TomTom GPS nav

[DCVING 6]

I'm looking for a GPS unit for my wife to use for work. She just got her first accounting job and will be doing a lot of driving to see clients. I was looking at Best Buy for the units as I can get a "family discount" from a buddy that works there.

I was looking at this one: TomTom - ONE 3rd Edition Portable GPS Navigation System - 1N01.081

Not just looking for the cheapest one, just something basic... no need for all the fancy stuff.

Any input?

 

[TurboDave]

It has voice prompts, BUT doesn't specifically say street name prompts. That's typical of less expensive units.

It'll say, for example, turn left in 1/4 mile, instead of turn left on main street in 1/4 mile.

 

[chrisgarrett]

It has voice prompts, BUT doesn't specifically say street name prompts. That's typical of less expensive units.

It'll say, for example, turn left in 1/4 mile, instead of turn left on main street in 1/4 mile.

Well that sounds like a pretty quick way to get lost.

 

[a trail rider]

I ain't sayin' don't buy from there... But I will say that I got a Garmin- Nuvi 350(which is REALLY pretty good) and I priced it at "Not so" Best Buy at $499.00 as well as where I purchased.... Wal-mart. $368.54(today) Mine's two months old and I paid about $399.00 then. Anyway, check pricing before buying.

My Garmin works very well, but does have issues. It doesn't find my home address and it doesn't find my brothers either. We both live in the stix. My brothers and sisters who live in cities are easy to look up though. I like the fact it gives me a fairly accurate ETA and it tells me how fast I'm travelling, and how much time I've been moving, and stopped, and average speed and more. It's just plain neat!

If I didn't need one with truck routes, I may well have gotten the Tom Tom or a less pricy Garmin. They seem adequate to me for most peoples use.

 

[tthorngen]

nuvi's are great. i returned my tom tom... nuvi is the way to go

 

[incubus2432]

I bought a Garmin NUVI 660 early this year and couldn't be happier with it. I also purchased it primarily for when my wife goes on road trips for work. The "text to speech" function is a must (IMO) especially in unfamiliar metropolitan areas. The 660 was a tad pricey and there are some cheaper units with most of the same functions but I wanted the larger screen size so she (or I) could pick up things at a glance. One minor disadvantage of the TomTom units is that they are sort of bulky and the Garmin NUVI units are relatively slim. When we recently went on vacation to Washington DC I just tossed the unit in a pocket and we used it to find the sites we wanted......pretty handy.


Check Amazon for prices as well.....they may even beat your Best Buy connection plus no pesky sales tax (although you do have to report it at tax time .

 

[DCVING 6]

Thanks for the feedback, this is exactly the kind of stuff I was hoping to find out.

 

[cruzn57]

I second the Garmin

Nuvi 350
available from amazon.com
works great,
wife argues with as she insists were going west, when were actually going north, LOL
easy to use, update from your PC, tells you where to go ( just like the wife!)

 

[DCVING 6]

Looking at these 3, does the 200W seem like the best deal? One strange thing is it doesn't have the number of waypoints listed... I'll have to ask on that one.
Compare Products

 

[a trail rider]

I read the 200(no W) has 500 waypoints. It's also $240 at Wallyworld. The 200W doesn't show much info, but that's $370. Less for that one at BB than W-M. I suspect it's the 200, but "W" stands for wide. It has a 4.3" screen.

The Nuvi 260 goes for $348.54 at W-M and their listing shows about as much for that as it does the 200W. For me, this would be the best choice of the 3, but it lacks D/L capability. It does have A/C and D/C adapter avialability, which the others lack.

The only advantage of the 250 is PC connectivity. I haven't tried to use that with my 350, but I think it will come in handy at some point.

For the price, I think you'd be happier with the 350, as a few of us already have. There's more to it and the battery lasts longer than the 3 above.