I've never owned or used a GPS unit before, but I think one wold come in handy for work in the near future. I'll be delivering to residences, in the middle of nowhere, in an unfamiliar area. I figure that rather than screwing around with a County map, some electronics might make life a whole lot easier!

Features I want:

Simple to learn how to use, since I'm a tech idiot!
Up to date maps for very rural areas.
Preferably able to operate with verbal commands, if that's even possible!
Obviously, the less $$$ the better!

So, with Black Friday/Cyber Monday at hand, what should I look for?!?!?

Used gamin csx60.  Or if you have the coin...the gpsmap64st

This is normally my answer, however, in 'the middle of nowhere', that may not work, and you may want something that has offline maps.

There are still apps for that, though.

First, my phone ain't that smart.

Secondly, cell service is spotty.

iPhone and Motion X. Do not need cell coverage.

Garmin 52LM (life time maps) for 89.99 on Black Friday at staples.

Or the slightly smaller 42LM for 69.99.

I use the Garmin 40LM in about 4 vehicles in the family with no problems.

On the 40LM I also load other topographical maps and can use a Micro SD card for the extra map info to be stored on.

I am pretty sure that has not changed in the 42 and 52.

42LM has a 4 inch wide screen and the 52LM has a 5 inch wide screen.

Ted...

Remember Lifetime Maps mean you do not have to pay for new Highway maps and can update VIA your PC and the internet 4 times a year NO CHARGE.

I have a 2460LMT, gives you a beep when approacing traffic cameras and warnings about slow traffic or accidents ahead.
Voice recognition "Go find Five Guys Hamburger" and it finds the nearest one.
I like it a lot, 5" screen is plenty big.

Anything made by Garmin.





Just ask yourself, do the other guys make something as reliable as this?












 

If you have an iPad or Android tablet, my suggestion is get the Co-Pilot Truck app.  Normally it is $149.99 but it is on sale for $99.9.  I have been using it for about 2 weeks and I like it.  I had been needing to upgrade either the maps for my current GPS (a Garmin Nuvi 350) or upgrade the entire GPS but began researching the stuff I can use on my tablet and it has been well worth the money.

The app itself isn't very big, but if you download the maps for North America, it's 2.36 GB.  It gives you the option to put them on a storage card, so that will help.  You will pay $99.99 for the maps, regardless of how many states or regions you download.

They also have a Co-Pilot for cars, US Only, for $9.99 that would most likely be all you need.

Never needs power and never is out of signal.

This. Or the 62.

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Garmin. Choose the model and features you want, but buy Garmin.

LOL! That's plan "B"!

I spoke to a friend of mine who isn't a dinosaur when it comes to electronics, and he suggested that the one feature I was hoping for, giving verbal commands to the device, is both expensive, and can be glitchy. In light of that, the 52LM sounds like the best bet so far!

Thanks, but unfortunately my tablet is 3" X 5", and requires a pen or pencil!

Get Garmin for sure.   I'd browse Amazon for Garmin GPS.  

Get one that has the features you want.  

You'll want a unit that has free Lifetime Maps and voice recognition.

There's one for sale in the EE now.

Garmin.  Hands down.   Get lifetime maps, and if you are making multiple stops, spring for one that does routing for you.  Also, electrical connections and a speaker built into the cradle are very good features to have.

ETA....i use my Garmin every day.

Correct answer love mine

Find the Garmin GPS that fits your purpose wallet and buy it.

I have a Garmin 2595LMT.

LMT is life time maps. Maps can cost as much as some units, so that's important.

This model has voice recognition. I like it and use it a lot.

I use my phone for music while driving so using it for GPS is too much.

For driving check out Garmin's Nuvi line.

For woods use look at the 62/64 line.

I've been reading comparisons and reviews, and this is what I'm leaning toward. I see them on Amazon for a little over $100, which seems reasonable. Does the voice recognition work reliably?

This...... I have a Nuvi 50 and have been very happy with it, definitely better to go this route if it's strictly for use in your vehicle. The 62/64 models are great when you're on foot.

GPS 62xyz

is best Handheld GPS for $

Go Garmin. Very intuitive(easy to understand) menu. Better support. More types to chose from.

You don't' really need to spend a bunch of money on maps. You can get free topo maps and just learn to use the features of the gps to mark your tracks and make routes or something.



I have the entire southeast on my Astros, they are not navagatable but they have streets and topo stuff on, they are very useful.



A handheld differs from a nav unit in that it's a lot more durable, battery life is better, there are different uses and features.



For instance, I can mark waypoints. I can either "goto" these waypoints or just have them as a reference. I can make "tracks" and save them. There is a trip screen with fields that you can customize. Actually you can customize about every screen.



There are so many features it can be a little overwhelming and confusing at first but it's actually very intuitive. Here are some "maps" I've made over the years.



This is my tracks and waypoints superimposed over sat images on gpsvisualizer.com   This isn't what I choose to see on my gps. The straight lines are kind of an artifact. If you stop tracking, then start again, it connects the tracks. My astro's save more tracks so I don't do it that way anymore. I just left it because it was too much trouble to clean it up.




Here is another example.


The cool thing about that website is that you can save a few tracks and stuff, go to that site, and see a big overview of where you were at. This enabled us to figure out where the deer were bedding and where they were eating.
Later I will try and post some pics of what I see on my gps screen. I subscribed to the garmin service where you can put sat images right on your gps but they were pretty useless, just a bunch of treetops. I much prefer the free topo maps.



It's fun to go traipsing around in the woods at night helping to find deer or dogs and not having to worry about getting very lost. I always have spare batteries.

I've had the  Garmin Nuvi with free maps for about 2 years. It's not perfect and it's occasionally a hundred yards off but for under a $100 it can't be beat. I've owned better more expensive GPS's but for getting around town the price is right.

Get a smartphone. Then spend a few buck on a good GPS app. I have one that allows you to save the maps to internal storage so you can navigate when you have no signal.

freeware topos on a cheap base model 62

Fuck DeLorme with a rusty shovel.

Looks like my astro!



I'm not sure if the op is wanting a nav unit or a handheld. They have different purposes. I wouldn't want to depend on a nav unit hiking or in the woods. I guess you can navigate with a handheld unit but the screen will be small. The Oregon has a nice big touch screen but one of the updates made it so all of the tracks would default to "do not show on map" whenever I turned it off. That was a deal killer for me.



Actually I lost it.   But that "upgrade" made it useless for my purposes of mapping out my hunting area.



The cheap base models do everything you would want, you don't really need a camera on a gps in my opinion. You can geocache, save tracks, save routes, save waypoints . . .

Garmin Nuvi

Damn good plan "b", but I'll admit, I needed a quick refresher on how to deal with road maps after relying on GPS for so long.

Get something with lifetime map updates. Otherwise, expect to pay $50 to update a garmin GPS unit. eff that.