Navigation systems

[m pwrd 3]

I will be traveling a good deal in the near future and I have been looking into buying a navigation system. Right now I am kind of partial to one of the Tom Tom units, basically because I have had first hand experience with it. Do any of you have a nav system and if so how do you rate it. Tim I know you are really interested factory nav systems, but have you done much research in aftermarket units?

[daveb91]

Ive used the Magellan ones not bad. Accurate directions out on a back road past Walker.

[keesor]

I've got a Garmin c340, and really like it.

[kmfdmk]

Since I work in the EOD/UXO (Explosives Ordnance Disposal/UneXploded Ordnance) line of work I travel ALL the time. Also the people I work with travel ALL the time. Amongs the most popular units is the Garmin. Don't know which model, but that's the standard, and pretty much whenever the topic comes up it's nothing but unadulterated praise of how much they couldn't live w/o it.

For example of travels:

In/around main island of Puerto Rico, Marietta, OH -> Rockford, IL & back, Marietta, OH to Vancouver, WA. My roomate that I co-drove with loves his. Pretty straight forward to use and good directions. I didn't have any problems (other than the blizzard driving out :D)

[RallyEX]

I own two portable car Nav systems and like them a lot. There are upsides and downsides, all of which depend on the kind of money you want to put into this device.

If you are looking for a nice cheap unit, you can't beat the Mio brand units for value for money. I have a Mio C310x and I bought a C220 for the wife. They are built on the same platform as Tom Tom, use the same maps (TeleAtlas is the map provider, I believe), but cost half as much. Some of the more pricy units (high end Mio, Tom Tom, etc.) will pair with your cell over bluetooth and get traffic data off the internet for real time re-routing.

When people are looking for a GPS nav, I tell them to look at several different units in different price ranges and see what features they like. Once you've discovered what you need, go to the review website http://www.gpslodge.com/ and find the review for the unit you are interested in purchasing and take a look.

Right now, there's a price barrier at around the 300 dollar mark. The big difference you are going to find is the sub-$300 units require you to pay when you need map updates and do not have "text to speech" conversion. A less expensive GPS will say to you "Turn right in 300 yards", however a unit with text to speech will say "Turn right on Ninth Street in 300 yards". While this seems like a small thing, it can come in pretty handy so you don't have to look at the screen to see what the street name is if your route isn't obvious. On the other hand, neither of my units have this feature, and I have no great desire to upgrade them just to get it.

Also, when buying any unit new or used, be sure it has the SirfSTAR Series III (3) chipset. The SirfSTAR chipset versions have worlds of difference, and a SirfSTAR III acquires GPS signal and your location MUCH faster than earlier versions.

[m pwrd 3]

Thanks for the input, I will go and do some more of my own research now that I have a starting point. I will let you know what I decide to go with.

[m pwrd 3]

Well I went shopping for a unit today and ended up coming home with a Tom Tom GO 720. I have got to use it for about an hour and a half today and it has been very accurate and fun to use. Here are the specs for it:

#

Product Specifications
# 4.3" widescreen 16:9 format LCD (WQVGA: 480*272 pixels)
# CPU 400 MHz, 64MB RAM
# Maps of US and Canada preloaded on 2GB internal flash memory
# SD card slot
# Text to Speech
# High-sensitivity GPS receiver (SiRF star III)
# RDS-TMC traffic information receiver (optional accessory, not included)*
# Integrated FM transmitter
# Bluetooth(TM)
# Lithium-polymer battery (5 hours operation)
# Optimized integrated microphone and speaker for high quality hands-free functionality.
# Dimensions: 4.7" x 3.2" x 0.9"
# Weight: 7.7 ounces

* Not included with the TomTom GO720. Available for separate purchase from http://www.tomtom.com/.

[daveb91]

Nice choice.

[RallyEX]

Looks like a good choice man, can't wait to see it.

[95neoner]

I worked in Circuit City during christmas (did I just say that out loud? don't hate me please :shock: )and got to play around with them all. I've also used both a Garmin and tomtom on trips. I believe you bought the best buy there is. The Tomtom Go 720 is slim, wide, has text-to-speech, and as an added bonus (to me, I refer to the other points as the "big 3" cause they're the most commonly sought after and for good reason), comes with bluetooth connectivity. I know those were on sale for around $400 at the time. Tomtom seems to give you the most important features first, whereas Garmin will throw in some of the rather useless (IMO) ones like the mp3 player, traffic, which takes an upgrade and a monthly subscription, book reader (should that even be legal?), etc and by time you get to everything you want you're looking at a $800 unit. Another big thing with the Tomtom is that you get thier map updates for free (online, disk versions will cost you) vs $70-80/ year to upgrade the Garmin. If I knew then what I know now, I would own that unit instead of the Garmin 200. As for the Mios, I've heard of overheating and crashing issues with them, so definately not my pick of the bunch. The Magellan are about middle of the road. Most of them are a bit thicker than tomtoms and garmins and have a slightly more difficult learning curve. I wouldn't even consider anything else (i.e. Cobra). GPS was huge last holiday season, I kinda fancy myself a guru w/ them :P

[m pwrd 3]

Good information. I have been very pleased with the GO 720. I have been able to use it quite a bit and it has been very accurate so far.

[RallyEX]

Good information. I have been very pleased with the GO 720. I have been able to use it quite a bit and it has been very accurate so far.

Have you done any of the online free map updates with it yet? I'm curious, as wife and I will be doing some super heavy traveling over the next several months and will need one in the rental car. I like the Mio a lot and have had zero problems with either of our two, but paid map updates suck and a little more selection on POI's would be nice.

[m pwrd 3]

I havent done any updates recently. I did when I first got it, updated all the current information. I would imagine that it is do for one again soon if not already. If ya want I would let ya borrow it for a little while if you would like. Try it out.