inexpensive mapping gps

[Soundguy]

I'm wanting to get my feet wet with a small gps.. say.. something with about a 3.5" screen, and preferably one that will speak the directions.

I'd like to find an econoy / entry model one in the ? 99$ range.

I have looked at a navman.. F15 model .. it fits that bill pretty close.. but wonder if anybody else has any suggestions.

i'm not looking for something that has a subscription service.. etc.. Just something to throw in the car with the wife. I had suggested one of the more $ ones like a garmin or magellen.. but she's not sold on them yet.. so i figure an entry model may start the ball rolling...?

soundguy

 

[WVBill]

Soundguy,

I bought a Magellan 4000 for me and my wife for Christmas and we love it. She's quite "techno-phobic" but she learned to operate it quite quickly. I would be concerned about two things in the economy models: 1) Technical issues - things like: ability to recieve the gps signal in all conditions, position/route calculation speed, map accuracy, etc. and 2) user-friendlieness of the user interface. These are the reasons I shied away from the low-cost off-brands and went with a magellan.

I frequent another board that is dedicated to gps discussions so check out this link and you may find more detailed reviews of gps units.
GpsPasSion Forums

Either way, DO get one they're alot of fun.

Oh, by the way - once you get it, NEVER leave it in the car. They've been the #1 target for car break-ins.

WVBill

 

[dgl24087]

Oh, by the way - once you get it, NEVER leave it in the car. They've been the #1 target for car break-ins.

WVBill

Amen to that statement, local rescue squad has had 2 GPS units stolen and one ambulance rear ended by a drunk driver, all in 2 days time!!

 

[kennyd]

I have a TomTom ONE XL, it's very user friendly-even my wife can figure it out The touch screen works extremely well, and the directions given are pretty accurate. Good deal can be had on them if you search around...

 

[Soundguy]

Does tomtom use a service / subscription?

soundguy

 

[shvl73]

The Garmin Nuvi 200 is on sale at Staples for $149. I've got a 2 year old Lowrance and I think the Garmin is nicer. I was real tempted. I'll wait till I'm back in NH and go look again. I'll save about $7.50 in sales tax.
One thing I look for, in addition to user friendly interface is, points of interest. Some of the budget ones will have 1-1.5 million. The Garrmin has 5 million. That's alot more options when you want to find a place to eat, restrooms, stores, etc.
I believe Garmin may update the maps for free. Maybe someone with one can comment. My Lowrance has software updates but, you pay for map updates.
Another thing is text-to-speech. Some have it, some don't. without it, you won't hear the actual street names, just "turn here". You will still get route #'s though.

 

[Wombat125]

Nuvi 200 is on sale at Cabelas for $139.

It speaks directions (turn left in 3 miles), but not street names. It's a great unit for the price and always ranks high in the reviews.

 

[Soundguy]

Thanks for the info guys.

soundguy

 

[RollingsFarms]

Thanks for the info guys.

soundguy

i'm glad you decided to start this thread because i have also been thinking about looking into getting one of these. i just am clueless about them, but am trying to learn. i'll be following this thread closely, so keep us posted on what you find out and if you purchase one!

 

[Scooby074]

I have a Garmin c60 that i use on the ATV and in the woods. Its great for that because its waterproof, however the small screen and difficult interface makes it hard to change waypoints and create routes or search for POI while in the car.

Two of my friends are running TomTom, one a GO720 and the other a XL One, I have to say the Tom Toms are MUCH more user friendly than the Garmin.

As a matter of fact when i buy one for my truck it will likely be a GO730 because of the Bluetooth speakerphone functionality. Nova Scotia is requiring all mobile phones to be handsfree.

Check EBay, there's a few dealers selling remans, thats what my friends bought and saved $$$.

 

[Soundguy]

So far I am looking at the tomtom1v3, and the navman unit I mentioned. both are on sale at a local store. will take the wife over to see which one she likes more.

The navman is a lil cheaper and comes with some extra goodies.. so I'm leaning that way.. as the goodies it come with are worth 20-50$ from the other guys. ( 3 different mount schemes.. etc. ).

