Hi guys

Im in the process of buying a GPS, and I came across a StreetPilot III for a reasonable price.

Anyone who has experience with this unit,what´s good and what´s not so good with it?

I will need maps and waypoints for east and northern Africa, any ideas where to look?


Cheers.

Tom

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Places to be and things to do, see you all out there!!

Cheers.

Tom.

We travelled with it across Africa for 14 months and had very little problems with it.. It's a great GPS!
We had ours mounted on Rob's bike and it never broke down or came lose ( except when Rob forgot to tighten it) Best to email username Robboxrv as it was on his bike

We got map source from the internet but there is also Maps of Africa that you can download.. If you ask around, someone should have it!

Good luck, when are you heading off?

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www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/robbo

I use one of these. It's a bit bulky and slow to calculate compared to newer ones. The memory cards are Garmin's own and rather expensive with not a lot of storage. It also only does a 5 digit postcode search. I like mine and I can't justify the cost of a new one when I've got one that does the job I need. But I would suggest you buy a more modern one.

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If you think you are too small to make a difference you have never spent the night with a mosquito.

The memory cards sure are expencive and as far as I can see 128mb is the limit.
I guess the truth is like Harleyrider is hinting that it´s an ok unit,but it´s geting old.

The "Big" trip will be February 2009 when Im finished with my job in Zanzibar and head home to europe. While I wait for that to happen I will make some shorter trips in Tanzania and Uganda.



Tom.

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Places to be and things to do, see you all out there!!

Cheers.

Tom.

I used one through Africa and had very few problems. It is rather bulky and slow, but you don't need it to be quick in Africa! One plus point - it is rugged compared to the newer, flashier GPS. You can drop it, get it soaked and generally abuse it and it will still work.

I used the world map pre-loaded and waypoints from searching this site and other travellers I met on the road. A great tool for finding those elusive campsites.

Hi,
I was in the same boat until recently. I wanted a decent, rugged GPS for my bike but could not really afford a newer offering.
I watched the Garmin listings on ebay for weeks and every time I saw something affordable, I went to the Garmin site ( usually the discontinued section) and read up on the specs.
It did not take long to figure out that the Streetpilot III offered all that I needed at the price I could afford.
It had a colour screen ( a BIG one), voice navigation, auto routing and all the other features that I thought I should need. Just as important, the price seemed right. They seemed to be going for around £60 to £75 although some bidders got carried away and I saw a few go for up to £100. (Silly really!).
Ideally, I would have liked one of the 26XX series but they went for a little bit more than I wanted to pay.
Eventually , I got one in good condition, boxed with all the proper paperwork, cables, card reader, 128MB card, unlock codes etc etc and with City Navigator Europe v5 plus the v6 and v7 upgrades. I got it for £65 including postage and had it delivered and up and running within a couple of days.
First impressions is that it is a well built , rugged piece of kit. It's REALLY BIG and a bit on the heavy side (especially with the six AA batteries installed) However, it really does a great job once you master the push button interface and sub menus.
Loading the maps is a piece of cake once the data card reader is installed and I managed to get all of UK and Ireland detailed maps on a 128MB card. I later binned the Ireland maps because I needed some space for routes and tracks. I'm searching ebay for an extra card so I can load the France maps I will need in the spring ( I don't want to overwrite the UK maps but I could if I only had one card)
Bottom line... A fine piece of kit for sixty odd quid and it works a treat with a very good display and pleasant voice prompt. OK, some of the maps may not be totally up to date but , for me, a GPS is only a guide to where I'm at and which direction I'm heading. If the little arrow appears to be travelling across a field on a parallel track to the road I'm on, I'm aware enough to figure out that someone constructed a new by-pass road at some point. I'm not going start crying over that and I'm not going to pay £400 just so the little arrow is always right!
Before I loaded the maps, I downloaded Mapsource World map and free upgrade. Then I installed the City Navigator maps (unlock codes needed). So, now I got really detailed maps of most of Europe and passable maps for the rest of the world. If I need more, I can always get the Wandelust maps which I hear are Quite good.
I'm not even going to discuss the down side of the Streetpilot ( Heavy, slowish rerouting, limited memory for maps etc. etc.) because, for Sixty five quid, who gives a sh*t!

A word of warning to anyone buying a GPS or mapping software on eBay... make sure that it comes with all documentation and UNLOCK CODES! I've seen a few 'bargains' that I would not touch with a bargepole for one reason or another.

Also, be sure you know what you are buying. The earlier Streetpilot GPS,I, II, V etc. have less features and are worth a lot less. Log onto the Garmin site and find the discontinued models and you will see what I mean.
I saw a bloke bid over £90 for an old Street pilot with a mono screen, no voice, no unlock codes and only a car charger ( obviously nicked).. Will he be dissapointed?
All I have to do now is find a decent Bike mount. Being a canny Scot, the Touratech and other expensive models are out of the question but from what I have seen of the RAM mounts, I may go for that option. They seldom appear on ebay so I will probably buy new... they appear to be very reasonably priced.

Yep! The Streetpilot III is a very good second hand buy for between £60 and £75 depending on 'extras' included. You should not pay much more!

