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I'm looking for an realiable, affordable,portable Gps system. I have looked up the 5 best gps systems but I would like some opions
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I use a Rand McNally road atlas. I got it free at work.
![]() For planned trips where I need more detail, I use Mapquest. When we are traveling out of town on vacation, I go to AAA and get free maps from them. I've yet to see any point in having a GPS in our cars.
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Steve * Despite the high cost of living, it remains very popular. * Why should I pay for my daughter's education when she already knows everything? * There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going. |
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There are several pros of having a GPS:
1) If you get sidetracked from a turn-by-turn map, the GPS will recalculate your route. With a traditional map, you have to retrace your step and find your way back to a familiar road. 2) If you are in an unfamiliar area, a map can tell you how far you need to go on a road, but if you've lost track of distance, it's difficult to know if you've passed the turn or not. The GPS will tell you how far ahead or behind your turn is. For example, I had to take a rural freeway 20 miles and turn onto a small driveway. I was driving myself nuts starting at mile 15 because I wasn't sure if my odometer and the map was accurate. I had to slow at every turn to look at the street sign, and some of the signs were really hard to read. Plus on a 65mph road this isn't exactly the safest way to drive. 3) When driving in the city, map = useless. As a fellow DC dwelller, anyone who drives through DC will tell you that your map is useless. The streets were designed so poorly with 1-ways and detours that there is no hope. 4) GPS can help find points of interest (gas, food, shopping) along the way. A map can do that, but it's harder to use. A nice feature I enjoy is the ability to find restaurants. It's fun to explore. I was a recent GPS convert. I don't own one but I borrow one for long trips. I'm a recent convert because technology has progressed so much within the past 5 years that GPS are very accurate nowadays. I used to be a hardcore map person like you, Steve, but after 15+ years of struggling with maps, it's really really nice to have a GPS ![]() Mapquest is notoriously inaccurate around here. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten lost using Mapquest. I use Google Maps exclusively now. Last edited by InDebtInDC : 04-30-2008 at 09:34 AM. |
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I recommend Garmin GPS. GPS has come down in prices over the years. They are very affordable now around $100 - $150. I bought my parents Garmin last year for $130.00 from WalMART.
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Best 5 GPS navigation systems - CNET Reviews |
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I'm thinking about getting this one: Garmin Nuvi 650 - GPS Naviga because it say the streets names
Garmin Nuvi 200W GPS Navigate was my first choose but then found out it didn't say the street names. |
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oh ok. I didn't know they show the street names.
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I've had both garmins that said street names, and ones that didn't. The one that said street names helped me no more than the one that didn't. You're basically paying an extra $50 for that feature.
I'm terrible with directions, but if the unit tells me to turn in 500ft, I get in the appropriate lane and prepare myself. The street names are irrelavant at 500ft since I can't read a tiny sign that far away anyhow. It's all about personal preferance. I just returned a garmin 350 at costco. Orginally cost me $270. It featured bluetooth, TTS (speaking street names,) and an mp3 player, all of which were useless features to me. Went and bought the nuvi 200 for $153. I like this unit a lot more since it has an internal antenna, and i saved a lot of money. |
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Oh ok Thanks. Everyone input is really helping me.
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I have a mio digiwalker which I like. Got it a few years ago on black friday for $160. I think last year they were about 100 bucks. Also, they now come with the text to speech. Definitely a useful device.
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I'm in the same school as you, even though I am in the GPS generation. My father is a hardcore map person, and before we were able to get our permits, he made us navigate a trip for him to prove that we had navigation skills needed to drive. Also I think that the GPS thing talking to me would drive me crazy. |
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Does the 200 have the shopping directory? This is the only other feature I use to find stores. |
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. Very unusual for my (wonderful, but) easily annoyed husband.Though personally I do not think it saved us any time, the reroute was thru a school with r5mph speed limits and road bumps, turning around would have left us on the big road. |
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When you say shopping directory, you mean the points of interest? If so, yes it has the shopping one. The 200 has all of the same POI that the 350 had. I forget how many million POI.
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