Travelin' Pup Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 I am in need of some help. I want to buy my boyfriend a GPS for his car this Chrismas. But, I have no idea which one to get. I'm looking to stay below $500. Does anybody have any suggestions? I've seen a lot of there but I just wanted to know which ones were the best. Any help would be great. Thanks. April Quote Link to comment
CenTexDodger Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 I am in need of some help. I want to buy my boyfriend a GPS for his car this Chrismas. But, I have no idea which one to get. I'm looking to stay below $500. Does anybody have any suggestions? I've seen a lot of there but I just wanted to know which ones were the best. Any help would be great. Thanks. April If you are looking for a purely car unit, the Garmin Streetpilot c330 is a very nice one. it speaks directions, has a touch screen and has a fairly intuitive, simple user interface. i think you can pick one up online for around $400, and it come preloaded with map software. If you want to get him a multipurpose unit--car, hiking, hunting, then look into a GPSmap60Cx or 60CSx. Quote Link to comment
+Steel City Seekers Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 First off, you should probably wait until a little closer to Christmas as there might be some new units in the next few months. I don't know of any, but it is a fairly rapidly evolving technology. Second off, it would probably help quite a bit if you could advise on the extent it will be used for geocaching. From your original post, it looks like geocaching won't be involved at all. This would make a significant difference in the GPS units you'd be looking to buy. Quote Link to comment
+egami Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 (edited) I had the same question actually...mine would definitely involve geocaching needs. One repeated thing I've read in reviews regarding using the GPSMAP 60csx is that the warning signal for turns is kind of short. Maybe someone with one can confirm or contest that. Edited August 25, 2006 by egami Quote Link to comment
+Thrak Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 I had the same question actually...mine would definitely involve geocaching needs. One repeated thing I've read in reviews regarding using the GPSMAP 60csx is that the warning signal for turns is kind of short. Maybe someone with one can confirm or contest that. I use the 76CSx and I LOVE it. In regard to the turn warning I can verify that the signal is "shorter" than it was in my previous 76Cs. What I mean by that is that I get less warning time. The older 76Cs warned me a lot farther away from my turn than the 76CSx does. I still absolutely love the unit though and it recalculates a route amazingly fast if you don't turn where it wants you to turn. The older unit took a lot longer to recalculate. You might want to look at the Garmin Quest. Quote Link to comment
+egami Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Man, I am heavily leaning toward the 76csx...if only I would have know about it when they had the $100 rebate. Quote Link to comment
+cattle dog Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 I recently purchased a Torq N100 (same as the Eten g500). It is a cell phone, PDA, and GPS. It has an actual SiRF Star III chipset built in. It does not come preloaded with mapping software, I chose tom tom, and I am also looking at a topo program for the more adventurous caches. I can load GSAK html pages to view the cache and comments, open the mapping software and be guided to the cache, and then call someone to brag about finding the cache! All with one piece of equipment that fits in my pocket. They are going for around $500 online. Quote Link to comment
+QuesterMark Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 One repeated thing I've read in reviews regarding using the GPSMAP 60csx is that the warning signal for turns is kind of short. Maybe someone with one can confirm or contest that. I have a 60Cx (which I assume has the same turn warning signal as the 60CSx) and it's been fine...but I have it set to try to keep me off of freeways... (Right now I navigate the freeways myself...it navigates me on the backroads). Just for the sake of getting the info into this thread: I did buy the MapSource City Navigator v8 "software" for it, I didn't even TRY to have it navigate for me before I got City Navigator. Quote Link to comment
+egami Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Just for the sake of getting the info into this thread: I did buy the MapSource City Navigator v8 "software" for it, I didn't even TRY to have it navigate for me before I got City Navigator. What does that software give you beyond the free data you get that is pre-loaded? Quote Link to comment
+Andrew & Barbara Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 I am in need of some help. I want to buy my boyfriend a GPS for his car this Chrismas. But, I have no idea which one to get. I'm looking to stay below $500. Does anybody have any suggestions? I've seen a lot of there but I just wanted to know which ones were the best. Any help would be great. Thanks. April If you are looking for a purely car unit, the Garmin Streetpilot c330 is a very nice one. it speaks directions, has a touch screen and has a fairly intuitive, simple user interface. i think you can pick one up online for around $400, and it come preloaded with map software. If you want to get him a multipurpose unit--car, hiking, hunting, then look into a GPSmap60Cx or 60CSx. For car use, surely the handheld map60s dont give audible spoken warnings like dedicated car models? You would need to visibly see small screen while driving wouldnt you? Quote Link to comment
