Portable GPS for sons

[pcgirl54]

Let me start out by saying I have a techir family.

Three years ago I bought DH a Magellan auto GPS model Roadmate 760 20g harddrive and 7 million POI for close to $700 and that was a good price then. We take it with us on vacation and plug it into the rental just love it. On our latest trip our Hertz rental had free GPS so we tried it but still prefer the interface of the 760 Roadmate model.

For Xmas I was thinking of buying each of our twenty something sons a portable model. A lot has changed in three years. One son has grown to love the outdoors/camping/hiking. We get calls all the time from him about where a certain campground is. Son #2 does not have a cigarette lighter in his car and the Son # 3 gets lost easily. So it may be we need to buy a different model for Son #1 then the other two sons.

I know I want color screen with turn by turn audio directions. Do not want one that is an MP3 player or audio book player. I do not know if we can buy anything decent for $200-$250.

Any input is welcome!

 

[UWSurfer]

My only thought is now that you have a unit with an interface you like &/or are familiar with, anything you are thinking of buying now you should try before you buy...or at least demo it.

As you've already noted you like the one you have better than the one you demo'd from Hertz. There are dozens out there which all look pretty much the same but have a feature or approach different from the others. Tom Tom's get pretty good reviews from Tuggers in a previous thread.

I bought the large screen Navigon from Costco late last year for $500 as it came with a lifetime subscription to traffic reports (useful here in LA). It takes the traffic info and allows you the option to have the unit route you around the trouble spots. We bought the smaller unit from Woot for $99 and while it's similar, the unit itself operates a bit differently. The $500 unit is now available for about $350 at Costco.com.

I'm a fairly tech savy person and the learning curve on the Navigon took some time to get the hang of it's menu structure. Not really hard, just had to learn it's approach to inputing info. We also had a hoot with it last spring when we flew into Kona, turned it on in the rental car and it simply couldn't figure out where we were. It turns out we had to tell it we were in Hawaii and select the map for that region and it was fine. :rofl:

I took it with me to Denver where I was driving all over for a week and it was invaluable. For that matter in Hawaii it was great. When I was in St. Paul it was helpful in cabs sitting in the backseat behind the driver with it on to make sure we wern't going some long way around to run up the fare, which was comforting.

I don't use the thing much at home as most of the time I know where I am and how to get there...but when away it's been stellar.

 

[derb]

I just bought a magellan 4250 from amazon for 250, every one else wanted 500. Very pleased with unit.

 

[lprstn]

I got a cheapo one (don't even know the name) from walmart.com and only paid $179 for it 1 year ago and I love it...I have taken it every where with me.

 

[Emily]

A few months ago i bought a Garmin c550 reconditioned with a 1 year warranty from buy.com for $129 and free shipping. It has blue tooth and I just received a jaw bone as a gift - can't wait to play.


I was using Verizon's gps on my Env BUT I like the garmin much better.

 

[sammy]

Thanksgiving week bargains

I do not have the opportunity to go out for early bird Black Friday specials, but this year I discovered Black Monday -- it is the Monday before Thanksgiving when many stores do their online bargains. On that day I got a trememdous, never again seen price on a higher end Garmin Nuvi, and they had several other models on special as well. They were only good for that day, but if you price shop beforehand, you'll know a great deal when you see it. And you can always head out on Black Friday for the older models that will be super, super cheap for that day.

Last year I paid $350 for a $700 everywhere else model so I am certain you can get a good one for under $250 this year.

Research the options and decide what is important (the Garmin website is a great resource whether you buy one of those or not) , learn prices, then watch for deals!

 

[Jeni]

I received a Garmin Nuvi as a gift this year, so I do not know the cost, but it goes everywhere with me and I just love it!

 

[Bucky]

I just today bought a Garmin Nuvi 650 from Amazon.com for $226 which included free shipping and no sales tax! I know you didn't want the MP3 player but for the money it's still a great deal in my opinion.

 

[pcgirl54]

Thanks to all for the helpful hints. Before black Friday we bought (3) Garmin Nuvi 750 at Sam's Club for $199 because of your replies. It is the same price at Costco plus $8.99 shipping. They do not need bluetooth or MP3 which is what the Nuvi 760 has for a lot more.

For current Sams members you can you the Click and Pull feature from the comfort of your laptop and just pick it up later.