What is the best GPS unit for my car?
 

Hey Guys,

I am thinking of buying a Garmin 370 Street Pilot for my truck. I ve read abit about them on the net but there are just so many different styles out there that I don't know what to get. Any one have one they are smitten with? I ll be driving all over Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico for work. I often travel to cities all over the west via air and then rent a car to travel around so it would be nice to bring it along with me.

Thanks,

S

I bought a Magellan 4040 at COSTCO for $300 a few weeks ago and love it. There are several lengthy recent threads here worth perusing.

There have been several posts about this. I have a Garmin Nuvi 350- much cheaper at Walmart.com than in the store- great little piece of kit.

Cheers,

Paul.

I'm not a big fan of the Nuvi 350. I find that almost 50% of the time, it can't find the address I'm looking for (even if I type it in), or it'll take me to an incorrect address/route and declare that everything's fine. I've learned to double-check things with the internet before on going on any real trips/adventures. Don't even get Cesiro started; he'll so pissed, he'll heave his from Florida, and you'll be able to catch it on the fly in Colorado. But I got it for $360 or so from Amazon this past summer.

HAHA! Yeah, check Jim's posts - funny guy!

I think Jim is at a point where he'll tape a $20 bill on his Garmin just to get rid of it.

I bought a Garmin 650 from Costco (on-line) for $300 and my wife love's it Can't compare it to anything else since it's our first GPS.

I just bought the Garmin 350 online for $300 new for my wife for Xmas. I would have gone with something cheaper, but only the 350 speaks the street names, which is probably better for my wife, since English is not her native language. I sure hope it's a good unit, as I didn't want to spend that much on just one gift.

I've been using the Nuvi 660 for the last couple of weeks and I'm very pleased.
I find the Bluetooth capability <i>very</i> handy.

I do wish the navigation screen was a bit more configurable as with my older StreetPilot. For example when navigating you must go to a different screen to view MPH and compass. I also would prefer to have the Bluetooth phone function available on the main screen as well....as opposed to the fixed MP3 Icon.

The suction cup windshield mount is also a docking station so no wires to fool with....a big plus.

All in all I highly recommend.

I have a 660 as well, and I concur.

I bought a Mio Digiwalker C220 this summer for the Mrs. -- both she and I love it! Excellent interface & accurate. The Mio brand GPS's are a little cheaper than the front runners like TomTom and Garmin. Bought two more Mio's (C230's) for the mom-in-law and my sis for X-mas just last week.

Can you guys give me an idea of what you do with the bluetooth? Thanks.

It makes the GPS unit act like one of those Bluetooth headsets you see people wearing. You can dial the phone through the GPS, either by entering the number directly, or, when locating a POI (point of interest, like a restaurant), hitting “dial” on the POI and it will call that POI directly (it has the phone numbers of these places in the database). When someone calls you, the GPS says “Incoming call from XXX” and you press a button to answer the phone. The GPS has a microphone and speakers, so it is hands free while you are driving. Some GPS’s, like the Nuvi 660, have an FM transmitter. This means you hear the phone call over your car stereo speakers.

I went for the Nuvi 650 at Costco for $300 after reading many reviews. I have had it for about a month and it does work exceptional well. If you do not need/want the Bluetooth, which I did not, then, I would say that this is a great unit.

I have set up many personal POI's and when I get within 5 miles of a microbrewery, Homer Simpson pipes up with, "UMMMM......Beer." and a beer mug icon pops up on the map.

Not that I like beer or anything!!!

Trunk Monkey

I have a TomTom One XL that I bought on sale for $250. It does everything I need and more.

I had one of these and liked it but its an absolute bear to update the maps in, and the last map update was 8 months late. When MIO gets their act together they will be a good company.

Just updated to the Garmin 580 and love it. Bluetooth, can work with worldwide maps (in fact using it today in Switzerland, and tomorrow in Moscow) and the ease and clarity is excellent.

Hard to beat a Garmin... and their warranty and support is top notch.

Never updated the maps on the Mio -- haven't had it that long...

Side note: how often should I be updating the maps? Any rule of thumb?

-Z

Awesome, thanks.

Joe - Where did you get Russia maps? I tried to find something but couldn't locate anything for less than $300.

One more vote for the Tom Tom One. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles like bluetooth but it is currently on sale for $150! What a steal. Plus you can download this nice little british lady's voice...makes me feel all refined and stuff.

BTW, I have heard from others that the Bluetooth doesn't work very well with cell phones, too much background noise. Just FYI, YMMV.

Send a PM to Maxmim1..........He (or I should say "His Daddy") owns everything in Russia so getting a map from him or his Uncle Tony Soprano shouldn't be a problem!