Portable GPS for the car, any opinions?

hrpiii · #1 (**permalink**) 11-08-2005, 09:51 AM

My wife seems to get lost backing out of the driveway, and I've been seeing these little handheld GPS systems for the car. The small one's like 3.5" screens that have preloaded maps, etc. Any manufacture better, or easiest for her to use? She needs something she could take with her in different company cars that would sit on the dash or something? I'm trying to learn more about these little things as I have no idea what to focus on. Any help is appreciated.

thanks

monolithic · #2 (**permalink**) 11-08-2005, 10:18 AM

You might want to take a look at the new Garmin i3 and i5 series. I don't believe these have "via" routing capabilities, but they appear to be very small and easily moved from vehicle to vehicle. The difference between the i3 and i5 is that the i5 comes with the US maps already installed and the i3 requires a pc to download maps unless your storage card is large enough to hold everything. The i3 seems to be available for around $300 while the i5 is still around $500. If you don't travel too much outside your area, the i3 might be what you're looking for. These units just came out in October, so I haven't been able to find too many reviews yet.

The one thing to remember when looking at GPS units is the cost of updating the maps. Older units may seem cheaper until you want to update the maps which brings the prices back up to the newer units.

FYI - "via waypoints" allow you to augment your route through or "via" a waypoint. I use this type of feature to change the autorouting when I want to quickly use a different highway or go through a different city, etc. Great for salespeople, etc.

confederate2 · #3 (**permalink**) 11-08-2005, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hrpiii

My wife seems to get lost backing out of the driveway, and I've been seeing these little handheld GPS systems for the car. The small one's like 3.5" screens that have preloaded maps, etc. Any manufacture better, or easiest for her to use? She needs something she could take with her in different company cars that would sit on the dash or something? I'm trying to learn more about these little things as I have no idea what to focus on. Any help is appreciated.

thanks

Your wife is like mine. I am about to buy her the Garmin C330 for Christmas. Simple interface, preloaded maps, very small and portable and right now running just around 500 bucks.

hrpiii · #4 (**permalink**) 11-09-2005, 09:45 AM

thanks guys, I'll start my research on these suggestions.

kcdude · #5 (**permalink**) 11-09-2005, 08:26 PM

garmin 2720....did the research and purchased a few months ago.....if you can spend the $$$,the only way to go.

sbessel · #6 (**permalink**) 11-10-2005, 06:15 PM

TomTom - Hands down the best, either the 300 or 700.

I tried the Garmin and Magellan. The TomTom is far superior.

confederate2 · #7 (**permalink**) 11-11-2005, 04:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sbessel

TomTom - Hands down the best, either the 300 or 700.

I tried the Garmin and Magellan. The TomTom is far superior.

I was about to buy the Garmin c330. Have you owned the c320,c330 or the c340. If so can you tell me if the TomTom is better and how so I know if I want to spend the extra money.
Thanks
Sammy

sbessel · #8 (**permalink**) 11-11-2005, 11:45 AM

I had the C330 for a week, but it was so inaccurate, and featureless I returned it. The TomTom uses a different map system that Garmin and Magellan, I have found the maps to be more accurate. The TomTom is highly customizable, and if you have the right phone the Bluetooth features are amazing.
With the TomTom I can plan trips in advance and save them. I can plan routes starting from different locations, if I miss a turn it will auto-reroute in seconds, it has great traffic or road block avoidance, many options for routes. I can save my own personal POI's (Points of Interest) and route to them or even have the unit alert me (beep, chime) when I get close to one of them, overseas they use these for speed traps/cameras.
There are also many additional specialized POI databases available online.

The 700 has an internal hard drive, and offers Bluetooth hands free for your cell phone. The 300 uses SD cards for maps, and does not offer hands free. If you have a GSM phone with BlueTooth and a good data plan they both offer real time online traffic updates, and auto-reroute if there is a jam ahead. Way cool. Both units are preloaded and will run right out of the box without any PC needed.

The TomTom is a small Linux server, and can be customized tons of ways, from different voices (I use John Cleese), to all new colors, I have a picture of my truck for the startup/shutdown screens. There are people that have developed third party apps to add even more features as TomTom has released a developers SDK for it.

Since I have had my unit I have had 2 software updates. When I called Garmin they say they release updates once a year, worthless if you have old/incorrect maps.

There are some great TomTom support forums around. Also TomTom started in Europe and is number one there, it has just recently been released in the states, so it is not a new or unproven technology.

I say try the others first then the TomTom, you won't go back...

(I have zero to do with TomTom, I am just a person that was annoyed by the others and very happy with my TomTom 700)

kymatt · #9 (**permalink**) 11-11-2005, 12:05 PM

Wow, you talked me into getting a TomTom 700 and I'm not even in the market! Great review!

frank10 · #10 (**permalink**) 11-17-2005, 12:22 PM

FYI, a low cost GPS option is to buy a used axim x5 ($100), gps receiver ($80), gps software (~$150).

confederate2 · #11 (**permalink**) 11-17-2005, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frank10

FYI, a low cost GPS option is to buy a used axim x5 ($100), gps receiver ($80), gps software (~$150).

I have actually been doing that for several years. I used my Dell Axim. I also recently purchased a gps, software, etc. for 80 bucks on ebay and have been running that off of my laptop for the last 6 months, very effective. Just lots of wires, antennaes, big laptop, etc. I just think we were ready for a very portable navigation system. I just ordered the Garmin c330 from amazon for 539 bucks. Should work well for our purposes.

southerncaltundra · #12 (**permalink**) 11-18-2005, 12:59 AM

I been using a Garmin Streetpilot 2610 for the past 18 months. A variety of regional USA maps can be installed on the GPS' 1GB SD memory card or you can opt to install the entire USA on the SD memory card.

The Garmin comes with two types of dash mounting systems, a beanbag-style mounting base with a quick-release mechanism and a hard black plastic semi-permenent mounting base with a quick-release mechanism. On the bottom of the hard black plastic base, you peel off the paper, exposing an adhesive, and affix it to your dash. (The beanbag lets you move it from vehicle to vehicle.)

For power, you connect it to a cigarette lighter using one black cable and the speaker is built-in as part of the cable's plug end.

Overall, the 2610 is a rugged unit and very easy to use.

flashLAV · #13 (**permalink**) 01-25-2007, 11:27 AM

I use TomTom Go910 (PND) and TomTom Navigator6 in PocketPC...
It's best navigation system (interface, speed, maps, ets.)

Best regards

srdcarolina · #14 (**permalink**) 01-25-2007, 12:43 PM

I got my wife the Tom Tom for the same reasons mentioned, she always got lost, now she doesn't. Its very user friendly and works very well.