Both of these units are portable..e tc.

soundguy

 

[MicroPilot]

i'm glad you decided to start this thread because i have also been thinking about looking into getting one of these. i just am clueless about them, but am trying to learn. i'll be following this thread closely, so keep us posted on what you find out and if you purchase one!

IMO a GPS is only useful if you frequently travel to areas you are not fmailiar with. For tooling around your home town, you'll already generally know how to get to where ever you want to go, and if you don't a quick look up on Mapquest, etc. will let you know what part of town the location is in.

An inexpensive way to get some GPS experience is with Microsoft's Streets and Trips program. They sell a version that includes a GPS receiver you connect to your laptop. Amazon has this for $69.99.

 

[Soundguy]

IMO a GPS is only useful if you frequently travel to areas you are not fmailiar with..

Why would I want a gps to tell me how to get to a place that I alreday know how to get to?

For tooling around your home town, you'll already generally know how to get to where ever you want to go,.

Refer to the answer of #1, and add 'DUH!'

and if you don't a quick look up on Mapquest, etc. will let you know what part of town the location is in.

An inexpensive way to get some GPS experience is with Microsoft's Streets and Trips program. They sell a version that includes a GPS receiver you connect to your laptop. Amazon has this for $69.99.

As stated.. it's for my wife.. not me.. she's not real computer literate.. plus.. for the one that hooks tot he pc and the software.. etc.. it's only a little more to buy a portable GPS system. etc..

soundguy

 

[Ken_CT]

I have the Garmin 350. I'm happy with it. Amazon has them on sale for $199 which is a very good price. They also have a "Bean bag" mount which is nice as it does not leave marks on the windshield from the suction cup that thieves look for. If you area member of Consumer Reports they have a pretty good comparison of the different brands. I like the units that say the street name rather than just turn right in... . Here is a pic of the unit and mount.

 

[Champy]

I have a Garmin NUVI 260. Best gadget purchase I've ever made. It not only navigates for you but has the voice system to tell you when, where, and the name of the street too. My wife loves it when the female voice is telling me where to go! It also has a library of "attractions" - hotels; restaurants; hospitals; stores; etc...so you can search for a business by name (great for finding a hotel ahead for making reservations).

Also - I travel for work and this has saved my bacon many times. I used to hate going to a new distributor, dealer, or customer location because you're in a strange city; traffic going every-which-way; and you're trying to simultaneously read printed directions, look at roadsigns, and drive safely. Now I preload the addresses and off I go. I even hit a save on rental car lots for returning my rental cars at airports. No more confusion and aggrevation about business trips now.

Bought it last year for ~$260 I think.....and would buy it again in a heart beat!

 

[hazmat]

I have 2 tom tom 720s - more expensive but they have some upgraded features

text to voice - turn left on "ELM" st vs. turn left.
Bluetooth - cell phone speaker phone.

A buddy has a garmin Nuvi & I actually bought one to try too. I ended up sending it back, because it wasn't substantially better than the tom tom,and it cost $100 more. The price gap has since closed...

I'm having mixed results with the Tom Tom. I felt the user interface was easier than the garmin's, but It has "crashed" a few times requiring reboots. which is annoying.

If I did it again, I'd get the Garmin.

Oh and by the way, the point of interest features are lacking in ALL the units. I read somewhere that there are 30 million POIs in the US. I think the most that come on a gps unit is 6 million. Perhaps as memory gets cheaper, they will have all of them in the future.

 

[Wombat125]

If I did it again, I'd get the Garmin.

I read somewhere that there are 30 million POIs in the US.

Based on what I've read, your views and experiences with the Tomtom vs Garmin are very consistent with many others

I'm kind of curious to know how someone defined a specific number of POI's. I mean isn't that kind of subjective? It is a Point of Interest after all. What constitutes an "official" POI?

In my world it's offroad trails, motorcycle and tractor dealerships, and microbreweries. You know... the good stuff.

 

[Soundguy]

I notice many of them list airports and hospitals a PIO.. i sure wish you coul put tractor dealerships as POI...

soundguy

 

[hazmat]

I notice many of them list airports and hospitals a PIO.. i sure wish you coul put tractor dealerships as POI...

soundguy

you can create your own POI files & download them to the unit. Some units even have a SD slot for added storage space...