This was my first experience with GPS. In short, I liked it and found it extremely fun and useful to use. Just prior to taking a lengthy car trip with my family, I had just purchased another, non-GPS, trip planning software package. While it was great for planning, it would not do much for finding me when I managed to get lost. On a lark, I purchased Skymap 2000 GPS 1.0.
I am sure that the several hours we lost wandering in Washington DC. would not have occurred if we were using the Skymap 2000 GPS 1.0 at the time. Time was also lost when the kids decided to navigate without the parents' assistance or the help of Skymap 2000 GPS 1.0. I sat in the back with my wife watching the GPS locator trailing us around and around until the kids finally, reluctantly, asked us for help.
Later, with the traffic extremely heavy, we opted to take an alternate route through an area totally unknown to us. We made it though, without the use of our paper maps, and without the slightlest problem.
Cons: 1) I found that there were points of interest for which I had no address and could not find in Skymap 2000 GPS 1.0. In these cases, I used the other mapping software to obtain an address and using cut and paste, I was able to continue.
3) The receiver had problems locking onto the satelite signals in some areas and, as a consequence, had to wait for us to get out of the dead spots. We also found the GPS tracking well off of any highway. The documentation said that there would be times that "availability" would force inaccurate readings. We adapted, but this was still annoying.
2) The wires leading to the back seat were always getting in the way. A spilled lunch was a testimony to this problem. An extra foot longer receiver cord might be very helpful.
Overall, I give this very positive marks.
