVER been able to get the software to recognize a single street address.
If you already know the exact location youre trying to go, you can manually find the location, right-click, and choose "Route to here". But can you imagine using an interface like that, for example, in Google maps? "Heres a picture of LA ... just manually find the place youre trying to go, zoom all the way down to the street level manually, and right-click..." Thats absurd, but thats what you have to do. So the only way Ive been able to use this software at all is to do a preliminary search with Google Maps, visually identify where Im going, and then manually locate that same location in nRoute. If you happen to be in your car without an internet connection, youre out of luck.
For the record, it is easier to search for a point of interest in their database. So if you know youre looking for the Hilton, you can search for potential matches, pick one, and route to it. When other people report success with this product, I imagine that they must be using it in this way. (Or perhaps the street searching algorithm works better in some cities than others?)
Of course, if you perform a search for a generalized category like "Restaurants," the user interface becomes maddening once again. It would make sense to display the results on a map, but instead they are displayed in table form. You can click on the results one at a time, and the map will zoom down to show you the intersection where that one result is located - but it zooms down so far that you cant see where it is located in the overall scheme of things. You cannot interact with the map to change the zoom level until you dismiss the table of search results. Then if you want to see where the next search result is located, you have to open the search window and restart your search from scratch. So there is no way to do something simple, like see whether a bunch of restaurants are clustered together nearby.
When youre in motion, the software gives voice prompts, like "in 0.7 miles, turn right." Unfortunately, these voice prompts are useless. It would be nice if the software could say, "turn right on Main Street" or even "turn right now." Since it does not, you need to become very talented at judging exactly how far 0.7 miles is so you know when youre supposed to turn. If youre in a city with side streets each a block apart, this is impossible. Ultimately, you MUST have a dedicated navigator in your passenger seat who is watching the map and telling you when you need to turn.
Also, the software doesnt provide any convenient way to alter the route. In my case, it wanted me to turn down a private road that had a locked gate. I obviously couldnt turn, so it would eventually recalculate the route. But every time my travels took me anywhere near that road it would give the voice prompts of "in 0.7 miles, turn left." Since the voice prompts are giving you so little information, you have to become talented at remembering where you are located so you know whether to heed or ignore the voice instruction. Wasnt that the whole purpose of having a GPS???
With the other wonderful products they create, I cant imagine why Garmin would release such a frustrating piece of software. I wonder if they intentionally distribute this terrible software in an attempt to push consumers toward a more expensive product.
On: 2007-10-15
We recently took a trip from the Northeast to Prince Edward Island and we took along our Garmin GPS. We bought it on the recommendation of my parents and my aunt and uncle. It truly is the best navigation system that we have used. The directions are clear and precise, the voice prompts are clear, the visibility on the computer screen is clear, and it self-adjusted if we went off the "charted" course. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for an affordable yet sophisticated system.
We loved the features associated with the GPS - find places nearby worked great for finding gas stations, specific kinds of restaurants (i.e. Italian, American, etc), and different kinds of stores.
The only drawback of this system is that you have to lug your laptop around but it is well worth the inconvenience. We saw other drivers with the smaller portable nav systems on their dashes or mounted to the front windshield and they were squinting and trying to set up their systems. We set ours up effortlessly and were able to adjust it on the fly.
Definitely do as Garmin says (and makes you click on each time you turn nRoute on), do not attempt to enter route information or make adjustments while driving. Its best to travel with a passenger who can do all that while the driver is paying attention to the road.
On: 2007-09-17
Garmin GPS 18 Deluxe USB GPS Sensor with nRoute and City Select Navigation Software
This is by far the best GPS that Ive used on a road trip. Ive had portable systems in the past (eMap, marine charting systems) and previously the Delorme Earthmate.
This is by far the best. With the waterproof antenna I can mount the magnetic base on my roof and run the cable through the weatherstripping on my door. Then weather isnt an issue and I get the best reception possible.
The inclueded winshield mount does work well, but having this outside your vehicle works the best.
The software is easy to install and use and the routing system works great. Recalculation is SUPER FAST and most of the time I had a new route, or restored route, within half a block.
The WAAS system really keeps you well connected where a lot of other systems would loose reception.
Plus, since I already had a 17" notebook, the cost of this item and a computer stand for the vehicle was less than most compact all-in-one units. It is SO nice to have such a large display.
The software even adjust the color settings depending on the time of day so you can still see well at night.
This is what Ill be using from now on. Anyone looking for a GPS navigation system should really consider this sytem.
On: 2007-08-25
i am glad to have this when we are traveling,if for some reason you miss your turn it will reroute it self an get you where you want to go
On: 2007-08-10
I purchased this unit to use on a trip to Nova Scotia. I own a standalone GPS unit but it does not have Canada in its database. Thanks to the weather and the airline, we arrived in Halifax at 3:00 AM in a heavy rainstorm. The airport was 30 miles from downtown and our B&B. The unit worked perfectly, acquiring the satellites within a minute or so. It took us straight to the B&B without any problem. Because it tells you exactly when to turn, you dont have to worry about reading street name signs which is difficult at night or in the rain. If you mess up and make the wrong turn, it senses it almost immediately and reroutes you accordingly.
Back home, I built a little platform for the laptop to sit over the console. That makes it as convenient as a built in unit and keeps the laptop from overheating my wifes "laptop".
I only have two complaints: It sometimes takes some weird shortcuts, especially on secondary roads and it will sometimes take a very different route to a destination than it does returning from that destination.
On: 2007-07-25
Works as advertised. When I travel, I take my laptop anyway. Why put up with a 2" or 3" screen handheld GPS for 4 or 5 times the money. I like it!
 On: 2007-07-18
The Garmin GPS 18 USB that I received several weeks ago turned out to be a dud. My main complaint is that the Garmin GPS antenna cannot hold a clear signal. I have the antenna mounted on my windshield with a clear view of the sky. The unit always takes between 5 to 10 minutes in a wide open area before it can acquire a signal. It cannot lock onto a signal inside my house or on neighborhood streets. Even when the signal is acquired, it constantly loses the signal every couple of minutes or more. Whenever I am driving on the I-495 in Washington DC area, it loses signal whenever the road is not straight or if it briefly goes under a 50 or 100 ft wide bridge. It is significantly worse when driving through residential streets. It often loses it signal completely for minutes at a time on fairly open residential streets. In addition, the included routing software makes it very difficult to find addresses. One often needs a complete address to find a location. In addition, when searching for a particular street name it will often not have the desired street name available in the form that one expects it. Many roads have North, South, or East, West attached to their name so that you have to guess which one it is before you can successfully find the desired location. Given the cost of this system, the quality of the software is to be expected. However, my friends have GPS antennas that cost $30 dollars and work much better than this one.
On: 2007-07-09
I love this unit. It is easy to use and accurate. My technologicly challenged wife was even able to use it while I drove. We use it while traveling in our RV so having room to use a laptop PC is not an issue. I especialy like how the program recallculates the route automaticly if you dont follow the dirrections.
On: 2007-06-15
I am generally pleased with this product as a "sit beside me" navigator. I find a few things annoying:
1) There is no fuzzy logic in locating anything. You have to get it spelled exactly right and you have to predict how its stored.
- It might be White Oak Trail or WhiteOak Trail, or just White Oak.
- The data need scrubbed, there are frequent misspellings (see below)
- The same type of place might be described differently. Say you are looking for the nearest Panera. You have to correctly choose between (or try all) the following for how your nearest one is entered:
- Panera
- Panera Breac [sic]
- Panera Bread
- Panera Bread Bakery
- Panera Bread Bakery Cafe
- Panera Bread Bakery & Cafe
- If you are looking for an address thats say on, US route 40, AKA State Route 12 and also is known as High Street, Good luck. If youre in Pittsburgh, PA, where five or six routes run & weave together, you have my sympathy.
