Garmin GPS

[hogfan]

Re: Garmin GPS

I've been on a Nuvi 260 - it was the cheapest model at the time with Text to Speech.

Do you have this unit in hand, yet? How is it?

I bought this for my father-in-law($149)

[DXZeke]

Re: Garmin GPS

Do you have this unit in hand, yet? How is it?

I bought this for my father-in-law($149)

I've had it for nearly a year!!!
I've used it on 3 big trips and to find stuff locally that I've never been too before.

My parents have been trying to find a smaller house so we've used that to go see about a Dozen houses per weekend and knock it all out. No need for yahoo maps.

It's small, but I'm ok with not having bought the Nuvi 260w. It's big enough and loud enough for me to hear and understand everything.

I like it a heck of lot since it does what I need it to do. It's easy to use. Easy to setup.

One tip I'll give you is to go in and setup the Road Avoidances - like Toll Roads, unpaved roads, etc since they are on by default... and I have U-Turns off as well since in Raleigh-Durham U-Turns can be a royal pain due to traffic.

I'm thinking of getting my parents the same model I have this holiday season as well since they like it and can understand it quite well.

Another reccomendation. Plug it in when you're in the car. It will find the satalites faster than if you don't have it charging/DC power. The suction cup thingy that comes with it sticks to the windows QUITE well. I even stuck it one day to my moon roof to show how well it works.

Only 1 drawback I have on portable units, sometimes they can be off by a few houses, but that's a MINOR complaint.

I hope your father in law enjoys it.

Anymore questions do ask! :wink:

[Peji911]

Re: Garmin GPS

Can you download and install European maps on a GPS even if it doesnt say "european maps compatible" on it?

I know on some models, you can add your own. Just not sure if it just means it includes standard European maps, or if you cant install them at all.

[mgoblue]

Re: Garmin GPS

Can you download and install European maps on a GPS even if it doesnt say "european maps compatible" on it?

I know on some models, you can add your own. Just not sure if it just means it includes standard European maps, or if you cant install them at all.

I think you could pay for them extra if it doesn't come with it, but I'd look at the Garmin website or something to see if you can learn more. I doubt you'll find many (if any) guys here who needed NA and Europe maps....

[chadskee]

Re: Garmin GPS

Can you download and install European maps on a GPS even if it doesnt say "european maps compatible" on it?

I know on some models, you can add your own. Just not sure if it just means it includes standard European maps, or if you cant install them at all.

Best Buy Mobile Electronics Salesman here...

All Nuvi's can do western europeon maps but you must have them on an SD card. You can buy the maps from Garmin.com and download them to your computer to transfer to your own SD card or have them ship you an SD card with the maps on it.

FYI - All Garmin models ending in X70 include western Europeon maps. Ex: 270.

[J.R. Locke]

Re: Garmin GPS

GPS suck. I would rather just use a map and ask some local yahoo.

[Peji911]

Re: Garmin GPS

Best Buy Mobile Electronics Salesman here...

All Nuvi's can do western europeon maps but you must have them on an SD card. You can buy the maps from Garmin.com and download them to your computer to transfer to your own SD card or have them ship you an SD card with the maps on it.

FYI - All Garmin models ending in X70 include western Europeon maps. Ex: 270.

Ah, cool.

But, in the end, doesnt Garmin lose business? In the end, you can just download your own maps from random sites.

Will it do the speech directions for western europe? I want it for Portugal, Spain, France.

Also, which GPS company would you recommend? I hear Garmin and TomTom are tops...?

[chadskee]

Re: Garmin GPS

Ah, cool.

But, in the end, doesnt Garmin lose business? In the end, you can just download your own maps from random sites.

Will it do the speech directions for western europe? I want it for Portugal, Spain, France.

Also, which GPS company would you recommend? I hear Garmin and TomTom are tops...?

Personally I like Garmin. I've worked there for over a year now and I have always preferred them. Seem to have less hardware failures, more reliable, easier to use.

Yes it will say street names for the Western European maps as well, as long as you have a unit capable of text-to-speech.

I've never heard about downloading maps from other sites, I wouldn't think they would be compatible, or even if they were as reliable as something released officially for a price.

Tom Tom is my second choice, followed by Magellan, and then the rest.

[ODogg]

Re: Garmin GPS

I just got the Garmin Nuvi 880 a couple of weeks ago and can't imagine life without it now. The voice recognition is superb and bluetooth works great with my phone!

[mgoblue]

Re: Garmin GPS

I just got the Garmin Nuvi 880 a couple of weeks ago and can't imagine life without it now. The voice recognition is superb and bluetooth works great with my phone!

I got the Nuvi 760 in the mail today and it's pretty damn slick. Obviously will take time to really get a feel for, but I like it so far!

[Brandon13]

Re: Garmin GPS

I've got a TomTom One 3rd Edition. It's extremely basic but it works for me. Definitely worth the $115 I paid for it.

[DXZeke]

Re: Garmin GPS

I've got a TomTom One 3rd Edition. It's extremely basic but it works for me. Definitely worth the $115 I paid for it.

Great to hear that you finally got one!

[DXZeke]

Re: Garmin GPS

I just got the Garmin Nuvi 880 a couple of weeks ago and can't imagine life without it now. The voice recognition is superb and bluetooth works great with my phone!

I got the Nuvi 760 in the mail today and it's pretty damn slick. Obviously will take time to really get a feel for, but I like it so far!

You guys got some pretty high end GPS's!
Enjoy them!

[fishepa]

Re: Garmin GPS

I love my Nuvi 650, which I probably already stated in this thread, but I just wanted to say it again. I really can't imagine my life without it.

[mgoblue]

Re: Garmin GPS

You guys got some pretty high end GPS's!
Enjoy them!

Mine was only 250 on Amazon with their Black Friday deals...Kinda pricey still, but I wanted the car charger and the next level down was still 150 without a car charger, so was worth the upgrade to the higher version (also got bluetooth, widescreen, etc). I'm happy with it, though now I had to get the dashboard friction holder for 25 bucks on amazon (the windshield one works, but my dashboard's at a good level to put this, so I'll do that.