+Thrak Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Just for the sake of getting the info into this thread: I did buy the MapSource City Navigator v8 "software" for it, I didn't even TRY to have it navigate for me before I got City Navigator. What does that software give you beyond the free data you get that is pre-loaded? It gets you the detailed street maps for the entire North American continent and Puerto Rico as well as a zillion POI (points of interest). If you plan to do autorouting you will want the maps. The basemap doesn't have the detail to do it. I traveled from California through Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada and back home again. The maps gave me full detail for every town I went through. It was a snap to find things such as a Wells Fargo bank (my bank) in any town I went to. I needed to find a specific address in Bozeman, MT. I simply entered the address and the machine routed me across town to my destination. You simply can't do things like that with the base map. Quote Link to comment
+Fhantazm Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 I just so happen to be looking into selling my Garmin Nuvi 350. Heres the link to the thread in the Garage Sale forum http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=142219 Quote Link to comment
+egami Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Can you use that Nuvi for geocaching? What would be downside for geocahcing versus like the 60csx? Quote Link to comment
+Fhantazm Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 I have sucessfully used the Nuvi for geocaching a number of times, just messing around. Although its not designed for it, with the latest firmware you can manually enter coords, as well as use POI loader to update waypoints. But that being said, the battery only lasts about 4 hours and it doesnt have some the features the outdoor handhelds posses such as a compass screen, etc. Quote Link to comment
indygpser Posted August 26, 2006 Share Posted August 26, 2006 One repeated thing I've read in reviews regarding using the GPSMAP 60csx is that the warning signal for turns is kind of short. Maybe someone with one can confirm or contest that. The 60CSx is a fine GPSr for navigation on the roads. I haven't seen any problem with the warning signals for turns on the 60CSx. As a matter of fact, I also own the Nuvi 350 and the 60CSx performs just as well as the Nuvi on the roads. Quote Link to comment
+Andrew & Barbara Posted August 26, 2006 Share Posted August 26, 2006 One repeated thing I've read in reviews regarding using the GPSMAP 60csx is that the warning signal for turns is kind of short. Maybe someone with one can confirm or contest that. The 60CSx is a fine GPSr for navigation on the roads. I haven't seen any problem with the warning signals for turns on the 60CSx. As a matter of fact, I also own the Nuvi 350 and the 60CSx performs just as well as the Nuvi on the roads. But without any spoken instructions? Quote Link to comment
+Fhantazm Posted August 26, 2006 Share Posted August 26, 2006 Correct But without any spoken instructions? Quote Link to comment
+Zinnware Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 (edited) One repeated thing I've read in reviews regarding using the GPSMAP 60csx is that the warning signal for turns is kind of short. Maybe someone with one can confirm or contest that. I agree that the second and final warning is too late too or "slow" on the 60cs and 60csx models that I own. I truely believe that last warning should prompt you to hit your turn signal in the car. To me it seems to be about 2 seconds too slow or late. I have suggested to garmin to increase this time. Edited August 27, 2006 by Zinnware Quote Link to comment
appletree Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 If you want a unit to use in the car, you really do want voice guidance (spoken directions). If you also want to use it for geocaching, you have only 2 choices – Garmin Quest or Quest 2. I much prefer the Quest, and I doubt you will find the 2 in your price range. The Quest is a great GPS for both in car and on trail use, but it is much better as a hand-held if you add an external antenna, which is cheap and easy to do. Quote Link to comment
Buck & Cricket Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 I just so happen to be looking into selling my Garmin Nuvi 350. Heres the link to the thread in the Garage Sale forum http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=142219 I have a nuvi 350 and it is highly accurate for geocaching. I bought it because I need it for my work as I travel a lot, but the geocaching is now an offical side hobby for me. I have tried several other types of units when my dau and son in law were geocaching, but this is much easier to me. Quote Link to comment
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