Garmin. The 205W is a pretty good model and they're on sale all over for just under a C note. Two family members have them and they work great.
Portable GPS: Tom Tom or Magellan?
- Thread starter kbm6893
- Start date
gunsmith11
Member
i just download yahoo maps ...works for me
Springfield Bob
Member
Garmin for us. The wife & I drove a rented car from Los Angeles to W-Springfield Mass. It provided us with more information then I expected. Places to see,places to lodge at places to eat etc.
Brian41
Member
I'm a sailor and have had GPSs since they came out. My first was a Magellan and a tricky program maybe now corrected.
It died and went with Garmin since. I even have one for my bird dog that gives his position, direction, distance and whether he's running or pointing. It's called Astro if interested in checking them out.
I think Garmin a good company and has it figured out on a user friendly basis.
It died and went with Garmin since. I even have one for my bird dog that gives his position, direction, distance and whether he's running or pointing. It's called Astro if interested in checking them out.
I think Garmin a good company and has it figured out on a user friendly basis.
jbcap
Member
I have a Garmin, wouldn't buy any of the others. Most of the guys I work with have Garmins. A few previously had Tom-Toms but they were not as good, they have since gotten Garmins.
ohiobuckeye
Member
I don't recall the exact amount but I think Garmin charges around 70 bucks if you just purchase a single update. For a few dollars more you can purchase a lifetime access that will let you do up to four updates per year. At least that applies to my Streetpilot C340, so I assume Garmin offers the same update options for all models.
I've encountered very few places where the Garmin was out of date. The glitches I've found are usually around some cities where orange barrels are a year round decoration and bypasses have been added or rerouted and/or exits have been changed. Cross country routes don't seem to change that much and the GPS is usually correct. That said, mine has given me some strange routing on a couple of occasions. It's always correct and gets me to the right place, but not always by the best route.
I have a Garmin GPSMAP76CSx. I never have to transfer maps from the PC to the GPS as I bought the Mapsource road maps memory card. The memory card runs about $80.00 and contains maps of all the US & territories and most of Canada. I've used it driving from west Tennessee to Alaska and back, it never missed a beat. It has LOTS of useful software features, an altimeter, compass, is waterproof and it floats. I did have an issue with my first GPSMAP76CSx after it was out of warranty, USB power port died. Called Garmin and explained the problem to them. One year warranty was expired by six days. They replaced it at no cost, just had to pay shipping to and from. It's been going strong now for three years on the replacement unit. Garmin gets my vote.
Class III
Class III
magnumforce629
Member
I've had a Magellan 1400 for about 3 years and it is flawless. Never failed me once and I like the female voice alot since it's not as annoying as some of the other brands I have tried. IMHO that is the one to get so good luck to you!
Wayne02
Member
The lack of street names really drives me nuts when using our Tom Tom. Not calling out the actual street you are supposed to turn on in addition to the '500 yards' is very counter intuitive and requires far more effort on the part of the driver then it should for simple navigation tasks.
I have the TomTom 340 XL and love it. It also calls out the name of the street when you are about to turn. Articles I have read say that the TomTom devices have better function per dollar than the Garmin on the lower price models and the Garmin has better function per dollar at the high end. So it depends on which model you want and how much you want to spend.
Damn Yankee
Member
This is a article from MSN Money about company's that may not be around in 2020.
6. Magellan
Once a novelty, GPS -- the technology that plots your location via satellite -- is now ubiquitous. Besides dashboard GPS devices in cars, consumers can now get GPS access in smart phones and even cameras.
This is all part of a natural progression in technology in which software comes along to do the same thing you previously needed stand-alone devices for, Stevens says.
And it means that soon enough, consumers won't see any reason to buy GPS devices like those sold by Magellan, a private company but a well-known name, because software on their phone does the same thing.
To get a sense of the extent to which GPS is now a commodity, just consider the intense price competition in the space. On Black Friday, vendors such as Magellan were offering generic GPS devices as low as $69 -- $21 below the cost of materials in the devices -- just to try to keep shelf space, Deutsche Bank analyst Jonathan Goldberg says.
You know a business appears doomed when companies have to sell below costs, even temporarily, just to stay in the game.
Troubled companies, Kodak, Blockbuster, Sears, Palm - MSN Money
6. Magellan
Once a novelty, GPS -- the technology that plots your location via satellite -- is now ubiquitous. Besides dashboard GPS devices in cars, consumers can now get GPS access in smart phones and even cameras.
This is all part of a natural progression in technology in which software comes along to do the same thing you previously needed stand-alone devices for, Stevens says.
And it means that soon enough, consumers won't see any reason to buy GPS devices like those sold by Magellan, a private company but a well-known name, because software on their phone does the same thing.
To get a sense of the extent to which GPS is now a commodity, just consider the intense price competition in the space. On Black Friday, vendors such as Magellan were offering generic GPS devices as low as $69 -- $21 below the cost of materials in the devices -- just to try to keep shelf space, Deutsche Bank analyst Jonathan Goldberg says.
