What is the best GPS system to buy for my car?
Thanks
don r
I like Garmin. The product is high quality and technical support is superb. Map upgrades the first time is usually free and subsequent upgrades are $ $ $ .
ricardo9505
garmin, used for aviation prior to going into cars. great quality and durability
fiestacarsrule
I have tried many GPS systems, both civillian and military. The one that has served me the best as of right now has been a blackberry curve on the Verison network. For me it is worth the extra 10 bucks a month. You get navigation with traffic. It really helps to know when there is a traffic jam ahead that you can re-route to get there faster. 
Marious2k
loaded question. everyone will defend theirs. all i will say is there are three”good” brands.tom tom(dum dum) garbage i mean garmen and magellion. the first two are good and ive had both,and thrown both away(one out the window) tom tom just has to much junk,garmen will run you down every side road to nowhere it can find and then make up roads that dont exist and say your there when your actually in the middle of a field in south carolina at 3 in the morning.BEEN THERE. the magellion is simple, clean and precise. you can choose hwy,or senic easily. also you can choose to omit any road one at a time on the turn by turn page. ive crossed the country a time or two in a rig and i will never leave out without the magellion. map quest or google maps dont come close. magellion is the only gps to have been in my car. like i said its a loaded question because everyone has their own opinion. I have the good luck to have been able to afford all three and for me,the answer to your question would be the magellion. good luck
May
I won’t recommend a particular brand for you because this is ultimately your choice. I’ve had a GPS for a while now: Garmin, Tom Tom, Mio, and some others; but most recently my lovely Newelectronx GPS. I have learned what (to me) are the most important features and they might help you, so I’ll share them.
1. Signal acquisition. This is a subjective thing, but your unit needs to acquire a signal relatively quickly, and then keep it. There’s nothing like being a hundred fifty miles from home, in the boonies, punching in the address of your next appointment, and then noticing that your unit’s been trying for five minutes to get a satellite signal. My Newelectronx GPS has a strong GPS receiver to acquire many satellites even in some tunnels, so make sure you select a device with a strong receiver.
2. The map. I bought, a relatively high-end GPS (as mentioned) at a steep discount, and the maps are from 2010. If you live in an area where there’s been an incredible amount of development then you will need frequent map updates. So make sure you select a GPS with free map updates. As far as I know Garmin still charges for map updates and you cannot be certain if the one you buy off the shelf has fresh 2010 maps inside of it. Tom Tom, may or may not still be charging for map updates for its newer GPS models. I don’t know for sure, but check into it before you buy. Newelectronx has free map updates.
3. The readability of text on the screen. Screen size is also important, but even with a 4″ screen (pretty small), if the text is tiny you’ll find yourself distracted by trying to read text on the screen. My newelectronx GPS has a 5 inch colorful touch screen. I love it.
4. Glare. I’m not certain if there are glare-free screens, but a morning trip on a cloudless day could be a nightmare if you’re depending exclusively on the GPS. Note that it’s not only the direct reflection of sunlight that causes glare, but also other objects, like passing cars and items in your own car. I have yet to have a bad glare with my 5 inch screen.
5. Audio. Most GPS units today give audio directions (“Turn left in 600 yards, please”) so that you don’t have to be watching the screen while attending to traffic. Make sure you can adjust the volume on yours. It’s also nice if you can select the voice itself – one of my colleagues had a female voice with a British accent that I liked very much. I can use over 20 different voices with mine, including that British accent voice. Each gives turn by turn directions. Some also give extremely detailed information like announcing the street name and high way exits. It is like having someone in the car spoon feeding you the directions. I can also connect my GPS to the car speakers if I don’t want to use the GPS internal speaker. I can connect it many ways: via the FM stereo, Bluetooth, or with a cable. I like to use it with Bluetooth.
6. Power. My unit has an internal battery that’ recharges whenever it’s plugged in. It is said that the battery will last a whopping 10 hours. Haven’t tested that theory yet; so make sure your GPS will hold a long charge. Never know when you need to detach it and carry it outside of your car.
7. Cost – at this time of year, once you’ve determined the unit you want to buy, watch the sales – you should be able to find your unit at a good price the closer it gets to Christmas and after Christmas. Mine only cost me an unheard of $ 105 with free shipping to my front door. So you should be able to find some deals out there.
There are other elements as well. For example, you should be able to select between routes based on different considerations – for example, on my unit I can block out interstates, so the unit is forced to find a backroads route (useful during rush hour when the interstates are reduced to elongated parking lots). I can also block out toll roads, which would be useful in the Northeast.
Some GPS units do double duty as MP3 players or photo galleries (or both), but these are features that my unit can do perfectly – in fact it is an multimedia GPS, which means I can listen to music and get GPS turn by turn directions at the same time. Or if I want I can watch my pictures float across the screen while the directions are announced from the speaker of the GPS or the speakers in my car. It also has the ability to play full movies too, but I cannot do that while driving.
http://www.newelectronx.com/help.php?category_id=11
http://www.newelectronx.com/proddetail.php?prod=gps-igo-amigo
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