CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[stefuel]

Who makes a good portable GPS that you can quickly enter a address and be directed from where you are to your next location. I need to quickly navigate through 40-45 stops a day. A map book works but takes to long and it's tough to map short-cuts when you switch towns.

[Heywood Jablome]

A friend has a very good one... it's abilities impressed the hell out of me. Of course, it's an avaiation model Garmin with the databases for USA road and Great Lakes navigation so it was the better part of two grand...

I'll get a model number from him... perhaps there is a non-aerospace version (or a version with the same/similar road capabilities.)

[bengalfan]

Chip,
Have used Garmin, Magellan, and Lowrance and all were good.... I prefer Magellan, but use mine for boating on Lk Erie.
I believe Magellan has a multi-function unit called the Roadmate (?) that fits what you're looking for.
Van

[Heywood Jablome]

Friends' aviation GPS is:
"Garmin 296, Roughly $1400.00."

[GEBrown]

I have a Magellan Roadmate 700 that I like a lot - available for about $250-$300 on eBay.

But entering addresses is not exactly "quick" - I guess it is all relative.

It's essentially the same as the Hertz NeverLost units if you've ever used one of those.

Voice prompts for turns, upcoming exits, etc. Screen is large enough to see easily and bright enough for sunny days - not sure it would be great in a convertible though!!

Good luck

[Maurizio Prandi]

Chip,

Whatever you do, I advise you don't take a separate GPS receiver and link it to a PDA via Bluetooth connection.
The system is slow as hell: this is my personal experience.

Purchase a dedicated GPS navigator instead.

http://www.navman.com/
http://www.tomtom.com/
http://www.garmin.com/

Forget Acer! My PDA was repaired twice and my LCD monitor was replaced once.

The best would be, of course, to purchase a fixed GPS navigator dedicated for your car (you can find them on Ebay) and install it on-board yourself. These are the best since GPS signal reception is the best.

Hope it helps!

[CZ Eddie]

TomTom's seem to have the highest marks for consumer based GPS devices. But are fairly expensive at $700-$900 depending on model and condition.

Click here for C-NET review of a TomTom Go

I've been watching the Garmin Quest which has favorable reviews for a smaller unit. I like it because it will be easy to remove from my SUV and hook onto a Motorcycle.

But if I had the spare money and was only going to use it in my SUV, then I'd go with a TomTom.

[JRH123]

I have a Garmin C340 portable GPS unit that I purchased in April that I am very happy with. I did a lot of research on all the available models before I bought it.
All units have their good and bad points but the C340 seemed to fill the bill for me. I use it daily going from location to location for service work at my job. It has a good sized bright screen and is a compact unit.
You can get some that will play mp3's, show pictures and more but I wanted a decent GPS only, don't want the frills.
I use it in a full size Ford van and the screen size and volume are fine. You can add locations to your favorites easily (most other units have the same feature) so you don't have to input the address every time. The nicest feature that it has is 'Text to Speech'. So when it tells you of a turn coming up it will say "Turn Left onto Maple Street" instead of "Turn Left in 200 Feet".
Check out the reviews on Amazon for the C340 and other units. Some of the other units I looked at had some very negative reviews.
I paid $440 USD from Amazon when it was on sale back in April. Not sure what it is going for now. IF you can find it locally it is going for $599 here on the East coast.

See it at Garmin

Good Luck,

John

Edited to correct prices!

[Frank D]

I use the Tom Tom system that came packaged with my Palm Pilot Zire 72. Cost was about 400 for whole package. I use it daily as an organizer and use the GPS when I need it. Both work very well.

[kal]

Looking at GPS units myself for the car and notice that the biggest difference that drives the price up seems to be:

- Screen size
- Number of "points of interest" in the database (seems to be either 1 million or 6 million)
- whether it does traffic or not (don't care myself as it's a monthly cost)
- Extra non-related stuff like MP3 player, etc.

Did I get this right?

I don't care about extra stuff or traffic, and screen size really isn't that much of an issue... any recommendations?

Do they all charge for map updates too? (Annoying)

Kal

[kal]

Looking at GPS units myself for the car and notice that the biggest difference that drives the price up seems to be:

- Screen size
- Number of "points of interest" in the database (seems to be either 1 million or 6 million)
- whether it does traffic or not (don't care myself as it's a monthly cost)
- Extra non-related stuff like MP3 player, etc.

Did I get this right?

I don't care about extra stuff or traffic, and screen size really isn't that much of an issue... any recommendations?

Do they all charge for map updates too? (Annoying)

Kal

[rpruen]

I have two GPS systems that I use daily.

TomTom for pocket PC, as I have a O2 XDA orbit2 (HTC Touch criuse) it has built in GPS, but I also have a tomtom bluetooth GPS. Good for realtime traffic, and speed cam warnings. Multi stop planning isn't so good though. This works as is, and the built in speaker is fine for navigation, even in a van (more noise than a car).

I also have a Fujitsu Stylistic 3500 (Touch screen tablet PC) with Autoroute 2006. This is great for multi stop planning and you can create a whole route with stopping time at each location. The software also can put the stops in the best order, so you don't have to do anything but input all the locations, start and finish, then hit the button. This needs the external GPS, and using a bluetooth USB dongle it works well. It also runs any PC software, so I use it for music, internet (phone as a modem, via bluetooth). It also can have a wireless card, and use access points etc.