Regards to all.

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If you never make mistakes, you ain't trying..

I have one, if you shop around (Ebay) you can get 256mb cards for them (I have one), also you can get (free) 'world routeable map'.
I have used mine in Europe (Holland,Belgium,France,Andorra and Spain) and it took me straight to my daily destinations without any arguments
Have a look on here,
the Elsinga family homepage » Garmin Mapsource maps



Trophymick

According to the Garmin blurb, the Streetpilot III can only read up to 128MB cards . Although the 256MB cards will work, you cannot take advantage of the extra storage space and you may not be able to read some of your data.
I've not tried the bigger (256MB and above) cards on my SP III so cannot confirm this 100% but if the Garmin blurb is correct, you will be wasting your cash if you buy the larger capacity card for this model. ( Unless of course you got it very very cheap).

Garmin states that only 16, 32, 64 and 128MB cards are recommended for the Streetpilot III.

I've seen Garmin branded, 128MB data cards on eBay from £40 upwards and Unbranded compatible cards from around £30 which is quite reasonable considering the cost new from Garmin.

There is also an outfit in the US of A. who regularly advertise Garmin accessories on eBay for quite reasonable money. ( due partly to the favourable £/$ exchange rate), including Motorcycle mounts. (Hard to find at reasonable cost)

While I'm on the subject of eBay ( again!!!) I've also spotted a lot of Mapsource maps for the Streetpilot III. If you have this Model, you will need Mapsource City Navigator V5 ( and /or V6/V7 upgrade) or the latest V8 or V9. The City Navigater V9 NT DVD is not recommended for the Streetpilot III.

Remember, you will need V5 already installed for the v6 or V7 upgrades to work ( also the unlock codes), although contrary to what is being put about, you do not need to access the Garmin site to unlock these versions if you have the correct unlock code!!

If you buy a StreetPilot III second hand, there is a free firmware upgrade available on the Garmin site. If you are not sure if you need it or not, go to the Main menu on your GPS, and select "System Info". A Window will pop up giving the unit ID and software version. The latest version is 2.80. If you have this, you don't need to download the upgrade.

Another handy tip, if you have a Garmin GPS but don't have the correct AC power adaptor ( or adapter?) but happen to own a car battery booster pack with a cigarette lighter socket, you can run your GPS indoors by plugging it into the boost starter. Works a treat and you can play with your Streetpilot indoors all day without killing the 6 AA internal batteries.

Anybody got any handy Streetpilot III tips I don't know about, I'd be happy to hear them.

Happy Garmination!

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If you never make mistakes, you ain't trying..

If you're looking at a streetpilot 3 and thinking you'll end up needing another memory card then you be better off paying a little more for the newer 2610. They're down to about £100 now on ebay and use normal camera memory cards - you can get 1Gb for £10 these days.
I've owned both models in the past, and unless you're really on a budget then the 2610 is superior in almost every respect. The 2 biggest problems of the older model (it's SLOW, and only takes Garmin memory) have been solved on the 2610. Both models are so cheap now that it makes little sense to go with the streetpilot 3, especially if you're going to be spending another £40 on memory for it.

As I stated in my post I have a 256mb card in my SP111, and it works, I can confirm this 100% I am running 'City Navigator Version 9' with the latest updates, and on my 256mb card I have all of the UK and Ireland (Republic and North) plus bits of the French, Belgian and Dutch coastline and it all works fine
One for sale here Garmin Mapsource Data Card 256mb on eBay, also, GPS Accessories, GPS, Consumer Electronics (end time 30-Jan-08 12:56:32 GMT)
I should have Tiny (ed) that link, it's massive


Trophymick

This looks like another case of reality clashing with Garmin's "recommendations". I've heard of other instances where users have successfuly used something or other where Garmin states that it is not recommended or it may not work or may damage the unit.
As I stated in my post, I cannot gaurantee the information since I didn't test it ( A diplomatic disclaimer to avoid egg on face!! )
I quite agree that a 248MB card would certainly add a great deal to the functionality ( is that a word?) of the SPIII. The last thing I need to do is to drag a laptop around with me so I can upload maps and save tracks etc.
I can't help but wonder what else you can use ( or do) that Garmin says you can't.

One thing I did do was to get some high capacity (2500mAh) NMH re-chargeable batteries to replace the Duracells. Although I have not had them long enough to run any comparisons, I'm quite confident that, at the very least, I will save a few bob in the long term. Although I normally use my SPIII connected to a power supply, there are times when it is switched on with only battery power. Normal AA's (including Duracells) don't last very long at all. My first set died within a few days. Lets see if the new ones fare any better. At least I won't have to bin them once they are discharged.
Regards.
B2V

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If you never make mistakes, you ain't trying..

I use a Garmin 256 Mb card in my SP III - no problems. It has been waterproof. drop proof and so far idiot proof.

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.. no gods .. precious few heroes ...

Hey, i also purchased a original 256mb memory module from garmin and my streetpilot does not recognize it, it keeps saying "reading module".
I heard it has something to do with the firmware.
What version of firmware do you have on your streetpilot III, i have 2.80 on it?

Thanks