GPS reccomendation - Montana Owners Club

dandt · 04-10-2009, 05:49 AM

Thinkng about purchasing a GPS unit for the truck and would appreciate any and all suggestions. Want one with a 4" screen at least, easy use, voice response not necessary. Also where would you purchase, Costco, ebay, other. Thanks Dave

BB_TX · 04-10-2009, 07:29 AM

I have a Garmin Nuvi 350 I have had for a couple years and have been generally happy with. It is easy to use although it does have the smaller screen. I recently loaded POI points for campgrounds and highway rest areas which is a help.
Also distance to next turn and estimated time of arrival to destination are very helpful features. Newer ones have even more travel assistance features and show more on the screen.
It does give voice descriptions of upcoming turns which I do like. A touch to the lower right corner and it will repeat the info.
It has things like mp3 player and other stuff that I never use.
The only problem with it is it often does not pick the best highway route from point A to point B. It will try to detour me off what I know is a better/faster route even though I have it on "fastest route" setting. I always check Google maps to determine my preferred route and primarily use the GPS for guidance as I near the final destination.

**Rondo** · 04-10-2009, 10:06 AM

Time to trade that 2007 TV for a new one with the nav built right into the dash!

illapah · 04-10-2009, 10:28 AM

I like the Garmin 'Nuvi' series. I have the Nuvi 680 and noted that a new series is on the way - the 1300 series that is awaiting FCC certification.
I would recommend to get a unit with voice announcements of street names and the lane change feature is worth looking at.

COSTCO sells them at a reasonable price, among other places. I would do a web search.

harleyrider · 04-10-2009, 12:57 PM

I have the streetpilot 7200.The nice feature about this unit is the BIG 7 inch screen.Says name of streets,the whole nine yards.

8.1al · 04-10-2009, 01:44 PM

I like the Nuvi series with the large screens. There are some good deals right now on the 750 which is a nice unit, just google nuvi 750

Ozzie · 04-10-2009, 02:26 PM

I've had my Nuvi 350 for a long time now...always have loved it, it's gotten me all over the place. I do like the newer Nuvi with voice command. I keep trying to talk my wife into taking my 350 off my hands so I can get the newer model, but she isn't biting yet.

Bruce Lenhardt · 04-10-2009, 03:17 PM

I recently bought a Garmin Nuvi 265wt and really like it. Sold a Garmin 340. I like the new one for new features such as listing the speed limit and your speed on the screen when driving. It also shows the next turn direction in the upper left corner. This model came with free traffic alert. Tells you when there is a traffic delay, how long the delay is, and how to get around it. You don't have to subscribe to a service to get it. I do also like the voice speaking of the road/street names. Bought it online for about $240.

exav8tr · 04-11-2009, 12:59 AM

I have a Magellan 6000T Road Mate which I used for the first year of travelling, blue tooth enabled also so phone calls on the road were hands free. It also talks to you although the voice voice function mispronounces some streets making it "Fun to use". We now have the In-dash unit and only use the Magellan if we rent a vehicle for some reason. I think the key to a good system is whether it is "user friendly or not". It does take some time and playing with to "learn" the different functions. Now we would be at a real loss if our in-dash unit goes south, especially if we are headed north......

BTW: We got our Magellan from Best Buy and the in-dash from GM..

Bill-N-Donna · 04-11-2009, 01:57 AM

I can’t really recommend any particular brand where I’ve only had experience with the TomTom G720. I would however recommend that you get one which is capable of up-dating points of interests as necessary. There are a couple of downloads from this site for low bridge points which is a nice feature to have.

On edit, the text to speech is a really nice feature to have.

DarMar · 04-11-2009, 03:04 AM

My vote is also for one of the new Garmin Nuvi series. Just bought a model 255w and I can't believe the new advanced features at some very attractive price points. We paid $249. Canadian at Best Buy and I believe the model 265wt was about $50.00 more. These two models are very similar with the 265 having bluetooth capability. Go to the Garmin website and there are some good reviews and one can do a model to model comparison of features.

ols1932 · 04-11-2009, 03:57 AM

I can't recommend any brand of GPS unit since I don't own any. We have thought about getting one but have been extremely hesitant. Primarily because of the small screen. My wife prefers using her laptop with Delorme's Street Atlas and GPS antenna. Gives her a big screen and she can play with it as she desires. On occasion, when we're at a rest stop, I can take a look at it and see where we are and where we're going.