The Tablet has the edge as far as screen size goes (12.5"), and works very well. Either with a fixed zoom level, or using the dynamic turn view. You can also have it rotate the map, or not as you preffer. The internal squeaker is no good for instructions, so either external speakers, or an adaper to plumb it through the car audio is in order (or bluetooth if the stereo supports it). I also use it for playing podcasts, MP3, and it would do DVD/CD etc. etc. with an external usb drive.

I do about 200 miles/day stopping to service pump stations/treatment plants, so I use sat nav a lot, particularly when call outs screw things up.

Hope that helps

Richard

[ralpharch]

[kal]

Thanks for the review. $400 is more than I want to spend. Was thinking around $200 or so.

Just came back from Costco and picked up a Megallan Maestro 3225 for $159.

3.5", not widescreen, no traffic. Seems about what I want... we'll see!







The Maestro 3225 delivers extremely easy to use, portable auto navigation in an ultra-thin, pocket-size design. View fresh graphics and detailed, pre-loaded maps of Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico on its 3.5 in. full‑colour, anti‑glare touch‑screen display. All this in a sleek, elegant device from the first name in automotive navigation™.

Features:

Display: 3.5 in. diagonal touch-screen, QVGA colour screen
Receiver: GPS Chipset SiRFstarIII™
Pre-programmed with Map Data Base NAVTEQ ON BOARD
Say Where™ text to speech enables users to hear the street name of the next turn
Built-in integrated antenna
Turn by turn voice and visual guidance
2D and 3D bird’s eye view
SmartDetour™
1.3 million points of interest - easily search for restaurants, hotels, airports, gas stations, and more - with telephone numbers and addresses
Battery: Rechargeable 1200 mA Li-ion rechargeable, up to 3 hours of battery life depending on use

What’s Included:

Magellan Maestro 3225 receiver
Windshield mount
Basic cradle
Vehicle power adapter (12-24 volts)
USB data cable
AC adapter
Quick reference guide and CD

Specifications:

Dimensions (L x W x H):
9.26 cm x 8.25 cm x 1.8 cm
(3.7 in. x 3.3 in. x 0.7 in.)

Weight: 0.14 kg (4.94 oz.)

Warranty: 1 year

Kal

[kal]

Thanks for the review. $400 is more than I want to spend. Was thinking around $200 or so.

Just came back from Costco and picked up a Megallan Maestro 3225 for $159.

3.5", not widescreen, no traffic. Seems about what I want... we'll see!







The Maestro 3225 delivers extremely easy to use, portable auto navigation in an ultra-thin, pocket-size design. View fresh graphics and detailed, pre-loaded maps of Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico on its 3.5 in. full‑colour, anti‑glare touch‑screen display. All this in a sleek, elegant device from the first name in automotive navigation™.

Features:

Display: 3.5 in. diagonal touch-screen, QVGA colour screen
Receiver: GPS Chipset SiRFstarIII™
Pre-programmed with Map Data Base NAVTEQ ON BOARD
Say Where™ text to speech enables users to hear the street name of the next turn
Built-in integrated antenna
Turn by turn voice and visual guidance
2D and 3D bird’s eye view
SmartDetour™
1.3 million points of interest - easily search for restaurants, hotels, airports, gas stations, and more - with telephone numbers and addresses
Battery: Rechargeable 1200 mA Li-ion rechargeable, up to 3 hours of battery life depending on use

What’s Included:

Magellan Maestro 3225 receiver
Windshield mount
Basic cradle
Vehicle power adapter (12-24 volts)
USB data cable
AC adapter
Quick reference guide and CD

Specifications:

Dimensions (L x W x H):
9.26 cm x 8.25 cm x 1.8 cm
(3.7 in. x 3.3 in. x 0.7 in.)

Weight: 0.14 kg (4.94 oz.)

Warranty: 1 year

Kal

[ralpharch]

Congrats. Don't be too quick to dismiss a friction mount however. I imagine they have one for the one you bought. Its false economy to use the one provided and leave those tell tale circles on your windshield - at least in our area, and advertize to the world that there could be a GPS in your vehicle.

[Curt Palme]

My Garmin is one of the best Xmas presents I ever got. I questioned whether I'd ever use it when I unwrapped it (to myself of course!), but I use it almost every day. It's an I5, a bit outdated now of course, but for what I need it for, it's perfect. Add some lithium batteries to avoid that short 6 hour battery life (no time to wire the cig lighter cord permanently around the edge of the windshield) and I'm good to go.

[Curt Palme]

My Garmin is one of the best Xmas presents I ever got. I questioned whether I'd ever use it when I unwrapped it (to myself of course!), but I use it almost every day. It's an I5, a bit outdated now of course, but for what I need it for, it's perfect. Add some lithium batteries to avoid that short 6 hour battery life (no time to wire the cig lighter cord permanently around the edge of the windshield) and I'm good to go.

[nuttall_chris]

[kal]

Interesting Chris. The Magellan website tells me that the maps in my unit are from 1Q 2007 which don't seem that old. If they're leading you in the wrong direction maybe the routing software's not that good (?).

I'll use it for a while and see what I think... Costco has great return policies.

Kal

[kal]

Interesting Chris. The Magellan website tells me that the maps in my unit are from 1Q 2007 which don't seem that old. If they're leading you in the wrong direction maybe the routing software's not that good (?).

I'll use it for a while and see what I think... Costco has great return policies.

Kal

[greg_mitch]

You know...there IS an off topic forum.


That said, I use my in van GPS, but everyone I know swears by Garmin.

Gotta get, gotta get, gotta get a Garmin.

[ralpharch]

[GEBrown]