- If you are in a suburban area, the "city" might be the name of the metro area (i.e., the mailing address) or it could be the local suburb. So normally, I leave off the city and just enter the state. Then I wish it would list results in proximity order, not alphabetic order.
2) In one of the five counties that I regularly travel the map data are almost never right. It jumps around between streets that Im on and the next one over. In Garmins defense, the county is really screwed up with addresses. Sometimes the street numbers on either side of the street do not run sequentially, e.g., L: 113, 117, R: 130, 132 L: 119, 123 R:138 After being within eyesight of a destination a few times and getting totally lost, I have learned that if Im within 400 yards of my destination, Im on my own.
3) Keep vessel visible turns off when you zoom in and out.
Other than that, the audio and visual information is good and a quick pop of the space bar or glance at the status bar gives lots of information.
On: 2007-06-12
Great purchase overall! I looked for a GPS unit for an affordable price and have a laptop PC available in my car at all times. Also, I use this device mainly within one city and found it to be tremendously helpful, especially when taking the price into consideration. The chosen routes are quick, direct and the accuracy remarkable. Due to the laptop availability in my car, I preferred its larger screen to the (more expensive) smaller handheld devices. The only drawback I have seen so far is the somewhat outdated street data in newer sections of the city/county. New developments that were built two years ago, still only show undeveloped area and no streets. If they would keep this data more up to date it would receive a definite 5-star-rating from me.
On: 2007-06-03
Great Product and makes travel more interesting and easier to find many different kinds of locations. Very quick and accurate. The trip information is helpful. I was surprised at the detail of the maps. Installed on my new Vista HP laptop. Note: it will not install on Vista unless you turn off User Account Control (UAC). Called Garmin support (great guys and friendly) to find this out. After that change it installed without problems. Im going to use it to find and mark special family history locations. Old family farms, house where I grew up, rural cemetery locations, burial sites, favorite fishing spots and more. The plan is to use the Garmin 18 to get me within walking distance. Then I will switch to my handheld Garmin eTrex Legend GPS Navigator to walk right to the location. Finally I will put the coordinates into my heritage collector software for permanent storage and reference. This was a great birthday present for me from my family! If you dont want to pay the big bucks for a GPS navigation system, this is for you!
On: 2007-05-14
I own a 40 rv and used this system over this past weekend. It worked great, even with the antenna placed on the dash rather then mounted outside. Just be aware that it will provide the most direct route, so if you are RVing make sure you are ok with that as it will not automatically take you via interstate.
 On: 2007-05-14
well for something that requires your laptop, it makes the whole trip bulky, however its a cool gadget if it were cheaper...
On: 2007-05-13
I am very impressed with this product. It far, far more sensitive to satellite reception than my Garmin Etrex Legend. That handheld unit is fine but its sensitivity to satellites is more restricted and much slower in making its initial acquisition of a satellite signal. The owners manual said the GPS 18 could take several minutes for the intial acquisition but when I first put the antenna on the roof of my car I had excellent reception within a few seconds. Grant it that this GPS program has difficulty in busy cities (i.e. Seattle) or where there are tunnels (Seattle, again) but 99% of the time it has little or no difficulty while its accuracy is anywhere between 7 and 9 feet of my actual position. My handheld unit has never been that accurate (its only been as close to about 17 feet, although I have to accept the fact that we have a lot of trees and other things that can interfere with a signal). Using the program is fairly simple but dont even think about pushing buttons while you are driving. Set it up before you start moving. There is no way that can be overemphasized. Overall, I am very pleased.
On: 2007-05-13
As a past satisfied customer, I decided to look for a "bargin" re: my desire to purchase a Garmin GPS 18,I selected a seller that seemed to be a highly regarded provider. I should add at this time I check with our son, who has been involved with computers and software for 27 years, for his thoughts on what I was doing. My unit did not work and after one hour and half hours with Garmin, we were instructed to return the product under the warranty. Upon return, we tried again to install the unit, this occured after spending a half an hour with tech support. It seems we are not able to connect to the approbrite driver. I will again call Garmin this Monday. Im waiting to help reduce my frustration level.
Our son says, "We did everything right"
On: 2007-05-13
Totally enjoying the GPS system. Never had one before, it was simple to use.
accurate to a few feet.
On: 2007-04-15
Own it for more that a year and use it with my laptop in all trips. GPS works very good, gives position precisely, very rare errors. The software is good, except the Garmins search feature - its just stupid. Sometimes cannot find the address although it shows it when you point at it on the map. In those cases I use Microsoft Streets and trips to find the addredd, then find the spot on the map in Garmin then just choose "route to it", from this point everything is OK. Actually not a big deal assuming the price of the unit. Recommended.
On: 2007-04-11
The product work great. I checked it on routes I have used for years and learned new and shorter ones. The shortest route is not always the fastest. I can think of some enhancements that would make it better, but overall its a great product.
On: 2007-04-03
I eagerly opened the parcel from Amazon and went to install it in my older touchscreen IBM Thinkpad; Oops, turns out its not a CD Rom but a DVD! No mention of *that* in system requirements, so beware.
Likewise: advertises as requiring 20 mb to 1.5 gb space. It actually requires about 2 gb if you want to install all the US maps. I saw no way to install w/ less than 300 mb free space.
Once I cleared out enough space on the old laptop and figured out a way to connect a DVD player to it, I was able to install it successfully on the Win2kPro system; and it works great!
It has some important mounting instructions. Garmin recommends mounting it to the top of your car; it has a magnet so you can put it out the window and do that. Or you can use a suction-cup gadget (supplied with it) to mount to the front window. I did this and it worked fine. Or you can buy a special kit separately and mount it permanently to your roof.
On: 2007-03-26
I could not be happier with this product. I am terrible with direction, I could get lost in a one street town. Ironically I have been traveling across country a lot lately. Without this GPS I am sure I would be lost on the side of a road as you read this review, but luckily I bought this and can drive from the Mid-West to the Northeast without a worry.
Very easy to use, learned it within one day. Click where you want to end up and it will map out a route within seconds. Not to mention it is bundled with so many features. Very great product! Also, updates are free (internet required).
Only have run into a few problems when the road has been changed and GPS is reading old data, but nothing you couldnt figure out.
On: 2007-03-25
I could not be happier with this product. I am terrible with direction, I could get lost in a one street town. Ironically I have been traveling across country a lot lately. Without this GPS I am sure I would be lost on the side of a road as you read this review, but luckily I bought this and can drive from the Mid-West to the Northeast without a worry.
Very easy to use, learned it within one day. Click where you want to end up and it will map out a route within seconds. Not to mention it is bundled with so many features. Very great product! Also, updates are free (internet required).
Only have run into a few problems when the road has been changed and GPS is reading old data, but nothing you couldnt figure out.
On: 2007-03-24
Ive been trying out different GPS systems for a couple of years now, mainly laptop systems. This is by far the easiest and best for car travel. Small, easy to store/carry and hookup. Weaknesses: as pointed out by others, 1. The Outlook Contact defaults to home addresses. I would prefer business or give an option. 2. If the address is not perfect, it will not find it i.e. street vs. avenue. 3. The maps are a little cumbersome to load and figure out how to work with.
Overall, it is a slick system and very accurate on the turn announcement. The voice is not robotic like others Ive used.
