GPSr for the car

[yitbos]

We just relocated to AZ and are interested in getting a Garmin or Tom Tom or some other in-car, self contained GPSr.

 

I have a Magellan Explorist 500 that I use. However, its a little difficult to use for picking locations to go to when you don't know the zipcode. I wanted to get something for my wife that would be easy for her to use. Touch the screen and off you go. I don't know anything about these types of units and was looking for recommendations or things to stay away from.

 

I have the Magellan Mapsend DirectRout software for my Magellan. However, I hope I don't have to buy new software for the next unit we purchase.

 

Can anyone give us some sugestions on what would be good to look at and what we should consider. I don't want the cost to be too expensive and we would appreciate any comments or ideas all of you experts out there have.

 

Thanks,

John

[+PFF]

I had a similar situation; i.e., I wanted two GPS units--one for the dashboard and one to carrry on hunts. I stayed with the same brand (Garmin) specifically so I would not have to purchase and maintain two map programs.

 

I don't know if Magel. is the same as Garm., where you can have two GPS receivers on one subscription. But if so, that will save you a lot of money!

 

-Paul-

[+embra]

It depends on what version of DirectRoute you have as to whether you could use another GPS with it--v1 and v2 allow it (although I think even then it is against the EULA), and v3 makes it virtually impossible. But that's not a great loss; the Garmin or Tom-Tom automobile-friendliness is quite superior to DirectRoute's capabilities (Detailed discussion)

 

If you're trying to save money, I have and recommend the Garmin Quest, which can be had for $300 to $350 I think. It includes software and practically everything you need in the package. It's one of the cheapest units you can get with voice prompts, a feature I find useful. It doesn't have the touchscreen feature--that will be available in higher-priced models--but I find it *much* easier to do address searches than on my Magellans.

Edited October 15, 2006 by embra

[appletree]

I agree that the Garmin Quest is your best bet for an inexpensive excellent in-car device that is also excellent for out of car use. Check this link for a really good price.

 

http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?om...tm_source=Froog

[+storm180]

Might want to check out the new Magellan RoadMate 2500T Traveler that is coming out in less than a month. I personally own 2 roadmate series Magellans and 1 Magellan handheld. The roadmates in the car have really been helpful on trips. However this new Roadmate 2500T is designed for both in car and outdoors. Check out some of the reviews it looks very promising. It comes pre loaded with North America Data and Light topographic mapping. In 2007 more advanced topo mapping will be available on SD Card.

 

http://www.navigadget.com/index.php/2006/0...2500t-traveler/

[+sbell111]

I'll throw out a third vote for the Quest. Many people use the Quest as their only GPSr. Personally, I primarily use it just for road nav and use my Geko 301 on-trail.

 

A while back, my wife went out of town for a week to a convention. I gave her a two minute training session on using the Quest. By the time she returned, she had named the unit and declared that she wanted one for her own.

[+briansnat]

I agree with those who recommend the Garmin Quest (or better yet the Quest II if you're willing to spend the extra bucks). It's great on the dashboard and works just fine as a handheld.

[+kb7sei]

I recently purchased a Garmin C320 for the car. It does a great job routing to both addresses and geocaches. I can have it search for caches either by name or distance and it will get me a close as it can using the roads, then I switch to my Lowrance H2O to get me the rest of the way in. It's been a very nice system!

 

The C320 works great with GSAK for quick and dirty waypoint transfers, or I can use the GPX export and load it with Garmin's POI loader. I have the whole state in there right now as custom POIs and it works VERY well.

 

I got it for about $265 from Costco.com a couple weeks ago. I don't know if they are still running that deal. It came with the routing software, City Navigator NT v8.

[+Jamie Z]

or better yet the Quest II if you're willing to spend the extra bucks

To add a bit to this, I own the Quest 2. Easily my biggest complaint about this GPS is that it is horribly slow. Miss a turn? Better pull over and stop because it might be a minute or two before the GPS recalculates your new route. Screen refreshes sometimes fall behind so that my position stays locked on the same spot for ten or fifteen seconds.

 

My understanding is that the Quest does not suffer from these problems mainly because the map database for the Quest is a fraction of that of the Quest 2.

 

For me, having the entire country pre-loaded into the GPS is the most important feature, so I tolerate the otherwise-unacceptably slow performance of the GPS. You might take this into consideration if you're looking at the Quest series. They're good GPSs.

 

Jamie

[appletree]

see below

Edited October 17, 2006 by appletree

[appletree]

My Quest recalculates in a few seconds. It calculates entire routes in just a few more seconds, lightning fast compared to my old GPS V, which was slow but good enough in its day. I know that the find feature of the Quest 2 is slower due to the larger database it must search, but I wouldn't have thought the routing would also suffer. You might try the good or better route options rather than best. Also, the Quest does have the entire country and Canada loaded, just not at a detail level that permits address and all POI look-ups, other than in the loaded CitySelect or Navigator segments. The memory is so large that it works fine for almost any cross-country trip.

[KD6QZX]

I have owned the GPSIII+ , Quest, 60CS and now the 7200. I must say if you have the room on your dash for the 7200 it is the BOMB!!

It has the touch screen and is amazingly fast at calculations and dispaly refreshes. With the XM addition to it you get great traffic updates in the metro areas as well as quick re-routing around traffic congestion on the freeways. The XM weather is another BIG plus, it will give you your local conditions as well as up to a 5 day forcast. Then you can move the courser to anywhere you are thinking of needing weather info and you can get the same info for any other location! The XM music is just icing.

 

[sethm]

Any thoughts on the Garmin Nuvi 660, Magellan 6000T or 2200T

[yitbos]

Thank you all for the information. You gave me lots to think about. I'm surprised that no one mentioned the Tom Tom products. Does that unit not rate high with users on this forum or at all? I don't know much about it but it's advertised pretty heavily.

 

Thanks again everyone. I really appreciate it.

 

John

[appletree]

If you want voice prompts in the car, and you should, and you want a light weight, waterproof device that works well on a trail for geocaching, then to the best of my knowledge, the Garmin Quest and Quest 2 are your only choices. There are better car devices and better trail devices, but I know of no other voice prompting GPSRs that can work well on a trail for caching. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[+Jamie Z]

I'm surprised that no one mentioned the Tom Tom products. Does that unit not rate high with users on this forum or at all?

Tom Tom is probably a fine autonav unit, but since this is a geocaching forum, not many people here actually have one. If the original question was asked on a site such as GPSPassion, the answers might have been more oriented toward the Tom Tom.

 

Jamie