What to look for in a GPS?

I've been thinking lately about getting a GPS for the car. With my side job of making tech support housecalls, and the job applying season approaching (I'm looking for a teaching position, can only really apply during the summer) and the possibility of having to travel around for interviews, it would certainly come in handy.

That being said, I've no idea what to look for in one. Are some more accurate than others? Do some give better directions (as in giving you the option to take/avoid highways etc)? I don't want an in-dash unit; as I could see myself wanting to lend it to mom on occasion. A rechargeable battery powered one would be nice too, I dunno if they need to plug into the cig adapter or what.

Cheap is always good, but I'd rather spend a bit more to get a quality unit. Budget is probably in the $150 area.

Tips/recommendations are appreciated. Thanks everyone!

I got my mom a TomTom for christmas 2 years ago. She loves and so do I. Its very easy to use and update. No problem ever with it giving wrong directions. I used it on trips to chicago and Ohio.

I have also heard good things about the garmin.

I have a simple basic garmin nuvi 200 and love the thing. I would be so **** if I didn't have it in my car lol

Garmin software, overall, is nicer than TomTom's (in terms of accuracy/usability) from the ones I've used

Also, Garmins that end in 5 (I think) have free traffic for life - only catch is that while it is making the route there will be a small text ad for a store, but it really is tiny, and only shows up then - double check that though, not positive it was the model's ending in 5... traffic can be useful

Looks like the 205 can be gotten for about 140 on Amazon, 205w for 160. I'll look into those more later when I get back home.

They don't have subscription fees or anything do they? Just buy the unit and turn it on right?

alkatmsu wrote:

Looks like the 205 can be gotten for about 140 on Amazon, 205w for 160. I'll look into those more later when I get back home. They don't have subscription fees or anything do they? Just buy the unit and turn it on right?

Correct. But it wants you to update them once a year. Mine keeps telling me to. I have had it for a year now. But I check and it is like 70 for the update. **** that I can buy a new gps for almost that these days.

I'm a man so I don't need directions

kornholio788 wrote:

alkatmsu wrote: Looks like the 205 can be gotten for about 140 on Amazon, 205w for 160. I'll look into those more later when I get back home. They don't have subscription fees or anything do they? Just buy the unit and turn it on right? Correct. But it wants you to update them once a year. Mine keeps telling me to. I have had it for a year now. But I check and it is like 70 for the update. **** that I can buy a new gps for almost that these days.

TomTom updates are free.

From what I've seen on amazon, tomtom updates are free for the first 30 days, then you can only do the user updates for free.

Each brand seems to have their own major pros/cons... the tomtom is said to not do routing as well, the Garmin doesn't have user updates. Things like MP3 playing etc means nothing to me, I just want good, accurate directions.

I have a Garmin and I've updated it for free , just need a usb cable and the web ... you can also download free icons ... One of the Mini cooper guys made every color in the mini's so you can have it match the car ..
http://www.ecost.com/ was the best price I found on the Garmin

I have a Harman/Kardon GPS 500. It has a ton of extra features that I don't need but I got it cheap. Never had a problem with it.

street name to voice is a very nice feature to have.

alkatmsu wrote:

I just want good, accurate directions.

I'm in the exact same boat as you man... I don't care about anything else except directions. Voice communication would be a nice feature, but I usually have my music turned up pretty loud... That's why I'm thinking of just saving up for a Pioneer headunit with a built in Navi system... I was looking to buy a Magellan for around $170, but I'll just hold out on it until I have $400 for the Pioneer headunit...

Garmin all the way! I use them in my truck and tow truck. I hate tom toms format and how it search's for address. Since I repo I like to see how far away my Recent destinations are so I can better plot my course though the night. The few tom toms Ive used dont have that option but all the garmins ive used do.

bad venge wrote:

I have a Garmin and I've updated it for free , just need a usb cable and the web ... you can also download free icons ... One of the Mini cooper guys made every color in the mini's so you can have it match the car .. http://www.ecost.com/ was the best price I found on the Garmin

Thanks, good info. I've used Ecost before actually, that's where I got my Onkyo receiver. They don't have the cheapest shipped price though. Newegg and Amazon both have it for $170 shipped.

I love my garmin. She has saved my marriage many times. Especially when visiting new york.

Text to speech is a must. Traffic monitoring is a nice bonus.

The high line garmins are cheaper on ecost the entry level garmins can go either way