GPS Sytems- Need help
I usually do the navigating, and like my maps... 
So, any suggestions as to what we should look for, and what it absolutely should have, and what is not so important, would really help. We are totally naive when it comes to these things. So, in a nutshell, easy enough for a non-geek to use, but advanced enough to be worth it...(meaning better than my maps).. One thing it absolutely must do is talk. Audio is a must. Thanks! |
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| I'd also be interested in hearing suggestions. Mapquest has been failing me lately. |
| I love my GPS and I looked at a ton and sampled a few choices before making my decision.
In general, of the three major brands Garmin, Magellan, and Tom Tom, I strongly prefer Garmin because it works great all the time where I had oddball problems with the two other brands. There are a variety of Garmin versions and so the one you choose depends on your preferences. All the new ones come with preloaded maps that have a ton of places already in the system --shopping, gas stations, hotels, parks, sights, etc. It is awesome to always be able to find the nearest gas station. Some other nice features are use of actual street names when giving directions, ability to use as a speakerphone with your bluetooth enabled cellphone; and traffic monitoring and re-routing (for an extra monthly fee). Even without the monthly fee, you can ask it to route you around traffic or avoid certain roads. I chose the rather clunky 2820because it is the only Garmin model that you can use with software on your computer to plan out your routes and then transfer them to the device. That's really great for planning longer trips but it is not necessary for general day to day use because you can just input your locations into one of the other devices directly. If connectivity to your computer is not important, then I would choose maybe the streetpilot 550 or the streetpilot 580, which can help you compare gas prices before pulling into the station. The Garmin Nuvi's are great -- really small and portable -- but they cost more and they have all kinds of features I don't need (like a book reader, picture viewer, travel guides, etc.). Whatever you choose, you will love it. I've always been great with maps, but having a GPS is so much easier. I can't imagine driving any distance without one now. |
| When I went to Fla, in March, I rented the GPS system with my car. Best idea ever. I also had a Garman, which I loved. It was easy to program and see.
My brother used a different rental company and his GPS system was not as friendly as mine. If you can operate a VCR or DVD recorder, a microwave or a computer, it won't take any time to learn how to use it. |
| I have the Garmin StreetPilot 340. Perfect for trips. If all you want to do is program a route and follow it, it's awesome. It's all touch screen and super simple to use. I didn't want anything that played music or had a bunch of other bells and whistles that I didn't need. The map system is good, too, which is something I'd do research on before buying any unit. Different units use different map software and the one you choose should excel in the areas that you plan to use it. |
| Joan and I were GPS pioneers, we had one in our conestoga motorhome in our cross-country trip.
I'm not sure what the initials G.P.S. stand for, but I think it means "Marriage Saving System." After much investigation and trial we used a system called "CoPilot" by ALK.com http://www.alk.com/copilot/ ALK has been into fleet tracking and routing for a while and the software was especially helpful with features that were important to us -- low clearance and U turn avoidance, for example. We also likes the Garmin Street Pilot, but 2 issues kept us from keeping it; 1st the software on the PC kept crashing and locking up the PC so we couldn't program the GPS for our route, and it was (I think) $1100 at the time. So, if you can install it in your PDA or Windows-PC Phone, CoPilot might be good for you. If you need a dashtop turnkey unit, Garmin is probably very good. I have heard good things about TomTom, as it has blue tooth integration. My brother has a system on his Windows phone, I think the software was free , but he needed to get a GPS unit which was a little under $100 I believe. He seems happy with it. So I guess we need to know in what direction you're leaning, and what features are important, besides voice! |
After using both a Garmin and Magellan, we liked the Garmin best. It was easier to set up and immediately alerted us to wrong turns. The Magellan we used punished us by letting us drive around lost for awhile.  
Wynette may recommend a Tom-Tom but I heard she used a Joe-Joe to get to St. Louis and back.  |
Ron wrote: I'm not sure what the initials G.P.S. stand for, but I think it means "Marriage Saving System."
Funny! This is what I tell all of our friends too when they see ours. We used to have the biggest fights over the directions. We spent the extra money for the navigation package with our Prius. Only downside is that you have to buy DVD's every few years to keep up with the new maps. The DVDs cost around $300. |
| how about great partner saving instead of global positioning system |
| Great information!
We are total newbies here, so please be patient with our ignorance. We will not by putting anything on a cell phone. It needs to be stand- alone. Do we buy the devise and then we have to bye more stuff to load onto it? Or it comes with pre-loaded maps and stuff that you need to update periodically? Don says he wants something easy...no bells and whisles...but also not too expensive. He is looking at some under $200. I told him that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. What do the cheapies lack? And do they all "talk" ? And I assume they run off batteries of a car-charger thingy? Thank you sooo much! |
Bosley's mom wrote: Great information!
We are total newbies here, so please be patient with our ignorance. We will not by putting anything on a cell phone. It needs to be stand- alone. Do we buy the devise and then we have to bye more stuff to load onto it? Or it comes with pre-loaded maps and stuff that you need to update periodically? Don says he wants something easy...no bells and whisles...but also not too expensive. He is looking at some under $200. I told him that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. What do the cheapies lack? You really can't get anything worth buying for less than $300. I bought my Garmin 340 from PCNation and with a 3 year warranty and overnight shipping, I got an AWESOME deal at $303. Most places sell just the unit for $350 and I got the warranty and shipping for $50 less than that. No, you don't have to load anything, it's plug and play. The only programming that you do is your own routes and POIs and that you do right on the unit. It talks to you but you can turn that down or off if you want. I find it also recalculates really quickly too if you have to go off route. |
| I am a completely hopeless person in term of navigation. My first GPS was purchased about 4 years ago. It was a Garmin Street Pilot III Deluxe. I paid $580 for it.
