NO BISCOTTIS ALLOWED

October 15, 2009 12:28 PM

Help a complete GPS newbie help Santa. [spoilers for biscotti]

biscotti could use a gps navigation dingus to help her find her way around WNY and southern Ontario for agility trials and dog shows and the like, and has mentioned to me that I might mention this desire to Santa should our paths cross.

The problem is that [schultz] I know NUSSING [/schultz] about gps.

It would be primarily for the car, though I guess being convenient to walk around with would also be good for giggles.

biscotti has said that she values a really good map set over very simple usage.

I gather they run like $150--500. Price matters insofar as a cheaper GPS means Santa can bring more other things.

Other than that, I don't even know what to look for, so hivemind, please hope me.

posted by ROU_Xenophobe to technology (8 comments total)

I think I've had six GPSs my household in the last seven or eight years. I don't think you should have to compromise on good maps or usability. A lack of either one will drive you crazy eventually. Garmin is great, and I really like the nuvi* series. When I give a GPS, I give a nuvi*.

*Not sure how to do an umlaut.
posted by cocoagirl at 1:45 PM on October 15

Seconding the nuvi. I forget what model we have, but it was about $200.

I really thought biscotti was a movie
posted by desjardins at 2:05 PM on October 15

I have a Nüvi 760 which we've used all over the place. It's pretty accurate*, the bigger screen is nice if one is prone to half-blindly jabbing at the icons and it's loud enough at the higher settings to be heard over the engine noise of my little Honda straining up the Sierra Nevadas. In addition to streets and highways, it also knows where stores, restaurants, public buildings, ATMs and gas stations are and you can do quick searches for the nearest of those at any time (super helpful if you are trying to find the nearest restroom NOW). It also has a decent amount of battery life, so you can set it to offer navigation via public transit or via walking routes and take it with you when on foot.

Garmin updates maps several times a year, you can buy map updates individually or sign up for a unlimited lifetime (device lifetime) subscription for under $100. Additionally, you can download tons of free Point of Interest maps created by other Nüvi owners.

*The accuracy caveat: the map updates usually lag about 6 months from what's actually out there. This means you'll run into difficulty if you are trying to find your way around a brand new subdivision or if you're trying to locate a coffee shop that opened a few months ago.
posted by jamaro at 2:09 PM on October 15

GPS manufacturers all purchase their maps from only 2 map companies: Navteq and Teleatlas, so there's not a lot of differentiation there.

One thing you may be concerned about is availability of map updates - these are sometimes hard to find, or expensive to add. At some point it makes more sense to buy a new GPS.
posted by meowzilla at 2:52 PM on October 15

nthing the Garmin nuvi. Check Amazon for good deals. $300 gets you a pretty fully featured GPS.

A few years ago one of the the key differentiating features was spoken street names, as opposed to just directions (i.e. "turn right on main street" instead of "turn right ahead").
posted by kenliu at 4:24 PM on October 15

I also have a Garmin Nuvi - it cost me about $300, including a stand, and a few other accessories... I travel for work to all kinds of weird, off-the-wall places, and it has VERY rarely failed me. Also, Garmin Nuvi's can use the Dr. Nightmare navigation voice, which is very neato.
posted by frwagon at 4:25 PM on October 15

I also like the Garmin Nuvis. I don't have a lot of experiences with the other ones, but it seems like i have slightly less complaints about it than my other friends with tom toms. (I'm not a patient person to begin with, though perhaps I just have lower standards due to their complaints).

I recently bought one, and my (lazy) research told me that the 1200/1300 nuvis came out in 2009 and feature a slimmer build and is grey in color (as opposed to the original black). Reviews say that it's not significantly slimmer. As a result, the original 200s are a lot cheaper now. I grabbed the 205 last year and just purchased the 255 for myself this past week (brother took the first. It didn't die or anything). It's a refurb'ed one, but it was only $100 on a reputable electronics website.

I haven't tried walking around with it, but it does have that option (just click over to settings and tweak it). The basic size (200 series or the new 1200/1300 series) is perfect for tossing in the purse/bag. If this is primarily for driving, though, you could get a larger widescreen for easier viewing purposes. I went with the basic non-widescreen model but willingly paid extra for "text to speech." It'll read out the streetnames for you (e.g. "Turn right on Main" as opposed to "Turn right ahead"). This makes it a lot easier, because you don't have to constantly glance at your GPS all the time. Also, while the GPS is awesome, the suction cup is unbelievably bad. Grab a friction mount while you're at it, unless you want your gps to go flying across the dash or fall below the driver's feet (and this will ALWAYS happen at the most inopportune time).

Of course now that I've upgraded to TTS (text to speech), I can't help but wish I'd bought the widescreen version. There's no real need for it, but it would have been nice. Oh well.
posted by mittenedsex at 7:44 PM on October 15

We use the Nuvi for work for getting to weird and out-of-the-way addresses. They have nice interfaces and good map sets right now. I've not used the competitors much (TomTom), but the Garmin products are very good. Absolutely get the text-to-speech option.

The point above about the cost of map updates is really important. It's actually cheaper in the longer term to buy a new unit every few years than upgrade (a lot) your maps every year.

We used to use the Microsoft streets and trips as well, but it's rather fallen away in the past couple of years.

Cell phone apps are getting better, but don't compare yet with the Nuvi products for ease of use, that is, have a big enough screen when driving, or great accuracy.
posted by bonehead at 7:38 AM on October 16