GPS Advice

[sorcererdale]

I want to get us a GPS for our car for Christmas and am wondering which one is best for the USA? Now this could be kilt related, because it might help me get me to a kilt store!

I want a dash mount, must have voice, should be able to work in Canada too, an mp3 player would be a nice additional feature, and able to know about detours.

Any suggestions would be great, what do you like about yours and what don't you like? If you have have one, let me know what you think. What recommendations do you have?

DALE.

[davedove]

I can't help you with a car GPS, the only one I have is a handheld for use out on the trails.

I can tell you that most of the mapping software I have seen has roads for all of North America, so you should be okay there. Just make sure to check your package before you buy it.

[runewolf]

I've been drooling over several ones people here at work have bought. All are Garmin Nuvi of various models. All have bluetooth capabilities for hands free cell phone use and voice guided directions. I am unsure of the model but one of them has an MP3 player with the ability to add an extra memory card. Our one salesman has been on two 3,000 mile trips with his and is very happy. Prices range from $150 to $240 for the models that have been passed around the office (which is cheaper than what I spent on mine 2 years ago and I do not have half the features).

[Carolinascot]

For the money I like the Garmin Nuvi 750, and I hope my wife has one under the tree for me!
http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/nav...omePage-TC-gps

[Thunderbolt]

I've been using GPS for years. In fact, I have been a trainer for the military GPS systems. I know GPS pretty well.

Before the military units, I was in love with the Magellan units. That was before they were bought out by a French company. Now, you couldn't give me their crap. Stay away from Magellan.

The lion's share of the market is now Garmin. I made the switch to Garmin a few years ago after I got fed up with the Magellan stuff. Truthfully, I haven't looked back. There are other GPS units on the market now, but they don't have the track record like Garmin.

When Garmin entered the GPS market in, I'm guessing here, the late '80's? I wasn't impressed, but I also used military units exclusivly. Now that I can't get the .mil stuff anymore, I use Garmin. Their products have come a long way.

I like multi-use kind of stuff. In other words, things I can use for other purposes. This is something to keep in mind when deciding which unit to get. I do some cross country traveling that some road-only units don't like, and try to route me to the nearest highway or paved road. You can adjust the settings for this, but it's a pain. I also like topo maps (on the unit) for on-foot work.

I do not like and advise against units permanently "installed" in your car. Unless they are in-dash or some other way to make them hard to grab, don't do it. If you park your car on the street at night or somewhere unsavory during the day, you'll want to be able to easily remove and take with, but also stay solidly mounted while you're using it. It sucks getting a $600 or $700 unit stolen and having to pay for a new window. It sucks to having the same unit come off a cheap suction-cup mount, crash onto your dash, shoot across the dash and smash against the opposite window...ask me how I know...."friction" mounts...give me a break...

Anyway, I know I didn't give you much specific unit info, but maybe helped you along in your quest.

Good luck!

Thunderbolt

[JRB]

For the money I like the Garmin Nuvi 750, and I hope my wife has one under the tree for me!
http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/nav...omePage-TC-gps

After doing a lot of research, my wife and I decided on a Garmin Nuvi 750 as well. We absolutely love it and definitely recommend it to anyone who asks our opinion. I've used both Tom Tom and Magellan GPS units (both in company cars) and much prefer my Garmin Nuvi.

[Riverkilt]

I've been wondering if there's any hope for a GPS that includes the dirt back roads of the Navajo and Hopi reservations. On topos there are so many its hard to figure which are the main ones. My guess is no one much cares so if I bought a GPS for use on the rezlands there'd just be a huge blank spot other than the paved roads.

Guess I could get off my lazy bottom and go find a dealer around here and ask. Thanks for the tips on the manufacturers.

Ron

[JRB]

I've been wondering if there's any hope for a GPS that includes the dirt back roads of the Navajo and Hopi reservations. On topos there are so many its hard to figure which are the main ones. My guess is no one much cares so if I bought a GPS for use on the rezlands there'd just be a huge blank spot other than the paved roads.

Guess I could get off my lazy bottom and go find a dealer around here and ask. Thanks for the tips on the manufacturers.

Ron

Ron, my best advice for you is to get off your lazy bottom and ask a local dealer! However, I can tell you that my GPS does show some dirt/unpaved roads and can also navigate off road using way points and/or coordinates. Not all dirt roads I've come across are in my GPS so you'd definitely have to check with Garmin.

[randal]

We've got a couple of Garmin hand helds and I've tried the Garmin Nuvi. After comparing with other models, my money is on the Garmin, hands down. Easy to use, easy to figure out (good for me) lots of support and really reliable.

[sorcererdale]

For the price I could afford, I bought the Garmin Nuvi 350. They have been discontinued, but are still available and the warranty is still good. I got mine from Foto Connect at a really good price. Now if I could only punch in Scotland and have it transport me there in an instant!

DALE.