GPS Tracking Devices

[grasscutter]

What I'm trying to do is put my car on the map in real time as I drive without a destination. If I had an actual destination, it would be so much easier keeping track of where I'm at compared to driving around without a destination. I spend a lot of time driving in residential neighborhoods and a lot of them are like driving through a maze. It's real easy to get lost and I find myself driving in circles on the same streets I've already driven on. It would be so much easier if my car was a bright red arrow on a map that I could see as I'm driving.

So what I need is some kind of GPS device that tells me where I'm at in relation to the neighborhood street that I'm currently driving on. My car is too old to have built in navigation and I don't have a cell phone with GPS either. In the meantime, I'm looking at Apple Maps on my computer and trying to memorize the map the best I can before heading out onto the residential streets. Sometimes I'll print a paper map off of Google Maps, but I find myself never looking at it.

 

[Jetronic]

any stand alone or built in navigation device does this.

 

[Sumboodie]

Google maps on your phone, Garmin, etc.

Printing maps? I remember doing that 15+ years ago.

 

[rstcso]

Here is a Garmin GPS with 7" display for $69.99 on Amazon. It also has a 20% promo code. Just click on that button and the price drops to $55.99 in the cart, plus tax. It comes with all the necessary accessories to mount it in your car and pre-loaded with 2025 maps for North America. You can set locations, such as your Home, which can be used for turn-by-turn directions to get back to. Depending whether you're going to a location or just driving around, the display shows the street you're on and distance to next turn, or when just out for a drive, your relationship to other streets. Also displayed are the current posted speed limit and how fast you're going.

 

[eljefino]

Even if you don't have phone service you can download google maps for a particular local region over wifi.

Standalone GPSs are passe, maybe you can find one at a yard sale for a few bucks. IIRC they show "ready to navigate" with your car centered in the map of the surroundings.

 

[doitmyself]

Even if you don't have phone service you can download google maps for a particular local region over wifi.

Standalone GPSs are passe, maybe you can find one at a yard sale for a few bucks. IIRC they show "ready to navigate" with your car centered in the map of the surroundings.

I'm throwing you under the bus, eljefino . Download Google maps with what? Based on his question, at most maybe he is has a flip phone without any apps?

@ rstcso's link would seem to be exactly what the OP is looking for (He mislabeled it as Garmin brand). Hands and eyes concentrating on driving while the GPS unit talks him to his destination. For entertainment, it's fun to deliberately take a wrong, convoluted route and listen to the navigator make corrections (often quite well!).

 

[edyvw]

Even if you don't have phone service you can download google maps for a particular local region over wifi.

Standalone GPSs are passe, maybe you can find one at a yard sale for a few bucks. IIRC they show "ready to navigate" with your car centered in the map of the surroundings.

Actually, they are not. They thrive and are available regularly for fairly cheap prices.
Garmin has a lot of units available. I will soon get one as I took out the audio system from the Sequoia and installed a Kenwood 10" unit for CarPlay. But, I ain't paying subscription for GPS map and unit with GPS is like $600 more. So, a standalone GPS when out of cell signal to use CarPlay Google map is a cheap, reliable solution.

 

[grasscutter]

Here is a Garmin GPS with 7" display for $69.99 on Amazon. It also has a 20% promo code. Just click on that button and the price drops to $55.99 in the cart, plus tax. It comes with all the necessary accessories to mount it in your car and pre-loaded with 2025 maps for North America. You can set locations, such as your Home, which can be used for turn-by-turn directions to get back to. Depending whether you're going to a location or just driving around, the display shows the street you're on and distance to next turn, or when just out for a drive, your relationship to other streets. Also displayed are the current posted speed limit and how fast you're going.

How detailed is the map? Does it show the little silhouettes of the houses next to the residential streets?

This would be good but it doesn't show the street names or the houses:

 

[Rand]

any recent smartphone or stand alone GPS can do it.

 

[Pew]

How detailed is the map? Does it show the little silhouettes of the houses next to the residential streets?

From one of the pictures, it looks like it does show building silhouettes (can also switch to 2D.) Unfotunately I do not know if you can zoom in and see the individual house numbers.

 

[grasscutter]

From one of the pictures, it looks like it does show building silhouettes (can also switch to 2D.) Unfotunately I do not know if you can zoom in and see the individual house numbers.

It's looking like if I want the resolution I'm looking for, I'll have to get an iPhone with Apple Maps and GPS capability.

I'm familiar with Apple Maps but have never owned a cell phone in my life.

 

[thastinger]

I mean...for less than a stand alone GPS unit, you could buy a 100 dollar motorola andriod phone and download the Waze app.

 

[grasscutter]

I mean...for less than a stand alone GPS unit, you could buy a 100 dollar motorola andriod phone and download the Waze app.

