I have an cross-over SUV and the reach to the windsheild is long. I am looking into putting a gps into the vehicle and after reading all the sale literature am completely at a loss as to what is best available for the least amount of money and how easy to install, use *so not to be distracted while driving*, TOM TOM seems good but has issues on mounting. Any suggestions welcomed.
THanks in advance.
i like the beanbag, or in the words of Garmin: "Portable Friction Mount"
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=63953
I don't like sticking things to the windshield.
This site is Garmin-centric - all of the maps here will only work on Garmin devices. TomTom has no compatibility with third party maps, you can only use their own highway maps. No topo maps are available. For that reason I think you will find that virtually all the members here use Garmin units.
If you are looking for general advice in purchasing an automotive GPS, you would be better served at a site that discusses different brands, such as http://forums.gpsreview.net/ or http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/default.asp?group=2
THanks Boyd.
I am looking at the Garmin brand since Amazon has a 40% off sale. I would like to know the best choice though...
As mentioned above, you will probably only get recommendations here for Garmin units. Last Xmas I got a Garmin Nuvi 2460LMT and have been well pleased with it. I use it in a Chevy Trailblazer and had trouble coming up with a place to mount it where I liked it for ease of sight and reach. Tried the dash - to far away, tried RAM mounts in the cup holder not the best position having to look down, so I finally tried a vent mount and it is the perfect location for me - is close, easy to reach, doesn't block my dash line of sight, and is fairly secure. It may take a little experimenting on where you like yours mounted the best, depending on your vehicle.
As far as the Nuvi's the 5" screens are definitely the way to go in my opinoin. I thought I would like the "Voice Command" and Blue Tooth capabilty of the 2460LMT when in reality I never use them after playing with them when it was new. Overall I've been very satisfied with the 2460LMT, it is an older model now, so things have changed with them.
Decide what features you will use and research from that stand point. I do like the multi-route feature for my needs. I do quite a bit with making my routes on the pc and then transferring them to the NUVI and from what I see none of them will replicate your preferred desired route without doing quite a bit of tweaking adding via points and visually testing the route to verify your desired route is was what will be displayed on the NUVI.
edit: My father got a NUVI 50LMT that is a good basic NUVI without all the bells and whistles. Is easy to use, 5" screen, Life time map updates and is hard to beat the price when you catch them on sale. Last Xmas Walmart had them for $99, Best Buy for $109, and you can find them for around $129 on sale fairly regularly. As far as the Traffic updates another feature I don't use, but it is because my area isn't well covered with traffic problem area updates.
I've got a 1490 LMT, which I see is available for about $150 at Amazon. I'm a plain jane nuvi user, just use it to find Indian grocery stores in Las Vegas. (Would love to also find Italian grocery stores in Las Vegas :'().
The 1490 is memory deficient (only 2GB), but that's easily fixed by purchasing a 16GB microSD card. It will import routes created in BaseCamp, which some of the newer nuvis won't. The 1490 will display the transparent overlay maps I've posted at GPSfileDepot, but I can't get the routable map I compiled with cgpsmapper to show correctly.
Thanks everyone for your input. I got the 50LM on sale at BB. Also got the friction dash mount. So Far I like it. Have put some locations in it. My wife has problems remembering how to get places. This will help her if she can remember to turn it on and then use the favorites. But thats my problem and I am trying to solve it.
THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE
For the price I think you will like the 50LM for a good basic unit. Now you will want a micro sd card. 8GB will be sufficent for anything you will probably do. You can buy an 8Gb, Class 4, online from Amazon for around $5.00 with free shipping; go with either a Sandisk or Kingston brand.
You can also put virtually an unlimited number of custom POIs on the memory card in categories, they will appear in the Extas on the 50LM. Take a look at www.poifactory.com and there are hundreds of free custom POI files for most anything that you like to shop at, eat at, etc, or free wifi locations, or rest ares across the U.S.
Thanks Mapper I did chek out that site. I will be subscribing. I still need to know how to get the POI into the unit. Learning as I go....
eaparks is definitely on track; the 50LM is a pretty nice all-around automotive GPS.
Fish Addict, To load the custom pois on to the GPS you use Garmin's free software called POI Loader available at Garmin's website here: http://www8.garmin.com/support/collection.jsp?product=999-99999-12 Custom POI files must be of either of 2 file types a .gpx or .csv file. If you want to include a custom symbol with the poi you include the symbol's .bmp file in the same folder as the poi file is in. Both the custom poi file and the symbol file must have the exact same name. Ex. Walmart.gpx or Walmart.csv and Walmart.bmp in the same folder and the Walmart symbol will automatically be recognized on your GPS. The .bmp file has certain parameters that it has to be created within but all of the ones at POIFactory.com should work as they are.
edit: I don't think the custom symbols will appear on the Nuvi 50LM until you are zoomed in to 200 ft.