PCA Forums

All,
I'm really not sure how many of you have experience with portable gps systems however for those of you that do I would like some feedback. I am looking into buying one as I will be driving from central ohio to western pa almost bi-weekly this summer and feel it would be a great asset. I have used garmin before and have heard they produce some really good quality systems, however I am looking for some feedback. Also price is another factor, as I am looking to try and spend somewhere in the neighborhood of less then $400.00.

Thanks in advance!!

i own a Garmin streetpilot 550 and very happy with it. every now and then it gives you a odd turn to make your way to were your going. also here we still have a bunch of dirt roads. it may say turn up a ways to avoid it a short cut street. some roads it may not know are paved so it bypass them.also i have found some restaurants are not listed on its menu. these seem to be one's that have open in the last 2 years or so. but this i have seen to be true even in the gps units used in new general motor cars costing $2100 for a indash unit (rip offs ) i seen the tomtom units and there ok . but i stay clear of a Magellan at least the cheaper ones .my brother inlaw the cheap-ass bought one and it died in 2 days and then a 2nd lasted like 30 days and he returned it.
the unit i have is bluetooth and the handsfree works great .and the sounds very clear at both end . it also a mp3 player that nice and sounds off when your turns coming .and lastly why they add a picture viewer in to a gps for the car is dumb .but my unit has that to. you can download free extras from garmin like diffrent cars icons and mine you have to pay a yearly fee for road hazard warnings . some i think give a free year .the 550 only has a free 3 month package . i use to use microsoft streets and trips but a laptop was to much of a pain to keep your eye on and staying on the seat was a pain . also on the floor sucked .and a pain becouse if you went off course you had to manual reset the unit .

I use my laptop & a $40 GPS receiver, but I'm pretty cheap. That said, it works really well for me. Nice big screen that lets you see a lot more.

I have a TomTom ONE and it works just fine. finds everything I look for. Has a huge list of points of intrest (hotels, gas, post office, retail, food ect). It too some times makes you go a goofy way but you allways get there. you can specify shortest route or fastest, tell it to avoid tolls. And when you miss a turn it just recaculates a new route and will keep doing that. It wont give up or tell you you missed a turn it just keeps telling you when to make a turn. you can choose several voices and it will get louder as you drive faster. Has day/night colors for the screen. and can be updated with USB from a computer.

I didn't buy it, it was a gift. but if i had to do it again i would get the same one. The other one with the bigger screen is a waste. you dont really even need the screen other then to program it.

I love my Garmin Nuvi 200. Avoid ViaMichellin like herpes.

I have a Tom Tom One XL I'm pretty happy with.

If you got your laprop along go for the Garmin USB antenna, comes bundled with City Navigator 8 for about 140 Canadian. Nice big screen. (this is what I will be buying for my Bus for traveling)
I have used the Garmin 276C which is a weatherproof model so you could strap it to a motorbike or use it on the boat. I also got a 60SCx which is a weatherproof Hikermodel. I'm happy with both, just really depends on what you're looking for. Big screen and voice prompt or small size portability.Both models (276c and 60SCx) will give you voice prompt with the right software and add on speakers. City Navigator if you want the most accurate road info and points of interest. Topo maps if you care more to also take it hiking or on bush (secondary) roads.

Thanks all, i ended up going with the Garmin Nuvi 250 widescreen. For just $200 now its really quite a useful little system. I have really been shocked to see just how much these systems have dropped price wise in the last two or so years,

I was going to suggest the Garmin Nuvi 200W or 250W, mainly because that is what I have and I am pleased with it. Hope you enjoy yours.