Recommend a GPS car unit?

[Misticme]

My mom wants to get a GPS unit for her car. Specifically the TomTom GO510. She wants it mostly for camping/road trips, but also for geocaching. She wants one that will also have Canadian roads, and 'talks'. Is this a good one for her to get, or can you recommend a better one in the same price range? Thanks!

[+kenk]

My mom wants to get a GPS unit for her car. Specifically the TomTom GO510. She wants it mostly for camping/road trips, but also for geocaching. She wants one that will also have Canadian roads, and 'talks'. Is this a good one for her to get, or can you recommend a better one in the same price range? Thanks!

 

If I were to get an automotive-style GPS I'd probably get the Garmin Nuvi 350 - actually have been thinking of getting one for my wife. It has a high-sensitivity receiver (SiRF III), will allow entry of waypoints in longitude/latitude format (I don't think it uses UTM format), comes with a window mount, and comes pre-loaded with City Navigator. Make sure you get the North American version which covers the U.S. and Canada.

 

The drawback for use outdoors is that it uses rechargable batteries (4-8 hours on a charge), its not the most convenient form for hand-holding, and it is NOT waterproof.

 

By the way, I'd also get her a screen protector from http://www.shieldzone.com ($12) to protect the screen from scratches.

Edited May 26, 2007 by kenk

[Glenn W]

My Garmin StreetPilot C550 is a very good car navigator in that it features:

 

Simple touch screen interface

Speaks street names

High-sensitivity receiver

Very bright sun-readable screen

MP3 player

Decent speakers

Bluetooth speaker phone

FM Traffic receiver.

 

However, it is not at all suitable for geocaching. There is no way to enter or view geographic coordinates, the unit is not rugged or waterproof, there are very few changeable settings, and the battery is only good for a claimed maximum of 8 hrs.

 

The Nuvi is a little better in that you can enter coordinates, but it is not rugged for backwoods use. My 60CSx is an excellent geocacher, but a marginal car navigator (no spoken directions, no touch screen, complex interface). The Quest2 is a reasonable compromise in that it has pre-loaded CityNav maps, it's rugged, and it speaks directions (but not street names). However, there is no touch screen, no high-sensitivity reciever, and the memory is not expandable.

 

The harsh truth is that no receiver made currently made for geocaching is going to be a great car navigator.

Edited May 27, 2007 by Glenn W

[+Kabuthunk]

You could always make your own mount for a handheld GPS like I did

[AbercrombieHollister]

This is a good model, but i think that you should make you own mounting for the car. It is a nice and easy way for a good budget

[+GRNZOOM]

You could always make your own mount for a handheld GPS like I did

 

 

Interesting. I might mess around with that idea. I am sure we all have old travel coffee mugs around. Don't need them anymore. You get a new one every time you go to Starbucks

 

Nick

[+AnotherPirate]

My mom wants to get a GPS unit for her car. Specifically the TomTom GO510. She wants it mostly for camping/road trips, but also for geocaching. She wants one that will also have Canadian roads, and 'talks'. Is this a good one for her to get, or can you recommend a better one in the same price range? Thanks!

 

I have a TomTom 300 and my wife has a TomTom One. I have Offroad navigator installed on my TomTom 300 (it works on the One and 510 also) for geocaching and off road type activities.

 

You can find Offroad Navigator here:

 

http://www.webazar.org/tomtom/plugins.php?lang=uk

[dazdarren]

I bought the Garmin 60CSX for both geocaching and auto use but found the small screen and lack of voice directions to be a little less than ideal in some big city with lots of traffic situations. So always one wanting a new gadget I bought the Garmin Nuvi 350 and highly recommend it for auto use. As one of the other posters commneted its not a great device for nonauto use since it has a shorter battery life and isnt water proof or as regged as a handheld.

[appletree]

I have been saying this for much longer than I like but it is still true: the only GPSr that is well suited for car navigation and trail use such as geocaching is the Garmin Quest (and the Quest 2). It gives voice prompts in the car, holds extensive map coverage, routes and recalculates quickly, and is fairly easy to use. On the trail, it has long battery life, is waterproof, small, very light, and easy to use. It is easy to set-up and use for geocaching, but the process is not described in the manual so one would need to check this forum or elsewhere to learn the process. Again, it really is easy, and it works great, and it is very inexpensive.

There are better car units, especially the Nuvi line, and there are better hand-held models, but only the Quest is well-suited for both uses.

[+briansnat]

The Garmin Quest or Quest II are good choices for anyone who wants a unit chiefly for auto navigation, but for ocassional use as a handheld.

 

Beware of most units designed chiefly for the auto as they will not be waterproof or as shock resistant as a

handheld built for the outdoors, so you might wind up with an expensive paperweight on your hands should you encounter a sudden downpour or take a dunk in a stream.

[cleo43]

I would buy a TomTom ONe XL for the car now, and hang on a few more months for the new eTrex series.

[+warhammr]

I highly recommend the Nuvi 350 for auto use. I haven't found a bad point about mine yet

[+imajeep]

Never one to follow the crowd, I got a Navman Icn 530 last year. Dirt cheap ($250, including maps), has the SIRF III chipset, and works everywhere that wasn't built yesterday (the north side of metro Atlanta comes to mind).

 

But not suitable for geocaching at all. For that, I use the Garmin 60 Csx, which I suppose makes me a crowd-follower after all. But in this case, the crowd is absolutely right--it is a phenomenal unit.