GPS recommendations

[Brian D]

Ah... here we go with another GPS tread. Sure, I could have look in the archives, but this is for my car, not my boat. :naughty:

So my Magellan is giving up the ghost. I liked it but want something a little more modern.

What do you use and do you like it, or are you also in the works for a new upgrade. Lifetime maps and traffic updates are a must. But "lifetime" is defined as the useful life of the unit, which is about 2, maybe 3 years. Anyway.

What recommendations do you guys have?

Thanks!

 

[Mike4116]

Yes I too have an old hand-held Magellan. The thing works great. It is simple and even has an adapter to plug into the boat's 12 volt system. But this is for a car you say? Hmmm, there are lots of them out there from the highly complex and costly to a simple Tom-Tom which is what I use. It doesn't have any warnings about road construction or congested areas but it is easy to program, reliable and fairly inexpensive. I see lots of Garmin's out there and they seem to be popular. They have a fair number of features and the more you pay the more features you get. This is product which you can generally say "you will get what you pay for".

 

[woodster]

i have a TomTom and it has worked for 4 years now ..but the key pad is now trying to put different letters on the screen when i type and it does have a learning curve (but i am not techno) and that may be operator ignorance ...there are some good deals from time to time at Staples and the discount wholesale clubs ...mt friends son used to go on an on about GPS'S and one day he told his son he did not need one ...he had a MAP ...there is also a smart phone that has GPS or maybe an iPad but i like having a stand alone GPS .....if mine craps out i will get a garmin or tom tom on the lower end of the scale

 

[Kermit]

I'm in favor of a system that shows where congestion is. We drove to Columbia, SC the day "The Flag" came down. Mapquest was very-much aware of what was going on and showed Gervais Street in red.

 

[Brian D]

My wife's car has a very nice navigation system built in. I think it is supplied by Tom Tom but am not 100% sure. It too has a great traffic alert and reroute. I am trying to actually find out who makes or supplies it so I can get something similar. But for now, I am leaning toward Garmin.

 

[Indysailor]

I've never had a gps, but I do use google maps/navigation all the time. It calculates according to fastest route, taking traffic into consideration. Generally, is there an advantage to having a device that only does navigation as opposed to using what is on my phone?

 

[Meriachee]

I've never had a gps, but I do use google maps/navigation all the time. It calculates according to fastest route, taking traffic into consideration. Generally, is there an advantage to having a device that only does navigation as opposed to using what is on my phone?

If you have something like Navionics+ on the phone, it would suffice, although, personally, I hate the tiny screens and the constant zoom in, zoom out, move, zoom in. The real upside to a plotter on the boat, even a small one, is the ability to network it. We tell the AP where to go via the marks or routes in the plotter, and it in turn starts yelling when we are close to the next mark.