portable gps car navigation system

P

patrick and linda

New member
once again, i'm seeking wisdom from my c-brat brothers and sisters.
i'm planning on purchasing a portable gps car navigation system and would like advice on which make and model works best. i'm ok with up to $400.
thanks for your help regarding this matter.
pat
 
Hi Pat,

Sam's Club has the Garmin Nuvi 760 for $199 right now... we've been using that for about a year and have found it to be a great little unit. I'm sure the many offerings by Garmin since have surpassed it, but it has been easy and accurate. MILLIONS of points of interest, plus we have added the other important land stuff from POI Factory: Wal-Marts, Flying Js, Good Sam discount campgrounds, Passport America Campgrounds, etc, etc.

The 760 doesn't have bluetooth; if you go with the 765, you can even have it dial your phone for you to make a reservation at the next campground.

Works for us.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Costco has the Nuvi 855 for $299 and the 780 for $249.99. I have Nuvi's in all my vehicles and love them. As far as road pronunciation, it's WAY ahead of the TOM TOM and the automatic features like "knowing when it's sunset" is much more convenient than the TOM TOM. I've used Garmin for years but with this latest one I finally bought the lifetime maps and lifetime traffic subscriptions. Yes, they are that good!

In California one must have hands free phone usage. My Nuvi's have bluetooth and work quite well with our cell, plus keeps me legal. Did I mention Toyota uses Garmin as the engine for their on board nav system?

Heh heh, have fun shopping. I bought a high end TOM TOM about 6 months ago and quickly returned it. I thought "Da Bitch" in my Nuvi had problems with street names but the Tom Tom was worse AND talks way too much as well. Plus I had to manually switch from day screen to night screen! bleah

Don
 
I have one of those fancy talking ones...doesn't work fer beans, maybe if she was better at reading a map it would help....I think I have the wrong GPS though, I have the Grumpy Passenger Spouse model
 
I've got the simple Garmin Nuvi 250W that is just fine. Helps me find my way at the SBS every year. I love to change the voice to Danish or Russian, drives my spousal unit crazy!! :shock:

Charlie
 
For us the decision had to include Canada, so the TomTom won out, otherwise is would have been one of the Garman Nuvis. Bought on the way out the door on a trip to Canada. TomTom's interface is a little challenging, but OK
 
I bought a magellan at Costco; used it for three months. Drove me crazy. Software and commands not intuitive at all. Took it back, got a Garmin 260W. Love it. Simple easy to use, no more "make a legal U-Turn", now its just "recalculating"...and, we like the accent.
 
I bought a refurnish TomTom 720 from Buy.com in June 2008. I think they are less than $150 today. It has a large screen 4.3" screen, blue tooth, FM transmitter to broadcast to FM radio, SD memory card, voice instruction ,plays music and Audiobooks ex I am listening to Red Rabbit now, and many more features. It lacks a travel, mileage, gas, etc.... which means it lacks basic word processing or trip logs but you can add photos for viewing. It does not have record memos either. I really like POI and there are many free ones to download. Very useful when looking for a Pilot travel center when driving or restaurants, hospitals, etc. It lacks total screen blanking feature when in use. I just remove it and leave it on for the voice instructions and replace later. I dont like the suction cup mount and looking at alternates. Bluetooth connection to LG VX8350 phone was problematic and TT tech service kept repeating the same instructions found in the built in help file. I got it working by Tand E and usefed it many times for incoming calls which were clear but outgoing (replies) are poor due to road and car noise
. I have not tried a BT headset. Hardwired headphones work fine and good sound quality. Map updates now are fee based after the free period and little info is posted on any map update details. I have not purchased any updates or other optional servics. Directions from point A to B is easy.Multiple stop trip planning is an exercise in beings easy, to difficult, to impossible. You cant use like an atlas as far I can tell b/c the GPS is always on. It has an USB based desktop stand and charger and surprisingly good Desktop software to update, add, remove and control the unit. Each menu has several or multiple submenus and it is not easy to find a setting to change. It needs a Search box to locate a feature b/c this unit is full of them and most are buried or poorly named or difficult to determine the details. Battery is great and when turned off does not use any power basically the battery discharges very slowly (almost nil) over time.

on edit. It does not a repeat feature to repeat instructions but does say at the next exit and states the instructions to get back on course.

I have not tried other units and this is my first GPS. m2cw is to borrow one for a trip and use it. I loaned mine several times and everyone liked it and found it useful. The market is open with many GPS companies selling them so have fun finding the perfect one. For me, I still use my Itouch, car radio but no CB, TT and road atlas. etc when traveling. My copilot helps out alot and is very patient and a great driver and does not complain and readd the atlas when I decide to take a shortcut like .. we driving home from FL and will hit ATL during rush hr so let turn at Valdosta and drive to Birmingham and pickup I 65 north.


I hope this helps.

Brent
 
B~C":ry9epegg said:
I have one of those fancy talking ones...doesn't work fer beans, maybe if she was better at reading a map it would help....I think I have the wrong GPS though, I have the Grumpy Passenger Spouse model
Click to expand...

Now THAT"S funny....I don't care who ya are! :lol:
 
hey guys, good information given, thank you!
so, guess i need to read up on features and benefits and then throw caution to the wind and pick a unit.
whatever the problem, whatever the question, you guys always come up with solutions.
capt. matt has also chimed in on the garmin nuvi 765t. anyone having experience with that model is welcome to give advice, pro or con.
best regards
pat
 
I got the Garmin Nuvi years ago that takes "Audio Books" and love having books read to me while driving, boating, etc..

You have to be careful what settings you choose as to "shortest route, fastest route, highways only, etc.," on any of them or they can guide you into Tim Buk Too!!!

I have a Mini Cooper and all their loaner cars have the tiny Garmin Nuvi permanently mounted.

John
 
I bought a nice Garmin for the truck at a Xmas sale of about $110. Basic model but worked perfectly to FL and back. Some of the restaurants, gas stations, etc. are not where they say they are, and it is not very forgiving when I take a road less travelled but it finally gives up trying to get me to make a U-turn and gets with the program.

My advice is to get the basic one on sale. Dunno about the Canadian data that someone mentioned.

Warren
 
UPDATE. WELL, WENT TO OUR LOCAL BEST BUY, ARMED WITH NEW FOUND KNOWLEDGE, AND FOUND THE GARMIN NUVI 255WT. HAS THE 4.3" SCREEN, VOICE STREET NAMES, LIFE TIME FM TRAFFIC RECEIVER AND ALL THE POWER CABLE/MOUNTING STUFF. WAS ON SALE FOR $209.99. PURCHASED IT, AND NOW MUST READ UP ON THIS GPS STREET THING.
HOPE I DON'T GO DOWN ANY ONE WAY STREETS, THE WRONG WAY!
BEST REGARDS
PAT
 
Ashley Lynn":phf48ehp said:
Do these units have an internal gps antenna??

Just plug and play?
Click to expand...

Yes and Yes. At least my Garmin Nuvi 250W was and I think most of them are. The first time you turn it on, it takes it about 3-5 minutes to figure out that it's not in Taiwan or China any more and then, when you go a long way from home with it off (East Coast to Seattle for example and then turn it on, it takes it a little while to "find itself" again.

Charlie
 
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