What to look for in a portable GPS unit

[Ed Hazel]

My daughter is turning 18 and graduating High School on the same day, she has been asking for a GPS unit for her car, I have gotten by with a map for the last 30 plus years so I have not Idea what to look for in a portable GPS unit. I am looking recommendations, I see several refurbished units available.
Do some acquire the signal faster?
Whats the scoop on updates?
Any options I should look for or avoid?

[Joe Pelonio]

I have the Garmin Nuvi 250 and have been really happy with it for a fairly low cost unit. Nice to be able to find parks, stores and restaurants on it by searching. The only bad part which may be on all of them is that in Downtown Seattle where there are several levels of freeway above surface streets it doesn't know which one I am on and gets mixed up.

The first time used that day it may take 3-5 minutes to find the satellite, after that even when off for a while it's almost instant.

Updates are available by connecting to the PC via USB/Mini USB cable.

Ours has United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico which is enough for us.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi I have a Garmin Quest which is waterproof, so I use it on my motorcycle, in the car, and carry it in my shirt pocket when I'm exploring areas on foot.

The built in battery lasts about 15 hours before needing recharging (which it does when in the car or bike cradle).

It holds enough maps for a multi-state trip, and connects to my laptop for updates, maps etc.

It's available in rebuilt for about $150.

I'm on my second one (first was stolen).

Regards, Rod.

[Scott Donley]

I got the Garmin 255W a few weeks ago and have been very happy with it. Easy to understand and the wider screen makes it a bit easier to see. So far so good ! I did have to turn off the Ferry option as every time I put in an address in Seattle it would have me take the Ferry instead of I 5.

PS Might want to take a look at this thread. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=107103

[Lee Schierer]

I highly recommend Garmin units. They are easy to use and work very well. Since your daughter probably has a cell phone, get a Garmin Nuvi with blue tooth and FM transmitter capability. That way she also gets hands free phone use in any car she drives.

[Clifford Mescher]

Wifey has the nuvi. It talks so she doesn't have to take her eyes off the road. Clifford.

[Peter Stahl]

We have a cheap Tom Tom which works well but battery life is really bad.

[Ed Hazel]

It looks like everyone is happy with Garmin units I will check them out.

Thanks for the input

[Craig Summers]

We had our first experience with GPS when we rented a car in Europe in 2005, travelling from Paris to Rome with my MIL. It was better to hear the British Accented "at the roundabout take the second right" than the MIL reading the map.

Recently I bought the LOML one for her birthday, for our new minivan.

Thoughts:
1) Bigger Screen is better.
2) Talking feature is great.
3) They usually come with an uncharged battery, so be prepared to learn/program it (for the first time) while sitting in the car.
4) For mine, the instruction manual was only on a CD. See #3 why this might be a problem if you don't have a laptop.
5) If you do alot of commuter driving, the traffic feature might be worth the subscription. LOML does not commute, so i saved a few bucks. The traffic feature is usually a 6-12 month freebie when you first buy it.


We have a few good laughs on a recent trip to PA when i took a few alternate routes because of the traffic jams. It kept telling me to turn around.

[Clifford Mescher]

We had our first experience with GPS when we rented a car in Europe in 2005, travelling from Paris to Rome with my MIL. It was better to hear the British Accented "at the roundabout take the second right" than the MIL reading the map.

Recently I bought the LOML one for her birthday, for our new minivan.

Thoughts:
1) Bigger Screen is better.
2) Talking feature is great.
3) They usually come with an uncharged battery, so be prepared to learn/program it (for the first time) while sitting in the car.
4) For mine, the instruction manual was only on a CD. See #3 why this might be a problem if you don't have a laptop.
5) If you do alot of commuter driving, the traffic feature might be worth the subscription. LOML does not commute, so i saved a few bucks. The traffic feature is usually a 6-12 month freebie when you first buy it.


We have a few good laughs on a recent trip to PA when i took a few alternate routes because of the traffic jams. It kept telling me to turn around.

Our Nuvi always says "recalculating" when we miss our turn. It is great for my wife as she travels all over the state. Different place every day. Clifford.

[Bob Moyer]

Our Nuvi always says "recalculating" when we miss our turn. It is great for my wife as she travels all over the state. Different place every day. Clifford.

You can download other voices; http://www.pigtones.com/?&page=2 perhaps the cussing Billy Bob would be better

[Chuck Stewart]

I'm just now playing around with my first GPS, the nuvi 760.Waited a year for the price to get down around two hundred and glad I bought it...lot's of cool features: add a voice with pigtones (Stewie gets upset when I go the wrong way and he has to recalculate) If you have bluetooth phone you can sync with nuvi for hands free calling. Some POI"s have phone numbers listed with address so no dialing, just hit the phone icon. It will sync to an fm station which I recommend (onboard speaker kinda sucks).Ability to read audio books with it's onboard mediaplayer but Garmin pushes a website that has monthly subscription so I just searched for audiobooks in MP3 format and googled a free little utility that combines the MP3 chapters into one file so your not searching your optional SD card for the next chapter.The first and only free map update is 1.9Gig so get ready for a long download. Your computer will reconize the nuvi as a removable drive so manipulating files is easy. I created an exact folder structure as the nuvi and dumped files I would never use such as foreign languages and foreign help files and left only American and British and this opened a lot of free space.

[Adam Wissman]

look for a gps with text to speech. thats were it can say the name of the streets. that is the only major feature that i think is worthwhile. the garmin nuvi 205 and 205w do not have it. the garmin nuvi 255 and 255w have it as well. i sold more 255w than any other gps combined. garmins were very rarely returned compared to the highly advertised tomtom, there is nothing bad about refurbished either, it will save you a few bucks but warrenty is less( like a factory warranty actually covers anything.) and dont let a salesman talk you into their installation for it. i worked in car audio for years and its the easiest thing to do in a car. just a 12 volt plug and a mount. go with garmin and your good to go.

traffic updates are nice too since they will automaticly reroute you around traffic. nice feature. i myself dont care for the larger screen for more $. but it makes it nice when typing in an address since the keyboard is bigger.

also profit margin is around 20% for a gps. so if you play your cards right you can work them down, especially on a display model or return. should easily get 10-15% off and maybe more with accessories and/or extended warrenty. then just return the accessories and/or warrenty about an hour or so later, just a little secret.