What is the best aftermarket navigation device?

woodsyi · « **Reply #20 on:** 18 Feb 2008, 10:39 pm »

So Magellan Maestro 3225 it is. Spoken street names and $209 delivered from http://www.compsource.com/ttechnote.asp?part_no=9800010001&vid=263&src=F. Cheaper than Costco price when you consider the tax.

msteindler · « **Reply #21 on:** 18 Feb 2008, 10:52 pm »

As someone else who has been looking around for a GPS, just two cents I've picked up. If it matters to you-
In reading many comments on both Garmin and Magellan, it seems to be consistently expressed that Magellan customer support is very lacking to terrible. Garmin's consistently good.

giantsteps · « **Reply #22 on:** 18 Feb 2008, 11:07 pm »

Gentlemen, puleeeeeeeeeease! Tomtom is leagues ahead of the competition. Check out models GO 920T and GO 720T. And customer service is outstanding. I had a question once...called them, and a live, competent person was on the line in less than a minute.

Frank

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #23 on:** 18 Feb 2008, 11:50 pm »

Quote from: TheChairGuy on 18 Feb 2008, 10:26 pm

I've chosen the Irish lass, Katherine, as my voice guide. Very hot little accent, that Gaelic one....helps on those long drives to have some sultry sounding in the car with me

I bet you go off course just hear her correct you.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #24 on:** 19 Feb 2008, 02:54 am »

Katherine, my Irish lass In my TomTom, is almost as sexy sounding as the automated voice on Italian autostrada's that says 'arriverderci' after you throw your coins in the basket at the tolls

I throw them in very slowly to hold on the pleasure of hearing that voice.

My wife is Italian so I can get away with it

The same voice is at the parking garage machines upon exit in Italy....a wonderfully Italian purr of 'thank you'.

mmmmmmmm.

John /Giani

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #25 on:** 19 Feb 2008, 03:10 am »

Quote

What is the best after market navigation device?

Rim....
Two that I find that work excellent for me....

Third option....ask the guy at the gas station....

arthurs · « **Reply #26 on:** 19 Feb 2008, 03:13 am »

Is there a guy at the gas station anymore Chris?

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #27 on:** 19 Feb 2008, 03:15 am »

Quote from: arthurs on 19 Feb 2008, 03:13 am

Is there a guy at the gas station anymore Chris?

Yes Art....someone has to collect the cash.

doorman · « **Reply #28 on:** 19 Feb 2008, 03:29 am »

Another vote for TomTom here. I checked out as many as I could, they're probably all fine, but it's very user friendly, and the price was right.
Don

woodsyi · « **Reply #29 on:** 19 Feb 2008, 03:29 am »

Quote from: lonewolfny42 on 19 Feb 2008, 03:10 am

Quote
What is the best after market navigation device?
Rim....
Two that I find that work excellent for me....

Third option....ask the guy at the gas station....

Chris,

You know that no self respecting male asks for direction, right?

The compass only gets me in more trouble. I have been known to try to get back on course by using the compass on my mirror only to get really lost in country side.

I do better in the city.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #30 on:** 19 Feb 2008, 03:32 am »

Quote

You know that no self respecting male asks for direction, right?

Thats always the last resort....I mainly use the map...and just keep driving...

Philistine · « **Reply #31 on:** 19 Feb 2008, 03:39 am »

Quote from: IronLion on 18 Feb 2008, 09:02 pm

Do you think Dan Modwright can hook you up with a tube power supply for one of these?

Didn't work for me so went with a couple of Bybee filters in the cigarette lighter adapter thingy. The increase in the screen clarity is taken to the next level, and the voice commands more natural. When the power is down I go off grid with half a dozen AA's, so planning to get a RWA mod to take advantage of this

arthurs · « **Reply #32 on:** 19 Feb 2008, 03:44 am »

The company I work for does a lot of work for tomtom and I can tell you from my experience they strike me as top notch....both people and products....

giantsteps · « **Reply #33 on:** 19 Feb 2008, 05:45 am »

I always argue with my current squeeze. She wants to ask the first available salesmen where to find a certain item. I tell her to STFU because the PLEASURE IS IN THE HUNT!

Frank

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #34 on:** 19 Feb 2008, 06:10 am »

woodsyi/Rim,

Good that you do better in a city....as GPS is near worthless in big cities. DC is probably okay as there are precious few tall buildings...but I was in Pittsburgh recently (Steel City, don't ya' know) and the GPS was near worthless in town.

