Originally Posted by
dengidog
I'm really green w/GPS, but your Garmin looks very similar to a local brand we (finally!) started using here. I was surprised at just how easy they actually are. So, my dumb question is...would this tell you where hotels/camping/etc are? I'm going to try to tour again late this summer and would really like to have one w/me as a backup.
The Nuvi can search a database for things like restaurants, motels, etc. I do not recall if they have a dedicated search mode for campgrounds.
But, keep in mind that all databases have errors and the errors in the database in the Nuvi can be significant. If I was planning on staying at a motel that my Nuvi said was nearby, or going to the only grocery store within 20 miles because I was out of food, I would call them on the phone first to make sure that they exist.
I once drove 20 miles out of the way to a store that my Nuvi said existed, when I got there I found the parking lot for a lawyer's office. I suspect that the database that Garmin got had the mailing address for the law firm that filed the corporation papers for the retailer instead of the actual location of the store.
I suspect that the newer smart phone users will tell you that the latest phones can be just as good at locating nearby places to spend money. I do not have a smart phone, my phone is about 8 years old, does not even have a built in camera to tell you how old it is. So, I can't make a comparison with phones vs Garmin Nuvi database.