Orv

Waynem · 04-11-2009, 05:01 AM

I have used the TomTom 720 for 2 or 3 years and have been very satisfied in the TomTom features, and updates. The updates are available by plugging it into your computer via USB, and using TomTom Home to manage. You can drag and drop POI's from the computer to the GPS. It updates the GPS Software anytime you plug into the computer. A new map and map update subscription for North America will cost $99, but I did not update for two years, then decided it was time. I have had little problems with it's ability to navigate, but you must remember that it is not foolproof and some navigation points on any GPS will not be exactly as you would expect them to be. TomTom has a very good voice anouncment on upcoming turns and streets. The screen is 4" and easy for my tired eyes to see. Touch screen access is farily easy. Points of Interes (POI's) are easily found and added throught TomTom Home software, or you could even write your own POI with a text editor for your favorite places. You can assigne different sounds to a POI. Be warned that if you have Dunkin' Donuts as a POI and sound warning and travel in the Nor'East, you will have sounds going off at ever street corner. I have never seen so many Dunkin' Donuts.

Portable GPS's are easily transferred from vehicle to vehcile, or even carrying in your pocket while walking around town. Battery life will be about 4 hours, but really diminishes after a few years. TomTom Batteries are not easily changeable.

Good luck. Happy navigating.

BB_TX · 04-11-2009, 06:23 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Waynem

..............Portable GPS's are easily transferred from vehicle to vehcile, or even carrying in your pocket while walking around town. .......

We flew to Florida last month and I took my Nuvi 350. Turned it on on the plane (after checking with flight attendant) and watched our progress. Pretty neat. Would only work if I sat next to the window and held it near that window. Metal shell of plane would block satellite signals.

D and M On The Road · 04-11-2009, 08:52 AM

We have the Garmin Nuvi 760 and love it. We bought it online through Walmart and had it delivered to our local store as they don't charge for shipping that way.

Walmart was actually the cheapest at the time we bought. Worth looking to see what they offer online.

Walmart is currently selling our model (online price) for $225.94. Great price.

WorkerB · 04-11-2009, 10:32 AM

We have the TomTom 910. Works great. It has a 20GB hard drive. You can store pictures for slide show, holds mp3 even can play movies. If you are into Linux there's Tech info http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/insidetomtomgo910.php . Blue tooth for your cell phone. You can buy the FM mount and music and phone calls come over the FM radio. If you are hard of hearing or someone is overloading you with input just crank up the volume and you can hear just fine. POI's Low bridge, wal-mart, Cracker Barrel tons more. Yep we like our TomTom 910.

Wayne and Carolyn Mathews · 04-12-2009, 07:08 AM

We recently bought the Garmin Nuvi 760 from Amazon.com. ($229, I think). At the time, the price was better than anywere else, including Walmart, and the shipping was free. I'm sure we'll love our Garmin, but it's still in the box at the moment. That will change this afternoon, I hope. Finally--a great day in our part of the country, warmish, blue skies, and we're anxious to get outdoors and play with some toys like the GPS system!

Carolyn

Fire5er · 04-13-2009, 10:02 AM

We have the Garmin nüvi 255W. It's a 2"x5" widescreen, with voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions that speak street names. It's packed with millions of destinations and maps for North America or Europe. We purchased from QVC for $199 in Jan. 2009. We love it.

dandt · 04-13-2009, 07:44 PM

Thank you everyone for your responses. Went to Costco today and they had Garmin 260W on sale for 149.99.
Too the pludge, now I just have to learn to work it before we hit the road next Monday for South Dakota.
Teresa

Wayne and Carolyn Mathews · 04-25-2009, 10:07 PM

We finally put our Garmin Nuvi in the truck, and we LOVE it!

I was afraid setting it up would be difficult, but it wasn't. I put it in the mount in the truck, plugged it in, and it was up and ready to use in 5 seconds. There are many things I can program into it to provide the "icing on the cake," but for the moment, the maps and spoken directions are all I need. Before we head out to the 7 Feathers rally, I'll put in our planned stops, final destination, etc.

We also bought the Garmin Portable Friction Dashboard Mount for Nüvi Series. The Nuvi comes with a suction-cup mount for the windshield, but we like the friction mount better for our use. We got the mount on a great sale at Amazon, which is also where we bought the Nuvi, also on a great sale--best price we found anywhere for a NEW unit. You can buy "refurbished" TomTom, Nuvi, or other systems for less money, but there generally isn't enough difference to justify buying a refurbished model instead of a new one.

Carolyn

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