gps systems

pancoast · Outlaw Joined: 25 Mar 2004 Posts: 193

For anyone that owns or has owned a car gps navigation system, My girlfriend just moved to a bigger city for university and is not liking getting around. My car has built in NAV and she really enjoys that. For her birthday I was thinking about getting her one of those portable car nav systems like the tom tom or garmin. There is so many out there and I have no clue what the difference between any of them are. If any one on here has experience with them or has one they really like your imput would be greatly appreciated.

Sportster4Tec · Posted: Oct 22, 2007 6:13 pm Post subject:

Look on www.cnet.com or www.crutchfield.com at reviews. Garmins have a better user interface than TomToms from what I have heard.

ty540 · Addict Joined: 14 Feb 2003 Posts: 603

My wife and I are in a similar situation (new town, etc.), so I bought a portable nav system to alleviate some stress for city driving: a Garmin StreetPilot 330 (I think that's the model), for under $250 refurbished. It is extremely easy to use, can run for hours and hours on battery power. This is nice if you're switching cars and don't want to take the mounting hardware--not that it applies to you. The navigation software is pretty good; it gets you from point A to point B, and the interface is pretty intuitive.

It doesn't have all the features of the built in systems, but, hey, it's cheap and it gets the job done. I would not purchase a more expensive model after owning this one.

chavez · RIP MHL 04/25/1958 - 01/11/2006

I just went through this.

These are the models I went through:

1) TomTom One: too many shortcoming in the NAV department. The user interface is the best by a mile, but it does not navigate all that well. $199 at various sources.

2) Magellan 3100: really good nav system. Super easy to use. Good POI database which show on screen in the BEST method of any GPS company! Lacked ability to upload custom POIs and text to speech, plus we wanted a widescreen. $199 at various sources.

3) Garmin Nuvi 250w: another really good nav system. Easy to use (not as easy as Magellan), decent POI database although we didn't like how they appeared on the screen in map mode. Took too long to acquire satellites from cold start (sometimes 5 minutes!). Custom POI's good, uploader meh. Maps needed some updating, although I am sure Garmin would have done that in a future update. $299 from Costco(online only).

4) THE WINNER BY A MILE: Magellan Maestro 4040 (widescreen). Great NAV! As easy to use as the cheaper 3100, and has a bunch of other goodies like bluetooth, text-to-speech, AAA tourbook, much larger POI database (which shows on screen kickass like the 3100 did), and ability to upload POI's via Magellan's software - which works 10x better than Garmin's. Also, you can tack on the traffic kit (HUGE ++), and if you really want, you can upgrade to voice-recognition which I think is a waste but whatever. The only thing I recommend to do with this unit is to immediately update it to the latest release (2.24) from Magellan. $349 from Costco (in store).

Sidenote: I used the Garmin C330 on a trip (the C330 is my dads). It was very easy to use and did the same routing job as the more expensive Nuvi 250w. It was quite bulky in comparison, but it did not take anywhere near as long to acquire satellite signal. Was simply too bulky to be in the running for us.

pancoast · Outlaw Joined: 25 Mar 2004 Posts: 193

Chaves thanks so much! Very imformative. Will go check out that magellan and some garmins tommorow and let you guys know what I go with and how she likes it.

chavez · RIP MHL 04/25/1958 - 01/11/2006

pancoast, just watch out who you buy from. Most stores charge a 15% restocking fee if the box is opened.

Only 2 places that I know of do not charge the fee:

OfficeMax (14 day return policy)
Costco (unlimited return - literally no limit on how long)

Dave W · Posted: Oct 23, 2007 6:09 am Post subject:

The in-laws bought me a Magellan 2200T last Christmas. Talk about avoiding arguments in the car. The two best monetary investments in a relationship have got to be PerfectPass and a nav system.

Overall I'm pretty happy with it. Don't have any experience with anything else to compare it to though.

Blue22V · Soul Rider Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 290 City: Double Oak

I used to carry a Tom Tom with me when I traveled, and it was fine. The problem was the size to carry when I traveled in rental cars and planes across the country.

Now, I use my Blackberry Pearl combined with a bluetooth GPS Puck from the AT&T store for Navigation when I travel. The set up cost me under $150.00, and has current Maps that are updated monthly. The system is managed by TeleNav, and it can be run on most Bluetooth phones.

I am really surprised how well it works, especially since I travel in different cities almost every week. It is a simple download to your phone from your phone provider for the software, and costs only $10/month. This system is a lot smaller and easier to travel with as well as doubles as my phone, e-mail and navigation. The maps and directions seem to be better than any I have used before. This is more up to date than the Garmin or Never Lost systems in rental cars. and by far more updated for new streets than the TomTom.

http://www.telenav.com/

Dave W · Posted: Oct 29, 2007 8:57 am Post subject:

Chavez: Does the Magellan Maestro display speed limits?

chavez · RIP MHL 04/25/1958 - 01/11/2006

Dave W, no. You could program it to alert you, but that would be a lot of work.

hco · Posted: Oct 29, 2007 10:10 am Post subject:

Alpine Blackbird, it also has Mp3 capabilities.