Navigation Unit - Garmin / Tomtom / Magellan

[Zembonez]

I want to buy one of these portable GPS navigation units... just because I think it's cool. (and my dumb ass might get lost one day on the way to Clown Skool) I know this stuff has been discussed before but the threads are old and this stuff changes just about monthly.

 

I've looked at Garmin, Magellan, and TomTom units and looks wise they all look the same to me. Anybody have one that they like? Is one better than the next or do they all work about the same. The only unit I ever owned was a Magellan unit in my last company car and it seemed to work OK.

 

Any ideas or comments?

[VMax2007]

Jim, I too have been tossing this idea around for several months now and I can't seem to pull the trigger. They range in price from $150 up to about $500 for the ones I am looking at. I really don't need all the bells and whistles, but I kinda want text-to-speech and a 4.3" screen. The bluetooth would be nice, but I rarely use my cell phone, especially while driving, so I can live without that. I think I may wait until November, because we are switching to Verizon then and they have VZ Navigator phones. I want to see how they compare. I have used a Garmin in a rental car while out of town on business and it worked very nicely and it was a very basic one.

[Zembonez]

I don't want to be one of these geeks with the suction thingee on the windshield. I want to build it in somehow or at least mount it out of sight from the outside. I have a buddy that does serious custom interiors in car chow Hot Rods and I could get him to help with a small sub console for it...

 

I'll let you know if I find something really cool.

 

Anybody else?

[VMax2007]

I agree, mine would never be on the dash. I would simply lay it in the center console and then put it away when not in use. That is kinda why I like the idea of having a VZ Navigator phone, IF they work as well. I wouldn't need it very often, 99% of the time I am in my truck, I know exactly where I am going. That is why I can't justify it and pull the trigger on one. It would be a "gadget/toy" that would come in handy a few times a year.

[msonido]

My father has a Garmin Nuvi, the cool thing about that model is he can use it as a personal GPS, like the GPS phone that Jeff was talking about. A friend of mine also has the lower model Magellan and its pretty accurate compared to the stock GPS in my Tahoe. If you do not go the cutsom install route, one option you might consider is putting the GPS along the driver's side pilar instead of the middle of the windshield, its more in view that way and you pretty much have the full view of the windshield. I've heard Tom Tom is very user friendly but not so friendly when trying to update with new roads, voices, and points of interest.

[Gray Ghost]

I have used my father in laws Garmin a few times now and it is a nice unit. Took me to the door step of a friends new house in Virgina for a Race and Im gonna use it Saturday to locate this car show in Lancaster PA. It is nice and easy to use. Change voice on it to male or female.

 

I also had been in a ride where one had the Tom-Tom. I really like that unit. It had a nice 4" screen and was thin like the new flat screen tv's where as the Garmin is like the older style televisions bigger and heavy. I too dont like them hanging on the dash and windshield and would love to have a custom pod to put one in. I know a company mad a pod that fit niceley for the 04-06 Pontiac GTO's that looked very nice. Expensive for some plastic but nice. It was an austrailian company where I bought other aftermarket parts for the goat.

 

Let me know if your buddy makes you a custom pod/console for the GPS, If it looks good I'll buy one from him. Keep us posted.

[smattei14]

Not even a question...GARMIN....all the way..I use to have 2 of them...now I have factory Nav in the trucks...but I have too say...the garmin was 100 times better then any nav system out there....

 

The factory nav is not even in the same league...

 

 

the only other one that can run with the garmin or come close to it..is the tom tom...

 

www.abesofmaine.com

 

they will match any price out there for you....they are great...i bought both units from them. They are located in NJ...you can even pick it up if you wanted too.

[sillyazz]

I own a Garmin Nuvi 750 , I had just looked at one a Bass Pro Shop and it was 569 the next week I was laying around on the couch flipping channels half asleep and stopped on HSN and they had it for 299 I jumped on it , plus I did the 5 payment thing. I love this thing it does alot of stuff to much to even go into, It has an mp3 player bulit in I bought a 4gb SD card for it and have almost 800 songs on it, just plug it into the front of the facory radio and the other end into the earphone jack on the unit and your in business. I have used it several times and its always taken me to the excat location. If you have any other questions on things it does let me know.

 

Edit: I will take a picture tomorrow and post it on how I have mine set up.

[Guest Riggs]

i have a garmin Nuvi 200 just the cheap little one... but i use it all the time when towing cars it makes it very very easy to find lol....

[jnpaddison]

+1 - Garmin Nuvi 750

[KCXLT]

Garmin Nuvi 760. Works well. Check these sites for reviews. I believe their consensus is Garmin is better right now for North America and Tomtom is better in Europe.

 

http://www.gpsmagazine.com/

 

http://www.gpspassion.com/fr/default.asp?_...rrentVersion=EN

 

I think the mapping software is the same no matter what Garmin you would get, so you can decide what other options you would like/or not like to get the price where you want it. The mounts can be different though, my 760 has a mount where the power connector plugs into it, so you can detach the Nuvi without having to fiddle with wires. I'm using a bean bag mount, so at stops I just move it to the floor out of site.

[Steveman]

Yeah my step-dad and I both have Garmins and they are great, he has a Nuvi 680 and I have a StreetPilot c580. Mine is a much more simple model but it does everything I need, and it is very accurate. One person mentioned how Garmins are fatter then other manufacturers, and I think he was talking about the StreetPilot series becuase mine is shaped kinda like an old television set, but the new Nuvi's are thin, only about 3/4 of an inch thick. I have looked at TomTom's and they seemed really good but almost too overly complicated. I have never used one on the road, just looked at them in stores. Also one cool thing about our Garmins is that they get automatic traffic updates, and its really handy becuase the GPS will anounce them and you can have the GPS reroute you around the bad traffic area. So, I would go with Garmin, and even the magazine popular mechanics rated the Garmin better then the TomTom, Magellan, Sony, a one other one I forgot. Maybe if you go on their website you can find the review, its pretty informative.

[2000DV4.8]

I got my Garmin Nuvi 260 on Amazon for $250. It doesn't have a massive screen, and it doesn't have any of the bluetooth fancy shit, but it does have the feature where it will actually say street names. It doesn't always give you the fastest way to get somewhere, but it WILL always get you there. After trying to find someplace without it, I realize how much it really helps.

 

My only complaints about it are that it sometimes gets confused when there are lots of tall buildings around, and it usually takes 2-4 minutes to get satellite reception. Other than that, I absolutely love it, and would definitely recommend it.

 

It's even cheaper now!

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-260-3-5-Inch-...6087&sr=8-1

[asilverblazer]

TOMTOM cuz its cheapest! And it does all I want it to.

[Rosedog]

Garmin for the win. Seriously have you ever tried one, they're just so full awesomeness! BTW Garmin is rumored to be coming out with its own GPS cellphone just so you know. I'll see if I can dig it up (the link).