Recommendations for Auto GPS

[esquire.]

I know that more and more people are switching over to using their smart phones for navigational purposes, but there are some enticing Black Friday deals for GPS navigational systems for cars that have piqued my interest.

This will be my first GPS purchase, so I'm looking for some help on the features that one should get or any particular models and brands.

I know that I want my GPS to say out loud the street names, but other than that, any other important or necessary features I should get? I'm really curious about how well the traffic feature actually works, and if its worth paying for that upgrade. I live in Orange County and traffic on the freeways can be a issue at times.

Or, is it best to just get the bare bones for a GPS? I was reading consumersearch, and they said that the more expensive models were oftentimes worse than the more basic models:

n real-life use, owners say the Garmin nuvi 255W is a reliably fast, efficient navigator -- more so than newer, fancier Garmin models... Owners give these high-end Garmins mixed reviews when it comes to basic satellite lock and picking the best routes, while the budget nuvi 255W gets great reviews for these fundamental functions.

I'm also considering getting a model with lifetime maps, but I guess that's only important if the GPS lasts long enough for that to be a concern. How long did you guys use a particular GPS model for?

 

[Rambo]

I've had a few people say that Garmin sucks. No real life experience with any of them myself.

 

[Miles Gloriosus]

An Android phone.

 

[JayJay]

Garmin. I've had one for about five years that works very well. I update it at least once a year.

 

[holymadness]

You could buy a GPS, a camera, a mp3 player, a nintendo DS, and a kindle... or you could just buy a smartphone.

 

[turboman808]

Originally Posted by Rambo

I've had a few people say that Garmin sucks. No real life experience with any of them myself.

Funny you say that. My fiance has a garmin in her car. It seems to have alot more features but dam if it doesn't send us in the wackiest directions.

My magellan on the other hand gets me where I need to go and generally takes me on the most logical routes.

 

[Blackhood]

My aeroplane has a Garmin cockpit which is great, but the satnav in my car is shocking. You can't go wrong with TomTom though, cheap and easy to use.

 

[akatsuki]

If you have an iPhone, Navigon is going on sale this Friday.

 

[Rambo]

Originally Posted by Blackhood

My aeroplane has a Garmin cockpit which is great, but the satnav in my car is shocking. You can't go wrong with TomTom though, cheap and easy to use.
Shocking as in it keeps giving you directions which would lead you to drive off a cliff? Or shocking in that it keeps shorting out your dashboard and car stereo?

 

[henrikc]

TomTom XXXL? We got one of those (or the XXL version, not 100% sure) and it works perfectly fine. We've had a couple of TomToms over the years, some were stolen and some were just downgraded, and we have no real complaints about them.

 

[dcg]

I've had a bunch of Garmins over the years. Finally got tired of them breaking 6 months after purchase (one wouldn't charge, one became totally inaccurate - would say I was a town away, or driving through a river, one stopped speaking directions, etc.) Switched to TomTom XXL recently but haven't used it enough to give a verdict. I'll be avoiding Garmin in the future, though.

 

[Blackhood]

Originally Posted by Rambo

Shocking as in it keeps giving you directions which would lead you to drive off a cliff? Or shocking in that it keeps shorting out your dashboard and car stereo?

A brief list of things that went wrong on one unit:

1. Failure to charge
2. Failure to load maps
3. Taking upwards of 1 hour to locate a satellite
4. Enraging me enough to throw it out of a window

The last point was the point at which I went TomTom and have had three so far. Each upgrade because I love spending money on **** I don't need, not because they broke.

On the other hand if you are kitting out a dashboard in a plane I couldn't recommend the G1000 enough.

 

[Reevolving]

TomTom
Ebay
$70