GPS - what to buy?

[iceVee]

A friend is looking for recommendations on what GPS to buy - Garmin, Magellan, etc.? I haven't owned one yet, so I thought I'd see if anyone out here has an opinion.

[AudiGirl315]

I had a demo model of the Harmon/Kardon Guide + Play for a while. I loved that thing, and have recommended it a lot. It's very small, stylish, and it has a really great interface. The routes were good and direct. It has all the usual stuff, gas station, food, etc listings.

http://www.harmankardon.com/guideandplay/main.aspx

[crew219]

I like the tomtom interface the best, but the Garmin Nuvi tops it in terms of detail.

If I were to buy one, I'd go with one of the Garmin Nuvi 350+ series.

Dave

[vwremglx]

Maybe a silly question since we are a car forum, but is it to be used only as car nav or do they want a handheld for nav on foot as well?

Whatever they decide to get be sure you can update the maps. Most newer units do, but not all.

[FlyBy]

there was a recent review in Consumer Reports that I got, I'll have to try to find it.

[iceVee]

Thanks for the feedback so far. I hadn't considered H+K - the Guide+Play looks interesting.

I think this is intended to be an in-car unit, but I'll ask if he's thinking about hiking, etc. also.

I'm interested in this too, because sooner or later I know I'll have to get another electronic toy...

[boostin20v]

I got a Garmin C550 unit with a rental from Avis and was very pleased with it. It looked too small to be worth wild at first, but was impressed with it in use. Large enough to glance at it if needed while driving, but not large enough to block the windshield. Also a great feature was that it spoke to you about the up coming turns.

We used it between Syracuse and Cleveland, mostly highway but it was worth its weight in gold getting around Cleveland. We'd never been there and all I had to do was enter in the name of something we wanted and it got the directions automatically, and would reprogram if we took a wrong turn because of a detour.

[FlyBy]

it was worth its weight in gold getting around Cleveland.

Yeah, driving in Cleveland blows a lot :laugh:

That's sweet that it would automatically reprogram where to go if you had to take a detour. I've always wanted to test one out before buying one. Maybe the next time I rent a car.

[useanimagination]

I have a tomtom one that I used to get me across the country. I rely on that thing now to get me around Cali because the freeways all confuse the hell out of me. I feel like without someone is better off cutting off my left leg so I can't drive my car.

[stephan315]

make sure you get one that has the free service...

[97GLSsleeper]

nuvi 350 is a great unit.

[b5crazy]

It seems every time you turn around there is another great Navi released. FWIW I would get one that has regular cheap software/map upgrades and is easy to configure. OEM ones are nice because they are better integrated with your car but suffer from being not very up to date.

If you do a lot of travel for work getting one that has integrated travel info and re-routing may be very useful. However, some of these also come with a monthly manitenance fee.

Many of the Navis available these days are more expensive than a PC.

Once you a find a model you like I suggest driving with it to make sure it's what your really want.

[TurboDukers69]

I heard that the brand new Nuvi is hot and has the best over all functionability. I personally like my Pioneer ANVC-1 DVD/ NAV unit, u can watch a movie on a trip, get directions, or listen to music. Just my 2 cents:cool:

[boostin20v]

Well oddly enough my father in-law gave us a GPS this past week. Its a Magellan Maestro 3100. Pretty nice (great for free!), but there are a few things I don't like:
1) No estimated time left for a trip (anywhere on the device), just mileage to destination.
2) No mph on the main screen
3) Directional speech does not say upcoming street/turn name (just left, right, keep straight)

Above observations after 1 use.

[iceVee]

Thanks for the continued feedback. I've forwarded it to my friend - I'll let y'all know what he ends up buying. I don't think he's decided yet, so I'm still interested in opinions (plus some day I migth actually want to get one.)

-K