GPS owners. A few questions

I want a GPS. I'm seeing them priced at less than a hundred bucks to hundreds of dollars. I don't want my GPS to wash my dishes or answer my phone, I just want it to tell me how to get from point "A" to point "B'.

I have, in the past, asked a number of consumer questions at DU and have always been guided well.

If you have GPS, tell me what you like and what you hate.

Do I really need to spend several hundred bucks for directions?

I just upgraded to a plan that includes it free of charge so I might as well use it. The cons are the small screen.

get one that says the street names.

For example...some will say "turn left in 500 feet".

You want the kind that will say "Turn left in 500 feet onto Maple Street".

This will make your traveling much easier.

I have a Garmin that I am happy with.

that's my biggest regret, that I got one that only gives the turn command and not the street name.

I think being able to enter addresses by voice would be nice, but not critical.

I would love that...

only the very high end ones do.

I have it In my car, and I've been quite happy it. I get where I'm going, know how far ahead the exits are, and never get lost any more. It was the only extra I had to have when I got my car (ended up with all of them, incuding Bluetooth, which I also like).

On edit: I leave the voice off, since the GPS is part of my car, but it gives the street name to turn on to/exit names, etc. on the screen.

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-4-3-Inch-Widescreen-Bluetooth-Navigator/dp/B002DN928S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1271986420&sr=8-1

This is what we used on our trip to DC and Philly, it worked just perfectly. It's as small as a PDA and easy to take with you while walking around. Make sure you download the latest maps from their website when you first get it.

Those who have it seem to like it. Can I buy a cheap one and be happy or do I need to spend a bundle?

excellent. I will buy it.

I bought a Garmin Nuvi 285, and am well pleased with it.

I do highly recommend ONE extra thing to buy, and that is the Garmin friction mount. The suction cup is a pain in the butt. You can mount the GPS to the friction mount, and when you stop grab the GPS, mount and power cord as one unit and put it in your trunk. Take seconds, and no one knows you have a GPS in your car.

Put the garmin anywhere on the dash, and put it away later. No windshield suction cup to tell the world "steal my gps".

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=garmin+friction+mount+nuvi&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=12686566904027260714&ei=TV7RS-WbDIu8NrD17IIO&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ8wIwAA#ps-sellers

When there's a lot of heat in the car (the FL sun, in my case) the windshield mount tends to fall quite often.

Once we taught her to use it (I love her but sometimes she goes out of her way not to understand stuff) it's worked well for her.

Three times now I bailed him out from getting lost following its directions. He followed the instructions to get from A to B and it got us lost in the middle of a subdivision neither of us had been in before.

I had a rough idea in my head as to where we were in relation to where we were trying to go.
So I told him in which direction to head and we ended up back in familiar territory within 5 minutes. I may not always be able to figure out a compass heading but I usually know in which direction B is from my A.

Two of them are aviation models and stay in my plane. I have a Nuvi 255 and a Nuvi 765T. The biggest feature of the 765T is the FM traffic receiver, which is nice. You also get bluetooth capability which means it interfaces with your cell phone and can be used as a handsfree device, and it works very well in that capacity. The 255 is a very nice little basic GPS. It works great and about the only trouble I have with it is occassionally it has trouble getting a signal if I am downtown surrounded by tall buildings, but most GPS units have this problem. The Garmins are better than most in this regard. I haven't had any problems needing replacement or repair on any of my Garmin units.

I've bought two for myself and one for my mother. I think they're great for the "Point-A-to-Point-B" thing. They've got some good ones at Newegg, and for the most part, they're discounted. I got my new one just a few days ago with $100.00, and they threw in the carrying case for free.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2102770357+50002103+1451832780&name=Portable+Navigation+Device&Page=2

But I'd first head over to Garmin.com, and under the "Features" section, select the features you want and leave unchecked the features you don't have to have. From there, maybe you'll get an idea of the specific unit you want. Then, you can buy it at Newegg! Of course, shop around, but I think Newegg is awesome!

I hate the fact that their map updates are so freaking expensive. 80 bucks to update the map in a unit that probably costs $120.

Screw that. I may as well just buy a new unit every third year.

Her screen is much brighter and easier to read in the sun, her GPS is better at finding points of interest, she can change the voices (mine has only one very annoying voice) and I'm seriously considering Craigslisting mine and getting one like hers.

They were both about $100.

When I don't take a recommended turn, she says "recalculating" in a snide, condescending voice that lets you know you are a complete screw-up.

Bitch.

:rofl:

I use it for finding my way around Los Angeles and have used it for long off-highway road trips. It has never let me down and has been a life saver.

I currently have Magellan, but I don't recommend it. I had some issues with a map update and had a horrible experience with customer service. I don't know is Garmin customer service is better, but when I replace my current one, I will not replace it with a Magellan.

happy driving!

:hi: