Luddite needs help!

[pcut]

Before I jump the wrong way, I thought I'd pool the mud experts. I have recently been dragged (kicking and screaming) into the 21st century. Now I am trying to figure out the best way to know where I may be on the planet- and the two choices are the onboard nav system in my '06 TLC or purchasing a handheld GPS or tablet. We travel in the back country, mostly in Utah, Idaho,Nevada, Wyoming and Colorado. Nothing too extreme but definitely remote places. I don't want to log every place I have ever been but would like to have a better idea of where I am and where I am trying to go than just from a Gazetteer or Benchmark or whatever paper map I have for the area I'm in. I don't want to wade through the manual for the onboard nav system (it's thicker than my head) if it's not going to be able to tell me where I am. Last time I tried to use it, it showed me pretty well where we were in Poison Springs Cyn, but my navigator was twisting the dials and punching the buttons.
Given that I will be having to wade through instruction manuals in either case, what would the mud brain trust recommend?

 

[FJ60Seth]

If you really only want to know "where you are" then buy a hand held GPS designed for hiking. The Garmin Oregon is touch screen, water proof and has preloaded maps. It very durable, reliable and not difficult to use.

For off road vehicle navigation a tablet is awesome. But then you need to know how your tablet works, be able to choose, install, configure and master a navigation program, install maps, etc.

 

[e9999]

what are all these features that are so complicated on the NavSys? On ours ('03), you push the map button and it shows you where you are, nothing to it. No tracking feature though. For that I use tablet, phone etc. And of course especially so if I want to keep a record of it for posterity. The more recent Prius does have a tracking feature so it may be standard on newer LC models, that I don't know.

It's nice to have a separate portable GPS in case you have to walk out. But the little hiking ones are just about useless to my old eyes -and dangerously distracting- for inboard nav because the screen is so small. And you do have a smartphone or a tablet probably anyway.

The built-in is nice if only because it's not in the way. May not have the best / most detailed / topo maps though. For map versatility, especially offroad, a separate GPS / phone / Tablet may be better.

 

[pcut]

I don't know how to work the nav system because I have just never had occasion to use it. When I decided to start using it and pulled out the instruction manual I was totally intimidated by the sheer number of pages. Guess I'll just dive in and see where it leads me. Thanks for the input.

 

[e9999]

the manual covers a ton of obscure features that you will likely never use. 99% of the time you just need to push a button to see where you are and another to set an address where you want to go. Why don't you just sit in front of the thing, consider it a fun exploratory video game and play with it a bit? You only have one chance to do it *without* looking at the manual first. Take advantage of it. Good learning experience. You can always go back to the tedious manual later on.

 

[pcut]

You're spot on- I sat in it yesterday and played around with it and it was easy to get the things I want out of it. I don't know why I was intimidated by the manual. As a recovering attorney, I've read and understood more than my fair share of complicated documents- guess it's the old "fear of the unknown!"