AcuraDreamin

Hey guys, my birthday is coming up in April, and im taking a road trip with my gf end of march, so my father offered me a nice portable navi for my birthday. He dropped a price of about 300-400, but i think this is waaaayyyy tooooo much! I was thinking maybe something simple for like 200. My dad is pretty overprotective and thinks i cant make it from denver to pheonix eventhough i went from denver to L.A. somehow last spring break...besides the point, lol. Any suggestions? Any certain models better than others? Anything i could do to make it cooler than just a plain old sit on your dash navi? could i put it in the sunglasses unit overhead? Also should i tell him no thanks and ask for a front lip? or maybe type-s tails? Im not an idiot when it comes to finding places, but once in a while it wouldnt hurt to have a sexy little voice telling me what to do...(other than my girlfriend ) thanks guys

Q1911

you do not want another female voice telling you where to go




trust me

bluedevil1550

In my opinion, Garmin is the best on the market, but I got a Mio c220 for Christmas and I am more than pleased. And the Mio was only $125, so it was a pretty good deal. But if cost isn't thst important definitely go with a Garmin.

01tl4tl

I prefer a bigger screen. TomTom and Garmin run on the 2 different systems available- for data collection and making of the maps and how they display.

Once you have a nav you love it!
Will end 90 percent!!! of arguements in the car with your lady. Getting you there becomes the machines responsabilty--- to remind you of upcoming turns or exits, while your lady picks out the next CD in mental peace.
On trips, you can enter the type of gas staion you want to stop at, names of food, find roadside reststops and much more.
When you need to report something to 911, you can give them exact location of the incident.
GPS and back up cameras/sensors should be mandatory IMO

t0ast

You should decide whether you want text-to-speech (TTS) in your GPS. The GPS will read off the upcoming street to turn at rather than just say "turn in xx yards." I personally don't need it since I turn off the sound and use the GPS like a visual map to check where's the next turn. Once you decide that, you can pick whether you need an expensive GPS with TTS ~$300-500 or a cheap GPS without it ~$100-300.

blkaspec

i recently bought a TomTom 920 and really like it. i haven't put it to the test with a big road trip yet, but for my small excursions it has been very accurate. it did a better job then my step dad's tsx, but with a much smaller screen. mine has a remote which really helps keep the screen clean and it also has voice recognition for your address searches.

oVerBoost

My family has Garmin, Magellan, and TomTom navis. Personally, I like my Garmin c320. It was on the affordable side ~$200 and it's very simple to use, but did not have TTS, which is ok for me. The TomTom is also pretty good because the route calculation times are pretty quick, and you can find them at discounted prices. The Magellan has everything including TTS and bluetooth capabilites and was on sale for about $250. However, I find that the interface is a little confusing and the route/re-routing times are a bit longer than the Garmin and TomTom.

caligirl2k

Well I think anything Garmin or TomTom you cant go wrong GL.

Trackruner228

iTrader: (1)

I have a Garmin that we got for about 300ish and i have to say its awesome. It does almost everything a stock navi does but much cheaper. Its great and its find resturants or stores features works VERY well.

co1063

I have the invion 4v106 4" navigation system which ran me around $85 at staples. It's okay for a navigation system but doesn't have a lot of POIs. However, the good thing is that you can put mp3's and mp4's on it and it can play it and transmit the sound to your car speakers (using built-in FM transmitter), so it resembles a high end built in system people install. very cool. however, if you are more into navigation, then you might want to get another one (mio c220 is good from personal experience)

8520

Tom Tom One gets my vote

'03TL-S

iTrader: (10)

I have the Garmin Nuvi760 and it is the shiznits. Has basically everything, but the price is kinda high though. Around $600 or so i believe.

03aspec

garmin nuvi 250 is the best deal.. is about 230 dollars or so.. my sisters got one for my dad for christmas. good unit.

TLover8888

look at the Garmin Nuvi 260W....widescreen and has text-to-speech option (says the names of streets). SHould be about 300-400 bucks depending where you buy it.

AMGala

iTrader: (4)

TomTom FTW. Garmin has been spotty in my experience.

AcuraDreamin

Appreciate the input guys...seems like TomTom and Garmin are the ones to go with, now i need to figure out if i really need TTS and to find a great price on one of these models you guys suggested. Any more input greatly appreciated, anyone put their navi in a special spot???

AcuraDreamin

So with a little bit of searching, it looks like the garmin nuvi 360 may be a good choice, it has TTS, bluetooth, photos and mp3 (dont know if i will ever use this) and the price on amazon is 273. Seems pretty good i think. I plan to do more research, but does anyone have serious problems with this unit?

fsttyms1

I just went thru this for my GF for her birthday and in my research the garmin was the better of the 2 (tom tom vs garmin) Compared to her sisters tom tom we all like the garmin better.

AMGala

iTrader: (4)

I personally think TTS is over-rated at this point simply because the pronunciation is still way off in many cases. When it mispronounces something, sometimes it doesn't help you at all if you can't figure out what it is saying.

red00tl

Navigation-wise, any decent model from any manufacturer is up to par these days.

What makes difference to me now is the little things.

I for one consider the size and weight an important issue, as I tend to remove the navi and store it elsewhere to discourage breaking-in. If you do this often enough, it's more convenient to get something smaller and lighter. I like the flat and thin ones with a big screen.

Another thing I find convenient is using your navi as a Bluetooth phone receiver. Since my 00 TL never had any built-in phone option, it's worth little extra to get this feature. Also convenient to be able to call your Point of Interest in the navi without fumbling for your phone. Just make sure that your phone is compatible with the navi, however, as it seems that not all Bluetooth phones are compatible with every Bluetooth device.

Billu99tl

bro i have Garvin model Nuvi350 ....the best of the best of the best.....most detailed maps and voice activated ...its good shit and not too $$$$$
belive me u wont be disapointed

jstahnke10

iTrader: (1)

I got a Garmin nuvi 260 for Chrismas. It's fantastic!
No external antenna and I haven't had and reception problems.
It's very thin and easily portable with a pretty good battery life.

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=134&pID=11017
You can find it cheaper elsewhere, but the product is great!

ChrisQ1980

I just picked up the Garmin Nuvi 260W and I love it. It looks great, and is super easy to use. Extremely accurate.

The only thing I hate is the damn cord. Has anyone been able to hide it well, or even have it run behind the dash to where you could just quick connect it through the vent?

TLover8888

i'm lookin at the harmon kardon GPS810...comes with a wireless remote knob

http://www.harmankardon.com/guideandplay/gps810/

goldendragon576

I'm surprised no Magellan recommendations! I personally love the Magellan interface. I had a Garmin and returned it a week later, just wasn't happy with it. My fiance and I each have a Magellan in our cars.