[greenhorn]

I am on the market for a GPS, I wondered if anyone can advise me where to look / what to avoid.

What I need is a unit to be used in the car and as simple to use as possible.

I'm in Europe, if this has any relevance.

Thanks.

 

[bhd812]

two words..

Garmen Nuvi...


Not sure about outside of usa but inside this thing is top notch! amazing and worth every little penny it costs

 

[episiarch]

The Garmin Nuvi is a pretty good choice, as are the TomTom units - TomTom ONE is very nicely priced (at least here in the US). Both are very easy to use.

The Nuvi is available in European, USA and (new) European+USA editions. On the TomTom side, they have USA and European editions of everything and I know their high-end model 910 has Europe+USA, but I'm not sure whether any of the rest of the line is bicontinental (just in case that matters to you).

TomTom is a European product, Garmin an American product, but both are keenly focused on succeeding in the others' continent as well as their own. Still, you may find the TomTom has a little more of a home-field advantage in Europe, just as the Garmin does in the USA.

The TomTom units are a little more feature-rich and customizable (you can buy optional cebrity voices for them, choose your own color schemes, etc.), while Garmin seems to have more of a "just stick to basics" perspective in their consumer automotive lineup.

There are many other brands out there now as well, but those seem to be the two heaviest hitters, both with solid products and a real ease-of-use focus.

A couple blogs you ought to read are navigadget.com and yournav.com. You also might also want to look at gpspassion.com's forums, though they're much geekier. A couple other good blogs are gpslodge.com and gpstracklog.blogspot.com, though they have more of a USA orientation.

 

[brn80]

Garmin's tend to be popular, and rightly so, as their softare and updates are pretty good. That being said, I would spend the extra bucks to make sure you get one that has 'Text to Speech', it's a real boon to hear the name of the street and not 'Turn right 300m' while in heavy traffic.

The Streetpilot C5xx models are newer; they have a more sensitive receiver and don't take as long to acquire satellites. I have an older type and it takes a good few minutes to get a lock especially on a cold morning. Also the newer units have a better screen for readability in sunlight.

 

[episiarch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brn80 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Streetpilot C5xx models are newer; they have a more sensitive receiver and don't take as long to acquire satellites. I have an older type and it takes a good few minutes to get a lock especially on a cold morning. Also the newer units have a better screen for readability in sunlight.

The C5xx are newer than the C3xx, but unless I'm mistaken, the C5xx and the Nuvi have the same receiver and screen type.

The Nuvi has text-to-speech, but speaking for myself I don't have text-to-speech in either of my vehicles and don't miss it. (Most of the time I have the GPS volume turned down low enough that I probably wouldn't catch the street name without glancing at the screen anyway.)

 

[jPoDTGN]

I have a Garmin for my Altima. I love it. Very easy to use.

 

[ken36]

I wish I knew.

 

[Dimitris]

If there is a chance that you might need it for anything else besides auto then maybe you should have a look at the Garmin 60csx. It can help you with directions for the car, sailing, hiking and anything else you might think. You just need to buy the respective maps and a memory stick ($10 for 1GB) which will set you back less than the nuvi.

 

[mbriant]

It's been a few years since I frequented this site, but IIRC, the woman who runs it lives in Paris.

http://www.gpspassion.com/fr/Default.asp

 

[Welly Wu]

Heed MBriant's advice to frequent the GPS Passion discussion forum. It is a veritable gold mine of research information.

I decided to stick with the Intellinav system: http://www.intellinav.com . I tried most of the others - Garmin, Myo, TomTom, but the intellinav system is by far the most accurate and interactive. What I mean is that the iNav system will tell give you frequent verbal alerts and warnings at every single point to your final destination. Say you are driving to work: it will tell you when to bear to the right or left, what signs or streets to look out for in terms of landmarks, and it will tell you exactly when you arrive within a few meters of your final destination and where it is located in relationship to the position of your vehicle on its map. It has fewer points of interest compared to the TomTom One that I tried, but my priority in buying not one but two iNav systems (I have an older one that is loaded up on a Compaq iPaq PDA with a separate GPS antenna) is accuracy. It has helped me avoid being the dangerously confused driver on the roads because I know exactly when to drive, make turns, etc. at each point.

Like high end audio, try it before you decide upon your GPS unit. Trying the other brands just made me realize how preferential these devices are. For me, I had to have the iNav system because of its inherent accuracy in guiding me to my destination(s) safely and quickly.

By the way, the Intellinav system is priced a bit lower than the competition at least here in the USA and it has its fan base as well. You should consider this company's model and try it out. I think you'll agree it can be extremely accurate (if not a tad annoying with all of the alerts and warnings).

 

[nfusion770]

I just got a Nuvi 350 and am pretty happy with it. It is extremely easy to use. The only issue I have had is that the suburbs in these parts are sprawling and everything is new. I can understand newer roads not being on the map but, according to Garmin, some 10 year old roads are off- roading. Kind of annoying, but it has worked flawlessly in well established areas.

 

[RYCeT]

Another vote for Garmin. I got garmin 2610 (discontinued) 3 years ago. It's worth every penny I paid for.

 

[Konig]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhd812 /img/forum/go_quote.gif two words.. Garmen Nuvi... Not sure about outside of usa but inside this thing is top notch! amazing and worth every little penny it costs

i wont agree. It falls off from the windscreen on long journeys. im still waiting for a streetpilot 2820 with sirfIII chip to be released.

 

[Konig]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Welly Wu /img/forum/go_quote.gif Heed MBriant's advice to frequent the GPS Passion discussion forum. It is a veritable gold mine of research information. I decided to stick with the Intellinav system: http://www.intellinav.com . I tried most of the others - Garmin, Myo, TomTom, but the intellinav system is by far the most accurate and interactive. What I mean is that the iNav system will tell give you frequent verbal alerts and warnings at every single point to your final destination. Say you are driving to work: it will tell you when to bear to the right or left, what signs or streets to look out for in terms of landmarks, and it will tell you exactly when you arrive within a few meters of your final destination and where it is located in relationship to the position of your vehicle on its map. It has fewer points of interest compared to the TomTom One that I tried, but my priority in buying not one but two iNav systems (I have an older one that is loaded up on a Compaq iPaq PDA with a separate GPS antenna) is accuracy. It has helped me avoid being the dangerously confused driver on the roads because I know exactly when to drive, make turns, etc. at each point. Like high end audio, try it before you decide upon your GPS unit. Trying the other brands just made me realize how preferential these devices are. For me, I had to have the iNav system because of its inherent accuracy in guiding me to my destination(s) safely and quickly. By the way, the Intellinav system is priced a bit lower than the competition at least here in the USA and it has its fan base as well. You should consider this company's model and try it out. I think you'll agree it can be extremely accurate (if not a tad annoying with all of the alerts and warnings).

waio that is way better looking than a nuvi

 

[grawk]

I had a nuvi, and regret selling it to buy a Nokia E61 phone. But now I'm ordering a bluetooth gps module and tomtom navigator 6. I definitely concur with the recommendation for http://www.gpspassion.com.