40 replies to this topic

[Charcoop]

Thank you everyone for the comments. Many good points and I think I'll look into the Garmin Nuvi 650.

I know a GPS isn't the answer for every situation but for some long drives in unfamiliar areas it might be the ticket.

Thanks again for these and any further thoughts on the subject.

Charcoop

I believe that my Garmin Nuvi 650 is no longer on the cutting edge. Do some more research and decide exactly what features you want. My brother has a model that also allows him to subscribe to traffic reporting. He's not exactly thrilled with the service.

As you said, it's useful for long drives in unfamiliar areas. My last drive was to a Baptism in Pittsburgh, a little over 400 miles from my home. The Queen was away, so I had no navigator. Before leaving, I entered the info for my nephew's house, my niece's house, my hotel, a hotel where others were staying, the church, the airport (I like checking out airports), restaurants (recommendations from the web), Costco stores, a condo community I wanted to see and a certain Penn liquor store (the PLCB web site told me that it stocked something I wanted). Easy peasy.

One of the big advantages is that you can get to where you want to go, from wherever you happen to be. You really don't have to know where you are at the start. I hope that makes sense.

***Yes, it does make sense and is pretty much how I plan to use it. Thanks !

[Lauren]

We've been using it all weekend and, apart from her "yelling" at us, I love it. We downloaded a bunch of POI's and pre-loaded all of our known addresses (hotel, my brothers, restaurants, etc) so it made selecting them as we drove around very easy. As we drove in from the airport, we drove by Osteria Mozza, where we were having dinner later in the trip. It appeared on the map as we drove by so we knew where we would be going. It was a great feature!

We've named her Millie, for Mother-In-Law

[Charcoop]

We've been using it all weekend and, apart from her "yelling" at us, I love it. We downloaded a bunch of POI's and pre-loaded all of our known addresses (hotel, my brothers, restaurants, etc) so it made selecting them as we drove around very easy. As we drove in from the airport, we drove by Osteria Mozza, where we were having dinner later in the trip. It appeared on the map as we drove by so we knew where we would be going. It was a great feature!

We've named her Millie, for Mother-In-Law

Thanks for the report, Lauren. We just bought one and will try it out on our trip. We turned down the sound to about halfway and it's much easier on the ears.

"Millie"....that's rich!

[prasantrin]

Anyone purchase a GPS navigation system recently? I'm leaning towards Garmin because you can now get unlimited updates with certain models. Plus they're ubiquitous, so they're easy to buy and they go on sale relatively often. But I'm certainly open to suggestions! Magellan is the other brand that's easy to find in my part of the world, but Tom-Tom is less easy to find.

I heard with unlimited updates, one must suffer through advertisements. Is this true?

Another question--Garmin has models available with European maps in addition to North American maps. If I were to get one with only North American-maps, could I later update to include European models? Is that option available with other brands, as well?

[g.johnson]

I would avoid the Garmin models that start screaming "No. No. No. Please God No. Oh, the humanity." when you board a ferry.

[prasantrin]

But I do need some excitement in my otherwise dull life, don't I?

Is that the British version or the American? I imagine the American version would say something like, "WTF are you doing you dumba**?"

[GordonCooks]

I got a Garmin Nuvi after a rather circuitous trip through NJ construction on the way back from NYC. Got the lifetime map updates and it's a simple plug-it-in and walk away. It's a nice sense of security when driving around areas you're unfamiliar. Get the 5" screen, it's less distracting having it farther away from you.

As far as maps, not sure on the worldwide version although I can choose my updates any way I want - North America, US & Canada, East Coast, etc. I haven't looked into any european possibilities.

[memesuze]

I bought a Garmin Nuvi 650 a couple of years ago. I love it, although I don't need it for directions except for the occasional trip to an unfamiliar location. What I love most about it for driving in Austin, to and from work and around town, is the being able to listen to podcasts I've downloaded to an SDHC card. I have an old car that doesn't have an input for my MP3 player through my audio system, and the Garmin functions well in its place. I did buy a lifetime map update for $70 from Amazon, but haven't felt the need to install new maps yet.

[Lauren]

It's funny you should mention this - we had a rather long discussion of GPS systems at a family dinner this weekend. Garmin was the clear favorite with Magellan coming in second. Tom Tom was universally despised. It was interesting to read this thread - I rarely use ours anymore - in favor of Google Maps on my smartphone.

We looked into downloading international maps to ours but the cost was so high that we instead rented a car with onboard GPS.

[prasantrin]

OK. Avoid Tom-Tom and Magellan, stick with Garmin. Easy enough to do!

I think I've decided on the Garmin 1490 LMT, but now I want one with an MP3 player since my car doesn't have the ability to play MP3s. Unfortunately, it seems none of the ones (on the Garmin website) that have Canadian maps can play MP3s! Poor Canada; we never get anything good!

Now I must save my pennies for my purchase (actually, my current navigator is doing such a crappy job of navigating that she's supposed to be gifting one to me).

[prasantrin]

I bought the Garmin 1490LMT a few weeks ago. I haven't had to use it a lot, but the few times I've gone somewhere unfamiliar, it was very convenient to use. Since I don't have a smart phone, iphone, or i-anything with an app for giving directions, I think this GPS will be very handy, especially when driving out of town. It's much better than my CKY, anyway.

Thanks, all, for the suggestions!