On: 2007-03-17
This works great if you are only going to one location. After spending much time on the phone with technical support and naming all my destinations as Waypoints so I could navigate to more than one by "planning a route," it turns out that this unit does not do that. After putting in all the Waypoints I needed, the unit sent me to the second waypoint before I had arrived at the first (within 1 mile). When I called tech support to find out what the problem was, they told me that the program was designed that way because most people that use the multiple Waypoints are using the system off road and they dont want to be navigated all the way to each destination. I was the weird one for wanting the navigation to continue until I was actually at each Waypoint. It is also not possible to update or add to a current route with multiple Waypoints, you have to start all over. It is also not possible to move them around once you have entered them and you cant see where any of them are until you are finished. I was told there was a hand held Garmin unit that does the point to point navigation I needed. I had called Garmin before purchasing this unit because I bought it to replace a Delorme program I had and I was told this one would do what I needed. It does not. The Delorme product has other issues, but entering point to point navigation and being able to edit your route later is not one of them.
On: 2007-02-21
This gps performed terrible! It took about two hours back and forth with Garmin technical support to get the software to work on vista. When I finally got everything working the real dissapointment!! I think the gps located three streets out of the 20 or so i put in. It shows the streets on the map but cannot find them to drive to. You cant type the street you want, so you have to go by the list supplied by the software. The voice says lost satellite at least 5 or 6 times a minute. I typed in a big city nearby and got about 10 points of interest. We tried restaurants and it couldnt find any that we asked for. Again, some of the names showed up but it always sent us somewhere else. Inputing streets also takes forever on a laptop and the layout is not intuitive at all. Also, We live in a very populated area and were suprised how little info showed up. I would have to recomend paying the extra for a dedicated GPS receiver and avoid this product!
On: 2007-01-12
This is a great product for those that want the option of using their laptop or car pc for GPS navigation. Ive tested this with a laptop and plan on using this software on a custom car PC with multiple displays in the vehicle. The default drivers work well, but youll want to download the latest drivers off of the web. After the update, the antenna did a much better job of aquiring satelites. The software is definetly written with the need of a full keyboard for full use. I am still waiting for a 8 inch touch screen to arrive so I can test this functionality. The software also has voice recognitoin software, but the software needs to be trained to your voice. The more training you give it, the better it does at figuring out what your saying, but this can take from a few minutes for lousy results, or several hours for higher accuracy. This is not something I see most people spending their time on. Since this is PC based, there are almost too many options. Much more customizable than your pre-packaged GPS system.
On: 2007-01-11
I am in sales and travel every week. I cant find anything to complain about. It works great. Once you input your destination, you never have to look at the screen. The voice commands will take you there. With the antenna placed in the front windshield, I get an accuracy between 7- 10 feet of my location. Considering my car must be maybe 24 feet that is just unreal. Also, it has every gas station, restaurant, hospital, park ,airport, etc etc etc etc all built in.
On: 2007-01-10
Great product for the money. Installed it on my x41 think pad and I was off and driving in a few minutes. Gets you where you want to go and it is very easy to understand and use. No manual required if you have 2 brain cells.
On: 2007-01-05
The GPS portion of this product is fast and works well. The software took a little while to figure out. I now am able to use it without problem. If you are using a laptop for your GPS navigation I would recommend this one for the money.
GMAN
On: 2007-01-04
A great little unit. It has a built-in magnet on the back.
The usb interface works great. I dont particularily like
the software, it has a somewhat non-intuitive interface.
The unit achieves position very quickly from a cold start,
better than my old hand-held Garmin unit. Garmin is not
particularily good at answering inquiries, but their
hardware is first rate.
On: 2006-12-28
This is my first GPS and as yet Ive only "tested" the unit but I am impressed. It may not be the best choice for someone who uses a GPS several times, day in and day out and/or is mostly solo as this is designed to hook to ones laptop and will most probably reside on the passengers seat. That said, by virtue of this design one gets quite a view as the map is as big as your laptop screen. My initial use was sitting on my wifes lap and as others point out a "Co-Pilot" can be of benifit in this case. I have found a "mounting system" for my laptop (cop like) for under $40 so in time (I dont have it yet) one will see if this places the screen in a useful position for a solo run. For the price and this time, my search put Amazon as the best, this seems a good bang for the buck. For the most part my wife and I dont "need" a GPS. We both know where our work is (and my wife is not into Gizmos but does get lost easily) but at times we need to "find" an unknown location. We also take a drive (21 hours) to South Padre Island at least one time a year. Sure I know the basic route but as I tend to drive through the night while my wife sleeps the idea of a GPS guide has been on my mind the last two trips as often turns "pop" up at the most inopertune times and this GPS puts a lot of information at ones finger tips. As far as the product itself the receiver is a small puck like unit, maybe 2 1/2 inches. It was pretty much "plug-n-play" after selecting that the unit was USB then loading the software and entering the unlock code a stop at Garmin website and an easy software update . As others have said entering the street names can be a bit of a puzzle. I wanted "Elm Tree Lane" but even with the proper zip code the only way to get that street was by inputing "Elmtree Ln" not a big deal but I see where it could make look-ups interesting. The unit quickly set up the fastest and most direct route. The voice promps were good but dont use street names, just "turn left in 3/10 of a mile. However, the computer screen gives the street names in a banner which is rather large print and is easy to see at a glance. As I needed gas when I came to my first "right turn" I went left. The program almost immediatly re-routed based on the direction I was going now. The unit then guided us almost flawlessly to our destination (a bit confused at the gas station but later I noted the unit was "locked" on road) so once back on "the" road I got clear verbal directions that were given at least twice allowing me to always get into the proper lane with plenty of time to spare. Being a laptop, on my co-pilots lap, as the driver, it probably not real safe to do more than just take a quick glance at the screen but one can tap the space bar and it repeats the oral directions. Should I be able to pull off my "cop mount" it could be very cool for our trip. Now the map orientation is either north up or direction of travel up. That makes alot of sense but with a widescreen laptop it would be nice to make the direction of travel "across" the screen should one choose especally while tranversing Texas. On the return from our "test" trip, I thought I would take every backroad turn to see how the unit would work. It has a "take me home" tab that will automatically set ones route home. The unit may be a bit too accurate as it immediatly told me to "continue north one tenth of a mile then turn left" that was all true, however, as I had backed up the driveway on arrivial. I didnt really need directions back down the driveway to the street. The unit was set on "fastest route" and again set up quickly with the fastest most direct course. I took every back street and weird way I could think of and clearly expected the unit to lose its temper and scream "No, I said RIGHT turn" after 10 or 12 deliberate wrong turns but it would just recalculate (about 10 seconds) and continue to guide us home never requesting a U-turn but based on direction of travel. At home I programed a trip to SPI. Now since I did not have the address I just found the Island itself and clicked on it. I noticed that the ID was on the north of the island and as its like 100 miles long and there are no roads up north so I looked for a close city to identify. I was easily able to ID Port Isabel which is where the Causway crosses to SPI so I marked that as the end and hit calculate. The route was clearly the most direct and I have driven that way before. I know that this way runs one through several smaller Oklahoma towns where the highway goes literally right through town with speed changes, stop lights, the local police etc. and as I generally am coming through at 3 A.M. well you get my drift, no disrespect to Okie From Muskogee. I prefer going down to Oklahoma City then down I35 as that is all major highway as the scenic route is of little use in the dark. The software did not seem to agree, I guess I could have read the directions but being a guy I just fooled around till I figured it out which really was not too complex. I just identified Oklahoma City as a midway "Waypoint" and then recalculated the route. I have not used the find gas station feature but as often as I push the limits and hope one will show up in the next 10 miles that might reduce anxiety. So my take is at $109 for a person who seems to be a more "casual" GPS user this unit seems pretty groovy and again, should I be able to do the Cop-mount for my laptop it would be all around great with a power inverter. Now for a "sales rep" type who is a bit more demanding a good window mount dedicated GPS unit or a built-in might be more to the peachy keen but the cost can be between $300-$1,500. For my limited requirments it seemed like $250 was as high as I wanted to go so getting on the map for $109 works for me at least as to my introduction to the GPS world.
