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Gps For Auto Use Only


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If you were to get a gps for use in a car only for autorouting, which unit would you (or have you) picked.

 

Also I understand some units have a hard drive inside rather than using a memory card. Since I do a lot of wide range traveling, I do not want a memory problem.

 

Your suggestions and thoughts wuld be appreciated..........

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You can get one of the new Garmin C series (320/330 I believe). The 320 takes memory cards while the 330 has the info built-in.

 

http://www.garmin.com/products/sp330/

 

You may also be interested in the Quest, which you have to load. But based on the fact they offer two C series, I wouldn't be surprised if they offered a pre-loaded Quest sometime soon.

 

http://www.garmin.com/products/quest/

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If you are concerned about memory, don't buy the Garmin GPS V. I bought it but the memory isn't a problem for me (I do really like the unit). I would look at one of the car specific models that garmin makes. The Street Pilot is a great unit. It has an SD card slot so you can as big of a card as you want.

 

-JR

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Many models in this market come in "pairs" - one with some kind of limited memory (invariably overpriced by the maker, but exapandable) that includes the mapping s/w and requires you to feed it froma PC and one with a big hard drive without mapping s/w but that has most of a continent or two preloaded on it. Examples of this model include StreetPilot 2610/2610, C320/C330, and Magellan's Roadmate 300/700. TomTom, Lowrance, and Navman round out the domination of this market.

 

The best sources of information I've seen on dedicated dashstops are the reviews at http://www.gpsinformation.net and the discussion forums at http;//www.gpspassion.com.

 

Do note that this is a rather different market than the handhelds. Some of the units will do multiroute optimization and some won't. Several of the units above will not let you enter coords - they're for finding street addresses and hotels, not tupperware in the woods.

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Different folks will want different solutions. Personally, I can't stand a laptop in a car. The tangle of cables, the endless futzing with power management, startup time, and the size are just the start of the deal-breakers for the way I travel. If a laptop turns you on, great. A lot of people dig it and you're right, the OP may want to at least consider that approach.

 

The dedicated units have a definite market. They'll boot faster, are smaller, and usually have touch screens and/or remote controls so they're less distracting to operate while driving. (Of course, you're not -supposed- to do that anyway...) I think that the Minvan Mom looking for the nearest Chinese food or the Travelling Repairman trying to find his customer from an address may find a dedicated dashtop to be less finicky.

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We love our StreetPilot 2620. It is just like the SP2610 mentioned previously except it has an internal microdrive instead of the CF card. It comes loaded with all of the maps with plenty of room to load more. It makes our experience much safer with the voice instruction and the fact that it has a bright display and is up where it is easy to see.

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You can get one of the new Garmin C series (320/330 I believe).  The 320 takes memory cards while the 330 has the info built-in.

 

http://www.garmin.com/products/sp330/

 

You may also be interested in the Quest, which you have to load.  But based on the fact they offer two C series, I wouldn't be surprised if they offered a pre-loaded Quest sometime soon.

 

http://www.garmin.com/products/quest/

I was just looking at them today. They do City Navigator, but they don't do Topo maps. Bummer. But if it's for City Streets only, those would be my pick.

 

Edit: The 320/330 Don't show topo compatibility. I'm not sure about the quest.

Edited by Renegade Knight
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I really lake the features of the Lowrance iWay 500C , especially the fact that it has a 20 gig harddrive and will play MP3 files.

 

I would like feedback from anyone who actually has this unit.

 

 

I cannot believe all the replies I got on this.

 

Thanks everyone .........................!!!!!

Edited by lazymannow
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