Seeking GPS Advice

[Lorenzo the Texan]

OK, I'm looking into buying a GPS navigation system for my car. (For all you search function folks, I searched and there have been other GPS threads, but not since 2007 - and I'm looking for new advice.)

I'm looking at a couple of different Garmin Nuvi models. Does anyone have one of these? What are the best brands? What features should I look for? How often can the maps be updated? Is it updated wirelessly? Anyone? Anyone?

Your advice and thoughts on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

[slakr]

Originally Posted by Lorenzo the Texan

OK, I'm looking into buying a GPS navigation system for my car. (For all you search function folks, I searched and there have been other GPS threads, but not since 2007 - and I'm looking for new advice.)

I'm looking at a couple of different Garmin Nuvi models. Does anyone have one of these? What are the best brands? What features should I look for? How often can the maps be updated? Is it updated wirelessly? Anyone? Anyone?

Your advice and thoughts on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

Get the most loaded widescreen version.....after that it's all good!!!!

[Trevor Barnes]

Can't go wrong with a Garmin. Their quality is excellent and I customer support is too (and I don't even own stock or get a kickback for saying it!)

Price point?

[Pinky Tuscadero]

Originally Posted by Trevor Barnes

Can't go wrong with a Garmin. Their quality is excellent and I customer support is too (and I don't even own stock or get a kickback for saying it!)

Price point?

Trevor speaks the truth

He talked us in to getting a Garmin and we've been very happy with it ever since

[Lorenzo the Texan]

Originally Posted by Trevor Barnes

Price point?

I'm thinking between $150 and $300.

Features I'd like:
* Touch screen
* Easily update-able maps and POI's
* Speed limits
* Maybe traffic updates

Features I don't so much care about:
* Voice recognition
* Bluetooth or phone crap in general

Thoughts?

[PennSpartan]

I have a Garmin, but it's the 3.5 inch version. See no need for anything bigger. But turn-by-turn voice with the actual street names is mandatory!

[MSU addict]

If you want a specific recomendation, Nuvi 265T.

General recomedations:

- Get one of the new interfaces (models that end in 5). It is just better, a bit better routing shows speed limits, and a few other things.

- Obviously speaking streets is a big plus

- I do not like widescreen versions, I really don't look at it much, more listen to it. They are also less portable and fall off the window mount more, block moew od your road view.

- I like the free lifetime traffic, but the thicker cord and antenna wort is annoying.

- Maps generally come out once a year, not done wirelessly.

[MSU addict]

Originally Posted by Lorenzo the Texan

I'm thinking between $150 and $300.

Features I'd like:
* Touch screen
* Easily update-able maps and POI's
* Speed limits
* Maybe traffic updates

Features I don't so much care about:
* Voice recognition
* Bluetooth or phone crap in general

Thoughts?

265T, can be found for around 150.00. Best price I ever found was at Dell who ocassionally go 25% off there GPS's

[Heat Miser]

Don't all the phones have navigation these days? Verizon Navigator works great for me & is much cheaper than a seperate device/service.

[Gyro]

I have a Garmin Nuvi and I love it. It is way better than a Tom Tom I used to use for work. I love the navigation where it actually says the road names.

[Trevor Barnes]

Originally Posted by Lorenzo the Texan

I'm thinking between $150 and $300.

Features I'd like:
* Touch screen
* Easily update-able maps and POI's
* Speed limits
* Maybe traffic updates

Features I don't so much care about:
* Voice recognition
* Bluetooth or phone crap in general

Thoughts?

I have a Garmin nuvi 780 which comes with about all of those features except voice recognition. Well, and the maps are updated yearly.

Two things I don't use at all:
Bluetooth - quality for people on the other end wasn't great I'm told
Traffic updates - no need for them where I live

The local speed limits it displays have been very accurate and I like having that feature. The turn by turn directions with the street name pronounced is nice too. I love how sexy Aurelius Road sounds when pronounced by a voice synthesized female with a British accent.