Ditto for Chicago and Toronto on another trip within past 6 months. It'll have problems in Philly, parts of Baltimore, NYC and Boston, for sure.

GPS must 'see' the satellites and cannot with tall buildings about. The Garmin and Magellen may perform marginally better than the TomTom in busy/tall cities as they use more satellites than TomTom XL does. They use overlapping satellites (I think it's called 'wide-area' satellite mapping) where the TomTom goes a bit cheap there and has less overlap of satellites used.

Still, I dig my TomTom XL...even if the Dutch use yards for measure (the rough equivalent of meters, I guess for Europeans). Here in US it would've been smarter to use feet as a unit of measurement as few think in yards in reality. My unit is about 6 months old, perhaps the newer versions of it use feet now

John

denjo · « **Reply #35 on:** 19 Feb 2008, 08:44 am »

The Nokia N95 8GB! It even comes with a phone and 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss camera!! And, the audio and video quality is very, very good!

woodsyi · « **Reply #36 on:** 19 Feb 2008, 02:31 pm »

I am on a mission to find the cheapest unit that will do text to speech. As BradJudy mentioned I think street name spoken out is a must. I don't want all the other MP3 and picture viewer kind of features. I certainly don't want traffic report feature since there is no way I would pay the subscription fee the cheapskate that I am. I don't even care to sync my bluetooth phone.

I looked at Garmin, Magellan and Tom Tom and found the Magellan Maestro 3225 to be the cheapest right now at $209. Perhaps it's to compensate for it's mediocre customer service? I don't know. I just hope it comes with a sexy meso or alto voice. aa

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #37 on:** 19 Feb 2008, 04:17 pm »

woodsyi/Rim...text-to-speech is something nearly all current GPS's provide (meaning, they call out how many feet/yards you are from a turn, to go left or right, etc).

Calling out street names is only something generally the slightly more expensive ones provide. The same unit with this function seems to cost about $50 more than one without this function right now. Unless things have changed dramatically the past 4-6 months, the least expensive I know of that combines street names and a 4.3" screen (I think your about my age and, if so, you'll appreciate the larger screen over the 3.5" entry models) is the TomTom XL-S model for $299.00 at Best Buy and elsewhere.

There is a lot of confusing verbiage in comparing GPS models - before you buy one, get the lingo down pat. Ultimately, all you want is for it to get you somewhere and get you home, but each maker and consumer has a different idea about how to go about achieving that

I'm not outright pimping for TomTom, it has it's issues (using yards instead of feet as unit of measure, incomplete offerings here in US that they have in Europe, etc), but once you live with it a while a good many of it's virtues are really excellent. Both my wife and I use our GPS all the time now as we are looking for new housing - it's so great not having to Rand McNally/Google/Mapquest a route or worry about fading daylight....you just plug the address in and go.

Aside from GPS', only the (now lowly) calculator do I think has been as great a boon to folks...and maybe greater if you consider a whole generation of young people may not even know how to quickly add,subtract, divide of multiply because of the ubiquitous calculator. There is no downside to GPS....it's just freedom, man

John

raov1 · « **Reply #38 on:** 19 Feb 2008, 11:08 pm »

If you want something really cheap, I would look into the navigational service provided by cell phones, like VZ navigator for verizon. Its not the best, but is cheap and will call out street names.You don't have to purchase added equipment ($$$ and space). For about $10 a month you get unlimited access. And its month to month, so if you don't need it for the month, you don't pay for it.
It works better in city limits, but the short coming is it only navigates in the cellphone coverage area, and is pretty useless you like to travel into the wild. But for all general purposes it works just fine.

Bigfish · « **Reply #39 on:** 19 Feb 2008, 11:43 pm »

Quote from: woodsyi on 18 Feb 2008, 04:14 pm

This promotion got me thinking...

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=205583800&adid=17070&dcaid=17070

Woodsyi:

I just purchased a Garmin C340 and used it for the first time on a long trip today. The C340 provides voice commands and gives ample notice that your turn is approaching. The C340 looks exactly like the C330 and I think the only difference is the talking feature. I think I paid $175.00 delivered to my home.

I have been wanting a GPS unit for my car for a number of years as I have used one on my boat for the last 12 years. No question that they are invaluable on a boat - much more accurate than simply using a compass. I think if you have a job where you are frequently going to different addresses a gps unit in the car is a very useful tool. Although I drive 65,000 miles per year I am not certain I can justify my unit other than it is a very neat gadget.

By the way the Garmin C340 is very simple to use and you really do not need an instruction manual.

Good luck on your decision.

Ken