GPS?

[Eagle]

I admit it, I'm a technical Luddite. Don't know anything about GPS, but my wife is always getting herself lost and that's a problem because her English isn't all that good, so if she has to ask for directions she can't easily explain where she came from or where she needs to get to. Our adopted daughter agrees with me that Mom needs a GPS.

 

Last I knew, I had only heard of Garmin and Magellan, and the ones I knew about were the hand-helds with topo maps, for hiking and so forth. I gather that there is now an entirely new class of GPS units specifically for road navigation -- and a new (?) player on the block named TomTom.

 

So ... which is best? Who uses GPS, what do you use, what's good about it and what are your gripes or "I wish it would ..." list?

 

TIA

[Blue88Comanche]

I hear Garmin is a good brand, does she have an iPhone? if so then the Motion X GPS drive app is free and works great... the only problem is when i was driving through the state capitol on Sep. 11 this year.. i don't know if it was by phone bugging out or if the USAF had GPS shut down in capitols.. that weekend

[87Warrior]

If she has a smartphone most of them come with a navigation system preloaded. Garmin also sells a GPS app for smartphones.

 

I am a fan of Garmin. Not only have their products been good to me over the years, their customer service is excellent. I bought a handheld in 2000. In 2008 I broke one of the spring loaded battery terminals. Sent it in for repair and they sent me a brand new, in box unit. I am still using that device when on the trail, snow skiing or cycling.

 

My wife has a cheap Garmin navigation unit that she got through a debit card rewards program. We have used it a ton to find our way through KC and used it for a trip to Yellowstone and another trip to Asheville, NC. It was spot on every time. My biggest complaint about the unit is the keyboard it displayes on the screen when you have to type a street name in. It is your basic A B C D... layout, not layed out like a computer keyboard.

 

Any Garmin road navigation should fulfil your needs.

[mvusse]

I have a Tomtom and like it. My brother has a Garmin and he likes his.

 

I never liked Magellan, but that may be personal and not an objective opinion.

[Pete M]

I have an older tom tom and like it a lot. best part is she never says the word "recalculating". :)

[KYMJ]

I've got a Magellan Crossover that does a pretty good job on the road and has off road capabilities. Hardly ever use it. And I love my Garmin GPSMP 62csx handheld. I have City Navigator on it, it doesn't talk at all(just beeps at turns) and thats all right with me. Pretty basic, but great off road capabilities. Magellon used to not have as many poi's as Garmin, not sure now, I haven't kept up with things. When I was Geocaching, Garmin was the way to go, but I think they've all upped their game since I quit it.

Hard to beat the ole iPhone, it does a pretty good job as well. Read somewhere, Yahoo perhaps, that all the gps companies will be obsolete in 10 years due to smartphones.

[whowey]

My wife can't find her own way out of a potato sack. The kids and her got me a Garmin Nuvi 1350T for Christmas last year. She uses it more than me....

 

She loves that it shows turn by turn and lets her know as a turn is coming up unlike the Tom-Tom she used to have. Yes.. the recalculating message can be annoying.

 

You have said in the past your wife is from South America(I can't recall the country). The Nuvi has 2 Spanish dialects and 3 Portuguese dialects on it. That alone might make it easier for her.

[vaquaro]

I have an older Lowrance , The worst voice instructions ever . :yes: I always turn it on coming home late at night/ early morning to stop from dozing off ......The voice is so annoying , you couldn't possibly sleep . :rant:

[Pete M]

pretty sure ours also does other languages. gotta imagine they all would these days. :dunno: can't say for sure though. we have it set to the british lady. she refers to the freeway as the "motorway". :D

[mule13]

I have a tomtom does the job for me. i usually turn the volume down and just look at the road map part.i like it because it tells you how far your next turn is and which way you'll be turning so you can get in the correct lane ahead of time.i've had it several years and you can hook it to the computer and download any voice you want in almost any language.i think with tomtom you get free map updates for a year then its like 80$ a year to update and the updates are every 4 months.i still get free tech updates.mine shows forest roads too.

i've never had a garmin or the other so i can't comment on them. i like the tomtom though, i will definately buy another one if this on crashes.hope this helps :)

[Lee21490]

My wife can't find her own way out of a potato sack. The kids and her got me a Garmin Nuvi 1350T for Christmas last year. She uses it more than me....

 

She loves that it shows turn by turn and lets her know as a turn is coming up unlike the Tom-Tom she used to have. Yes.. the recalculating message can be annoying.

 

You have said in the past your wife is from South America(I can't recall the country). The Nuvi has 2 Spanish dialects and 3 Portuguese dialects on it. That alone might make it easier for her.

I just bought the 1350T The other day, Was on sale for 100$~ At Sears.

 

Only complaint so far, is the voice is kinda annoying & the ones you can buy don't say the street names. But ohwell.

[Eagle]

Overall, comments I've received to date from various sources seem to favor TomTom. One friend has a TomTom that he can tell where he wants to go verbally -- no typed entry. Anyone know which model that is and how much it costs?

[ejndssn]

here is a site that may interest you:idea:

http://tomtom.factoryoutletstore.com/?cid=3090&chid=1&gclid=CL343un7r60CFYFx4AodPS8dsg