Best GPS

[DannyDisneyFreak]

I wanna get a GPS... have always flown but would like to attempt the road trip. There are so many GPSs to choose from, what is the best? I live right on the US/Canada boarder and travel in Canada from time to time so I know I'd like one that would work there too and that I will also be able to update it online. Those are the options I know but with so many brands and models I dont know how to choose??? Help!

 

[gacompguy]

We have quite a few folks at my job that travel and we have Garmin GPS's available to them for checkout. We have a few older units that have been around ~4 years that still work very well.

For the more recent models, we made sure to purchase the GPS's that include free map updates. On most of the older models, you have to pay (sometimes as much as 25%-50% of what you paid for the unit originally) just to get current maps. Now that GPS's are having to compete with smartphones with builtin GPS capabilities, many of the manufacturers are throwing in free map updates as a selling point. You will pay slightly more, but end up saving money in the long run.

 

[sam_gordon]

You can get GPS (Garmin's at least) that don't have the lifetime map updates. That saves you some money.

That's what I elected to do. Garmin updates their maps 4 times a year. A "lifetime" map 'feature' (you can purchase it separately) is $100+ (IIRC). That's almost the cost of a GPS. So if I go 2-3 years without the map update (and how much do maps change), I can purchase a new GPS (with presumably new features) for the cost of the map update.

 

[joelkfla]

You can get GPS (Garmin's at least) that don't have the lifetime map updates. That saves you some money.

That's what I elected to do. Garmin updates their maps 4 times a year. A "lifetime" map 'feature' (you can purchase it separately) is $100+ (IIRC). That's almost the cost of a GPS. So if I go 2-3 years without the map update (and how much do maps change), I can purchase a new GPS (with presumably new features) for the cost of the map update.

Garmin lifetime maps are actually around $80. But basic, not-the-latest Garmin GPS's can be found easily for under $100. And even basic units include features that cost several hundred just a year or two ago.

 

[LaurenT]

I have a Garmin, which I am happy with (every once in a while it will send me to a road that doesn't exist, or tell me I arrived when the address is actually still a mile or so away...but I think they all do that). The Garmin is easy to operate and easy to understand.
My mother has a tom tom...which I hate!

 

[Lewisc]

Garmin and Tom Tom are both good brands. You can purchase a unit with lifetime maps for $100-$120. The more expensive units include features like bluetooth.


You can get a unit that also has traffic. It will route you around traffic jams. $170 or so will get you a unit with lifetime maps and lifetime (subscription free) traffic. Around $100 gets you a GPS with traffic but without lifetime maps.

 

[chartle]

I use my Android phone. Best GPS I have ever seen.

It uses Google Maps and has satellite view and street view. It doesn't have to update its maps because its receiving the GPS data in real time from the Google Map servers. Also as Google learns about new Points of Interest its on the map. So if a new restaurant just opened up at an exit as soon as its in Google Places its on your map.

And it does also have traffic and construction alerts.

I know you may have just been asking about stand alone GPS but if you were in the market for a Phone anyway its worth a look.

 

[sharona]

I use my Android phone. Best GPS I have ever seen.

It uses Google Maps and has satellite view and street view. It doesn't have to update its maps because its receiving the GPS data in real time from the Google Map servers. Also as Google learns about new Points of Interest its on the map. So if a new restaurant just opened up at an exit as soon as its in Google Places its on your map.

And it does also have traffic and construction alerts.

I know you may have just been asking about stand alone GPS but if you were in the market for a Phone anyway its worth a look.

This is great advice. I had a Garmin which we loved but when it was stolen a few years ago, I was also in the market for a smartphone. I opted to go that route and only buy the one device. I have the Droid Incredible and the Goodle Maps (free) has been great. We use if quite often and it has never steered us wrong. One less thing to update, pack, charge, carry, worry about...

 

[tjmw2727]

OP - I am on my 2nd garmin and love it. I did opt for the lifetime map and traffic option and the traffic especially has come in very handy. My sister has the tom tom and I don't like that at all but perhaps because I started out with the garmin?

This is great advice. I had a Garmin which we loved but when it was stolen a few years ago, I was also in the market for a smartphone. I opted to go that route and only buy the one device. I have the Droid Incredible and the Goodle Maps (free) has been great. We use if quite often and it has never steered us wrong. One less thing to update, pack, charge, carry, worry about...

A little OT but I love my droid gps app too, in fact prefer it over my garmin, but it drops out in cell "dead zones". Normally it picks back up in a reasonable amount of time but I have missed exits and turns so I now use my garmin again.