You know a business appears doomed when companies have to sell below costs, even temporarily, just to stay in the game.
Troubled companies, Kodak, Blockbuster, Sears, Palm - MSN Money
Lee in Quartzsite
Member
I just bought the TT 340 XL, and even where I live in the Boondocks, it calls out street names perfectly. Another great feature is being able to connect it to my computer for daily map updates, planning routes or adding way points.
I wasn't too fond with the holder that came with it, so I bought one from ProClip. They have holders for all makes of GPS and Cell Phones...a bit pricey, but it was a perfect fit and easy to install.
ProClip Mounting System - Device Holders and Dashboard Vehicle Mounts
TomTom ProClip Mounting System - Home - TomTom
I do have a handheld Garmin that I take ATVing and hunting. It also works great....I have had it for about 3 years.
Evil One
Member
We have 2 Magellan GPS units.
Mine works great, even while I was working in Canada.
Jim
Mine works great, even while I was working in Canada.
Jim
Just bought my first after having friends tell me I needed one for years... Sams had a tom tom on sale for about 55.oo black friday and I grabbed one... Used it hunting season this year and a couple trips. Shoulda got one years ago I think...
We also have a Garmin 255Nuvi - it's great. It's about 99% accurate - we had one humorous incident when the "lady inside" continued to direct us to the opposite side of the lake of the hotel we were looking for. We could see the hotel but couldn't find the way to it - the lady simply told us to drive "off road" across the lake.
Magellan 1470
I have had a Magellan 1470 since the 1st of May, it went bad a few weeks ago ( locked up ), called the company and after over one hour on the phone, they decided to have it sent back to them for repair or replacement, on my dime I might add. After holding it hostage for a week they sent me #2.
#2 didn't work correctly ( would not save entered addresses or previous addresses or home address) called the company and spent another half hour on the phone, they decided that it needed to be returned for repair or replacement, this time i insisted that they send me a prepaid fed ex label and sent it off. they held #2 hostage for a week then sent me #3.
I received # 3 yesterday, took it for a drive #3 didn't work correctly ( would not save entered addresses or previous addresses or home address) called the company and spent another 1/4 hour on the phone with a tech, at which time I insisted on speaking to one of their managers in Nevada who I talked with for over a half hour.
I explained to the manager of the situation and requested my money back, that I had already lost a month of my warranty and that I was not happy, he would not return my money, instead he would send me a new higher level model, and a prepaid fed ex label to send #3 back to them.
#4 is scheduled to arrive 12/28 once I have it in hand I'll send #3 back to them.
I really liked the features of the 1470 but if I were to do it again I would not buy a Magellan.
I have had a Magellan 1470 since the 1st of May, it went bad a few weeks ago ( locked up ), called the company and after over one hour on the phone, they decided to have it sent back to them for repair or replacement, on my dime I might add. After holding it hostage for a week they sent me #2.
#2 didn't work correctly ( would not save entered addresses or previous addresses or home address) called the company and spent another half hour on the phone, they decided that it needed to be returned for repair or replacement, this time i insisted that they send me a prepaid fed ex label and sent it off. they held #2 hostage for a week then sent me #3.
I received # 3 yesterday, took it for a drive #3 didn't work correctly ( would not save entered addresses or previous addresses or home address) called the company and spent another 1/4 hour on the phone with a tech, at which time I insisted on speaking to one of their managers in Nevada who I talked with for over a half hour.
I explained to the manager of the situation and requested my money back, that I had already lost a month of my warranty and that I was not happy, he would not return my money, instead he would send me a new higher level model, and a prepaid fed ex label to send #3 back to them.
#4 is scheduled to arrive 12/28 once I have it in hand I'll send #3 back to them.
I really liked the features of the 1470 but if I were to do it again I would not buy a Magellan.
GARMIN
I've got three, low-end (cheap) Garmins that I've got in company vehicles. I use the one in my company vehicle virtually every day,
and have something like 150-175,000 miles of use of it.
The wider screen is great, if you have a choice. The other two have standard screen. All work as advertised. Have only used them in four states. Wouldn't be w/o one. WalMart is selling them for about
$100 now; I'm thinking about getting another wide-screen.
It seems all the different mfr.s make good quality units.
Let us know which one you get, Merry CHRISTmas!! TACC1
I've got three, low-end (cheap) Garmins that I've got in company vehicles. I use the one in my company vehicle virtually every day,
and have something like 150-175,000 miles of use of it.
The wider screen is great, if you have a choice. The other two have standard screen. All work as advertised. Have only used them in four states. Wouldn't be w/o one. WalMart is selling them for about
$100 now; I'm thinking about getting another wide-screen.
It seems all the different mfr.s make good quality units.
Let us know which one you get, Merry CHRISTmas!! TACC1
CW Spook
US Veteran
Based on 10 years of experience, I'd say there's Garmin and then there are the wannabees.
