GPS...Educate Me
 

I'm driving to Florida in two weeks by myself.

I'm considering getting a GPS system for the car, as I won't be able to manage maps while driving. Seems like the units are priced anywhere from $250 - $1,000.

What's the difference between a $250 and a $1000 model?

I'm looking at the Garmin StreetPilot c330 GPS Vehicle Navigator for around $280.

Garmin Nuvi 350. $350 at costco.com. Best gps ever - built in basemaps for the us, turn by turn voice navigation ("turn left at Elm street"), compact. Best ever.

Garmin is the way to go...

Just bought a Garmin Nuvi 370 (I need the European Maps)....a few minor ergonometric issues with it but basically it is an excellent device. Would happily recommend them to anyone....

Dennis

If you don't need it to name streets (ie it says "turn left in 1000 feet," instead of "turn left at Elm") then look at the Mio 310x.

It's $160-200, 3.5" screen, 3-hour battery, Maps of US preloaded, MP3 player, and you can actually use it as a PDA if you want to get techie with it - see http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=37
For the price, it's just fantastic.

I was shopping for car speakers yesterday, and it led me right to several hole-in-the-wall stores I would NEVER have found on my own. It's literally the best $200 I've ever spent on electronics. And cheap enough that I can still "justify" some Focals for the car. :)

Another vote for Garmin.
I have the nüvi 360 - expensive, but worth it.

I don't know how I got along without this thing before.

Another vote for Garmin. While researching a few reviews stated that some versions of the C series Street Pilots suffered from screen washout during the day.

Just don't use it as a route finder to the Oregon Coast from I-5 during the winter months....

i love my nuvi

I just bought a Tom Tom ONE. I love it. It's preloaded with maps of US and Canada. You can buy upgrades to Europe if you choose.

It's a good, basic portable GPS. The only real features between them are as noted, verbal voicing of the streets to turn on (I haven't found it to be an issue w/o it since it displays street names on the screen), battery life, the actual map programming it comes with, and the high end models have miscellanous information including information on tourist sites.

The ONE is a basic unit, but for my needs it works quite well. Approx 2.5 hrs. battery life, comes with a car charger (no AC charger) and suction cup for the windshield and it's a touchscreen display. $299 is what I paid new.

The NUVI at $350 is a smokin deal..

If you have a PDA, a "cheap" Bluetooth GPS system and Tom Tom 6 can be had for about $200 USD.

I am a long time Garmin owner and love them. That said I picked up a MIO C310X two months ago at Frys electronics for $180 and love the thing. No, its not as nice as the Garmin but I wanted something really small that I could travel with.

Either the Mio or newer Garmin would be excellent. Try them both and get one for the trip.

another vote for Mio c310X (coming from a long time garmin user)

Can get them from Frys.com for $189 shipped. Love mine and plan to get another one for the spousal unit

Just found this thread- man, this place is an amazing resource! Wife and I are looking at the Nuvi range- considering the 370, as we need the Europe maps as well as North America. Can anyone tell me if there is a monthly charge? Are updates available? Is the 370 the best deal for Europe and the US?

Thanks in advance,

Paul.

Been using my Nuvi 370 for the past few weeks in Holland. It is very good on the highways and larger roads, failed rather miserably in the centre of Amsterdam (couldn't keep up to the changes it seems). On a bicycle it is OK, but it sometimes is a poor chooser of route, and if there is a road, canal, road with bike pathways on both sides, it seems to be unable to distinguish which side you are on (not unreasonable considering it probably has 10 m accuracy and the road is like 3 m wide!).

Using it as a pedestrian just plain sucks and it is not helpful. I tried changing modes and accuracy, it just doesn't really have the precision, especially when in relatively narrow streets and such.

It would be nice to have a bigger screen (I think the 600 series has it) but then the whole shebang gets more awkward to carry around.

Has it been good....absolutely, it has made navigation here very much easier, but not perfect. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat , but might look at Tom Tom if Europe was my target.

Dennis

Thanks Dennis- do you have to pay a monthly fee for the service?

I went the PDA route, I bought a Dell Axim PDA with bluetooth, and picked up a bluetooth receiver from buygpsnow.com. Installed Infogation's Odyssey Mobile. Also got a nice window mount with a speaker and charger for the PDA and GPS receiver. My plan is to remotely mount the GPS receiver in my Boxster (in the storage bin behind the seats).

Works good, but with ALL GPS units, some areas/maps are not completely up to date. It also does not read the street names aloud. It DOES recalculate routes VERY quickly.

Total setup probably cost me around $400. I also use the PDA for several other things. Installed a program called Vehicle Manager, and it tracks my fuel costs and efficiency, and maintenance costs as well.

No fee for the service, but it costs something like $80 to get an update for the maps, apparently they do an annual update....haven't experienced one yet as I haven't had the thing long enough.

Dennis