I've wanted a GPS for a while.I plan on retiring after labor day and may do some traveling.I've done some reading and it seems that Garmin has a good selection of units.Since I have never had one,I probably could get by just fine without one,but I would like to have one because of their ability to tell me the location of restaurants,drug stores,drag race facilities,etc. in areas that I'm not familiar with.If anyone here has experience with GPS use I would appreciate any help you give.

I have an older (4 years old) Garmin Street Pilot and it's great for that kind of stuff . The only drawback is that Garmin and most likely all other makers charge dearly for map updates. Garmin wants $140 for their latest version of the mapsets. While traveling one push of a button and it gives you all the nearby attractions, hotels, gas stations, repair shops and resturants. Make sure your unit has an automatic route recalculate feature, comes in real handy if you hit a big traffic jam.

Have a new Tomtom 510. The route calculations are a lot smarter than a friends nav system in a newer Acura. A friend who tried my unit out, then turned around and got a Tomtom 910, then went to Hawaii with it. Don't know how she likes it 'tho.

We have 2 garmins here and I used to sell Garmin, Magellan, TOMTOM, and Lowrance. Garmin is the best system IMO I have a quest which is a few year old model small screen color talking display works wonderfully and comes with the streets software. Has plenty of options from speed, drive/arrival time, to elevation (useful here in CO). My wife has the Garmin Streetpilot 330c I believe is the number. That is a touch screen unit that comes preloaded with the roads software. That unit can find you any resturaunt gas station etc within 50 miles also. If you want italian food tap italian it gives you all the resturants in the area that serve italian, greek same deal its a very useful tool. I would never travel without one anymore, its so simple and can autmatically re route if you chose to take a different road. I highly reccomend Garmin we had so many Magellan systems returned due to manufacturing failures etc. By far for the simples use the larger touch screen garmins are worth every penny.

I do not work for garmin lol I swear!!!

Chris Dombkowski
USAF Academy CO
DOD PDE

so, not really trying to hijack this thread, but you don't see many people on here from Rochester, let alone Spencerport. So, Stript, where exactly are you located?? And what do ya got??

Rand McNally laminated road atlas.
$40
stop at gas station, fuel, 16 oz soda, pack of smokes.
$42.58
advice from cashier about best place to eat in town.
Priceless.

life's a journey, not a destination.

Not to dispute what Chris said, but my Magellan Meridian Gold has proven to be rugged and reliable. For $200 plus another hundred for the MapSend software (DON'T buy software or SD memory cards from Magellan, it's a huge ripoff) it's been a marvel. Being a handheld unit (I fabbed a mount for mine in my Fiero), the interface isn't quite as driver-friendly as some, but the level of detail in the maps is astonishing. When a turn is coming up, it begins a slow beep, when the turn is imminent, the beep doubles in speed, with a graphic display that looks like the road/intersection/interchange you are on/approaching, and the route you are taking highlighted. If you miss your turn or have to detour, it will find you an alternate route in almost every case. Once you get used to using it (takes maybe a half hour to learn, sitting down with the manual and the unit, it's all menu-driven) it's a breeze. The speedometer function is especially nice for checking your actual speed, within a tenth of a mile per hour. I bought a 512mb SD memory card for mine, I've loaded maybe 20% of the card's capacity, and have detail maps for most of the eastern U.S. in the unit, and all major highways nationwide.

Sostock,If you can find a cashier who speaks English good enough so that you can understand.I agree,life is a journey,so why not make it as easy as possible?

quote Originally posted by sostock: Rand McNally laminated road atlas. $40 stop at gas station, fuel, 16 oz soda, pack of smokes. $42.58 advice from cashier about best place to eat in town. Priceless. life's a journey, not a destination.

I have to agree with this, being a former artillery observer and Scout Pilot (navigate by reading the terrain and man made landmarks), I find these devices to be dumbing down. Don't get me wrong, I recognize not everyone has these skills and sincerely believe I'd rather have those folks taking directions from a device (audio) than have their heads down trying to read a map or reading directions while trying to drive. Yes, I know, I'm an old fogie. I know, it's not as easy when downtown in larger cities, but that's what makes it more satisfying when arriving on time at the destination. I do get lost once in a while, I admit but, that is part of the journey.

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Ron
Freedom isn't Free, it's paid for with the blood and dreams of those that have gone before us.
My imagination is the only limiting factor to my Fiero. Well, there is that money issue.

[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 07-31-2006).]

www.GPScity.com
is a good place to look for what is available
I also think the Garmin's are the best available

I liked Garmin. I now have Navman. Bigest screen and ez to use Ive seen are what some of my vette clubs guys have are Lowrance...but then there mostly dumb or blind. The only problem I have with the navman is I cant go online to update new roads...have to buy a new SD card for $100.

Did you get one yet?

https://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?promotion=8684§ion=10121

if you have a laptop this is the berries. i bought mine at Staples for about $90

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still plays with cars..

[This message has been edited by Kameo Kid (edited 09-19-2006).]

quote Originally posted by Kameo Kid: https://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?promotion=8684§ion=10121 if you have a laptop this is the berries. i bought mine at Staples for about $90

microsoft streets and trips is good too. I love my laptop setup. Its cheap (if you have a laptop) and after you purchase the usb gps you only have to buy... the software.


Congrats on the retirement. I have another 24.93 years till retirement.

We use MS streets as well, pretty sweet setup with a laptop.

my 2 cents worth
garmin is the best in the USA
the best value for money is Garmin
not the same for Australia.

http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum4/HTML/033784.html