Best GPS system?

[OverplanninJess]

My mom wants to get me a GPS before I go away to grad school and we really have no idea where to start when it comes to buying one. I'd like one that's easy to use, and it would be nice if it said the directions aloud-but I don't know how costly those type are. Any advice?

 

[momto2girls]

I have a Garmin Street Pilot c340 and I LOVE it!

 

[dimimi]

We have a garmin and love it! We got a MUCH better price on amazon. Ours tells you where to turn or you can turn off the voice. The only thing we wish we would have done is bought one you could put on a bike or in the car or use while you walk. Ours sits on our dash and it was about 250.

 

[GoofyG]

I got my husband a Garmin Nuvi 350. It is about a thick as a deck of cards and it tells you the street names and when to turn. I got it off Wal Mart.com and it was about $150 cheaper than in the store or Circuit City's sale price. I had it shipped site to store, no charge for that. It took about a week to 10 days to get it. The Nuvi's are smaller than the regular ones. It was very easy to use straight out of the box. It gets good signals, even when we went in a tunnel. So far we have been very pleased with it.

 

[OverplanninJess]

I have been looking at online reviews...what does text to speech mean? (I apologize in advance for my ignorance on this topic!)

 

[LanaJae]

A thread before the holidays was almost unanimous on Garmin, with a few liking Tom Tom.

It was recommended to get one that announces street names, which I think both of the above do. I got my husband the Nuvi 200W, which doesn't announce street names (says to "turn left" or "turn right" instead), but my husband wanted one of the thin ones so that's what he got. I paid $198.98 total at Dick's (had a $50 instant savings and used a $20 coupon and a $30 coupon).

 

[LanaJae]

I have been looking at online reviews...what does text to speech mean? (I apologize in advance for my ignorance on this topic!)

I think it means it speaks to you and you absolutely want that so you can keep your eyes on the road.

 

[T. Lynn]

Another vote for Garmin 350.

 

[OverplanninJess]

Ok, so I've been looking at reviews for the Garmin nuvi's and I like what I'm seeing-they seem really user friendly. The Garmin nuvi 260 and 250W are both appealing to me for different reasons-I like that the 260 reads the WHOLE direction aloud w/steet name, but I like that the 250W shows you more of what's around you because of the wider screen...any thoughts on this? (There is a 260W, but it just came out and is $400-I'd like to try and stay around $300 or less) Also, I looked at the nuvi 350 and saw that it is "traffic capable"...what exactly does that mean?

Thanks to all of you for your help!

 

[bettyann29]

DH got a Garmin NUVI260 and it is great!!! It reads directions outloud.. He paid around $279 at Circuit City..

 

[LanaJae]

Ok, so I've been looking at reviews for the Garmin nuvi's and I like what I'm seeing-they seem really user friendly. The Garmin nuvi 260 and 250W are both appealing to me for different reasons-I like that the 260 reads the WHOLE direction aloud w/steet name, but I like that the 250W shows you more of what's around you because of the wider screen...any thoughts on this? (There is a 260W, but it just came out and is $400-I'd like to try and stay around $300 or less) Also, I looked at the nuvi 350 and saw that it is "traffic capable"...what exactly does that mean?

Thanks to all of you for your help!

Get the "W" (wide). I think traffic capable means you can subscribe to something to give you real-time traffic updates (so if there's an accident, you can go a different way).

 

[Big Kahuna]

LanaJae is corect .. for a monthly fee you can get access to real time traffic. If you're heading down I 95 to the "World" and Washington DC becomes a parking lot like usual, it will advise you ahead of time and give you alternate routes.. I personally haven't bought into it yet, but I'm considering it.. Oh yeah.. get the wide version....

 

[bigredsfan]

well here is a topic I can help you with, lol. I bought a tomtom One from up in Canada for Boxing Day and there were about 1,433,333 defective ones sold in North America, lol. I did lottttttttttts of reading and research and pretty much found that Garmin makes the best unit on the market. This time of year if you can still find deals, definitely look at the 250w, that is the model I bought and love it so far. The text to speech isn't really that important if you can read street signs, as you will pay a premium for the feature. The fact that this unit will give you clean and concise points to turn in is really all most people need. The maps were just updated, recalculates routes quickly, and apparently routing is better on garmin than tomtom. The wide screen is a bonus, and there are a few great websites I can get you url's on for you to download your own points of interest (these can be shopping, gas, food, etc) that may not come pre loaded but can easily be loaded on your device. Make sure you get at least a 2gb flash card to store extra stuff on as you will have tons of fun with this toy

Best buy should have them on sale still for around $250 in the U.S.

 

[micki7337]

We have a cobra one and a Magellan. I love the Magellan roadmate 300 but currently using the cobra one witch is easy to use but at times is slow and has me off the road.

roadmate 300 is great.

 

[keerymom]

I bought my husband the Garmin Nuvi 360 and my parents the Garmin Nuvi 350 for Christmas and they all love them. The only difference between the 350 and the 360 is that the 360 is bluetooth capable (apparently you can answer your phone and talk through the speaker of the Garmin, we haven't tried this feature out yet). I can tell you that we all love the Garmin. One important feature is to find a model that announces street names. If you hear turn in 200 feet and there are 2 streets close together, things could get confusing.

 

[FigmentsBiggestFan]

I have the Garmin nuvi 660 and I absolutely love it! We moved from Florida to California last August and except for my 5 day househunting trip I had never been west of New Orleans. It has the wide screen and "she" tells you which street to turn on. It also has the bluetooth phone stuff and MP3 player, but I don't use that part.

You can also type in where you want to go and for the most part, find the closest one. Ex.: I can type in "Costco" and it will give me the closest ones and I can just pick one and go. It also lets you know your expected arrival time which I use for even when I know where I'm going.

It's really nice to not have to "look" for street names like when using Mapquest. It tells you when it's coming up so you aren't so much of a road hazard for anyone else. (You know those people who you are following when you are going home and they stop at EVERY street to see if it is the right one? - that's not me!)

 

[Favorite Auntie]

I got the Garmin Nuvi 200W and love it. It is so easy to use that I got it for my parents that are electronically challenged. They love it too. It does the bike and walking directions too. It doesn't announce the street names, but it tells you exactly when to turn, and the street names are very clear on the wide screen. I highly recommend. I found Amazon to have the best price. I paid $219 each.

 

[bdcp]

I have a Magellan Maestro 4400 and so does my DH. It was his annniversary present and I got mine for Christmas. I haven't used it to go anywhere new yet, but my DH travels with his. He takes it on business trips and it makes it a lot easier for him to find places he's either never been to or only goes to occasionally. It's also great for finding restaurants and gas stations in unfamiliar locations.