time to buy a gps, which one?

[lazydays]

I'd like to buy a gps but I know there are issues regarding which ones a mac can talk to so I'm here for advice. I want a nice large easy to read screen, voice instructions, and a good way to mount it in the car. I'd also like to switch it between my two cars so being able to get an additional mount would be handy. Thanks for the advice!

[Go To Top]

ABC News just did a test and found the $75 TomTom beat the $300 Garvin. They all work well, I have an old cheapo TomTom and it does the trick.

[AllGold]

Go To Top wrote:
ABC News just did a test and found the $75 TomTom beat the $300 Garvin. They all work well, I have an old cheapo TomTom and it does the trick.

Yeah, but I bet it doesn't beat a $100 Garmin. lap:

[comaplate]

I previously used to be highly pro-TomTom. However, I recently just found out their customer support is TERRIBLE. I had a failing battery in a Go 630 replaced under warranty. Getting in touch with CS is not straightforward via website. Hold times for the 800-number are really long (close to 20 minutes to just speak with a person, on multiple occasions). After shipping the unit in myself, waiting a week for a replacement - the replacement I was shipped was also defective (different problem - was a non-functioning "refurb" unit). Got conflicting advice from tech support people, and was without my GPS for close to a month.

[Trouble]

iPhone or iPad.

[Article Accelerator]

lazydays wrote:
I'd like to buy a gps but I know there are issues regarding which ones a mac can talk to...I want a nice large easy to read screen, voice instructions, and a good way to mount it in the car. I'd also like to switch it between my two cars so being able to get an additional mount would be handy

If you have an iPhone, there are several solutions that meet your requirements. There's a good survey here:

http://artoftheiphone.com/2009/11/18/a-g...tion-apps/

One of the nice things about an iPhone-based solution is that the iPhone uses A-GPS which allows must faster initialization. The iPhone also has the advantage of providing portable GPS services.

Note that some of the GPS car mounts contain their own GPS receivers and speakers and therefore can also be used with the newer iPod touch models, e.g. The Dual GPS Cradle. Also check out Navigon, TomTom, Kensington, Magellan.

[RAMd®d]

For 'Phoners, motionxgps drive is free for the moment and will give you a taste of at least one product.

I like the Navigon interface (I haven't used any GPS app on my 'Phone).

WOW, from turntables to GPS! That interface looks pretty realistic. I wonder if that's available for the 'Phone...

For me, the 'Phone is a little small. If I move it close enough to see easily, it sits a bit under the roof of the car and performance suffers. (This is with using the SmartHUD app.) So a turn-by-turn solution is mandatory, preferably one that names the streets.

[Mike Sellers]

I've had a Garmin for a couple of years and recently bought an inexpensive TomTom to use in another car. I haven't used the TomTom extensively but my first impression is that the Garmin software is much better for things other than basic driving directions. Need a restaurant while you're traveling and Garmin gives you a lot of categories to choose from. TomTom just gives you "restaurants". When looking for gas stations on the TomTom, stations only a mile from my house aren't listed. Maybe companies have to pay a fee to be listed and most opt for Garmin over TomTom.

[Trouble]

And with the iPhone/IPad/ and iPod touch(with GPS car mount), if you sync them with the same iTunes account, you can install the software on up to 5 devices. Free map updates as well. Navigon also has traffic and topological rendering for a one time price.

Another cool thing is that you can install "walking" GPS software on the iPhone/iPad as well so now you have one of those GPS machines as well.

You can also install tons of "finding" software like WHERE, urbansppon, geodelic, good food, and yelp.

[wowzer]

Whatever you do, make sure that you can avoid road blocks with a user specified distance and to avoid/use a road as part of your route. My TomTom can do this, but my Nuvi 650 cannot.

It was a world of difference while traveling down to Florida from NYC. Overall, I found the tomtom to be much better at doing things like avoidance, but the nuvi has better menus for finding items like food, gas, etc.