GPS - Any certain brand I should consider?

[Luv2Camp]

My DD's 17th birthday is in a couple of weeks, and she's asked for a GPS for her gift. What brand would you recommend? Also, is there any type that will allow her to change the recommended route? She likes to avoid the interstate if possible. Thanks!

 

[DrCavin]

Garmin

 

[RadioNate]

I was going to say Garmin too. My friend has a Tom Tom and it frequently doesn't have the correct maps. Lots of times streets are missing or things are placed wrong.

 

[DVCLiz]

I just bought DD15 a Garmin - it will be her Christmas present. I got a Garmin 780 from Amazon and the list price was $599.00. It was on sale for $189.00. I got another hundred bucks knocked off the price because I signed up for a year's membership in audible dot com, which was a gift I had planned to give my older daughter. She really like to listen to books in the car.

So I got a six hundred dollar Garmin for eighty-nine bucks. Sweet!!

Edited to add: I just checked Amazon and the list price was actually $699.99. The sale price today is $196.90. The audible offer is still valid and knocks $100 off the cost.

 

[lovesmurfs]

We love our Garmin!!

 

[dmoore22]

My DW gave me an iPhone for my 60th birthday. I downloaded the Navigon GPS software for the iPhone. So far its been awesome. It hasn't let me down yet. Movies, music, games, gps, and WDW Wait Times all in one device!!! I can't say enough about it. I'm always checking the wait times for Soarin' -- and I live in Missouri!

 

[Fifinella]

Garmin. It's my GPS of choice for flying and driving. The Garmin Nuvi is an excellent little unit and does indeed let you choose less direct routes.

 

[N.Bailey]

Garmin here too. The last I checked, it's what Consumer Report's recommend as well. It's been over a year since that time though, so it may no longer be accurate.

 

[Shutterbug]

Garmin has the best interface BUT garmin has a problem with finding the fastest route. Often it has routed me to two lane roads instead of the freeway.
It has taken me through scary neighborhoods when staying on the the main road was faster.

Here is a link to others who have had that same problem:

http://forums.gpsreview.net/viewtopic.php?t=13967

also when I had to take a different it kept trying to route me back to the road I had been on instead of going and planning a new route from my new spot.

 

[mjkacmom]

Garmin has the best interface BUT garmin has a problem with finding the fastest route. Often it has routed me to two lane roads instead of the freeway.
It has taken me through scary neighborhoods when staying on the the main road was faster.

Here is a link to wear others have had that same problem:

http://forums.gpsreview.net/viewtopic.php?t=13967

also when I had to take a different it kept trying to route me back to the road I had been on instead of going and planning a new route from my new spot.

I like my Garmin Nuvi better than DH's Magellen, but I have this same problem in NJ! I'll be driving down the Parkway, and it wants me to detour through Orange and Irvington! No thanks! So I always use mapquest, and use the GPS as a backup, but I trust mapquest more.

 

[golfgal]

Garmin has the best interface BUT garmin has a problem with finding the fastest route. Often it has routed me to two lane roads instead of the freeway.
It has taken me through scary neighborhoods when staying on the the main road was faster.

Here is a link to others who have had that same problem:

http://forums.gpsreview.net/viewtopic.php?t=13967

also when I had to take a different it kept trying to route me back to the road I had been on instead of going and planning a new route from my new spot.

I think this is a problem across the board with GPS. I find on my Sony that if I switch the settings if it is heading off in the wrong direction (bad roads, etc) it helps. I switch it from fastest to normal (or something like that) and it gives the better route.

Now, as far as giving a GPS to a 17 year old-they are REALLY distracting as a driver and I think at 17 it can be just as bad as using a cell phone and texting because of the lack of experience driving-just my 2 cents on that.

 

[MerMom60_94]

I hope the OP doesn't mind if I add a couple of related questions since I am looking at GPSs for my DH for Christmas. There is a variety of models and quite a vast price range in GPSs. I am looking at the product comparison on the Garmin website and I am not really seeing a big difference in the products. What should I be looking for? What is the big difference between the low end and the high end?

 

[JessicaR]

Garmin

 

[Shutterbug]

I hope the OP doesn't mind if I add a couple of related questions since I am looking at GPSs for my DH for Christmas. There is a variety of models and quite a vast price range in GPSs. I am looking at the product comparison on the Garmin website and I am not really seeing a big difference in the products. What should I be looking for? What is the big difference between the low end and the high end?

Depends on features mostly. I would start out with the models that speak street names. Those are the midrange models.The base models do speak but they do not say the street name.

After that its mostly what features you want..some offer bluetooth connectivity, traffic updates, play mp3s...

 

[Carl]

My DW gave me an iPhone for my 60th birthday. I downloaded the Navigon GPS software for the iPhone. So far its been awesome. It hasn't let me down yet. Movies, music, games, gps, and WDW Wait Times all in one device!!! I can't say enough about it. I'm always checking the wait times for Soarin' -- and I live in Missouri!

How well does the wait time ap work? I have a wait time ap on my Google G1 and it isn't accurate at all. I tried it at Hollywood Studios on the Disney Mania ride and it said "5 min wait." Yeah, sure. Never that short of a wait unless you are the first 10 people in line when the park opens.

 

[Tuffcookie]

I love my Garmin GPS. I have named her "Gypsy"! You can select to avoid highway traffic, if you like. Sometimes "she" tries to tell me a different way to go and when I ignore the directions she's giving I hear, "Recalculating"!

I never leave home without it!

TC

 

[Shutterbug]

I love my Garmin GPS. Sometimes "she" tries to tell me a different way to go and when I ignore the directions she's giving I hear, "Recalculating"!

I have a program that let me go in and change what she says.
I changed "Recalculating" to "you are going to get us lost"

 

[Disney Doll]

DH has a Garmin Nuvi named Estelle. We love her.

 

[Boots]

Guess I am different from the crowd. We have a tomtom and so far we have loved it. But then I have never had a Garmin to compare it to. So far the roads have been correct. I do know that one can go on line and get the latest updates for a fee. We have never done that because usually if you miss a street it will correct it. Also it was the cheapest one and I bought it at Radio Shack. I bought it over a year ago for right at $100. It has great maps, warns you when the turn is approaching, and all in all what we want it to do. DH and I didn't want anything fancy and it does what it is suppose to do. I am sure that what ever you get will be fine.

 

[Tuffcookie]

Shutterbug wrote: I have a program that let me go in and change what she says.
I changed "Recalculating" to "you are going to get us lost"

I love it! Where did you find such a program?

TC