GPS advice

[Mike88]

The day after Christmas there are sales all over the place. This year my big purchase is going to be a portable GPS for my car. I need some advice on which brand and model I should go with. I don't really want to spend more than $200 and I want the best unit I can get for the money. Here's the list with the sale price from a bunch of different stores:

Garmin Nuvi 200c.............$180
Garmin Nuvi 250w............$250
Garmin Streetpilot C330....$200
LG (LN 735)....................$140
MIO 220S.......................$120

thanks in advance for your advice and Merry Christmas!

[kristen]

Re: GPS advice

just get a lady to sit in your front seat. we never get lost!

[StrtRacer98]

Re: GPS advice

They pretty much have to sit in the passenger seat since they dont know how to drive...

[TheGr8Schlotzky]

Re: GPS advice

They pretty much have to sit in the passenger seat since they dont know how to drive...

hahaha


I don't know model specifics, but I know garmin makes some nice stuff. A friend of mine has a Nuvi, but i don't know which model. It's awesome though.

[rt1]

Re: GPS advice

I"ve only used hand helds, but we have a Garmin that we do geocashing with. It's got all the maps and stuff, just nothing telling you "Turn Right... NOW!" It just has an arrow.

Rob

[HokieBird]

Re: GPS advice

Garmin uses Navtec which is an excellent data provider. The only problem is Navtec was recently bought by Nokia so only time will tell how that is going to affect things. I'm not sure who LG and MIO use.

For what it's worth I have a Garmin. I rarely use it, but it works well when I do use it.

[Shad0wguy]

Re: GPS advice

Both I and my GF own the Garmin Nuvi200. It is an excellent GPS. Doesn't have traffic and bluetooth and whatnot, but it does what its supposed to do, and does it very well.

[Mike88]

Re: GPS advice

yep...I went with the garmin nuvi 200c (c means its the Canadian version with a number of American states on their too...I couldn't see any benefit in paying 100 bucks more for the 250 just to get all of North America onto the map).

My first impressions: Its a pretty useful little toy if you're the type that enjoys adventures with your car...otherwise you may almost never use it. I used it for a bunch of small trips so far. Its not good with parking lots and short trips (on a trip from my gf parents house to my parents house it sent me about a mile further than necessary). If you're going somewhere you've never been before it will definitely get you there, but expect to get there about 2-3 minutes later than the guy who knows his way...the GPS system isn't perfect.

[Bonemaro]

Re: GPS advice

One word. GARMIN!!!!! Not only are their products awesome, their customer service is excellent. One of our Garmin StreetPilot's battery crapped out and it was 3 months out of warranty. Not only did the honor they warranty anyways, they also gave us their UPS account number to ship the unit back to them. In a few days, I had a like new GPS back in my hand.

You'll love it. Mine has saved my a$$ many times.

If you're going somewhere you've never been before it will definitely get you there, but expect to get there about 2-3 minutes later than the guy who knows his way...the GPS system isn't perfect.

Expect that to change once you get use to the way it works. Sometimes they can be a little quirky.

[rt1]

Re: GPS advice

I'm just currious about the car GPS's... Can you put in Lat/Long or UTM, or just the street address?

Rob

[HokieBird]

Re: GPS advice

I imagine most are just street address. You might be able to do other things on high end ones.

[sac2165]

Re: GPS advice

I've got a Tom-Tom, works pretty well. It takes Lat-Long coordinates.

[Mike88]

Re: GPS advice

my new garmin nuvi 200 does lat/long too. You just input the coordinates and it'll tell you where and what is at that location and it will take you there.

[Oi Bird V8]

Re: GPS advice

i have a nuvi 200 and i like it ....it gets me where i need to go