+lazymannow Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 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.......... Quote Link to comment
+robert Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 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/ Quote Link to comment
+Jolly-Rodger Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 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 Quote Link to comment
+Jolly-Rodger Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 Sorry robert. I was typing when you posted. I didn't mean to say the same thing. -JR Quote Link to comment
+robert Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 Sorry robert. I was typing when you posted. I didn't mean to say the same thing. -JR no need to be sorry. just means he's getting good advice. Quote Link to comment
robertlipe Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 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. Quote Link to comment
+HummerH1 Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 I'm using a Gps 18 and a laptop with nRoute installed, can't be beat by any auto gps that I know. I paid just over $120 for the GPS which included City Select and two unlock codes. nRoute is free and I already had a loptop. Hummer H1 Quote Link to comment
robertlipe Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 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. Quote Link to comment
+IVxIV Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 For in car GPS navigation be sure to check out the Lowrance iWay 500C it has won numerous awards for it's design. The 20Gb internal harddrive should be enough room for most Quote Link to comment
Neo_Geo Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 (edited) Consider a STREETPILOT III. They're recently discontinued, but you can get 'em for around $300 on EBAY. They used to go for $700 to $800 new! I think that's the way I'd go. Edited July 10, 2005 by Neo_Geo Quote Link to comment
+TucsonBill Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 I have the Garmin Streetpilot 2610 and I LOVE it! I bought a 1 gig SD card on eBay to put in it and I can load maps for the entire country. Garmin uses a female voice for their units. My wife and I call ours "The Bitch in the Box"! Quote Link to comment
+horsegeeks Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 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. Quote Link to comment
+JDan150 Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 I love my ique 3600. Gpsnow has them with the auto kit and 1 gig card for $570. http://gpsnow.com/gm3600.htm#3600 Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 (edited) 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 July 11, 2005 by Renegade Knight Quote Link to comment
+horsegeeks Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 I loaded East coast Topo on my SP2620 and they work fine. 500 mb are left on the 2GB microdrive for other maps Quote Link to comment
+entropysedge Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Love my Quest! Use it with both the car and the motorcycle. Quote Link to comment
+joe gremlin Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 We have a Garmin Streetpilot III and love it. We use the included SD card and it holds quite a bit. If you travel with a laptop memory should be no problem as you'd have a hard time travelling farther than the SD card could hold in a day. Quote Link to comment
+GOT GPS? Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 (edited) The one I like best, has a 480x320 pixel color screen, is the Map276C GPS, and it can be had for $599 from Amazon, but that does not include memory or City Select. Edited July 11, 2005 by GOT GPS? Quote Link to comment
+lazymannow Posted July 12, 2005 Author Share Posted July 12, 2005 (edited) 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 July 12, 2005 by lazymannow Quote Link to comment
Hoary Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 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. Look it up here: http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=71 Quote Link to comment
+embra Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 I noticed that PCMagazine gave the Lowrance iWay 500c an editor's choice award in their recent review. Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 I noticed that PCMagazine gave the Lowrance iWay 500c an editor's choice award in their recent review. Looks good. Does it take topo maps? I could not tell if it does. though I did like the topo information I was able to look up (Park boundaries etc.). Looks like Lowrance is well on it's way to taking a place next to Garmin and Magellan. Quote Link to comment
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