I was also on a recent trip to Lake Placid where there was no cell service for a good portion of the latter part of the trip. Thankfully I was using the garmin and not my droid. Just FYI

 

[vicki_c]

I also vote for an app if you have a smart phone. We retired our Garmin about a year ago and got the Navigon app for our iphones. Works great and unlike the GPS, both DH and I always have it with us, since we always have our phones with us.

(although I see the post about no cell service some places - that would be an issue I guess - I haven't run into that anywhere).

 

[chartle]

This is great advice. I had a Garmin which we loved but when it was stolen a few years ago, I was also in the market for a smartphone. I opted to go that route and only buy the one device. I have the Droid Incredible and the Goodle Maps (free) has been great. We use if quite often and it has never steered us wrong. One less thing to update, pack, charge, carry, worry about...

Thats what I have. The only issue I found out is that if I have it plugged in and have the nav screen on all the time the charger can't keep up with the power drain. It may have also been that we were playing Pandora radio and that the phone was in a cradle in the window and over heating ,flashing orange light.

So what I do now is hit the power button so it blacks the screen while I know I'm not going to need it. The nice thing is that when you hit the button again you don't have to do the swipe thing to bring it back.

For the over heating issue, I just got a "vent mount" holder that I'm trying to modify so i works for my car. That way its away from the window and it the AC air stream.

 

[sharona]

I have not run into any service problems. Thanks for the tip about that possible issue - I'll be sure to print out a few basic maps/directions before we go - just in case since I plan on using the Droid GPS for all our driving when we are in Orlando.

 

[A&CsMom]

My DH has a Garmin and I bought a cheap TomTom for times when we are travelling separately after I got lost because he was travelling with the Garmin. Love the Garmin but the TomTom has some nice features that the Garmin doesn't. At times they give us different routes for the same destinations and we almost always prefer the route on the Garmin. On the TomTom I like that it gives more info like the exact time and distance it will take to get to the destination, not just the arrival time which is what the Garmin does. That may be more of a feature issue than anything. Our Garmin was just over $100 Cdn and the TomTom was on clearance for $88 Cdn.

I'm curious, the stand alone GPS units mount on the dash for easy viewing, how do you use your smartphone or android phone as a GPS in terms of viewing? I guess a silly question but just wondering.

 

[chartle]

I'm curious, the stand alone GPS units mount on the dash for easy viewing, how do you use your smartphone or android phone as a GPS in terms of viewing? I guess a silly question but just wondering.

Get the same kind of mount that has a suction cup or one that attaches to a air vent. The air vent is harder to do these days because they just don't make the vents like they used to and the mounts don't fit right.

 

[LaurenT]

OP - I am on my 2nd garmin and love it. I did opt for the lifetime map and traffic option and the traffic especially has come in very handy. My sister has the tom tom and I don't like that at all but perhaps because I started out with the garmin?



A little OT but I love my droid gps app too, in fact prefer it over my garmin, but it drops out in cell "dead zones". Normally it picks back up in a reasonable amount of time but I have missed exits and turns so I now use my garmin again.

I was also on a recent trip to Lake Placid where there was no cell service for a good portion of the latter part of the trip. Thankfully I was using the garmin and not my droid. Just FYI

This is what I was thinking - I have the I Phone 4...I'm sore there's a GPS app for it, but there are a lot of hilly areas around me and I lose my phone signal....I'd hate for that to happen while I was depending on my phone to get me somewhere...

 

[nkereina]

Hi neighbor! Buffalo here

I have a Magellan Maestro and I hate it. I find it difficult to use, it's small which is not that great for a GPS, and I've found several key POI are missing. It does work well in Canada though. If I had to buy a new one, I would get a Garmin, I know several people who love theirs.

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

Garmin brands are getting alot of votes... there are just many freakin models to choose from!

 

[Lewisc]

I'll try to make it easier. The Garmins all use the same maps. The cheapest Garmin will still get you where you want to go and still have points of interest. One exception some of the cheap Garmin units still don't include maps of Canada or Alaska. The units probably don't have enough memory to include Alaska and Canada.

More expensive Garmin units include traffic or lifetime maps. More expensive Garmin units have a bigger screen. Sometimes Garmin will have a "special" model number for Best Buy or COSTCO (for example). It will be the same as a regular model but might be a different color or come bundled with a case.

Basic Garmin around $100; Garmin with traffic around $120. Garmin with traffic and lifetime maps $180-$200.

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-4-3-In...0RKS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1300028437&sr=8-3