Need Auto Only GPS Advice

[Maximus XX!V]

I currently own a 60 CSx which I have used for my auto travel. I have found it to be great for outdoors but not so good for auto use. I travel about 10 times a year, so it gets use in my rental cars.

 

60 CSx Drawbacks:

 

Small Screen - Harder to see, must take attention off road.

 

No voice - In metro areas with lots of freeways/intersections, I find myself looking at it frequently because of all the beeps.

 

Buttons only - A touchscreen is easier for interfacing with the device. This is mostly an issue when auto routing.

 

Auto units I am considering:

 

Nuvi 660 or 650 - Is the Bluetooth in this any good? That is the only advantage of the 660 and I already have an ok hands free speaker. Expensive and just a wider screen than most others.

 

Streetpilot 7200 - No Sirf III, which kills the deal but I love the huge screen.

 

TomTom GO 720 - Uses non Garmin software so possibly more $$$ to update all my devices.

 

I am partial to Garmin as I already use the software. Can I download trips from my PC on any of these units?

 

I do not need FM transmitters.

 

I do want voice with text to speach.

 

Bigger the screen the better.

 

I do not want to go back to pre Sirf II chips.

 

Any suggestions of other units?

Edited September 3, 2007 by Maximus XX!V

[+Jenischmeni]

I use a Nuvi 200 in the car. No, it doesn't announce the NAME of the street, but it does verbally speak driving directions. (It was a LOT cheaper!) No blue tooth, but that wasn't important to me.

 

I use it to get me to the cache site and then use my 60CSX on foot. I also use the Nuvi for other navigation purposes (besides geocaching). I agree that the 60CSX is a bit harder to see in the car and I needed a little more than a 'beep'!

 

Here's my lay (and very naive) opinion of the two units side by side:

 

The Nuvi takes coordinates - that's great. You can force it to go off road if the need arises (I haven't). BUT...Nuvi doesn't always understand that you can't pull off the freeway, scramble down the side and retrieve a cache that's located where a road dead-ends into an interstate. In all fairness, I've seen the 60CSX trying to do the same thing. (It makes sense, it's probably the same mapping software.) If you keep going past the spot, it will usually try to reroute you back to that exact same spot (by having you turn around at the next exit ramp). What I do, is use the maps that I can see on the screen to figure out the roads to get to the cache site. (And ignoring Nuvi imploring me to "When possible, make a u-turn".) Sometimes, it'll pick up what you're trying to do, sometimes not.

 

It's not that hard to load your waypoints on the Nuvi. I figured it out from the forums (and I'm not that tech savvy). You can download POI Loader for free from Garmin. I did find out that the 200 can only hold up to 200 waypoints and only if you divide them into 4 databases (50 per database). I load them onto the SD card so it's easier to get them all cleared back off (I read this in the forums).

 

Another drawback is that when the Nuvi is navigating by coordinate, it won't recognize that the site could be a city park. It will frequently guide you to a neighborhood and think you've arrived. (Because the exact site is in the part of the park which is next to a neighborhood.) I've found that if you know the Park's name, you can input that as the destination and it does a better job of getting you to a parking lot in the park.

 

To the best of my knowledge (which isn't that great), the Nuvi is the only car navigational system that can accept coordinates.

 

Now, it sounds like I don't like my Nuvi and that's the farthest thing from the truth. I've found it an invaluable tool. I do quite a bit of caching all by myself and I don't have the luxury of someone helping to navigate. The screen is VERY easy to see while driving. The touch screen is easy to use and the input of an address is pretty simple, imo.

 

Since you already have a 60CSX, don't spend the extra money for a USB cable for the Nuvi. They take the same cord. (My HP camera cord fits them both, too, btw.)

 

Now, here is my last (and most important) vote for the Nuvi. Last Friday, my daughter and I were caching about an hour and a half from home. We encountered a horde of bees and were sting many, many times. We jumped in the car, switched on the Nuvi, pressed "Where To?", pressed "Points of Interest", pressed "Hospitals" and IMMEDIATELY a list of 4 popped up with the directional arrows and how many miles away. This gave me 2 medical centers and 2 major hospitals. I picked from the list and Nuvi guided us there. Without a doubt, this was well worth any drawbacks it had in getting me to a tupperware container in the woods! Yes, I know the 60CSX (with mapping software) will do that, but would it have been as easy to use, see & hear? No.

 

Just my .02 worth.

 

Good Luck!