Tips on Buying a Portable Navigation Device

[der Geist]

I bought a Nav Cam from Sam's Club and it performed so poorly I took it back and asked for a refund. I got a Nuvi 360 and couldn't be happier. Amazon had the best price out of everyone and I got free overnight shipping on top of it. I just got back from a 2 day trip in and around Chicago and the unit performed flawlessly. The bluetooth is cool except I wouldn't recommend trying to talk through the speaker phone on the NUVI even with the top up or hardtop. The microphone is a play toy. It is cool how you can see your call history and phone book on the NUVI's screen and dial through it. You can also dial any of the points of interest/hotels/restaraunts directly from the NUVI when you pull them up if you have a bluetooth phone. I find I don't miss as many calls now as the phone rings through the NUVI which is much louder. As I understand it you can download map updates directly from Garmin's web site along with different vehicles to put on screen. I usually use the little blue sports car. On the days where I have "Road Rage" I'll opt for the tank though. Oh yeah-you can add your own "points of interest" as well. Should be handy for adding in all the school zones, light and speed cameras that are seeming to pop up everywhere lately. I even saw a speed camera on the Dan Ryan Expressway today. WTF!! Since when can you ever go over the speed limit in the Dan Ryan? 4AM??? (maybe)