GPS recommendations?

[Dtrain475]

I've read a few threads on different GPS's, anyone have the Garmin Nuvi 350? I'm leaning towards that one, just wanted some feedback from someone that actually has one.

Thanks in advance-

[anthony]

I have a Garmin Quest and think it is awesome. They now have a Quest II with more memory.

http://www.gpsinformation.us/quest/questrev.html

[}{arlequin]

Originally posted by Dtrain475
I've read a few threads on different GPS's, anyone have the Garmin Nuvi 350? I'm leaning towards that one, just wanted some feedback from someone that actually has one.

Thanks in advance-

i have it and it's great. i do have two issues w/ it however.

it really is *happiest* when you have an address to enter into it. it's much slower (reluctant almost) to find a place by its name. "sears" was a difficult one to find and it still didn't give me the closest one

also, it doesn't seem to have a feature where you could just enter an intersection as your destination.

never bothered w/ the mp3 thing... that's what radios are for.

battery life is good. suction cup for the window mount tore after trying to remove it from the windshield. no, i wasn't rough, it just sticks too well, especially when it's been on the window for a month or so at a time....

the size and ease of use are key for me and it does what they say it will.

[RickM]

I went a slightly different route and bought a used Garmin 2610 Streetpilot. No longer made but very well supported and @ $300 I think I got a great deal. The 2610 is still considered the gold standard by reviewers and judging by Ebay activity many others think so as well.

FWIW, maps are stored on Compact Flach cards. A 2 gig Sandisk Ultra ll will get the entire country on there. You also want to make sure you have the latest software.

[MarkY]

I also have a 2610 and love it. I've had mine for 3 years and one thing I really like is that you can move it from car to car real easy. Great for rental cars out of state as well.

[ruf-porsche]

I have several Garmin Ique 3600. Best investment I ever brought. Now I don't get into an argument with my spouse because she doesn't know where we are while I'm driving the car.

Now we get into other argument while I'm driving the car, but getting lost is not one of them.

[Dtrain475]

Thanks for the input, I'm actually using a friends 2610 right now for the week as as test drive. Seems good, but it's a few years old so I thought there might be something out there now that's better?? I don't know, I'm looking at the TomTom too, seems to get good reviews.

[RickM]

Depends what you consider better....

New models are smaller, but many with smaller LCDs. Some suffer from washout in normal daylight conditions and less detail in the displayed mapping. Added to the feature list are things like Real-time traffic avoidance, MP3 player, Bluetooth compatiblity with phone etc....none of which I need but may appeal to others.

Funny, a friend's wife bought a Tom-Tom ($1200+) a few weeks ago and it just quit working. He called to ask what to do. I think she was already looking at the Nuvi.

[Carl83911]

I just use my verizon VZ Navigator on my LGV.
Comes with:
intersection locator
Directions from current location
Category search for area of your location within a specified radius
Voice directions prior to upcoming turn.

Pretty cool. The only thing is that the screen is too small. But with voice feature, it is acceptable.

[Harlan Chinn]

I bought the Garmin C340. It sells for $487.00 from 4x4books.com
I ordered it by two p.m. Central time and it arrived on my desk in two days as promised.
This model C340 speaks the street name/direction, "Turn right on Pine Street" versus simply telling you to "Turn in 200 feet". It's capable of re-routing you around traffic and construction congestion if you purchase the optional antenna to receive the subscription traffic service. The alpha numeric touch screen is pretty intuitive, it saves your last few destinations and allows you to save them into a "Favorites" menu. You type in the name of the location and it will tell you "Now arriving at _____________ "the name of whatever you typed.

The maps are great, the graphics display will change at dusk or dawn from black background to white or vice versa.

It will even tell you your arrival time which will reflect attempts to reduce this time like on my recent drive to British Columbia Canada. It took me ten minutes to go through customs where I made that time up and a bit more when I arrived home.

I've had a great time with the C340 especially in rental cars in unfamiliar cities. It gets you to your destination without the stress or frustration of getting lost.

[Dtrain475]

I ended up going with the Garmin 550c or C550... Apparently it just came out. Has everything, super easy to use and it was $799.

Thanks for the input.

[ruf-porsche]

$799 are you crazy

You can buy a Garmin Ique for usually under $200.00 on eBay. It's small enough to transfer from car to car and you can also use it as a PDA.

[Dtrain475]

U can buy whatever you want on Ebay....

[LakeCleElum]

I think the Quest II is the best thing out there for the money....Whatever you get, make sure you can download from your computer. It's much easier to set up your routes and waypoints at your leisure, download and go.......

[Drew001]

I've got a nüvi 360 and love it - especially the bluetooth so that I can take calls while I'm driving.
Sometimes people can't hear me because of the wonderful sound coming from my '87 coupe, but that's a good thing to me!

[Harlan Chinn]

Unless you really need to run bluetooth and play MP3s out of your C550, the C340 does the same thing, gets you from point A to B for about $300.00 less. At both Garmin.com and 4x4books.com website you can compare the entire Garmin line's features.
Evaluate and pay for what you feel you really need and if you're an astute shopper, you won't pay full retail.

[mike911]

HP ipaq 6340 with tom tom software and seperate bluetooth gps receiver.

with this set up you have gps, cell phone and proper internet acess for email.

Ebay is the place to find all the components at sensible prices.

mike

[osidak]

Hey tell me what you think of your C550 as I was thinking it or the c530

[Harlan Chinn]

The Garmin C550 is the latest model, here is the comparative linkfor all current Garmin GPS devices:
http://gpsnow.com/gmspc340.htm

If your car is bluetooth ready, you may not need to make calls through your GPS device, though convenient, Bluetooth hasn't been proven to be the most secure form of wireless. The C340 provides the most value and functionality for most anyone in North America.

[}{arlequin]

the reason i went w/ the nuvi was b/c the others are too large. they look like a brick or a boulder sitting on your dash