Portable GPS. Any favorites?

[Topless]

I am thinking about getting a portable GPS for both street mapping function and performance data logger. I understand that the latest versions are quite good and prices are falling. What do you have that you like?

[Lucky]

I have a Tom Tom One... love it. Starts fast, holds lock even with heavy foliage above and even under bridge decks, very intuitive UI, good maps with only a few very minor errors encountered so far (on new roads built in last 18 months). The window mount is excellent... never loses grip.

I've heard good things about the Garmin units, too. I think you can choose your favorite between Tom Tom and Garmin and it will serve you well.

For me the extra bells/whistles of the more expensive units (suce has bluetooth hands-free, spoken street names, multi-media capabilities) weren't worth it, but your needs may be different... definitely consider features you might want/use/need before buying.

BTW, a recent Consumer Reports rated portable GPS units. That may be another good source of (mostly) unbiased opinion.

[noone986s]

I have the Navman 520 and it is not very good. I assume they are better now as my unit is 2 years old, but it really struggles to maintain GPS lock.

My friend has the TomTom and it is much better.

Why not take a look at the Becker head units, you can then have a factory look with Sat Nav and bluetooth for your phone too.

[NickCats]

This might help :

http://986forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11227&highlight=garmin

Nick

[Peer]

I have a Garmin and a TomTom -- it's the TomTom that I decided to install permanently in my Box, and that's the one I also like the most -- it's Linux based (i.e., easy to program & hack yourself). Here's how I've mounted it, hocked up to the ignition and an external antenna:

-- peer

[FrayAdjacent]

You should probably go check out some GPS discussion sites. There are TONS of nav units out there now. You might start with your price range, and see what is available. Find screenshots and features.

You might want to look for things like:
Touchscreen
Size of screen
SD cardslot for updating maps from your PC
Voice navigation, including reading street names
POI (point of interest) database size
Ability to set waypoints
Statistics tracking


I went with a Bluetooth GPS puck and a PDA, since I could do other things on it... but now I'm wishing I went with a dedicated unit, because it turns out I don't really use the PDA much. Plus some of the dedicated units now have much larger screens, better features and are priced very well!

[rick3000]

I really like the Mio C220. There $160 at PepBoys and one of the best GPS available. CNet rates this unit low because they claim that the screen is not bright enough in direct sunlight. But I can confirm that it does just fine in top down driving situations.