G.P.S..........

Thinking about buying a g.p.s. unit. What do you have & do you like it or not??

I have several.

What do you want to do with it ?? Off Road, on road, fish, hike, boat ???



Rick

I have a TAM-TAM, my wife with an road atlas....(btw her name is Tamara).....

She;s the co-pilot and always tells me where to go.....

Garmin. I've tried others, and all I can say is Garmin.

have 5 or 6 of em. Garmin is the best imo.

tom-tom was cool but garmin has em beat

I use my laptop and Microsoft's streets and trips nice big screen and for 39.00 bucks cheapest i can find

Jeff

We have the Magellan. We have 3 of them. The most recent one got is the one with a battery that allows us to put it in our pocket for walking around. That's a very nice feature when visiting new cities. I'm not convinced that there is a lot of difference between brands so shop around. Having all the bells and whistles is nice but it adds big bucks, decide early what features you want and then shop for that. Lisa

TomTom has them all beat. In fact most of the other purchase the maps from TomTom and have for years. TomTom is the best system hands down - I can tell you lots of reasons why - fresher maps, more options to self correct your maps, community input, user interface, live traffic feeds, user interface. Check out the new one - not sure if it released yet, but the 2405 is awesome, I have a pre-released version.

I'm not just saying this because I work for them, I've had a Garmin and hated it, the battery died all the time, no shut off button etc... If you have any specific question please ask.

No, I don't get them for free either

Scott

I have had a Garmin Nuvi for several years. It is good in the car with a power source. I got a mount for it to put it on my recumbent bicycle for those rides in strange territory and found the internal battery would only last a few hours. If I had to do it again I would look for a model that would function with rechargeable AA's or the like for those times you might be on foot. There is a tool for every job. My first hand held Garmin I bought over 10 years ago failed. It was a waste of money. I never figured out what went wrong with it. I have an very old Fuso on my boat which is very basic. No charts! That is how old it is. It works fine though, providing I enter correct data into it. It hasn't put me on the rocks yet. One thing to think about is the ability to view the screen in bright daylight. The displays are better than they used to be but something to think about.

HanSoSlow wrote:TomTom has them all beat. In fact most of the other purchase the maps from TomTom and have for years. TomTom is the best system hands down - I can tell you lots of reasons why - fresher maps, more options to self correct your maps, community input, user interface, live traffic feeds, user interface. Check out the new one - not sure if it released yet, but the 2405 is awesome, I have a pre-released version.

I'm not just saying this because I work for them, I've had a Garmin and hated it, the battery died all the time, no shut off button etc... If you have any specific question please ask.

No, I don't get them for free either

Scott

I bought the first tom tom years ago i think it was the 700. nice piece but never accurate. back then they used the maps from the english company.
my sailboats navigation system has always had garmin. for 30 years. tom tom wasnt around then. i guess a lot has changed in the past several years.
navitech come a long way?

TomTom bought a mapping company a couple years ago and integrated everything together into one drastically improving the both businesses. You'll see over the next few years that the PND industry will be down to just 2-3 players Garmin and TomTom are the clear leaders right now. I think you will also see a lot of new functionality coming along that will be awesome.

Simply being able to correct streets, speed limits, one-ways, roads to avoid etc... are built into most TomTom devices already, but live traffic updates, rerouting you based on delay's or take me to this location but bring me past XXXX on the way is just cool.

The business side of the maps has demanded accuracy which is why the routes are getting better as well - they should go hand in hand. It's very cool to see the changes over the past 12 years along with how its used. You can also use TomTom online at route.tomtom.com, zoom in to your area and you'll see traffic delays etc...

PC World's latest issue, December 2010, has a list of what they consider the 100 Best Products of 2010.
The Tom Tom XXL550-TM was on the list at number 99. I did not see any other GPS in the list of 100.

(GPS; $200) Boasting a larger-than-average 5-inch screen, this navigation device includes lifetime traffic alerts and map updates

I also have a Magellan & it does everything that I need it to do & then some. I think it comes down to picking one that will do everything you want for the best price. Myself I don`t like to pay extra for features that I know I will never need. I can use it out of the car, it updates, gives traffic allerts (not really needed here) but might come in handy. Its just like the cell phones & everything else I don`t feel the need to have the latest most up to date greatest just to say I have it. I`m old, I still tend to answer a phone to find out who`s calling.

We have a Tom Tom(740) and think it works great! Of course there are times when it screws up, but I think they all do that from time to time. Personally I really love using the Google maps on my iPhone where you can zoom in and see the satellite layout. Down side it doesn't talk to you and with 3g it can be just a hair slow and the phone's screen is small, but I also think the screen is too small on all GPS devices too. If I was to get a new GPS I think I would just end up buying a new iPad instead since it has a 10 inch screen and with that $600 investment I could get many other uses out of it instead of forking over another $500 for a GPS. Again the down side is a hair slow at times and it doesn't talk to you but would be much easier to view while driving and has many other uses while not on the road driving, unlike a GPS unit that is going to just be sitting in your car waiting for you to need it again.

Thanks for all the replies folks! I think I'm leanin toward a Garmin Nuvi........