Thinking about getting a GPS

Although I've always been a sworn Randy McNally guy, I'm starting to think about getting a GPS unit for the car. Like most things with electrons inside, I know next to nothing about them.

I am semi partial to Garmin, since my father has one and I've used it on a bunch of trips. I don't need it for daily use, mainly or trips into unfamiliar territory in search of cheap used cars and parts. I don't need built-in Satellite radio or other crazy stuff.

There are so many different units out there. How do I separate the features that I need from those I don't?

Just stick with the major name brands. Garmins and Tom Toms can be had for under $100 and work just as well as the more expensive options. The cheaper ones just don't have text-to-speech (which I feel is a good thing) and they don't have all the, bluetooth, radio, or traffic features. Other features typically have a monthly fee associated with them anyway. Oh and I use one for my job and it is the cheapest TomTom you can buy and it has never gotten me lost (I use it at least twice a week).

just like a cell phone, once you have one, you will wonder how you ever did without one.

I had one for delivering Chinese food, and I wondered how anyone ever delivered food before cellphones and GPS units. I delivered so much faster that it paid for itself in about a week.

I run all over the state for work, used to do an hours research every day prior to departure, that is now 20 seconds of loading.

Further last winter, a semi and 4 cars slid into each other, Tom Tom routed me around the mess and I lost less than 60 seconds.

No need to pay for access, Tom Tom is free, updates are online and simple enough for me to be able to master.

One of the features that a lot of people ignore is the ability to get map updates. Once you worked out how useful it is just to put an address into the GPS and go there, you'll start getting annoyed when the maps are out of date. Well, I do. A lot of the really cheap GPS units don't come with the backup that'll get you mapping updates so you'll end up buying a new unit instead of new maps. I tend to find this a little wasteful...

I'd spend a little more on a bigger display. My eyesight isn't that great and having used GPSs on phone screens in the past, I'd recommend against it.

In the spirit of "recommend what you own", I'd suggest looking for a used Garmin 27xx or 2820. I've got the 2820, it's got a reasonably sized screen, is waterproof to an extent (important for me as I also use it on motorbikes) and has enough internal storage to hold at least half the US with space to spare or almost 2/3rd of their current European mapping. Oh, and it also "just works". You can get decent third-party mounts for it, too (I use RAM mounts on the bikes). I'm not 100% sure which map format the 27xx series use but the 2820 uses their current format.

Mapping-wise, I've got a lifetime subscription for their US and European maps which cost me about twice as much as a single update for each. Not sure if that's still available, but if it is I'd recommend it. I think it's lifetime of the unit but given that the US maps get updated roughly four times a year, it's cheaper to subscribe to the updates than buy them as and when.

http://m.slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1737851

sorry about the long ugly link but the mobile interface doesn't do nice links. Very nice TomTom for $89 at WalMart.

In reply to maroon92:

I never would have bought one prior to my current job, but once you have one you really can't imagine going back to printed maps. Believe me, I left my GPS unit in the wife's car once and I had a hell of a time finding a customers location using mapquest and google maps.

Using a GPS does tend to make you lose your trusty sense of direction, but for the most part, a properly mounted GPS will make you a safer driver if you are going to somewhere you are not familiar. It really is hard to see driving with a map unfolded across your windshield

There are only two companies in the world who actually do the mapping. those companies are Navteq and TeleAtlas.

Navteq: Owned by Nokia (the cell phone guys.)
TeleAtlas: Owned by TomTom

My advise is to choose the hadware that you like the best

I travel extensively for work. Sometimes addresses are not available for the plant(nuke) locations I have to travel to, and I have to locate the plant by using latitude and longitude. My Tom Tom gets me there. That being said, every so often, it will go wonky- taking me the long way around or some such foolery. It's important to pay the extra $ and keep getting the updates. And I still carry my Rand McNally-just in case.

I used a Garmin 2720 on my trip this summer, mounted to the bars with a RAM mount. It was more waterproof than my rain gear, got me there and back safely, and didn't break. I'm happy. :)

I'd go either Tom Tom or Garmin.

I'm in love w/ my Garmin Nuvi 250. Got it last year for Christmas.