I have no idea was Waze looks like in a residential area. Trying to find screens shots of people using any kind of maps in a residential area is next to impossible.

 

[rstcso]

Do you own any kind of tablet device such as iPad or whatever Samsung calls theirs (Galaxy?)? If so, you can buy an inexpensive bluetooth GPS device, connect it to your tablet, and use Google maps satellite view, Apple Maps, or whatever you want to install on your tablet. You get high resolution, large screen size, etc.

 

[samven]

If you need a display of houses and addresses you are going to have to use an online mapping app of some sort. But to get that level of detail you will need to be zoomed in so much that getting an overview of the neighborhood is impossible. You just cannot get that much info on a small screen and be able to read anything. And since you have no experience with smart phones you might want to look into a service with unlimited data. Thats going to set you back a bit on a monthly basis. Your best bet is still going to be a stand alone GPS with a big screen so you can read street names and just look at mailboxes for the address or punch in the address and let it take you there.

 

[grasscutter]

Do you own any kind of tablet device such as iPad or whatever Samsung calls theirs (Galaxy?)? If so, you can buy an inexpensive bluetooth GPS device, connect it to your tablet, and use Google maps satellite view, Apple Maps, or whatever you want to install on your tablet. You get high resolution, large screen size, etc.

I own a 2021 MacBook Pro which I'm using right now to talk to you. That's the only device I have. I'm a big fan of Apple products.

It's looking like the iPhone 13 Pro Max might fit the bill. They have some on eBay that are still sealed in the box.

 

[PandaBear]

So let me understand you correctly. You don't have a smart phone, and you need a GPS with a pre-loaded map, that is recent enough with the streets todays instead of something from 15 years ago or something like that.

What you can probably do is to get an off-road GPS like from Garmin / Tomtom etc, expect to spend a few hundred bucks as you will need to pay for all the work and not sell your data to a big internet company selling advertisement on the map. You can still buy one but it may not be cheaper than just get a smart phone that you can also use for something else and use the smart phone.

Or, if you have wifi tablet at home you can pre-download the map before leaving and just bring your tablet with you. You can use your laptop but you still need to find a way to load the map ahead of time.

 

[grasscutter]

So let me understand you correctly. You don't have a smart phone, and you need a GPS with a pre-loaded map, that is recent enough with the streets todays instead of something from 15 years ago or something like that.

What you can probably do is to get an off-road GPS like from Garmin / Tomtom etc, expect to spend a few hundred bucks as you will need to pay for all the work and not sell your data to a big internet company selling advertisement on the map. You can still buy one but it may not be cheaper than just get a smart phone that you can also use for something else and use the smart phone.

Or, if you have wifi tablet at home you can pre-download the map before leaving and just bring your tablet with you. You can use your laptop but you still need to find a way to load the map ahead of time.

I'm operating off the assumption that the Apple Maps is better than what Garmin offers. My MBP came preloaded with Apple Maps out of the box in 2021. A 5 year old map is good enough for me. The few hundred dollars you mention could go towards a brand new sealed in the box iPhone 13 off eBay. I'd be one of the few people in the world that doesn't have their cell phone hooked up to a cell tower.

 

[PandaBear]

I'm operating off the assumption that the Apple Maps is better than what Garmin offers. My MBP came preloaded with Apple Maps out of the box in 2021. A 5 year old map is good enough for me. The few hundred dollars you mention could go towards a brand new sealed in the box iPhone 13 off eBay. I'd be one of the few people in the world that doesn't have their cell phone hooked up to a cell tower.

Ah, I think they update periodically, not sure how often but definitely more often than 5 years. Cell phone based map is different fundamentally than preloaded map that doesn't get updated wirelessly, as well as not making money off advertisement or user data. There are pros and cons but it seems like you are not worried about bad reception off road but rather cost and savings by not having a cell phone.

If you don't mind taking a laptop around for GPS go for it, that's typically not a preferred use case for most people.

 

[Pew]

I'm operating off the assumption that the Apple Maps is better than what Garmin offers. My MBP came preloaded with Apple Maps out of the box in 2021. A 5 year old map is good enough for me. The few hundred dollars you mention could go towards a brand new sealed in the box iPhone 13 off eBay. I'd be one of the few people in the world that doesn't have their cell phone hooked up to a cell tower.

The problem with not having data while using a phone GPS is that you will not get updates on road traffic or conditions like construction. You'll have to put the address in when you get wifi.,

Google maps will let you download offline maps over a large region. You can search addresses within the downloaded region but you will have to download the offline maps on wifi and you'll still have the same problem as above with no real time info. I have done this when traveling through remote areas but could not get any real time updates through North Dakota.