Which GPS unit to buy?

Steve-B

Steve-B

Active Member
Original Poster
I'll address this to all of you in the contiguous 48 states and to those in the Southeast in particular:
I'm thinking seriously about putting a GPS unit on my wishlist for an upcoming occasion and I need some input from current owners.
1. Which one did you purchase and why?
2. Do you think you could have made a better choice?
3. Where did you get the best price?
4. What are the best features of the unit you bought?

Many thanks
 
ClemsonTigger

ClemsonTigger

Naturally Grumpy
My personal preference for brand is Garmin
Just like a car, it starts with a base model that adds whistles and bells (and price). Your choice as to which are worth it for you. Best Buy is a good source, there are a number of on line discounters, that may or may not be worth it for the sake of saving a few dollars.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...id&list=y&iht=n&st=processingtime:>1900-01-01

Basic Garmin nuvi 255 about $150
nuvi 285 $200 voice prompts, bigger screen
nuvi 850 $ 350 built in MP3
nuvi 885 $ 600 bluetooth, traffic receiver, FM receiver

this is just an example, there are a lot of models (that can be confusing) but all have decent mapping software. the nuvi model is portable so you can take it out of the car and use it to walk around a city.
 
Timmay

Timmay

Well-Known Member
I just purchased the Sony NAV-U at Sears for $79 for my new car.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_05730619000P

No, it doesn't have MP3 or Bluetooth capability, but my car has both of those so I had no need for that in a GPS unit anyway.

It does have text to speech, gesture command and other kinds of cool stuff. It beats the heck out of most of the other units I have seen for twice, three and even four times the price.

Believe me, I spent a loooooong time deciding on a unit for my car and I almost went with the Mio Moov 200 but am very glad I got this unit. You would be crazy not to consider it.
 
DMC-12

DMC-12

It's HarmonioUS, NOT HarmoniYOU.
Anything with NAVTEQ maps :lookaroun :king: :D


Nothing with TeleAtlas maps. :hurl::brick::lookaroun
 
DormaNesbit

DormaNesbit

Member
When Circuit City was going out of business, my husband bought me the base model Tom-Tom. Most of my friends have other brands and a more expensive model, however my base unit is fine for me and I have had no problems with it. My kids love programing it and seem to have the most fun using it while I am driving. I hope that helps!:wave:
 
tigsmom

tigsmom

Well-Known Member
Princess #1 had a Garmin (basic model, can't remember which one) that we got 2 years ago. Worked very well for her at the time, it has since been stolen. :brick:

The DH received a TomTom One 125 as a gift and he loves it. It worked out very well for us on our recent drive to & from Florida . It had more features than the Garmin and is easily updated. We just paid $99 in BJ's for the same one for the Princess as a birthday present.
 
swimmom

swimmom

Well-Known Member
I have a Garmin and have had no problems. It was easy to use right out of the box just by following the prompts. We bought it a year ago for our trip to So. Cal. I think our trip would have been much more stressful try to navigate without a GPS on the freeways. I bought ours for about $100.00 less than any other stores, at the time, from Amazon.
 
Phonedave

Phonedave

Well-Known Member
Steve-B said:
I'll address this to all of you in the contiguous 48 states and to those in the Southeast in particular:
I'm thinking seriously about putting a GPS unit on my wishlist for an upcoming occasion and I need some input from current owners.
1. Which one did you purchase and why?
2. Do you think you could have made a better choice?
3. Where did you get the best price?
4. What are the best features of the unit you bought?

Many thanks
Click to expand...

I assume you mean a GPS for a car, and not a GPS for the outdoors.

For a car, quite frankly, I went with whatever I found was cheapest. I found one at Staples. It was, with the rebate, somewhere in the $65 - $70 range. It has text to speech, it has pretty accurate maps, acqures sat signals well and gets me where I want to go.

For outdoors, I am partial to Garmins. I find their outdoor maps better than others. I happen to like the Legend series if that is what you are looking for. (I have bounced them down cliffs and they work, also the battery life is good)

-dave
 
Mikester71

Mikester71

Well-Known Member
We bought a TomTom GO920T and we LOVE it! Used it on our recent trip down to WDW and it was flawless. It has blue tooth capabilities (every time my wife turns her cell on, it recognizes it) and we like how you can download POI's and voices and all that stuff for free. Easy to update, easy to use! Got it at Best Buy up here in Canada a couple of years ago and although it was a bit pricey (I am thinking we paid around $400 CAN for it), it was well worth it! :sohappy:
 
Monty

Monty

Brilliant...and Canadian
In the Parks
No
I got a TomTom 1 a few years ago and find it great to use. I think the best advantage with it is the user updates that can be downloaded. Areas with construction tend to become weird to drive through [being told to go somewhere there isn't a road anymore can be disconcerting! :lol:], but with user updates, the route is often quite up to date for trips.
 
Steve-B

Steve-B

Active Member
Original Poster
Thanks for the advice - so far

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their input so far. I'm leaning in the direction of Garmin at this time. My uncle has one (don't know which model) and seems to be well pleased with it and I'm going to borrow it for an upcoming trip, to see if we get along.
 

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