An up-date; well now Ive used it for the before mentioned trip to SPI and it is the way to travel. Yes, there were some quirks. First I was able to mount a "Cop" type stand so I was able to have it where I could use it well on the trip, even used the mouse. My laptop is big, really too big for this with the 17 inch screen but it was nice but again due to size and complexity it was/is great for a big trip but for occasional use (and my motorcycle) I got a Garmin eTrex Cx as I could load the same maps from the GPS 18 as Garmin allows a person to download the maps to 2 Garmin products. The City Select 7 alone would cost you more than this unit which it includes, also I should note, if you got this unit in the past year Garmin will send you a FREE map upgrade to City Navigator 8 free shipping too. The unit was just too good when coming through downtown Dallas I was in the wrong place when the highway did a three way split and I was off course. Within just a few seconds the unit had done its recalculations, it had me move to a left lane exit then I went down a dark (scary) tunnel and as I came out into the light I was merging back on the right roadway, very cool. Its a bit annoying everytime you pull over for gas or to hit a rest stop as the unit "also" starts to recalculate but one learns to shut it down prior, I rig the laptop to go to "stand by" when the lid is shut so thats easy. Id also just close the lid when I had a long stretch to drive. By the way I let it route me home through Muskogee, and during the day its very pretty and them people is right friendly.
On: 2006-11-27
The most frustrating part of using the nRoute software is trying to enter a destination. Of course you have to enter your destination while you are stopped, not a problem. The frustrating part is that it makes you choose from a list of streets based on what you type. Furthermore, it does not seem to limit the selection of street names by the city and state you enter, instead offering all similar street names in the United States. Several times, I was not able to find the street at all in the drop down menu, even though I could find it on the nRoute map. I ended up marking it as a waypoint on the map, and it calculated the route from there. If this single feature could be made as easy as say MapQuest, or Yahoo Maps, I would give it 5 stars.
The next annoyance is that nRoute seems to pick the shortest driving distance instead of shortest drive time, often taking you off the beaten path. This annoyance, however, turned out to be a blessing on a recent trip. From the Bay Area to Minden Nevada, Yahoo Maps had me drive almost to Sacramento then up Hwy 50 to Tahoe, then down the Kingston grade. I took this route to my destination and ran into horrible traffic, with the roads clogged with SUVs. Coming back, I decided to simply follow the nRoute instructions, and it took me on a spectacular scenic route down Nevada State 395 to Highway 88. Lots of twists and turns, but I got to see parts of the state I had never seen before, and it ended up taking less time.
Finally, some things I learned in setting it up. I installed the product on an old IBM Thinkpad 600. I did not read the part where the software came on DVD. After a day trying to figure out why my CD drive would not read the disk, I realized my mistake. I ordered a used DVD drive for the laptop off of eBay, and all was well. The product comes with a bracket to hold the GPS "puck" to the windshield, but I believe this is not legal in California, so I put it on the dash, where it slides around a lot. I fixed this with a small square of rubber shelving liner, like some people use to store glassware on. With the puck on top of the rubber square there is no more sliding. The same liner can be used under the laptop if you have vinyl seats. Just plop the laptop on the passenger seat with the screen facing the driver, and you can take a quick look to see how many miles until your next turn. Works great.
On: 2006-11-10
Product did not work had to send back to manufacture to be replaced.
On: 2006-11-10
Product was easy to set up and use. Loading the program was easy and without error. Map detail was above average and after setting a route I intentionaly turned at tye wrong places and each time the program corrected itself and gave me new directions to the original destination. Would recommend this GPS ta anyone.
by: Anonymous On: 2006-11-07
I want t buy the Garmin GPS 18 Deluxe GPS Sensor but can you pls help me for the software i mean which gps software i shell buy for this product..? ..in my country we dont have road maps ..I only require a software which i can use in my boat with my dell laptop .it should have waypoints and routing ....pls give more than one name pls thanks
reg
durrani
email- nkdmarine2001@yahoo.com
On: 2006-11-04
The product is easy to install, and easy to use. It is easy to locate your position, even in New York City! However, the speaking feature is not good enough. If it can speak out the next street/turn name instead of smething generic. (It will say "Turn right on 0.1 mile". It will be great to say the street name, such as "Turn right on Jones Road"). Overall it is a great product, and very useful, when you need to go somewhere that you are not familiar.
On: 2006-08-23
The GPS 18 itself worked flawlessly. I originally bought it because it was the only GPS with a USB connector so it could take advantage of mapping software on a laptop computer. The module can be attached to a vehicle using its built in magnets or screwed into its own bracket wich has suction cups to stick on the windshield. Either way works well, and the bracket could be used in other ways with a little imagination. I just threw the thing on the dashboard. I had no intention of leaving it in the car to get stolen.
The software included in the package had a few problems, mainly the predictable dilemma of attempting to locate a particular point in a changing world. Usually I had no trouble typing in an address, setting the computer in the passenger seat, and following the voice promts to my destination. The map displays visual directions in large letters, but they dont give helpful tips such as "stay to the left" like the verbal prompts, and of course there is the obvious danger of driving while watching a display.
The one greatest advantage of an electronic nav system over a paper map is that the GPS continually updates your position so that however lost you may be, the prompt will always attempt to direct you to your destination.
On: 2006-08-15
If you love to travel like us, you would like this product, its tell you point by point were you go and were you need to stop. We love it.
On: 2006-08-05
I bought the Garmin GPS 18 Deluxe GPS Sensor with nRoute and City Select Navigation Software (USB Interface)as a supplement to my Garmin 60 CSX. It is with out a doubt, the best receiver that I have used, and I have used all the other brands. It finds the satellites so fast that its almost instantaneous! The software however, is not as easy as some or as colorful as others. That said, it is competent and their customer service is absolutely the finest. Yes there is a wait on the phone but after talking to an understanding, well schooled tech who really cares, you start to appreciate what this company is all about. I love the sensor, like the software and I am in awe of the company attitude! Try it,, youll like it. I am nearly sure!
On: 2006-07-31
I bought the GPS for the travel in New England. Here are few comments that I like to share:
* The GPS was fine until I updated the latest version. It frequently lost the GPS signal, probably due to the new version which removed some "useless" signals (it was mentioned in the new version). Need to go back to the old version.
* In urban area, the signal lost is more often. I encountered many situations which the signal was lost when I needed it the most.
* You cant both drive and look to the computer when driving alone. Thats dangerous specially in heavy traffic cities like New York or Boston and I even broke my computer when doing that. Its just good for driving with someone else who will take care of the direction.
* The text-to-speech technique is not available in this version, so there is no streetname in speech. I wonder why, this version of GPS is for laptop, and that technique is so easy to adapt, but they did not do it.
* You have to carry your laptop everywhere, and thats problem.
Other than that, the software is nice.
On: 2006-07-31
This is an excellent product. If you drive a delivery vehicle or are in route sales this product is for you. I am in route sales and use my laptop every minute of the day. I have an extensive territory and found it difficult to find certain places. The Garmin GPS 18 plugs right into the USB port and is powered by the computer so no need for additional attachments. Ill admit "NROUTE" took a little getting used to (for example it has a list of all the streets and names of places so if it isnt on the list youre not going to find it) but once you figure out how it works its easy as pie. Instead of spelling Hoover Street you just type Hoover and it will give you a list of the possible locations. A great buy for only 100 bucks! If you use a laptop in your vehicle and are in need of GPS, dont spend $500 on a 2 inch screen unit when you can get an awesome GPS sensor for only $100.
On: 2006-07-21
GPS itself works great, picks up weak signals and stays locked on. The software is weak. It is extremly clunky to find addresses, as others have described. There is a cumbersome guessing game you have to go through to find locations. The interface is buggy enough that there are times I cannot use it on a particular trip, because I cannot trick the software into finding the location. Overall, a decent value, but just be prepared for the interface.
On: 2006-07-19
The GPS sensor is great and quick to lock on to signals. However, it only works with the included software, nRoute by Garmin. The sensor uses a proprietary language (not the standard NMEA) which will only allow it to be used with Garmin software. If you dont intend to use this device with any other Mapping software programs, then its not a bad deal. Im not saying nRoute is a bad program, but it takes some time to get use to its menus and to navigate throughout the program. Its Find/Search needs some major improvement, otherwise, it keeps track of time (trip, stopped, moving), speeds (avg, current, and max), and tells the accuracy of location (within how small of an area it has pinpointed you). Being an IT Professional of 7 years, I think there are other programs better suited for ease of use, such as iNavs iGuidance, which will work with many less expensive GPS Receivers/Sensors. A note for contacting Garmin Support should you need your installation key (if its not included) or any assistance with the software - the hold times are often unbareable, informing you of high call volume and to call back later.
On: 2006-07-15
Ive wanted to get a GPS for a few years now, because my job requires a lot of travel. Although a GPS would be much more convenient than printed maps (not to mention the time spent printing the maps), I just could not justify spending $500 or more on a GPS. I purchased this unit from amazon last October. It was on sale for $98 with a $30 discount for applying for an amazon.com credit card. My total investment was $68.00. Because of the low price, I was very skeptical of the quality. I can honestly say that this was the best investment I have ever made. The only problem I can say Ive ever had with it, is if you are driving along side another road that runs in the same direction (usually feeder roads, or frontage roads), the system will sometimes think you are on the other road. There are a lot of roads like that in Texas. The system usually realizes the mistake and makes the correction.
It wasnt until this past week that I decided to write this review. This thing works in Puerto Rico! If any of you have ever experienced driving in Puerto Rico, especially for the first time, then you know that its not a fun experience and this thing is a lifesaver. The signs in Puerto Rico are all in spanish (obviously), so I relied on the turn by turn directions, and I watched the red arrow that represented my car to get me where I needed to go. There was one problem however, in Puerto Rico. For some reason, it took the unit about 3 or 4 minutes to find the satellite. This was no big deal. After realizing that it took a little extra time to find the satellite, I just allowed myself a few extra minutes and sat in the car until it made the connection.
But if it had not been for this unit, I would have spent a lot of time in Puerto Rico lost. And thats not someplace you want to be lost. Even printed maps from mapquest wouldnt have helped me.
Ive referred this item to many of my associates and so far, 8 people have purchased it and they are all very happy with theirs.
I cannot say enough good about this unit. If you own a laptop and you are thinking about buying a GPS, this is definately the way to go. You might want to invest in a power inverter also. You dont want to rely on this unit, just to find you dont have enough juice in your laptop battery. I bought a fairly compact inverter from Home Depot for $20 bucks. Look around, you might find one cheaper.
by: Anonymous On: 2006-07-12
Ive had no problems with this product after I took it after the box. Its taken me to the front door step of every place I put in. I give it a 5 out of 5
On: 2006-07-12
I used my Garmin GPS 18 on a recent vacation to Disney World in Orlando, FL which is about 1,100 miles from where I live. Since I had been there before I was really able to test the GPS 18. There was no trouble acquiring satellite signals. I did have a little trouble forcing it to follow the route I wanted take. That is probably more caused by my lack of familiarity with the nRoute software. Turns were identified well in advance and distances were very accurate. It does have a problem with close range distances and directions. Some things it incorrectly identified as on the left when they were actually on the right, and vice versa. But overall it is a great buy.
On: 2006-07-03
I continue to be amazed with the capabilities and quality of this device. As a firm believer in you get what you pay for, I expected that I would be returning this unit to Amazon in short order and saving up for a "real" GPS unit. I decided that there would be nothing to loose by giving the device a try except a little time, so I placed my order.
I was already impressed with the device before I even plugged it in. I like the fact that the base is magnetic allowing it to be mounted temporarily in an area that the brackets suction cups just wouldnt do. Its easy to move the unit between vehicles or take it inside.
Installing the unit was a snap. Windows found the drivers on the DVD with no problems at all and installed the unit without so much as a reboot. It took less than 10 minutes to do a full install of the mapping software.
Upon launching the software, my position was acquired in less than 30 seconds. The map was very detailed and had all of the local businesses that were on the streets. Driving with the Garmin unit is much easier than TomTom or such other navigation solutions. You can actually see the screen without taking your eyes off the road for more than a split second. The directions are accurate and the unit provides good voice prompts. Also provided is an constantly updated ETA based on current road speed and distance left. The night mode is second to none, excellent contrast and very little reflection in the windshield. The glare issue pointed out by other reviewers is easily solved with an anti-glare filter.
My one complaint about the device is the fact that the USB cable just isnt long enough. The best reception is always obtained outside the vehicle, and the cord isnt long enough to get outside the vehicle and still have enough cord to route it out of sight. A 15 cord should be the minimum for this and 25 would be better. A USB extension cable can be used to work around this, but thats less than ideal since the connection can come apart and/or get corroded.
Overall, Id say this unit is an extremely good value for the money and in many ways is better than a GPS unit that costs 15 to 25 times more. The unit does everything I could have hoped for and more. I am very pleased with this purchase and plan to purchase another unit as a gift to at least one family member this holiday season.
On: 2006-06-30
First time using GPS. I love it after a 2-weeks road trip around the USA. I cant without it anymore. Literally you dont need a map in your car. Input your location and you be there! Even finding hotel and steakhouse is so easy along the road. Its not without minor error but its only due to outdated data in the software and I believe you can keep update your sofeware whenever new version comes up. I believe GPS will be as popular as cell phone in a few years. Garmins products are definitely leading the market. I bought its stock (GRMN) after I came back from the road trip.
On: 2006-06-20
This product has met and exceeded my expectations. Quite frankly, for the money and what its capable of doing, its a great value for the dollar. The instalation and ease of use was something that I had questioned from reading other reviews. Im not as computer literate as most, but all went well with no problems. I was able to download the updates with ease, all were unlocked and installed. It took 30 seconds or so at first to track 3 or 4 satellites and set up a good signal. I wish there was an led light on the receiver that showed when signal was lost,however the voice prompt will notify you when that happens. There is a glare durning the day from my laptop that ,at times, is difficult to see the screen (15.4 brightview). It automatically shifted to night screen at dusk. I recommend that you spend sometime navigating (pun intended) around the system before putting it in your vehicle. It took me awhile to get around and use all the different features. Ive had no problems and without question recommend this product to all!
On: 2006-03-24
All around I havent any serious problems with this product, the only problem is that if you need to use it while driving you need a co-pilot. I was hesitant in getting a GPS unit and I found this one to the best for me. I travel around California regularly and it was nice to have an information bank on the seat next to me. I would suggest this to anyone that doesnt want to spend too much on a GPS unit and has a laptop that they dont mind traveling with.
