Automotive GPS?

mr9iron · #1 12/19/2007, 12:23 AM

Hey everyone, I'm in the market for a GPS navigation system and would like some input from others. I don't want one that has all the bells and whistles like bluetooth and stuff like that. However, I do want one that I can update from time to time. Any ideas?

dkh0331 · #2 12/19/2007, 07:29 AM

I used a Garmin for several years and was happy with it. My car now has an on board GPS.

TomTom's commercials talk about instant mapping updates. Certainly worth exploring.

I would look at TomTom, Garmin and Magellan. You should be OK with any of those 3. Then its just matching up features you want with the price you want to pay.

amcarrig · #3 12/19/2007, 07:44 AM

I have the Tom Tom and although it's good, it has sent me the "wrong" way more than once. If I had my "druthers" I'd buy a Garmin.

Satori · #4 12/19/2007, 08:17 AM

I heard DeLorme makes one where you can overlay satelite photos, and you can turn it to see the 3-D relief of land features. This would be useful if you do any hunting or camping away from any roads.

Minuteman · #5 12/19/2007, 08:33 AM

Been using a Garmin Streetpilot for the last 4 or 5 years and my wife just got me a new one for my last birthday. It's a StreetPilot C330. Love it, it's lightning fast in making calculations and has a lot of cool features. Has a good POI database, including phone numbers, and has a touch screen making it much faster to enter your data.

C340 is very similar and can be had at BestBuy for $299.

Highly recommend it:

dc · #6 12/19/2007, 08:33 AM

I have a Garmin nuvi 350 I just updated it. I love it. I got it off reccomendations from here.

dc · #7 12/19/2007, 08:37 AM

I think one of the fun features they have is that they give you an estimated time of arrival, will tell you how far you've driven, how far you have to go. And I can see how fast Dan is driving.

It has stopping time, traveling time. Also when we are up in the mountains we often check the altitude. Ours has a MP3 player in it, but wouldn't even have a clue how to use it.

pnosko · #8 12/19/2007, 09:42 AM

I bought a Garmin C550. I have complaints (surprise!). At about a month old, it went through a sever bout of constantly losing its satellite signal, sometimes even while my truck was not moving (a few times at a red light, once while filling up at a gas pump). I called for an RMA, but they wanted me to do a master rest, which wiped all my saved addresses and data. That magically seemed to work for the past two months, but in the last few days, it's been happening again.

The estimated time of arrival is nearly aways unrealistic (underestimated). On a long trip, I was driving near 80-85 for a good bit of time (jersey tpk) and still was unable to make it in the time it was projecting. This feature should use fuzzy logic so it learns from one's driving habits.

dc · #9 12/19/2007, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by pnosko
I bought a Garmin C550. I have complaints (surprise!). At about a month old, it went through a sever bout of constantly losing its satellite signal, sometimes even while my truck was not moving (a few times at a red light, once while filling up at a gas pump). I called for an RMA, but they wanted me to do a master rest, which wiped all my saved addresses and data. That magically seemed to work for the past two months, but in the last few days, it's been happening again.

The estimated time of arrival is nearly aways unrealistic (underestimated). On a long trip, I was driving near 80-85 for a good bit of time (jersey tpk) and still was unable to make it in the time it was projecting. This feature should use fuzzy logic so it learns from one's driving habits.

It must be you..Our ETA is almost always dead on. It adds minutes when we drive faster, and takes them away when we stop more, or drive slower...

pnosko · #10 12/19/2007, 11:31 AM

I would rather it overestimate than underestimate. It's almost a game. If can I make there one minute before the estimate, I win. I usually lose, and one day I'll get a ticket to boot!

dc · #11 12/19/2007, 11:32 AM

So you're still having fun right?

pnosko · #12 12/19/2007, 12:28 PM

What is that?

crab0000 · #13 12/19/2007, 12:36 PM

We have the C330 and it has almost always been correct on it's estimated arrival times. We have used it a lot more than my wife thought we would and she actually admitted as much!

beerguy · #14 12/19/2007, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by crab0000
We have the C330

We have two of them. It's the older model without text-to-speech but you can find them for as low as $149. I bought one new several years ago for almost $400 if I recall correctly. Just bought a second, factory refurbished with the 2008 mapset for $149. Sweet deal.

crab0000 · #15 12/19/2007, 12:50 PM

I think we paid close to 400 for ours also. With some of the long distance trips we've made with it it's been worth it.

Joe · #16 12/19/2007, 01:23 PM

Get the best pricing on pricegrabber.com I just bought a Garmin C340 from shipdog.com for $204.00

Joe

mr9iron · #17 12/19/2007, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by beerguy
We have two of them. It's the older model without text-to-speech but you can find them for as low as $149. I bought one new several years ago for almost $400 if I recall correctly. Just bought a second, factory refurbished with the 2008 mapset for $149. Sweet deal.

Where on earth did you find that kind of deal? Does it have the text to speech function?

Gosh, who knew there were so many choices. I guess I have alot of research ahead of me.

Blindmelonbob · #18 12/19/2007, 01:42 PM

Do you have to pay a monthly fee?

beerguy · #19 12/19/2007, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mr9iron
Where on earth did you find that kind of deal?

A local electronics store called Frys. Looks like it's down to $119 online:

Fry's Outpost

mr9iron · #20 12/19/2007, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by beerguy
A local electronics store called Frys. Looks like it's down to $119 online:

Fry's Outpost

Thanks Beerguy!

Is it a big deal when the device prompts you to turn but it doesn't give you the street name and just says "turn right in 500 feet"? Also, is there a way to update this thing with current maps and data? I've look at so many GPS units over the last few hours my brain is fried.

beerguy · #21 12/19/2007, 02:17 PM

The screen still says what the street name is and frankly I rarely turn on the voice anyway.

mr9iron · #22 12/19/2007, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by beerguy
The screen still says what the street name is and frankly I rarely turn on the voice anyway.

Oops, I was editing my post when you posted! So, how do you update this thing with current data such as maps?

dkh0331 · #23 12/19/2007, 02:19 PM

Not for me. When it says that, I can see the name of the street I'm turning onto. But thats with my car's on-board.

beerguy · #24 12/19/2007, 02:23 PM

Mine came with the current map set but you can buy updates from Garmin for about $70

mr9iron · #25 12/19/2007, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by beerguy
Mine came with the current map set but you can buy updates from Garmin for about $70

Thanks again! That's a pretty good deal.