Help with buying a GPS

[joxer1014]

I know this has probably been discussed many times but I have been checking out all the different GPS units out there and for the first time, I am a little overwhelmed. There are so many to choose from and the prices are just all over the place.

What I would like to know from those of you more educated than me are what are the must have features and which ones are not really needed.

I know that having a memory card slot, both ac and dc power options, touch screen, and text to speech are the main ones but what about bluetooth, fm radio capabilty among others are really necessary? I see some with AAA maps or something like that and some only have 2 million points of interest while others have 6 million. Also, would getting a refurb model be a big deal rather than getting a new one?

I don't need a super jumbo deluxe model simply because I know I don't have that kind of money, but if any of you out there did your homework better than I did and have found a happy middle ground and you have found a better model and/or manufacturer please feel free to post your results.

I am not in a big hurry since I probably won't need it until late spring early summer so I have plenty of time to find the right price.

 

[tink2dw]

Magellan 1412!! bought 2 at Christmas at Sears for $80. each. You can see it a it Amazon and read the reviews. But my Dh who is tech deficit in all ways can use this.

 

[DVC-Don]

We bought our two teens GPS units. One a Tom Tom and the other a Garmin. I've borrowed both of them at times and much prefer my daughters Garmin over the Tom Tom.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

We love our Garmin 255W. It is affordable and speaks the street names. We prefer that over............"turn left in 100 yards"

 

[moniot]

I love our TomTom. It is really easy to use. I love the text to speach. The one we have you can tie it in to the vehicle radio so that you can hear the TomTom on the car speakers. Really nice if you are traveling alone. Ours has a lot of extra bells and whistles. My DH drove semi when he bought it. It has blue tooth so he could just touch the screen to answer or call. It has the option that we could download music or a audiobook. We never had to oportunity to use that but it is a cool idea.

 

[MommaluvsDis]

We got a Garmin nuvi 660. We chose Garmin because that's the brand the military use the most.

 

[mafibisha]

It has the option that we could download music or a audiobook. We never had to oportunity to use that but it is a cool idea.

We download an audiobook for each long road trip and it becomes a memory of the trip

 

[15isto2]

I have used my tom tom in the UK and USA and would recommend that

 

[DreadpiratK]

I have a Navigon. It's not as well known as the others, but it's got a few features that are pretty cool that I would not want to live without now that I have it: It shows a picture of upcoming intersections as you approach them- with your route clearly marked out. It even shows the overhead signage pretty accurately, so it's very easy to know what lane you want to be in. Very useful for those complex highway interchanges. It also has the predictive text and text to speech features. I only paid $69 for it re-manufactured, and I thought I'd get a better one later when I had more money, but I'm happy with it now, and don't need to replace it.

the down side is it only came pre-loaded with USA maps, not Canada, and I occasionally drive up north for work. You can get the Canadian maps, but they are extra.