On: 2006-03-15
this item works good, easy instalation, fast delivery.... o have no complain...
On: 2006-03-04
This is a good item. Though, I have to bring out my laptop computer to use it, it is still worth the effort because price is good and screen is big.
There was one downside. The equipment was not able to locate a few locations even though they were at very well known places, but I feel this software related problems would be with other GPSs as well.
When you install the software, follow the steps in the instruction.
Buy it!
On: 2006-02-17
We have found this unit to be great. It is very accurate and if you change your route for any reason it will first try to get you back to the original route, but if you keep driving and ignore it, it then realizes there is another way of getting to your destination and it adjusts to a new route. We nicknamed the voice "Betty" and she guides us as we drive so we dont have to look at the laptop. Great product! We cant wait to go on vacation and explore new areas. Well never be lost again.
On: 2006-01-17
I bought this based on the generally good reviews here. I tried it for a few days but it wasnt anything like I expected. First of all, I realized immediately that even with a high quality notebook screen, glare was going to be a problem in a car. Also, having to use a mouse and keyboard to enter data over to your side requires you to be stopped when using it for safety reasons. But thats not Garmins fault. But where the Garmin really fell down was in things that it shouldnt have a problem with.
1. Accuracy. Inconsistent. The maps were ok and even had many new roads in my area, but when I typed in an address and started following directions, they were just plain wrong. In one trip to an apartment that was even listed on their map itself, the unit kept trying to make me do a U turn half a mile before I reached the actual apartment. This would drive someone crazy if they were not familiar with the places location already. Input a street address and sometimes it would be incorrect on the map. I knew the area well and otherwise it would have been a very frustrating trip to find the address.
2. Data input. When trying to type in a new address to find, it would not recognize the proper spelling of many roads, and I would have to play games to "trick" the unit into accepting an address. Gate parkway N had to be inputted as N gate pkwy, or Touchton Road had to be put in as E Touchton Road, when it is not called that on street signs or anywhere else. Time consuming.
3. Interface: I also found it less than intuitive to simply plot a trip, even w/o waypoints. It was a little less easy to use than some of the portable units Ive seen demo tapes of.
4. Directions: I tried to plan a trip to Tampa and was given a route that I knew to be longer and more difficult than just using the interstates. I guess because it was shorter in miles. I changed the preferences to weigh towards the interstates, but then it took me on loops around the perimeter here that made no sense. In another instance it had me drive by a place, avoid u-turning to get into it, then drive 5 miles in a loop around town to come back to it. But clicking off "avoid u turns" fixed that. The problem is, it then had me U-turning at every chance possible.
5. points of interest. Pretty good, including some very obscure places here. But also many obvious ones were simply missing. Im not sure how one gets his restaurant or store added to their maps, but when they dont include them all, you lose faith in the machine. Its better than nothing, but not good enough to rely on.
My conclusion is that no computer navigator is going to be as good as a human brain with a map. So for that reason the routing feature of these devices is not very useful to me. But, I could use a nice color moving map which advised me of upcoming street names, sort of a driving "assistant". And for that, theyd do fine. However, using gps with your laptop isnt a great idea in practice unless you have a fancy setup to point it at yourself and hold it firmly in place, and the space to do so, like in a pickup truck. You need to be able to see the screen and you cant keep looking to your side to check it.
I would advise getting an inexpensive portable unit you can attach in your line of site, entering the destination, using it to get into the general area, then figuring out how to get to the place itself on your own and just use the map as an aide to that. It is very helpful to see a graphical display of the upcoming roads. Units that name the roads for you are much more helpful but cost a lot more.
I would NEVER trust these type of units to put me in the proper lane for an exit at high speed on the interstates. They require too much of your attention and what you gain from them you use in awareness of whats going on outside.
I also was concerned over having my expensive notebook computer in the car all the time, more prone to damage or theft, than otherwise.
The unit was great at finding a signal, even indoors it did ok.
On: 2006-01-08
I just tried my GPS18 and here are my thoughts:
1. It locks MUCH faster than the Delorme. The nRoute software looks very 1990s, and the Delorme looks very 1980s.... I wish they could look more 00s.
2. The user interface is vastly superior to the Delorme.
3. So far, navigation is spot-on accurate, and re-routing is simply a dream. There is an option that is not on by default to announce the re-routing so you can tell when you have made a wrong turn.
1. Searching is just not as easy as it should be. You literally must force the software to find your item, and its not always very coherent. They could benefit from some R&D for searching.
2. I would like the option to announce street names by voice, or to configure it to respond to voice commands from the driver.
3. The voice is pleasant female voice, but is not configurable.
4, Had to buy the GPS gate software to make it compliant with other programs.
Over the two other consumer level products I have seen, M$ and Delorme, the Garmin is far better... Thats not to say that I hope things change in the coming versions.
On: 2006-01-07
I really like the city select and Nroute. How it helps a traveler who doesnt know where he is going in a stange place. I took it to LAX and toured LA with no trouble at all and I had never been to that city before. I do think it needs work in out lying areas. My son lives at the Edwards AFB and the program has trouble finding the shortest and fastest routes. I think because it always tries to get you to a major high no matter how far out of the way it takes you. I realize the program writers dont always know how the secondary roads are going to be. Taking that into account , my glad I have it and will use it often.
On: 2005-11-25
All of the previous reviews are pretty much on the money. The unit works great, very accurate. I do wish it was easier to change the routing the way Delorme uses VIAs, maybe there is a way i havent found yet.
My main addition to info for everybody is that using a little $10 program called GPS Gate will turn the Garmin 18 USB from a proprietary Garmin format to a NMEA compliant device. I had a copy of MS Streets & Trips and it worked fine. Just do a google search for gpsgate and you can try it for 2 weeks before you buy. That removes the only downside I thought this product had, now it can work with any application looking for a NMEA compliant GPS.
On: 2005-10-19
Ive tried out the three popular GPS systems for laptops and find this the best. The other two; Delormer, and Microsoft have a long way to go to match the Garmin usb unit. They all have good features its just the Garmin does it best. For example, when aquiring satelites, by the time youve got the program booted the Garmin is ready to go. The others can take several minutes and clicking around to get them running. Not a good thing when your in a hurry. Next comes auto-routing. The Garmin excels in this area.In normal use, its very good and faster than the others. Garmin makes a lot of GPS units unlike the other 2 and I think theyve got this right. However no GPS Ive used is perfect at routing, its just far less likely to take you out of your way. And if you dont believe or like their route, the Garmin has a handy feature in that it automatically and quickly reroutes itself when you dont follow its direction. Within a block of ignoring its directions it has replotted a new course for you. This handy feature lets you head in the direction you want and then if you get lost, you can just start following the GPS again - handy for us know it all guys that occasionally get lost. The other units are not nearly so friendly in this regard. They want you to follow their map or else. The Delormer unit, while better than the Microsoft unit, has the habit of being late in its direction and also likes to give you directions that amount to simply going straight on the same road.
Some other handy Garmin feature: 1)The map changes to night time display automatically when the sun goes down.This is much easier on the eyes while driving 2) There is a button you can press that will find a route from where ever you are to home. Just press the button and it will show you the way home. 3)With a click you can set your PC clock to GPS atomic time. 4) The unit will let you select two items to display on the map, such as expected time of arrival, and time or distance to next turn. As with any product there could be improvements. The search feature is not as friendly as Id like. To search, youre expected to type in the name only, not north, drive, etc. You then pick from a long generic list of names that might not even exist -so this is a bit funky. However, if you can find the location you want on a map, you can right click it and route to it. Overall this is a great unit and I have now installed a laptop in my minivan so it will always be available. I would not do this with the other units because they require too much fiddling around with to make them work and this is too dangerous while driving. (Ive made a tray to hold and hid my laptop that fits between the two front bucket seats and rests on top of the plastic base for the seats. The tray also acts like a table between the seats.)