[Trevor Barnes]

Originally Posted by Heat Miser

Don't all the phones have navigation these days? Verizon Navigator works great for me & is much cheaper than a seperate device/service.

Bleh. I'd rather have a dedicated GPS anyday of the week, and yes, even over my beloved iPhone 3GS which has GPS built in. The screen resolution, brightness, and anti-glare of Garmin's dedicated GPS screens are perfect in about all lighting conditions while driving. Can't say the same for about any cell phone.

[Heat Miser]

Originally Posted by Trevor Barnes

Bleh. I'd rather have a dedicated GPS anyday of the week, and yes, even over my beloved iPhone 3GS which has GPS built in. The screen resolution, brightness, and anti-glare of Garmin's dedicated GPS screens are perfect in about all lighting conditions while driving. Can't say the same for about any cell phone.

That sounds great, but unless you're in sales, I just don't see the cost/benefit for the number of times the average person might use such a device.

[Z.Cavaricci]

I have a random question about GPS and keeping them plugged in. My wifes car when she turns it off the GPS shuts down. Power to the cigarette lighter/adapter is shut off. My car (FordS) will not shut down power to the unit. If I turn just the GPS off and dont pull the plug it sits there and charges off the car battery.

Does anyone know if this will kill my battery ? Why does FordS not turn the power off when the car is turned off ?

Basically I just dont want to have to pull the adapter out everytime I am done using the GPS.

[Pinky Tuscadero]

I too thought I wouldn't use the GPS that much when we first got it. We use it all the time. Anytime you need to look up an address to go somewhere, just use the GPS instead.

When you're on vacation, you can use it to find the nearest gas station, restaurant, hospital, grocery store etc.... That feature alone is amazing.

We were at a lovely cabin (mansion really) out in BFE and we needed salad dressing. We had no idea where to go, but our GPS knew exactly where to go. The longer you have it, the more uses you find for it.

[Tree Rat]

Originally Posted by Z.Cavaricci

I have a random question about GPS and keeping them plugged in. My wifes car when she turns it off the GPS shuts down. Power to the cigarette lighter/adapter is shut off. My car (FordS) will not shut down power to the unit. If I turn just the GPS off and dont pull the plug it sits there and charges off the car battery.

Does anyone know if this will kill my battery ? Why does FordS not turn the power off when the car is turned off ?

Basically I just dont want to have to pull the adapter out everytime I am done using the GPS.

It draws so little power that it have to be up and on for a couple weeks to almost kill a battery. It's more likely to be stolen than kill the battery.

[Z.Cavaricci]

Originally Posted by Tree Rat

It draws so little power that it have to be up and on for a couple weeks to almost kill a battery. It's more likely to be stolen than kill the battery.

Thanks. Thats what I thought but I know one day I will come out to a dead battery.

[mydogsparty]

Here's a stupid question but when you purchase a standalone GPS unit (IE Garmin at Costco) for your car do you still need to pay for the service or is it included in the cost of the unit. I don't own one but I've always been under the impression that it was like XM radio. You paid for the hardware (radio) but then you needed to pay a monthly fee for the service (signal to be sent to the radio). I believe the Blackberry cell phone (ATT) works that way too. It has GPS capability but you need to pay an additional $10 per month for the service. Is that correct?

[Sid Farkus]

I work in the GPS navigation industry. I recently tested the Garmin nuvi 770 and it was very easy and intuitive. All in all, Garmin makes very good products and if I were to purchase a device, Garmin would be the company.

Yes, it is true that you can use your phone for navigation. A couple of pointers on that, though.

