Travel Computers

[jcanavera]

I've used a device from a company named Ultradata that I have found extremely useful. Its basicly like a calculator other than it contains a lot of travel information relating to Interstate Highways and U.S. highways. Escentially you enter in your state, driving speed, Highway or Interstate, direction of travel, and then a catagory.

The unit will visually feed back the next gas station, resturant, repair facilities, hospital, camp ground, highway intersections, cites and more. Once you put in your initial information you just have to input your mile marker to bring the unit up to date as to where you are at. For example we use it to determine the next rest stop, gas, and whether a resturant has RV parking.

What's also interesting is that it will allow you to do a search based on names. Say for example you only want Shell gasoline. You can key in Shell and it will find the next Shell station based on your current location. It will even give you directions if you wish.

Obviously information in the unit is subject to change over time so you do have to ocassionaly replace the unit to keep the information fresh. Apparently Ultradata has released a unit that has the ability to voice back information. Unfortunately that unit is not equipped with the RV database. If any of you have used the voice unit please let me know. My current unit is over 3 years old and I'm contimplating purchasing a new one. The voice system is interesting but I do like having the RV information available.

Here is a link to the Ultradata site.

http://www.ultradatasystems.com/products.html

Jack

[cosmotini]

Jack,
I received the AAA Autopilot Talking Road Navigator as a gift last Christmas.
It's manufactured by Ultradata. We just used it going to and coming from Florida.
It's seems to be very accurate.

Dennis

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by cosmotini

Jack,
I received the AAA Autopilot Talking Road Navigator as a gift last Christmas.
It's manufactured by Ultradata. We just used it going to and coming from Florida.
It's seems to be very accurate.

Dennis

Dennis,

I was curious about the voice quality and whether you truly can hear it. I think the AAA branded units carry AAA information regarding recommended hotels, attractions, etc.

Jack

[cosmotini]

The voice quality is good --- considering it's a very small speaker coming out of a device the size of a handheld calculator. It also has an LCD display that you can read and the prompt is the same as the voice. One annoying thing is that if you don't respond in 4 seconds, it re-asks the question. The sound is adjustable and one of the setting is off. Mine doesn't have any special AAA information that I can tell. It has 15 categories to choose from: Gas, food, motel, 24 Hour food, 24 Hour Gas, Diesel, Rest Ares, Hospitals, Campgrounds, Sites, Town, Hwy/Border, Conv Store, Road Help, Shopping Malls.

[jcanavera]

The Ultradata site shows the non voiced version and using their comparision page and specs it notes that there is additional AAA info stored. I wonder if you pick a motel whether it show the AAA rating?

Bottom line while its not a GPS, it does provide a lot of valuable information and it beats carrying the equivalent printed documentation. Its always nice when I can tell Patty that we will hit the next rest stop in xx minutes.

Jack