I must tell you however of a few facts about this soft. The unit in the box I got had old software and old maps. You need to go to Garmins website to download the updates for the software and you need to request Garmin to send a free CD for new maps. Both were updated around June 05. Once you load these in, you need to unlock the maps. There was an unlock code in the box that worked with the original maps, but so far, I have not been able to successfully to keep the updated maps unlocked. Everytime I turn it on it wants me to unlock them again. Perhaps connecting to the internet and registering will help. Even with this issue, I will give it 5 stars
On: 2005-09-20
Great product! Easy to install (no issues from my DVD ROM). Plesant voice commands (does not name the roads, however). Great mapping software! Automatically adjusts the contrast variant on the time of day. Super fast aquisition of satelites...even from the middle of my living room (cant figure that one out!) Tracks my position perfectly on the maps (unlike the Delorme LT20). Its the best one for this price range.
On: 2005-08-11
I purchased the Garmin GPS 18 Deluxe after reading numerous customer reviews of this and other competing products. Not having had the opportunity to review the other products I can only attest to the performance of the Garmin unit and software. Much of what I read seems to hold true.
The Garmin GPS 18 Deluxe works very well. The GPS unit is quick to pick up a signal from the satelites and is ready to navigate in a very short time (15secs or less) in most cases. The maps are pretty accurate and upto date as is the business address database. The voice navigation feature is a must have for solo navigation.
That said, here are some shortcomings Ive found.
1. The software would not install on my laptop untill I discovered that it has a problem with installing from a DVDROM. The problem was not just my laptop it wouldnt install from either the DVDROM on my desktop nor the DVD burner either. I had to install it from a shared CDROM over the network which took forever. Once installed the cd was no longer needed so problem solved... (Im glad I figured that one out.)
2. I ordered the unit with the USB GPS even tho I was aware (from another user review I had read) that the Garmin USB GPS used a proprietary Garmin format. Normally, I would have steered away from anything that didnt conform to an already established industry standard but I really didnt want to have to deal with the serial GPS because I didnt want to deal with another power source and I didnt feel that it would be a problem because I thought I would most likely only use it with the Garmin software anyway. I quickly duscovered my mistake. There are now three applications that I wish I had a standards compliant GPS for.
3. The voice navigation commands get confused sometimes when it has been running for a while and you have to shut the software off and restart it. Fortunatly, the software remembers your last route and resumes right where you left off so you dont have to set up your route all over again. It just takes about ten seconds to pick up right where you left off.
4. The software is near flawless at getting you to your destination once mapped but finding the destination to route to it can be a litle cumbersome. If you dont spell the business or street name correctly you may not be able to find it at all. The controls for finding your destination are not the most forgiving of errors and are unnecesarily clumsy to use. Also, if you dont put in enough info to narrow your search down sufficiently the program can effectively lock up while conducting a search. (Itll come back eventually but sometimes you just dont want to wait that long and you know when it finally does come back after that long a wait there wont be any usefull information so its faster just to go to task manager, kill the program and then restart it.
Overall, I give the Garmin GPS 18 Deluxe 4 out of 5 stars. Though it may have its shortcomings it is an excellent product that does what its supposed to do and does it well. Its easy on system resources and should run well even on older laptops. The voice navigation feature, as I said before, is a must have feature if you dont have someone else along to navigate for you. Garmins works very well giving you plenty of time to maneauver. It would be nice if the map and business database had more frequent updates available but I understand that the same applies to the other competing products as well. As it was, in my tests it performed very well finding raw addresses, gas stations, restaurants, car rental places, banks, and retail stores in my own town as well as unfamiliar cities.
I wish I had the means and opportunity to review Garmins competitors and compare them for myself but from what Ive seen Garmin deserves the accolades it has earned from other reviewers.
On: 2005-07-21
The device works pretty well--I run with an older laptop in my car. The software is +/- in that finding some addresses is difficult while other seemingly obscure things (like store names) is pretty good. The problem is that store names must have been done by someone else--chains like Chipotle are listed with many different forms of the name.
On: 2005-06-13
The product is great and 100 times better than MS Street. The turn by turn voice command is a must when driving. Instead of pulling over and searching what turns to make this software includes a visual and most important, speaker directions.
I have tried numerous times calling garmin in regards to a question that the online site does not answer and all I get is an operator who is rude who buts me on eternity hold for tech support. I have come to the conclusion, GARMIN CUSTOMER and TECH PHONE SERVICES SUCK!!!!!!!!!!
On: 2005-05-14
If you want the GPS 18 to output in the industry standard data format NMEA 0183 make sure to purchase the version that has the SERIAL interface. The USB version only outputs in Garmins proprietary format.
"The PC and LVC versions both default to output data in the industry standard NMEA 0183 data format, but may also be user programmed to output data in the GARMIN proprietary format. The USB version produces data only in the GARMIN proprietary format."
All in all a great GPS sensor, it is very accurate and fast locking. I have it hooked up to my car-pc (serial interface version) and use it for mapping WIFI hotspots and navigation along with the occasional miscellaneous venture. I am quite happy with it.
On: 2005-03-23
The GPS receiver works fine with the included nRoute software, but since the device supports only Garmins proprietary communication protocol (it does NOT support NMEA, the standard protocol for GPS devices), the GPS 18 will not work with other mapping software such as Microsoft Streets and Trips or DeLorme Street Atlas. I find either of these two programs to be much easier to use than the included software, and am very dissapointed that this GPS receiver is not standards compliant, even though recievers made by Garmin in the past have been.
On: 2005-03-21
We used this device and nRoute to navigate from country roads in SC to the highway maze in south Charlote, NC. It worked quite well and quickly rerouted when I intentionally missed the first interstate exit. All the turns were accurate and presented with ample time to prepare. The display presented on the laptop screen is very readable.
The software was easy to install, set up and unlock. It takes a little trial and error to figure it out which could be something of a challenge.
All in all, I am quite pleased with the performance so far.
On: 2005-03-18
The best navigation ever. At the end Garmin tried to price one
of their product so reasonable to compete against the current products in the market. After installing the software and unlocking
try to download the latest version of the nRoute and City select
software. The navigation is so accurate in the high ways and crowded cities as well. If you make a mistake, the navigation software
quickly will adjust and find the new route from where you are.
The voice promt is ok. It is best used when two people are in the
trip where one will be driving and the other using the laptop for
quidance.
I did not encounter any of the problems mentioned by the other
reviewers.
On: 2005-02-17
I bought this for preparing trips going to multiple stops. The software is definately NOT for the task of figuring out the best route to connect all stops. A piece of cake for Honda GPS and even for Microsoft Trips.
The search is too dummy also, e.g. It tells me the nearest "Walmart" is 72 miles away. Later I figured that the actual "Wal-Mart", searched by "Wal" instead, is only 4 miles away.