1. The map is not resident on the device, so you will always need a wireless connection to use the service. This applies equally to iPhone nav and VZ navigator and the like.
2. What happens if you travel overseas? If you are on Verizon, you are SOL and will need to use maps or rent a device. If on AT&T then get ready for the huge data charges for roaming, plus the license fee for another map region.
3. What happens if you have no cell coverage? Simple - no navigation service.
4. You do not own a perpetual map license with a subscription model. End your cell service and you lose the map. Plus, 18 months of $10 per month and you have paid for a dedicated device.
5. Screen coverage and memory: You cannot add POI data sets to your VZ Navigator. So if you want to download a a scenic route tour you are SOL.

[MSchott]

Originally Posted by mydogsparty

Here's a stupid question but when you purchase a standalone GPS unit (IE Garmin at Costco) for your car do you still need to pay for the service or is it included in the cost of the unit. I don't own one but I've always been under the impression that it was like XM radio. You paid for the hardware (radio) but then you needed to pay a monthly fee for the service (signal to be sent to the radio). I believe the Blackberry cell phone (ATT) works that way too. It has GPS capability but you need to pay an additional $10 per month for the service. Is that correct?

There is no monthly fee. the Garmin or other dedicated GPS system finds the satellites automatically and there is no charge. All you pay for is the electronics.

[Sid Farkus]

Originally Posted by mydogsparty

Here's a stupid question but when you purchase a standalone GPS unit (IE Garmin at Costco) for your car do you still need to pay for the service or is it included in the cost of the unit. I don't own one but I've always been under the impression that it was like XM radio. You paid for the hardware (radio) but then you needed to pay a monthly fee for the service (signal to be sent to the radio). I believe the Blackberry cell phone (ATT) works that way too. It has GPS capability but you need to pay an additional $10 per month for the service. Is that correct?

If you buy a dedicated device, you own the device and have a lifetime license to all the data in the device. It does not work like XM, since the device does not communicate with anything other than the satellites to obtain positioning (there is no fee for this). HOWEVER, with some units you can OPTIONALLY sign up for things like real-time traffic, which may have a monthly fee.

[Sid Farkus]

Originally Posted by Sid Farkus

I work in the GPS navigation industry. I recently tested the Garmin nuvi 770 and it was very easy and intuitive. All in all, Garmin makes very good products and if I were to purchase a device, Garmin would be the company.

Yes, it is true that you can use your phone for navigation. A couple of pointers on that, though.

1. The map is not resident on the device, so you will always need a wireless connection to use the service. This applies equally to iPhone nav and VZ navigator and the like.
2. What happens if you travel overseas? If you are on Verizon, you are SOL and will need to use maps or rent a device. If on AT&T then get ready for the huge data charges for roaming, plus the license fee for another map region.
3. What happens if you have no cell coverage? Simple - no navigation service.
4. You do not own a perpetual map license with a subscription model. End your cell service and you lose the map. Plus, 18 months of $10 per month and you have paid for a dedicated device.
5. Screen coverage and memory: You cannot add POI data sets to your VZ Navigator. So if you want to download a a scenic route tour you are SOL.

I will append my post by further stating that the GPS chipsets in phones are inferior to those in dedicated devices. However, the value of this could be offset I suppose by the fact that phones with data plans have better and more real-time access to web search tools.

[Cym Jim]

Originally Posted by MSchott

There is no monthly fee. the Garmin or other dedicated GPS system finds the satellites automatically and there is no charge. All you pay for is the electronics.

and updates . . .

[Gyro]

Originally Posted by MSchott

There is no monthly fee. the Garmin or other dedicated GPS system finds the satellites automatically and there is no charge. All you pay for is the electronics.

Not quite true. Everytime a new map is released you need to purchase it if you want the update, which I believe is once a year.

[MSchott]

Originally Posted by Gyro

Not quite true. Everytime a new map is released you need to purchase it if you want the update, which I believe is once a year.

You are correct. This is where they make big bucks. If I remember correctly, Garmin charges about $100.00 for an update. I've never bought one by the way and don't think you need one unless you use the POI for restaurants a lot. I only paid $200.00 for the unit.