User Panel
Posted: 11/24/2014 6:55:05 PM EDT
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?!?!? |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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Garmin. Choose the model and features you want, but buy Garmin.
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Quoted:
Never needs power and never is out of signal.http://www.randmcnally.com/images/img-protean/promos/Rand_McNally_Best_Selling_Road_Atlas_2015.jpg View Quote LOL! That's plan "B"! |
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Garmin 52LM (life time maps) for 89.99 on Black Friday at staples. Or the slightly smaller 42LM for 69.99. 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. View Quote 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! |
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Quoted:
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. View Quote Thanks, but unfortunately my tablet is 3" X 5", and requires a pen or pencil! |
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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. |
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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. |
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Find the Garmin GPS that fits your purpose wallet and buy it.
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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. |
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For driving check out Garmin's Nuvi line.
For woods use look at the 62/64 line. |
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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. View Quote 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? |
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Go Garmin. Very intuitive(easy to understand) menu. Better support. More types to chose from.
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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.
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Any of the Garmins are good, but no matter what you get you are responsible for paying for and updating your maps each year. Also, cell phone gps' are fine but they aren't reliable no matter what anyone says when you get out of a cell coverage area, not to mention that they eat up your battery.
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First, my phone ain't that smart. Secondly, cell service is spotty. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Just use your smart phone. First, my phone ain't that smart. Secondly, cell service is spotty. 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. |
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View Quote 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 . . . |
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Never needs power and never is out of signal.http://www.randmcnally.com/images/img-protean/promos/Rand_McNally_Best_Selling_Road_Atlas_2015.jpg LOL! That's plan "B"! 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. |
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Get something with lifetime map updates. Otherwise, expect to pay $50 to update a garmin GPS unit. eff that.
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