On: 2005-01-12
ok the gps system works well and as expected. the software on the other hand...was hard to find the address of shops, for some reason, they literally are blocked? or perhaps i have the worst of luck. To find shops, you have to search by their names in Garmins compiled list of shops, you cant just type in their address or else it doesnt exist at all. For the voice, its really nice, but when I was going straight on the highway to get from point A to point B which is just down the road, the voice keeps on telling me to turn right. Luckily I ignored it, until the voice stops telling me to turn right even though the map display shows me on the right road and I know certainly that Im going in a straight line to my destination. This gps usb system does not work with other map softwares unfortunately. You can only use it with Garmins overpriced software. Overall, if you want voice and good gps system and dont mind the every now and then mis-directions by the "voice" or poorly designed address search, then this is the product to buy.
On: 2005-01-05
Its an absolutely fabulous value. The GPS has all the features of the Hertz Never-Lost system that I used. The maps and directions are clear and accurate. My only gripe is that the search feature could be better; for example if you have the street address of JC Penny store and you type it in and tell the system to find it, most probably if will NOT find it, but if you select another tab, you can pick this JC Penny store from a list and then it will find it and then you can route to it. But it does seem to find home addresses very well, I have not had a problem with that.
On: 2005-01-03
This really exceeded my expectations. Just got back from a four-day trip in the mountains and valleys of Virginia. Instead of worrying about whether I was on the correct road, and how far to the next turn (or did I miss it already?), I was able to relax and enjoy the scenery confident in the continuous location and route feedback I was getting.
Its easy to use (once you get the hang of a few simple procedures), very accurate, and loaded with useful features. If you have a laptop, give yourself a break by taking this little puppy on your next trip.
On: 2005-01-02
I first tried Microsofts Streets and Trips with GPS and I was quite dissapointed. Im not sure how they even consider it a GPS system. I then tried Garmins GPS 18, as Garmin is considered to be one of the better known GPS manufactures. I have no regrets at all. The Garmin met my expectations.
Benefits to the Garmin GPS 18 are:
1) Voice prompts (what good is a GPS system without this?)
2) Auto-reroute, it automatically will recalculate a route if you go off track. This requires no user interaction at all.
3) The status screen automatically tells you what house numbers you are driving by or what streets are approacting.
4) Large text display stating clear and accurate directions.
5) Provides estimates of ETA and mileage to destination and next manuever.
I have no complaints really. I do agree with one thing though, finding addresses could be a little simpler. For example, it will find "Stop & Shop", but not "Stop and Shop". It will find Malden Dr. if you type Malden, but not if you enter Malden Dr. A couple annoyences, but you learn how to use it and its good.
On: 2004-12-02
For the money, this is a great value. If you already have a laptop, then for $129 you have most of the functionality of a $1500 built-in navigator. For basic functionality, its a 5 star item. I have used around New England for about two months, and have navigated back roads and highways. Resolution, maps, screen displays, ETA, position, etc, are all superb. Once you have selected a route and are on the way its better than the built-in units, because it has a bigger screen (your laptop) with more information.
But without a touch screen, its a little clumsy to use, and you have to plan on putting in destinations while stopped somewhere. Its not a bad process, takes only a few minutes, but its slower and not as smooth as a Honda Navigator (point of reference).
You can save any waypoints or routes and recall them easily. You can show gas stations, atms, etc. It talks to you, and anticipates turns, etc very well.
Overall, a fantastic value for the price. Any defects are forgiven. When they produce a pda or tablet version, so that you could use a touch-screen, it will be a huge hit.
On: 2004-12-01
For the money, this is a great value. If you already have a laptop, then for $129 you have most of the functionality of a $1500 built-in navigator. For basic functionality, its a 5 star item. I have used around New England for about two months, and have navigated back roads and highways. Resolution, maps, screen displays, ETA, position, etc, are all superb. Once you have selected a route and are on the way its better than the built-in units, because it has a bigger screen (your laptop) with more information.
But without a touch screen, its a little clumsy to use, and you have to plan on putting in destinations while stopped somewhere. Its not a bad process, takes only a few minutes, but its slower and not as smooth as a Honda Navigator (point of reference).
You can save any waypoints or routes and recall them easily. You can show gas stations, atms, etc. It talks to you, and anticipates turns, etc very well.
Overall, a fantastic value for the price. Any defects are forgiven. When they produce a pda or tablet version, so that you could use a touch-screen, it will be a huge hit.
On: 2004-10-22
The road trip was fun when bringing along this GPS. Even the wife wants to show you the direction now :-). We drove in the back country of Pennsylvania and New York states. The device comes in handy and eases the headache of getting direction. The good thing are: powerful tracking even under bad weather, clear and precise voice direction, quick (under 5 sec) route recalcuation. The bad thing are: the initial satellite search can take as long as 20 minutes; there are time the voice command doesnt match the route on the map but this is rare; the find places feature is hard and cumbersome to use. I like one line search feature in MS streets & trips. Overall, I would bring this along on any road trip.
On: 2004-10-22
Got the GPS 18 USB for my leave in germany.My Laptop is a 2.8GHZ with 1.25 GB ram.Got a rental and hit the Auto-Bahn.Right now im in a cafe in Heidelberg typing this,and i can safely say,for the money you cannot buy a better guide if you are traveling Europe by car.As a matter of fact,I had made NO plans for lodging or even where I was going to go untill i had met up with my friends in Frankfort!This thing got me through the most complicated citys without a hitch.I had to use gas coupons(Army) that are only good at Esso gas stations.Found them all with voice promps to boot.The voice floating from my laptop,telling me VERY accuratly(even with the WAAS turned off) "in 600 meters,take roundabout then 2end exit"Only got comfused once in a ver old city,kept telling me to turn around.Any way, paying the extra $300 for the Euro city select program was worth-it.And even though i have not used it in the USA yet, I can say that i probibly will not take another trip without it.No CD required,just load and go.You will need internet to activate the Euro. CD if you get it.As well as download the updates for the program.
On: 2004-10-21
Got the GPS 18 USB for my leave in germany.My Laptop is a 2.8GHZ with 1.25 GB ram.Got a rental and hit the Auto-Bahn.Right now im in a cafe in Heidelberg typing this,and i can safely say,for the money you cannot buy a better guide if you are traveling Europe by car.As a matter of fact,I had made NO plans for lodging or even where I was going to go untill i had met up with my friends in Frankfort!This thing got me through the most complicated citys without a hitch.I had to use gas coupons(Army) that are only good at Esso gas stations.Found them all with voice promps to boot.The voice floating from my laptop,telling me VERY accuratly(even with the WAAS turned off) "in 600 meters,take roundabout then 2end exit"Only got comfused once in a ver old city,kept telling me to turn around.Any way, paying the extra $300 for the Euro city select program was worth-it.And even though i have not used it in the USA yet, I can say that i probibly will not take another trip without it.No CD required,just load and go.You will need internet to activate the Euro. CD if you get it.As well as download the updates for the program.
On: 2004-10-18
Very easy to set up no flaws of freezing during the loading. No CD-ROM is needed once the software it loaded. Maps are easy to read and change colors at night to make your screen dark. The voice promts have been 99% on the ball and clear enough that you dont really even need to look at the screen while its navigating for you. There is no limit on how much detailed map you have have and it figures a route or a re-route in seconds (much faster than the street pilot III)
The interface for entering the address yould like to go to or find takes a few times to get used to but in the end the right address has always been there.
On: 2004-10-17
Very easy to set up no flaws of freezing during the loading. No CD-ROM is needed once the software it loaded. Maps are easy to read and change colors at night to make your screen dark. The voice promts have been 99% on the ball and clear enough that you dont really even need to look at the screen while its navigating for you. There is no limit on how much detailed map you have have and it figures a route or a re-route in seconds (much faster than the street pilot III)
The interface for entering the address yould like to go to or find takes a few times to get used to but in the end the right address has always been there.
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