This little device was my best friend. It took me everywhere I need to go. The Pro: -You don't have to worry about getting lost. It will definitely take you to the destination. -You don't have to worry about finding gas station, bank, grocery stores...etc. It has a huge databank of all these Point of Interest. You can look up a store by distance or by name and it will take you there. e.g. I can look for food, it has choices of all different cruisines for me to choose. -It has voice prompt to tell you when to make the next turn. First prompt comes in about 1 mile distance, secon prompt comes in around .5 mile and another one in 300 to 500 feet. You don't have to keep your eyes on the screen to find out your next turn. - You can choose the shortest route, fastest route, offroad route. The Con - It is a little too bulky. - Sometimes it doesn't make the wisest choice of route but at the end of the day you definitely will get to the destination. - It takes a little too long for recalculation when you are off route. It might not be too long for other people but too me, 1 min is already too long. - You can only load one state of map in it at a time - You might need to know a little more about computer for setting up, re-setting, downloading maps...etc - You can only get from point A to point B, you can't add a stop in between. If you need to go to 2 places. You have to get to the first destination first and set the route for the second destinatin. I recently decided to upgrade my GPS system and bought a Nuvi 660. I got it from Amazon after doing some price researchs. I paid $604 for it. I love this new GPS. It does has a lot of functions that I do not need like Valarie said...audio book, mp3, photo album... but there are a lot of other functions that I really like 1. It is so easy to set up, ready to use right out of the box. 2. It has all 50 states's maps already loaded inside it 3. My StreetPilot III prompts me to turn right in 1 mile, 500 feet...etc but this Nuvi will say "In 500 feet turn right onto So & So Street." 4. More Points of Interest stored in this little device for my convinence. 5. I can be somewhere I came across unintentionally and really like the place and I want to be able to come back again, so I just need to turn on the Nuvi, save my current waypoints and it will be able to take me back next time I want. 6. It is so small and light that I can carry it in my bag. When I go to somewhere with huuuuuuge outdoor parking lot. I can again save the waypoints where I park my car, I don't have to worry about walking around finding my car, nuvi will take me to my car in a snap. 7. There is also live traffic info that I can use with a subscription fee which I didn't get. It might be very useful for people who really doesn't want to be stuck in the traffic. The GPS will reroute you when it detects a slow traffic on the route. 8. More flexible in choice of route. I can add an "avoid" option when searching for route. My older GPS does not has such an option. 9. Very fast in recalculating the route when u take a wrong turn. 10. My car has a bluetooth function but I prefer using nuvi's bluetooth function. Not only that I can make call to the numbers stored in my cell's phone book, I can look for a restaurant on Nuvi. It will shows me the address, route and tel number and I just press the call button and call that restaurant via the the nuvi bluetooth...saving a lot of steps 11. The screen is big and so easy to see all the info I need. The touch screen function is really handy too. IMO, I highly recommend Nuvi 660. |
For people who are on their second or thrid unit, will you be selling your old one? If yes, on eBark? To a member here?  |
| I don't really think it worths it for people to buy my old GPS from me. Say I sell it to someone for around $100 etc. That person has to buy a new map in order to have up to date map info. Garmin let you upgrade to a new version for one time for free. My old GPS was bought with a V6 map, I upgraded the v7 map for free. The new GPS I have is a v8 map with one free download when the v9 map comes out in the future. If someone bought my GPS, unless that person is fine with a 2 years old map, he or she has to fork out about $70-100 to get a new map. So the total cost is not too far away from getting a brand new lower model with fewer functions.
But thats just my two cents, a very updated map may not be that crucial to a lot of people. People who are not as hopeless as me do not use the GPS like a guide dog for a blind person  Then getting a second hand one might worth it. I don't mind selling it if someone would like to buy it from me  , knowing that it is a V7 map. In the meantime, I am forcing my husband to inherit it but he is the kind of man that thinks finding ways around is a basic instinct, no aid should be required  huh!
Gigi |
| I sell these little suckers and from my experience people tend to be the most happy with the Garmin systems. Now as far as specifics go it really depends on how much EXTRA you want in one, the c330 and c340 a really good basic units, they talk they have touch screens they will get you where you need to go the fastest way the map has. On the flip side there are some other newer models that have built in Blue-tooth so you can connect your phone to the system and use it as a hands-free device. Another gives you the ability to load MP3 music onto a SD or Secure Digital card and play it through the Garmin. There are a couple models that are $700 and up that have connectivity to the GPS network that will actually give you updated traffic information so if there is congestion or an accident it will find you the fastest easiest detour to follow so you don't get lost. I don't like the Tom Tom's to much they use the Microsoft Streets and Trips software so sometimes you run into problems where you don't have the correct street names so there ya go.
PS.. This is Casey, Jennie's husband so if you need anything else just let me know. |
| Well, with all the help from you guys we got one!!!!! We picked up a Garmin StreetPilot C330 on the weekend. It is last year's model, I think, so was on sale at Best Buy for $299 Canadian.
OMG. It is the coolest thing! Don got a 30 day return agreement so we are taking it out on our 2000 mile trip next week to test it out..
P.S. Brenda! No hiding from us, now ! We can find your driveway for sure! |
| Yay!
I want a turn-by-turn report! |
| That is great! Let us know how you like it! |
After reading this thread, I'm so glad my husband got us a Garmin Nuvi 350 today! HE can use it when we travel!  |
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