OpenStreetMap compatible GPS?

Benjamin Scott dragonhawk at gmail.com
Mon Apr 26 17:43:13 EDT 2010


On Mon, Apr 26, 2010 at 3:02 PM, Joshua Judson Rosen
<rozzin at geekspace.com> wrote:
> And *then* we discovered just how much better the OSM maps can be than
> the proprietary ones ... which makes perfect sense to me, since there's actually a
> way for bugs to be reported and fixed in OSM....

  One of the selling points of the TomTom is that they have a
mechanism for users to report updates back to the overmind.  I don't
know how well it works, but they do advertise the capability.

  Updated commercial map sets are still way expensive, though.  $80?!?  Yikes!

> Of course, then we decided shortly thereafter that the whole `GPS thing'
> seemed mostly stupid as far as we were concerned anyway[1],

  I've got a set of paper road atlases which still serve me pretty
well.  Very large display surface, with excellent image quality, and
they work *better* in bright sunlight.  But they're getting out of
date, and are rather tattered.  I've considered just buying new paper
maps, but have been pondering GPS, too.  This thread is of interest to
me.

  Electronic maps do have their advantages.  Compact.  The spot you're
looking at will never be obscured by the boundary between two map
pages.  Route finding and estimating is useful if you're already on
the road and want to make an unexpected change.  Audible turn-by-turn
directions are useful if you get confused on your way to a new-to-you
location.  Route recording appeals to those who want to track where
they've been, when (for whatever reason).

  So I'm also wondering about good brands/models to buy, for the Linux
user who prefers to avoid MS Windows.

-- Ben


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