As someone who loathes getting lost, I have no idea how I lived without this thing for so long. Simply a brilliant invention.

Generally gets great reception and has only screwed up once--said my destination was a 1/2 hour away when I was sitting in the parking lot of said destination.

OK, here's a Garmin for around $110 if you prefer Garmin over TomTom: Garmin Nuvi 225W on Slickdeals

I have a megellan, and I like it fine. It's the base model, and seems to work like the tomtom.

Joey

We did X-mas with my folks early this year as it was getting tough on my family as well as my brothers on X-mas day with all the travelling. My parents got us a TomTom. It isn't a high feature one,and I have yet to use it,but one cool thing is I downloaded the Homer Simpson voice for it which I thought was really cool. My wife may not like it so much though. But then again she doesn't much like my collection of old Mazda's either. You try to figure that one out.

I use a Garmin. I forget what alphabet soup the name is, but we call her Sheila because she has an Australian accent. Sometimes, when I don't care where I'm going, I'll set it to Italian because directions sound so much more exciting that way!

It's taken me to California, Newfoundland and Georgia without any drama. Sometimes it'll take a slightly circuitous route instead of displaying clever local knowledge, but if you have local knowledge you don't need a Garmin!

I don't have any of the traffic or other subscriptions and I don't use it to play music or do anything goofy - although it does make a decent hands-free phone interface. I like the Garmin interface, very simple. On long road trips, it's easy to look for a hotel that's x miles in a certain direction when you're getting near the end of your day's drive.

I use a Garmin for work alot and just got one for my personal use. I love it.. I normally work with lat and long coordinates too- works great. I like the lane assist too... when I'm working around busy cities (baltimore, dallas, or Philly), it will put a large arrow above the exact lane I need to be in and take out any guess work.

I also really like the "whats near by" feature.. when I'm working in the field and need to run out and grab a bite to eat, I just hit the food icon and all the nearest food places pop up.

With that said, I still have a map in the car... I like to know whats around me and where in the state I am. The GPS only shows me where I am at that point.. sure I can zoom out and see a larger picture, but a map still is great to have.

The only bad experiences I've had with them happened to be with two Megellans- they wouldn't pick up the sats and it was a perfectly clear day without and buildings around.

I own two Magellans like Joels, and I sold one just like them to Maroon92.

I am partial to tomtoms.. and just got a 310 (or a 330, whater the number is) for my mom for christmas.

I own a Tom tom unit, but Garmin stock! so I have the best of both worlds :)

I absolutly love my Tomtom, it's got me all around the US and Europe, my wife calls it the marriage saver.

I've heard that one of the units (Garmin?) has better maps for the US and the other (TomTom?) is better for Europe. Please send me to Europe, I will perform a comparison test.

I travel a lot for my company and always rent from Hertz as their NeverLost system by Magellan is outstanding.

Amusing memory…one time I was in South Carolina making my way back to my hotel after working straight through the night. I was totally exhausted and decided to take a short cut by driving the wrong way up a one way service road to the hotel.

I didn’t think anything of it until the next day when I noticed that the Magellan system had added the following prefix to all of its voice commands…”when its safe and lawful” make a right at the…

Bhaha…busted!

Keith wrote: I use a Garmin. I forget what alphabet soup the name is, but we call her Sheila because she has an Australian accent. Sometimes, when I don't care where I'm going, I'll set it to Italian because directions sound so much more exciting that way!

My GPS girl is Betty - Bitchin' Betty who's always telling me what to do. Before I had built in GPS I used a couple different programs on WinMobile smartphones and a bluetooth GPS puck - worked great when I did Disney a couple years ago. They were all Betty too. If I do any traveling where I rent I'll grab the TomTom app for my iPhone.

My wife named the male voice in her in-car GPS Steve. I don't know why and she won't tell me....

My niece and nephew changed the voice in their parent's Garmin to Chinese and cranked the volume to full when left in the car for 5 minutes a couple years back - my sister in law almost ran off the road when that first turn prompt came screaming at her

I like my Magellan for its display and directions, however, my girlfriends Garmin has better user interface. I wish I could mix the two.

Do NOT get a Nexstar.